2 January 2, 1997
Warm Springs. Oregon
Spilyay Tymoo
Flute music enhances life for Littleleaf Head lice: "Some things shouldn't be shared"
4
vB. v it
Charles Littleleaf during a performance at Kah-Nee-Ta Resort
by Bob Medina
Tribal member Charles Littleleaf
has been playing the flute for the past
four years. On his newest tape,
"Whispers of Earth Medicine",
Charles expresses this statement,
"One day I heard some beautiful
music. It was the flute music of R.
Carlos Nakai. Mr. Nakai guided me
through the beginning of the flute
world. I am greatly indebted to you,"
writes Charles. "R.C., you have been
a great teacher."
That was over 10 years ago, dur
ing his drinking days, says Charles.
"I was hitting rock bottom from
drinking every day. That's when I
first heard the flute music of R. Carlos
Nakai. From that day on my life
began to change. 1 bought one of R.
Carlos Nakai 's flute music tapes, a
small portable tape player and every
day, everywhere I went, I would lis
ten to his flute music. I would return
to my hangouts, but things seemed
different. I wouldn't go inside the
bars, I would just go past them listen
ing to the beautiful flute music. In
1986 1 wrote R. Carlos Nakai a letter
explaining how he and his music had
changed my life. After receiving my
letter, Mr. Nakai invited me to a
week- long flute workshop in the
Southwest area. There, R. Carlos
Nakai, who was so touched by my
letter to him, presented me with one
of his beautiful flutes," says Charles.
"I have been sober for the past 10
years and loving every day of it.
Thanks to friends like R. Carlos
Nakai, Sky Walking Stick Man
Alone for presenting mc (Charles)
with his Kokopclli flute. You arc a
true cider and teacher of the old
ways. I am honored to be your
friend," says Charles of Sky Walk
ing Slick Man Alone. Charles also
thanks Scott Loomis, for gifting him
with a new flute and for having
"confidence in my potential as a flute
player."
Wind Song Flutes have been a
blessing in the creation of Charles
first recorded tape. Not reading or
writing music, Charles plays from
the heart and soul. Charles has al
ways been a lone warrior, spending
most of his free lime in the wilder
ness among the things closest to his
heart: the mountains, trees, water,
rocks and animals.
Charles is a traditional dancer who
"dances in prayer to the heartbeat of
Mother Earth. ...He dances for all
people just as his father did. Jack
Littleleaf, father to Charles, was
Pagcan Blackfoot and a champion
traditional dancer. He lived his en
tire life in Brocket, Alberta, Canada.
"Fifty years ago my father came to
Cclilo Falls, that's where he met my
mother Lolita Greeley," says
Charles. Lolita Greeley, a Warm
Springs tribal member, came from a
long line of medicine people. "I have
two brothers, Oliver and Tony Kirk
and two sisters, Olivia and Roberta
Kirk, who live in Warm Springs,"
says Charles. I'm presently living in
the Portland area with my fiancee,
Vicki. I have 5 kids Elk, Ohi and
Raina who live in Washington and
LeaSally and Isis Rose who live in
Portland. Some time in 1997, I have
a new CD release coming out and a
possible chance to appcaron the Rosic
O'Donncll show. "That's still up in
the air but it's a big maybe," says
Charles. Anything is possible.
"I would like to encourage the
young people to pick up their tradi
tionalways. It doesn't have to be by
playing a flute. It could be a drum,
traditional dancing, bcadwork or
something that will keep them busy.
"I drank 27 years of my life and
never accomplished anything," says
Charles. "I've been sober for the past
ten years and have seen clearly what
Infestations of head lice can
happen to anyone. It is especially
common among preschool and
elementary school children. A single
child with head lice can easily spread
it among playmates and class mates.
What are head lice?
Head lice arc wingless insects
about the size of a sesame seed. They
lay eggs (called nits) in clumps that
attach to hair shafts so strongly that
ordinary hair washing will not
dislodge them. Head lice arc found
on the scalp, especially around the
cars and back of the neck. If not
treated, after 7-1 0 days the nits hatch
and new lice mature and mate and
start the cycle of infestation over.
How docs head lice spread?
Head lice arc not found on animals,
such as dogs and cats. They only live
on people. They cannot jump. Instead,
they crawl or grasp a hair shaft and
pull themselves onto it. They spread
directly from person to person or
indirectly by sharing combs, brushes,
hats, head bands and other personal
items. They can also spread from
such things as car scats and head
rests, upholstered furniture and
pillows.
What should I do?
If one person has head lice
everyone in the house should be
checked. Successful treatment
depends on carefully following
instructions and having the time and
patience to remove all the nits.
Step by step process
1 . Before starting treatment, wash
hair with a shampoo that contains no
conditioner. This will strip the hair
of oils and residues of hair spray and
mousse.
2. Apply a special shampoo or
rinse made to kill head lice, either
prescription or non-prescription.
Apply exactly according to package
instructions.
3. After treatment, remove all nits
with a specially made fine tooth
comb, tweezers, or your fingernails.
Use natural light. A magnifying glass
may be helpful.
4. Check the scalp and hair daily
for the next 7-1 0 days. Use a second
application of the lice treatment if
new nits or newly hatched lice are
found.
5. Vacuum al! carpets, upholstered
furniture, scats and head rests in the
car, mattresses and stuffed animals.
6. Wash all recently worn clothing,
towels, sheets and linens in hot, soapy
water and dry in hot dryer for at least
20 minutes or hang in full sun all day.
Rcinfcstations will recur as long
as head lice remain untreated. It is
important to notify everyone your
child has had close contact with, and
educate your children not to share
combs, caps and other personal items,
and take the time to treat your child
promptly and exactly according to
instructions. Head lice can happen to
anyone.
Happy New Year from Spilyay Tymoo
Drive safely.
'97 rings in Comprehensive Plan update
You are probably aware that
efforts have begun to dust off the
1983 Comprehensive Plan and update
it to meet our changing world.
Jolcne Estimo-Atencio, from the
tribal Planning office, is charged with
the responsibility of laying out the
pieces and coordinating efforts from
within the tribal organization and
making sure that the community has
a voice in the process.
A Process Team functions as
technical support to the Land Use
Planning Committee, which in turn,
is responsible for assuring
community participation.
The Joint-Committees are a part
of the planning process, with the
Land Use Planning Committee taking
the lead. The Public Relations Team
offers support through the Spilyay
Tymoo, KWSO radio, and the Public
Relations Office, assuring that
community members are informed.
Nineteen ninety six has been
devoted to establishing the planning
teams for this project which will be
completed in March of 1998. Jolene
says, "It has been a major step in
getting the commitment from all the
teams, Management, and Tribal
Council." A Comprehensive Plan
Fair has been tentatively scheduled
for late January or early February.
Community members can meet the
Planning Teams, look at what they
are working on and give them ideas
on the process being developed. The
Planning Teams are not ready to do
their formal presentations, but look
forward to talking to those interest in
Tribal Government, Education,
Economic Development, Human
Services, Natural Resources, Public
Utilities, Public Safety, and the
Courts. Another important event in
January will be the first of a series of
meetings to discuss values,
particularly cultural values of the
community and tribal organization.
That meeting will be held in Portland
on January 7. Community groups or
members interested in
Comprehensive Plan orientations can
contact Jolene in the Planning
Department.
I ve missed. ianuuserianningvommiueeiaKing uniiiepiucessueingueveiopeu. me
"Families are not the enemies,. ..let us know your needs," says LoneWolf
Wauneta Lone Wolf, an the Western states and into Florida. I go I have to start from the bottom, but
educational, spiritual and
motivational seminar speaker, came
to Warm Springs to speak about Gang
Awareness, December 16 to 18, at
the Agency Longhouse. Lone Wolf,
is a OglallaSioux from Pine Ridge
South Dakota. Lone Wolf has been
living in Phoenix for the past 1 4 years.
Lone Wolf stated, "I started
working with high risk youth in 1989,
the problems we dealt with were
pregnancy, juvenile delinquency and
tutoring in schools. I held a full-time
job until last May, when I started to
work only on gang issues. I like to get
people knowledge about gangs. I
work with youth ages from 14 to 26,
I feel that they have great influence
on the younger kids and if I can reach
those kids that are older it might help
the smaller kids stay out of the gangs.
I am working on a new program
called, From Hoods to Warriors in
the Woods, where gang members will
get a chance to camp out in the woods
for two weeks. We are looking for
funding to help this program get
started, I already have sights picked
out."
"My work has taken me all over
just came from from Alaska and plan
to go back to south Dakota.
I am starting a program in a village
at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It
will be a six month contract were I
will set up a curriculum for youth
kindergarten to the twelfth grade. I
am really looking forward to this
program."
Lone Wolf advice to the parents is
"regain control of their homes, install
discipline that creates a routine and
maintain the discipline. Develop a
way to talk to their kids and don't be
judgmental. Build trust and learn the
kids outside the family friends. Get
involved with the youth. Let them
know you care."
"For the youth I would like to tell
them that families are not the enemies
and the community is also there for
them. That the youth have to put their
differences aside. I would encourage
them to tell us(adult community
members) what their needs are so we
can help them to reach their goals."
"Warm Springs is a very nice place
that has concerned tribal members
and youth who show promising
leadership qualities. Some places I
go I have to start from the bottom, but
here there seems to be so much
community support. Warm Springs
has set a good foundation for the
youth gang awareness and I plan to
keep coming back to see how the
program is going."
"I go back to every community 1
have spoken at. I don't just want to
put a bandaid on the wound and leave
so I go back about six months later to
see how things are going."
Lone Wolf has many threatening
calls from gang leaders because I
was taking away the youth and
jeopardizing their money-making
schemes. The larger gangs make
money by invading a place and using
the youth to sell their drugs. The
gang tells the kids we are your family
that we will take care you. I have no'
fear because if it is my time then it is
my time. The Creator will watch over
me and guide me.
"I would like to thank the
community of Warm Springs for the
opportunity to speak here. I am glad
that I got to know the youth here they
are special. I would also like to thank
everyone who helped out and all the
youth that participated."
m,
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' i "'. - -TV- v v . vs & -
LoneWolf poses with youth at Kah Nee Ta Lodge
Books need to be returned Return to tradition may help substance abusers
The Small Business Development
Center has a concern to assist all
community members with their li
brary services, these books contain
information for all individuals to uti
lize to their full potential. The Small
Business Center would greatly ap
preciate the return of it's property
books, so that other peopleparties
could have an equal chance at view
ing Entrepreneur criteria from the
Small Business Development Cen
ter library.
If there's books being used on a
daily basis by certain individuals,
you are entitled to re-checkcontinue
further use if preferable.
The growing number of Native
American Entrepreneurs are count
ing on you.
To reply on this subjectissue:
Warm Springs Small Business
Development Center
2107 Wasco Street
PO Box 945
Warm Springs, OR 97761
(541) 553-3592 553-3593 (fax)
Spilyay Tymoo
Sid Miller
Donna Behrend
Selena T. Boise
Bob Medina
Dan Lawrence
Publisher:
Editor:
ReporterPhotographer:
ReporterPhotographer:
ReporterPhotographer:
Secretary: TinaAguilar
Founded in March 1976
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-wcekly by the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs. Our offices are located in the
basement of the Old Girl's Dorm at 1 1 15 Wasco Street. Any
written materials to Spilyay Tymoo should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR 97761
(54 1 ) 553-1 644 or 553-3274 - FAX NO. (54 1 ) 553-3539
Annual Subscription Rates:
Within U.S. - $9.00 Outside U.S. - $15.00
Spilyay Tymoo 1996
GALLUP, N.M. (AP) Before
Tony Shirley left for Vietnam in 1 968,
his uncle blessed him with the Shield
Prayer, one of many ceremonies of
the Navajo performed to keep
themselves, their people, theirculture
in balance.
It worked, Shirley says. He
survived 14 months of war.
"My relatives prayed for my safe
return. That's why I came back in
one piece," says the 47-year-old,
raised near Window Rock, Ariz., 30
miles northwest of Gallup.
"My fellow comrades didn ' t come
back," he said, "or they didn't come
back with arms and legs."
Twenty-eight years later, Shirley
is still alive just barely. Bottles line
up every day and night to kill him,
but he's dodged them as successfully
as a soldier outwitting a minefield.
Still, alcohol destroyed Shirley's
two marriages, his career as a Navajo
police officer and his relationship
with his 23-year-old son. It has kept
him a prisoner of despair and
isolation.
To get well, he says, he needs his
people's prayers again.
Nothing else has worked. Not 30
day treatment programs. Not
returning to the reservation. Not
shuttling in and out of Na'Nizhoozhi,
Gallup's Alcohol Crisis Center,
where he has landed hundreds of
times since it opened in 1992.
Gallup's Na'Nizhoozhi Center is
offering something different yet
familiar com pollen and prayers,
drumming and songs, fire and sweats.
In its new ceremonial outdoor yard,
hogans, sweat lodges and a stark
white teepee rise like a church steeple
from the dirt, mud and stiff sagebrush.
"Most everyone says this should
have been done long ago, says
Matthew Kelley, clinic director.
"This is not a move backward to
tradition. We're not saying go out
and herd sheep. We're saying when
you go back to your office, to your
computer screen, keep some
powerful ancient strength within
you."
What's happening at
Na'Nizhoozhi Center may be the
largest and most organized attempt
in the country to attack alcoholism
with a combination of ancient
techniques, modern research, eagle
feathers and isolation rooms.
For two weeks, Shirley
participated in the center's traditional
healing program, called Hiina'a'h
Bits'os Society, Eagle Plume
Society.
He sat on a mat in the hogan with
five other men, two women and two
counselors carefully cutting white
leather to make tiny pouches for corn
pollen.
A fire burns in the center of the
hogan, in the style of barrels that are
makeshift stoves in Navajo homes.
Coffee boils atop it in achaned kettle.
The fire's heat rises up a black
stovepipe that juts through the
hogan's only opening to the sky.
As clients help one another thread
needles and stitch miniature seams
in pieces of leather, Anderson Hoskie
stands in front of them, drawing a
picture of corn with a blue marker on
a portable easel.
"Let me tell you a story about the
corn pollen," Hoskie says in Navajo
that he instantly translates into
English. "You guys probably know
corn pollen comes from corn. When
you keep corn pollen with you. it s
sort of like a contract to keep you on
track with your life. It's an offering,
a commitment.
"It's like telling it, 'I'll exchange
the negative side of me for the
positive side and I want you to help
me.'"
Hoskie gestures with his hand to
his heart and head, imitating the
sprinkling of corn pollen usually done
in the reflective, quiet hours before
dawn.
"It's to keep you informed that
there is a good life for you up ahead,"
he says, reaching into his pocket to
reveal his corn pouch, beaded with a
tiny yellow and green corn stalk.
Shirley and the others
occasionally nod, some quietly say
"aoo," meaning "yes" in Navajo, as
their patches of soft leather slowly
turn into thumb-sized pouches.
Drawstrings are measured and cut.
"I tell the clients you need to
remember your grandma's
teachings," Hc-.kie says after the
morning session.
"If she taught you these things,
how far have ynu strayed from them?
To the edge vi ':,c canyon?"
He pulls out a lined notebook
where he's sketched out the sides of
life as his sees them male and
female, money and death, represented
by a thick black line.
"This black line turns into a huge
barrier when people are drinking,"
Hoskie says. "They see it as, 'The
whole world hates me, everybody's
against me.' A lot of these people
say, 'The reason I drink is because I
have a pain.' Then, they ask, 'Would
you pray for me at least this one time
and I'll be cured?'
"But that's not how it works. You
have to learn w hat life is about before
living it. I tell them the mind and
heart work together. I tell my clients,
life is a religion. You need to practice
it."
Despite eight years of sincere
efforts by Gallup' s citizens to address
a legendary street-drunk problem,
Na'Nizhoozhi Center never wants
forclients. On an average weeknight,
40 to 90 men and five to 20 women
sleep there, more on weekends.
The clients are there under
protective custody laws that allow
Gallup to pick up street inebriates
and bring them to the center for one
to three-day involuntary stays.
Families can hold relatives under an
emergency five-day commitment. If
clients choose to cook and clean in
the center, they can stay for weeks.
The center does not provide long
term treatment, only shelter, safety,
food, encouragement and help to get
into recovery programs that usually
have months-long waiting lists.
Every day, counselors watch as
familiar charges move through the
motions of sleeping it off, eating
three times a day, showering, playing
bingo, watching movie videos,
attending AA meetings and mulling
over staying sober.
But there is some progress, and all
that can be done is to keep trying,
clinic workers say.
"To do nothing is more dangerous
than to take risks," says Kelley. "We
used to lose 1 2 clients a month to the
streets of Gallup to exposure and
vehicle accidents and alcohol
poisoning.
"And we're still losing three or
four clients a month. So if we continue
to do nothing, w e know three or four
will die every month.
Continued on page 8