Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1981)
Spilyay Tymoo Page 8 September 29,1981 Learning survival s k ills ....................... What’s a nice guy like Kenny doing in D.C.? Regarding traffic, his wife Jeannie noted that she gets How does a fellow, plucked more respect from other drivers fro m th e q u i e t , r u r a l when sh e’s wheeling the environment of Warm Springs, Mercedes around than when O r e g o n , c o p e w ith a she’s driving her little Honda. d e m a n d in g g o v e r n m e n t She, too, said she’s learned “to position and the hectic pace of drive like a maniac.” Once he gets to his office, a cosm opolitan city like Ken’s time is booked solid Washington, D.C.? “All I’ve been doing is hour-to-hour, all day, every working,” said Ken Smith day. Half his schedule is during a rare weekend visit booked two weeks in advance hom e. E a rlie r th is y ear and the balance of his schedule President Reagan appointed fills up each day during those him the Interior Department’s two weeks. Each Monday he attends a Assistant Secretary for Indian political appointee’s meeting Affairs. Ken said he discovered very from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. All the quickly that in order to keep his a s sista n t se c re ta rie s and energy level up he has to deputies meet with Interior exercise regularly, maintain a Secretary James Watt at that healthy diet and stay physically time. Other regularly scheduled fit. “If you don’t do that the meetings are at 7:45 a.m. on stress and pace of life in D.C. Tuesdays and an early morning would catch up with you and meeting on Fridays with Don Hodell, Under Secretary of the bury you,” he said. “You can’t go to work with a Interior Department. Back in his office, a staff of hangover because on any day you could have a major three to six people brief Ken d e c is io n ” to m a k e , he ab o u t th at d ay ’s special remarked. He said he rarely has m eetings. Some of those any alcoholic beverages during meetings might include get- the week and that his eating togethers with tribal groups, and drinking habits have attorneys and a variety of delegations. changed out of necessity. “Each day I’m absorbing “I’m almost like a machine Monday through Friday,” he tre m e n d o u s a m o u n ts of said. Then he rattled off what a information. I become more intelligent each month,” said typical day is like for him. He rises at 5:45 a.m., jumps Ken, meaning it. “Some days into his jogging clothes, and I’m faced with as many as four runs three miles at a nearby big issues. It was mind- track. Although summers are boggling at first. Now I’m hot and humid in Washington, settling in — getting smart.” He said the toughest issues D.Ct, he said his early mornihg run is a quiet, peaceful and are the ones between two tribes for exam ple, disputes relaxing time for him. F o llo w in g his ru n he between the Navajos and the showers, has breakfast, then Hopis, and troubles between leaves for the office at 7:15 or the Yurok and Hoopa people. 7:20 a.m. It’s only a 12 minute There is usually one reservation drive to work — but a very crisis per month that Ken has to different kind of ride than the deal with, personally. Travel is another facet of his 12 minutes from his home on the Deschutes to the Warm job, but Ken doesn’t fly first- S p r in g s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n class an y m o re. He goes excursion rate. “I can stretch building. “I’ve really learned how to the department’s travel budget use my horn,” he quipped. that way,” he said, although he “You have to be a very added that he. avoids ‘night aggressive, yet defensive, driver coach’ whenever possible. His eveniqgs are not always in Washington, D.C. traffic. You’re always honking your free despite his hectic daytime schedule. He devotes two to horn.” by Sandy Rangila three nights a week to business- related meetings. “It gives me a chance to get together with people who couldn’t get in to see me during the day,” he explained. By Friday night Ken said he is both physically and mentally tired. He said he needs the weekends to rest up, swim and rejuvenate himself for the next week. But even during the weekends Ken and Jeannie don’t just loaf around. T hey have jo in e d the Sm ithsonian Institute and Friends of Kennedy Center, as well as attending outdoor band concerts at the Jefferson Memorial and other cultural events. Ken even went to a ballet for the first time. He described it as “not too bad.” Due to his excellent physical condition, Ken captured the title of fastest runner in the Executive Branch on Septem ber 10. He captained his team “The Thundering Buffaloes” to first place in the Nike Capital Challenge, a three-mile benefit race for the Special Olympics. Ken’s time was 22 minutes, 35 seconds.. Life in the nation’s capital hasn’t turned Ken into a “fat cat.” The combination of his r ig o r o u s sc h e d u le , self- discipline and physical exercise has resulted in a loss of at least six pounds, a fact he is proud to point out. Staying in shape and having learned some big-city survival skills have apparently enabled Ken to withstand the pressures of D.C. — and still stay a nice guy, too. IN SHAPE—Interior’s Asst. Sec. for Indian Affairs Ken Smith surged ahead of the pack to lead his team to victory in the Nike Capital Challenge, a Special Olympics benefit race. Staying in shape helps Ken deal with the stress and'pace o f D.C. Photos courtesy B.J. Samuel Eliza Greene is part of a dream by Pat Leno A young girl’s love of horses and an old man's dream have put Hot Dog Greene and Claude Puckett on the road of sweat and hard work with the hope they will find their fame and fortune. “Hot Dog” Eliza Greene, yet to become a teenager, is the daughter of Neda Wesley and Harold Greene. She entered try-outs in August during the Jefferson County Fair to be a part of a horse and trick riding act for Claude Puckett. She was one of three girls selected to work with Puckett and his string of trained horses. So in August she packed her c lo th e s a n d m o v e d to Prineville. And her temporary home has been a tent along side the Crooked River. Her dream of being able to spend her waking hours with horses has been answered. Her day starts early as horses need to be fed and groomed early each day. Her afternoons are spent working out on the routines used in the act. An a fte rn o o n w o rk o u t session consists of getting the horses ready and into teams. Hot Dog is learning to handle a team of m atched horses harnessed to a chariot for racing. Being a light weight girl, with strong determina tion doesn't always mean she is able to fully control the team of horses, but her determination wins out. She is one of a team which Puckett is building for his horse act. He has the dream which he refers to as his “dream of colors.” He explains there are four colors of people in this world; red, black, yellow and white. He says this nation has been built by the four colors of the world and he intends to build his act around the four colors. Hot Dog will represent the color red, Terry Thompson white and Larie Adrain of Prineville is black. Puckett said he has been runner in the Executive Branch, outrunning other bureaucrats. unable to find a girl to represent the yellow people but he knows she is out there somewhere. Eventually he plans to build a team of young men who will also represent the colors of the world. Puckett said he has a dream that he figures is worth a million dollars once he can get all his horses and youngsters into what he calls a “shine.” “It is going to take two long years to get the entire act into shape, the point where they will all shine,” reflected Puckett as he watched the girls going through their rehearsal. Faces and Places, of KATU, Channel 2, will be in Prineville in November to tape Puckett and his group for a showing later in the year. Puckett said it is just one step toward his final goal. Hot Dog shares this dream with Puckett and the othei girls. She spends long hours with the horses and she knows the names of the 10 horses he uses in his Liberty Act of which she is a part. The Liberty Act is an act in which the horses are controlled by the sound of P u c k e tt’s voice and are unencumbered with any type of halters or reins. The group has already perform ed at the W asco C ounty F air earlier this summer. The team appeared at the Pendleton Round-U p, where the girls entered in the Chariot races. Puckett says he is on a long trail which he won’t be able to complete in a day but he feels he and the girls have the time and they are going to make it through th eir w ork and determination. He describes the life he and Hot Dog and the girls lead as an ordeal but in the truest sense they love every bit o f the h a rd w ork and ■eartbreak it will take for them to reach their ultimate goal.
