S pilyay T ymoo
November 21,1984
Page 3
Thousands attend Phoenix education conference
A n Oklahoma drum and gourd dancers entertained at the NIEA conference powwow. M any attended the powwow, some just to
watch, but m ost to dance.
by D onna Behrend
F o r som e, it m ay have been
the first tim e to be airbo rn e,
while others were seasoned tra
velers ab o ard the planes th a t
carry th o u san d s of passengers
cross co u n try daily. W hatever
the case, a delegation num b er
ing 14, left the early, w inter-like
w eather in W arm Springs and
h e a d e d fo r b a lm y P h o e n ix ,
A rizona fo r the nin th annual
N ational Indian Education Asso
ciation (NIEA) conference Novem
ber 7 th ro u g h 10. N early 3,000
educators, p arents students and
trib al leaders were expected to
attend.
Nine W arm Springs com m u
nity m em bers were nom inated
by T rib al C ouncil th ro u g h an
ad hoc com m ittee of the tribal
education com m ittee fo r natio n
al annual aw ards given by N IEA.
Lilly H eath, A ndrew D avid and
C aroline T ohet were nom inated
fo r S enior C itizen aw ards; Effie
C ulpus, Lloyd S m ith, Sr. and
Jo d y Calica were nom inated for
E ducator aw ards and P am Keo,
currently living in Syracuse, New
Y ork was n om inated fo r a S tu
d en t aw ard. A ndrew D avid, 83,
was selected by N IE A as S enior
C itizen of the Y ear and was
presented a plaque a t a ban q u et
on the second day o f the co n
ference;
C onference participants, who
cam e from across the co u n try
an d A laska, were offered 132
d iffe re n t w o rk sh o p s ran g in g
from Im p act aid, W here Is It,
W here is it going? an d Parent-:
ing an d E arly E d u catio n fo r
In d ian C hildren to W hat Every
T eacher T eaching In d ian C hil
d ren S hould K now an d the P o
w er o f a Positive Self Im age. It
was nearly im possible fo r dele
gates to atten d each of the w ork
shops b u t nearly all were offered
m ore th a n once. T here were
also w orkshops offered to stu
d ents a t different tim es th a t
ran g ed fro m im p ro v in g self
esteem and financial aid to career
choices.
In his rem ark s at th e opening
session of the conference, N IE A
president Jo h n T ippeconnic III
ex plained th a t N IE A has a 15-
m em ber b o ard of directors, five
o f w hom are students. Since
N IE A began in 1970, said T ip
peconnic, “it has m ade signifi
can t co n trib u tio n s to Indian ed
u catio n .”
K ey n o te sp e a k e r M e rto n
M cC luskey, currently D irector
o f In d ian E ducatio n P ro g ram s
o f the G reat Falls S c h o o lS y s-
tem in M o n tan a stated th a t the
conference them e “In d ian P o li
cies and Culture f o r ‘80s— Vision
fo r the 80s” “ m ay cause confu
sion. W hat occurred in the first
h alf o f the 80s m ay n o t com pare
to w hat will happen in the second
h a lf .” M cC lu sk ey co n tin u e d
saying th a t “th ere is no room
fo r politics” in In d ian educa
tio n . “ If people are really con
cerned, they should let politics
go by the wayside. The children
com e first.”
M cC luskey com m ented th at
ed ucation is being offered by
the current adm inistration. “C ut
backs will drastically affect the
program s. T here is little or no
com m itm ent to education of
th e young. In th e 1970 we were
finally given the o p p ortunity to
fo rm In d ia n e d u c a tio n p ro
gram s. I ’m n o t sure this will
co n tin u e.”
M cC luskey also stated th at
“very little addresses the cultu
ral problem s Indian children
have. If the trend continues, I
suppose we will have a confused
cadre o f school personnel. Chil
d ren will be m ore illequipped
fo r the future. T here’s a con
tinue ping-ponging in the'Indian
educational com m unity.”
H e a ls o sta te d th a t even
th o u g h “there is a general feel
ing of helplessness, there’s prob
ably m uch we can do. We can
m ake a difference at the polls.
M ake sure th ere’s no waste,
m ake do, an d prioritize, m ak
ing sure th a t education is a t the
to p .”
M cCluskey concluded-his re
m arks, saying, “share in the
ed u catio n p ro cess— work to
g ether.”
H ow ard R ainer, known for
his inspiratio n al presentations
to young people across the coun
try , presented workshops to stu
d en ts and adults dealing with
im proving self-esteem. He sug
gested th a t “there is a power in
the m ind— pow er to think, to
do an d to c reate.” He encour
aged the ad u lts to use their
m inds to th eir fullest extent.
“ Believe in yourself and in w hat
you can be. D are to be different.
“Also, act like y o u ’re som e
body. If you do, people will
treat you th a t w ay.” And if
people d o n ’t show w hat they
have to offer, oth ers will not
know th a t they have anything
to offer.
■
R ainer was also concerned
ab o u t the high d ro p o u t rate
am ong Indian students. “If 60 M iss Warm Springs Lena Ike met up with an Alaskan friend at the
percent to 65 percent of o u r ju n powwow.
io r high students are dropping
out, we’re losing o u r fu tu re.”
The an n u al aw ards b anquet
was very well attended. A bout
1,000 p eo p le a t $25 a h ead
crow ded into a room fo r the
prim e rib d in n er an d aw ards
presentations. Tickets were at a
prem ium and h ard to find. It
was a t this b anquet th a t A ndrew
D avid recieved his aw ard from
N IE A p re s id e n t J o h n T ip
peconnic. A ndrew was one of
m any to be n o m in ated fo r this
honor.
" Some W arm Springs residents
were a bit reluctant to leave the
70 plus degrees w eather in P h o
enix, anticipating snow and a
treacherous trip over M t. H ood
to home. The anxiety was unnec
essary.
SI
Photos by Donna Behrend
Lyda Scott, currently a student at Scottsdale Community College,
manned a booth at the exhibition hall during the NIEA conference.
Thousands of miles from home. . .
Keo living in Syracuse, N.Y.
by Donna Behrend
very busy schedule.
P am and a room m ate live in
a two bedroom apartm ent th a t’s
close to a bus line. P am travels
30 m inutes one-w ay to school
and work.
P am was recently nom inated
by the T ribes fo r the N ational
Indian E ducation A ssociation
student of the year aw ard and
attended the N IE A conference
in P hoenix, A rizona. A t that
meeting, students formed a Nation
al Indian S tudent A ssociation
and P am was nam ed to the
board of directors. Board m eet
ings will be conducted on the
telephone as board m em bers
are scattered across the United
States. Each board m em ber has
been assigned to check in to
schools with high Indian concen
trations.
P a m enjo y ed h e r tim e in
P hoenix, ‘‘It, was g reat” to see
everyone, she said. M ost of the
15 or so W arm Springs dele
gates d id n ’t recognize P am as
her looks have changed signifi
cantly. H er long hair has been
replaced w ith a chic short coif
and her dress is th a t of a city
dweller, som ewhat different than
W estern dress. H owever, th a t is
all th a t has changed. H er shy,
friendly m anner is still present
as are her quick smile and spar
kling eyes.
W h a t’s a nice girl like P am
Keo doing 3,000 miles away from
hom e in New Y ork State? She’s
living, w orking an d attending
school in Syracuse—a city two-
thirds the size o f P ortland.
Som e people m ay shake their
heads, unable to com prehend
the desire to live in a “concrete
ju n g le.” O thers who have tr a
veled to New Y ork know that
once out of the m ajor cities,
there are lush, beautiful forests
an d ro llin g hills, m u ch like
Oregon.
Pam is the 22-year-old dau gh
ter and one o f five children of
Levi and C rystal Keo w ho live
on the n orthend o f the reser
vation.
Pam graduated from M aupin
Third through eighth graders from Tucnospos Boarding School near Four Corners, Arizona, U nion High School in 1980. In
Jan u ary of th a t year, P am was
perform ed a traditional dance at the exhibition hall.
an A FS student an d lived in
H astings, New Z ealand for a
year. In the fall o f 1981, Pam
packed up bag and baggage
plus books and moved to S yra
cuse to atten d Syracuse U niver
sity.
P am attended SU for three
years studying policies studies,
which is a co m bination of polit
ical science an d research m et
hods. This course of study is
recom m ended by school coun
selors for pre-laW students. P am
felt “b urned o u t” and th a t she
“needed a b reak ” from her heavy
class load, which ranged from
L5 to 18 hours per term and
from w orking p art-tim e for de
fense co ntracts, a federal p ro
gram , 20 to 25 hours per week.
P am is enrolled at C entral
City Business In stitu te and is
w orking tow ards an accounting
business ad m in istratio n degree.
She also w orks full tim e for a
law firm doing w ord process
ing. W orking everyday and attend
ing school three nights a week, Pam Keo, nominated as Student o f the Year, is living and
attending school in Syracuse, New York.
A worship dance perform ed by these young people was enjoyed by those attending the powwow. five h o u rs per night m ake fo r a