Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1997)
8 September 25. 1997 Warm Springs, Oregon SpilyayTymoo 1983 Comprehensive Plan Update for Human Services The Human Services mission is "lo provide services thai promote self-determination which addresses community health, social and wellness issues by building on the innate strengths ol the individual and family." The brunch's ureas of responsi bility consist of the Community Counseling Center, Children's Protective Services, Community Health Kducution, Community Health Services, Social Services and Senior Services. Falling under the Community Counseling Center arc the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program, Mental Health. Children's Mental Heath Alcohol and Drug Program and Fmergency Crisis Coverage. Under Children s Protective Services fall foster care, CPS center and Indian Child Welfare. Community Health Hducation covers alcohol and drug prevention, health education and health promotion. Community Health Services consists of Community Health Representatives, Maternal Child Health, Women, Infants and Children, home health, physical therapy, Healthy Kids and Commu nity wellness Center. Food com modities, disabilities coordination, vocational rehabilitation und tribal welfare fall under Social Services and home care, senior advocates and meals program arc covered by Se nior Services. 1983 Comprehensive Plan Update 1983 Goals: 1. Employ more tribal members in service delivery. Accomplishment: Tribal members continue to repre sent the largest percentage of branch employees. Tribal Member Prefer ence will ensure continued growth and opportunities for members. Met goal. 2. Emphasize self-care and nutri tion while improving health promo tion. Accomplishment: Prevention became the focus of tribal strategy in 1987. Additional grants were ob tained from IHS and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support pre vention activities. Integrated Com munity Health Promotion with Com munity Health Education while implementing various exercise pro grams, opportunities and physical therapy. Shifted Health Education away from planning to active partici pation in community health educa tion activities. Met goal. 3. Provide health insurance pro grams to cover costs of services not provided by IHS. Accomplishment: Confederated Tribes secured IHS funding for residential "Demonstra tion Project" and later appropriated tribal general funds to continue to support in-patient treatment. Met goal. 4. Increase confidentiality for cli ents. Accomplishment: Developed comprehensive "Policies and Proce dures" for branch programs, conse quently all are in full compliance with confidentiality laws. Met goal. 5. Determine the nature and ex tent of the alcoholism, mental health and child welfare problems. Accom plishment: Continued increase in the number of individual choosing substance-free life styles, reduction in infant mortality, Fetal Alcohol Syn drome births and out of home place ments for children. While these are positive numbers, they pale against the increasing number of youth start ing to experiment with alcohol and drugs. Met goal. 6. Evaluate effectiveness of exist ing alcohol treatment program, whi le emphasizing prevention activities. Accomplishment: Recovery House closed, focus shifted to purchasing in-patient treatment off the reserva tion while increasing out-patient services. Met goal. 7. Evaluate the structure of exist ing tribal health and social services. Accomplishment: Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, social services have been reshaped and aligned to better meet the needs of the community. Improved interpersonal skills by staff helped form an improved relation ship with the community. Met goal. 8. Provide additional health ser vices in the area of dental, optom etry, audiology and 24-hour emer gency care. Accomplishment: Healthy Kids Program initiated to ensure full medical coverage for youth. Met goal, within limits of Confederated Tribes. 9. Provide adequate housing for health professionals. Accomplish ment: No tribal housing initiative. Did not meet goal. 10. Provide part-time traditional medicine person for those who de sire to combine traditional with western medicine. Accomplishment: Position function maintained by Community Counseling Center. Function deleted during last year's budget reductions and shifted to community resources. Met goal. 11. Provide cultural awareness programs for health and social ser vices staff. Accomplishment: Branch administrative management have progressively improved staffs sen sitivity to client needs. Progress to ward goal need continued focus. 12. Centralize client records sys tem for all human services programs. Accomplishment: Attempted to ac complish this, fell short due to sig nificant barriers. Did not meet goal. 13. Provide a regularly updated health resource guide. Accomplish ment: None. Did not meet goal. 14. Examine the psychological dependency of tribal members of the tribes and federal governments. Ac complishment: None. Did not meet goal. 15. Provide for in-home family counseling system. Accomplishment: Limited out-patient counseling ser vices provided by Community Counseling since late 1980s. Met goal. 16. Provide for inter-community programs aimed at reducing preju dice and racism. Accomplishment: None. Did not meet goal. 1 7. Evaluate the feasibility of tribal operation of all health programs on the reservation. Accomplishment: Feasibility study completed, Tribal Council votes against contracting all health programs under the Indian Self-Determination Act. Met goal. VISION AND GOALS WORKSHEET: Human Services- PROUDS Things you are proud of that the Tribes have accomplished since 1983 Select two or more Areas of Responsibility Community Counseling Children's Protective Services Community Health Education Community Health Services Social Services Senior Services Based on our PROUDS, what are some of the strengths of our community SORRIES things you are not proud of NOW- what you see happening now in this area FUTURE- what would the ideal future look like in 20 years Based on our Community Strengths, and looking at each Area of Responsibility, what will we need to do to reach the community vision L Using your ideas from your ideal future, write down some key words, phrases or ideas for a Draft vision statement Across the Wire- Tribe fears losing huckleberry fields PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) While huck leberries still flourish in the Oregon Cascades, the acreage is dwindling, and some Indians fear they soon may go the way of the salmon. Louis Pitt Jr., 49, director of government affairs for the Warm Springs tribe, remem bers his mother gathering the berries on mountain slopes. "She used to pick berries upon berries," he said. "It was like medicine to her." But Pitt and others worry that increasing population, mechanical and recreational pickers and some forest management prac tices could threaten the remaining fields of the wild fruit, to which the Warm Springs have rights under an 1855 treaty. The Warm Springs have an agreement with the Mount Hood National Forest to seek ways to enhance the huckleberry habitat through controlled burns or selective cutting while still managing the forest. Judith R. Vergun, a professor of oceanic and atmospheric science at Oregon State University, has been working for years with the tribe, federal forest researchers and man agers and others to get a handle on how many huckleberries are left and how best to man age them. They want to know what the area was like in the early 1800s when tribes burned huckleberry fields to remove growth that choked off needed sunlight from the berry bushes. She figures that today there are at least 1 million acres of berries in the Cascades. "As far as I can tell the huckleberry supply has been dwindling," she said. The overall number of plants and pro ductive fields has diminished greatly, she said. She sees huckleberries as an indicator species as well, one which can help determine whether an overall forest is healthy. The treaty gave the Warm Springs tribal members exclusive rights to the berries on their 640,000-acre reservation. On the 10 million ceded acres around it they share the rights with others including commercial harvesters. The treaty also gives the Indians rights to elk, deer and roots to maintain their culture and tribal traditions. Many tribal members consider huckle berries even today a sacred food along with the salmon and other things found in the wild. They are a part of weddings, funerals and other religious celebrations throughout the year. Some families still camp in the foothills, usually above 4,000 feet, each summer be ginning in about August to harvest the ber ries. Because their commercial value is mini mal the berries are not endangered yet and that's the way tribal elder Bernice Mitchell and her cousin Adeline Miller would like to keep it. "That's what our people reserved." she said, referring to the treaty. "It's our sacred food." Some of the berries are smoked or dried to last through the winter. "People never had arthritis, never had sugar diabetes, never had cancer, hardly never had TB," Bernice Mitchell said. Until we started eating the treated foods." Adeline Miller added. Researcher asks Corp to allow scientists to study Navs wa9e uPhil1 batUe t0 keeP out of S311- t SALT RIVF.R INDIAN RFSFRVA- rurvlinn't Facf SiH Trine Rnllinc Thir. "This w bones of Kennewick Man KENNEWICK. Wash. (AP)-A medical researcher is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow scientists to study the bones of Kennewick Man for clues about why diabetes afflicts so many Indians. He's backed by a Hollywood, Calif., man Harold K. Lindsay who says he's the great-great-grandson of the famous Nez Perce Indian Chief Joseph. Lindsay contends the bones could contain answers about the killer disease, and he is hoping to rally Indians who don't agree with official tribal positions against more study of the bones. The bones of Kennewick Man were found in July 1996 along the Columbia River, and were carbon-dated at about 9,200 years old. They have sparked controversy because some scientists contend they appear to have caucasoid features. The Army Corps is charged with deter mining the future of the bones. Fearing the agency would give the bones to Indian tribes for immediate reburial, eight prominent scientists sued for the right to study the remains. The next hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Oct. 1 in federal court in Portland, Ore. Recent letters reveal fresh perspectives in a debate that has focused largely on in vestigating which peoples came to North America first. Kaiser Permanente researcher Michael Wendorf told the corps in his Sept. 9 letter that studying prehistoric people could reveal why the Indian mortality rate for diabetes related illnesses is four times the rate for whites. By studying Kennewick Man's diet and lifestyle, Wendorf says it may be possible to locate a cure. He thinks it's possible modern food-processing techniques remove some critical nutrient that was once part of the American Indian diet. "Successful research results could im prove the life expectancy and quality of life of millions of Americans," Wendorf wrote. The letter from Lindsay, a 62-year-old auctioneer, isn't likely to carry much weight with the corps. "It's a personal opinion, and our response is to deal with the official claims presented under the law," said corps spokesman Dutch Meier. Lindsay's letter is just one of hundreds the corps has received since the bones were found, Meier said. Lindsay, who says his American Indian name is Chief Joseph Whitewolf, is one of the first American Indians to differ publicly with tribal leaders, who have long said anything but reburial of the remains is desecration. "My heart and soul are with the Native Americans," Lindsay said. "However, I think it would be a great loss to all mankind if the remains of Kennewick Man ... were buried without scientific study of DNA and all medi cal, genealogical and anthropological tests that could be done to help improve the health and knowledge of all." Tribal leaders say federal law gives them ownership of the bones. But the scientists who are suing to study the bones say it may not be possible to link the 9,200-year-old bones to a present-day race or tribe. Miners tell of illnesses since uranium work SHIPROCK (AP) Former uranium miners told a crowded room of 300 people about illnesses they have suffered since working in radioactive dust during the Cold War. "Last week, I buried my husband," Bar bara Cummins began Thursday in the Shiprock Chapter House at the Uranium Radiation Victims Conference. Cyril Cummins, of Farmington died at 77 of renal cell cancer. But he had battled chronic obstructive lung disease for years. "All the years Cyril worked in uranium mills, his handkerchiefs were always stained yellow from mucus he blew out of his nose," his wife said. "I have many questions with no answers." One of her worries is that the radioactive dust she shook from his work clothes on laundry days caused her children's digestive disorders and asthma problems. Cummins, known on the job as Crisco, was an Anglo who worked the Shiprock uranium mill between 1963 and 1973. He also worked in a Durango mill. The Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee of the Four Corners region spon sored the hearing. The Department of Justice reports that of the claims filed by living Navajo uranium miners. 1 69 were approved, 1 64 were denied, and 19 are pending. The Senate has approved funding for urgent medical diagnosing of Indians who were exposed to radiation when mining ura nium for the U.S. government. Senators on Thursday accepted the provi sion for inclusion in the 1998 Interior spend ing bill. The measure offered by Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Pete Domenici, R N.M., would provide $200,000 for the pro gram. "We can't ignore any longer what is an urgent health problem among many Navajo miners and millers in New Mexico and the Southwest," Bingaman said. Bingaman said uranium workers suffer ing from radiation exposure only have the services of a single Indian Health Service physician and that doctor is only available weekly. He said there is currently a six-month wait to get an appointment for limited critical care services. The bill would create a full diagnostic program offering lab tests. X-rays, CT scans and lung tests to accurately document dis eases linked to radiation exposure, both senators said. SALT RIVER INDIAN RESERVA TION, Ariz. (AP) Meldon Fulwilder says he tries to help young Pima Indians stay off the street gang path by encouraging them to practice their traditional culture. It's an uphill battle. Just this month, his nephew and another young man were shot and killed by an ice ; cream truck driver on the nearby Gila River reservation in what police said was an at tempted robbery. Last year, another nephew was stabbed to death on the Salt River reser vation. "My sisters wanted me to talk to the young people about gangs," Fulwilder says. "I tell them if they're strong enough and brave enough to stand up to the whites, they should be strong enough and brave enough to walk away from the gangs." The reservation, which is sandwiched between the Phoenix suburbs of Scottsdale and Mesa, has been at the forefront of a disturbing trend: The expansion of street gangs from cities to American Indian reser vations. The number of Indian gangs has more than doubled since 1994, federal law en forcement officials told a U.S. Senate hear ing Wednesday. And violent crime has come with it. This year, five members of the reservation's East Side Crips Rolling Thir ties gang were convicted of murder and other offenses under a federal organized-crime law. The tribal gang boom is straining already scarce resources and threatens to overwhelm tribal police and courts and the problem is particularly acute in Arizona. Nineteen gangs are operating at Salt River. Officials at the Gila River reservation, south of Phoenix, say 20 gangs operate there. The Navajo Nation, which sprawls across remote areas of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, reports on the existence of at least 55 gangs. One Navajo housing development is nicknamed "Beirut" because of all the gang-related violence there. At Gila River, a 32-bed juvenile jail is sometimes crowded to more than three times its capacity, said Laura Yergan, who man ages the lockup run by the Gila River Pima Maricopa tribe. So the Gila River tribe is building a 1 12 -bed juvenile jail. "But we're not just building detention beds," Yergan said. "We're also balancing that with prevention, early intervention and alternatives to detention like group homes, boot camps." Salt River tribal officials saw gangs booming and formed a gang-fighting task force in 1 994, said Sgt. Karl Auerbach of the Salt River tribal police. 'This was not something which was ig nored or put on the back burner," Auerbach said. "The problem was identified and pro grams were implemented immediately." Navajo Nation President Albert Hale estimates the tribe has one officer for every 1 ,000 people patrolling a reservation the size of West Virginia. A study found Navajo gang members aren't afraid of getting caught, David Nez of the tribe's police department said at the Senate hearing. "Now, only a few gang members get in trouble with the law because the Navajo Nation lacks the capacity to get them in trouble," Nez said. Indian youths join gangs for many of the same reasons others do to gain a sense of belonging, for excitement, for profit. Then there are the problems unique to Indian country unemployment rates 50 percent and higher, a huge youth population and the slipping away of tribal languages, traditions and cultures. "We're having a cultural identity crisis because families aren't teaching them (chil dren) the traditional ways," Fulwilder says. "Now they're influenced from the outside, joining gangs that are already there. I tell them, 'This is not who we are.'" Blackwolf 9th Annual Prevention 6 Foot & Under Plus 1 Basketball Tournament November 1 4, 1 5 and 1 6, 1 997 Warm Springs Community Center Entry Fee: $275 16 teams Host Team: Northwest Chiefs All other teams pay entry fee (no exceptions) $100 deposit (non-refundable) required as soon as possible to guarantee team slot. Balance due by first game played (no exceptions) 1st to 6th Place Awards; All-Star Awards; Mr. Hustle, Mr. Rebound, Top Gun, High Scorer, Most 3-Point jackets; MVP Pendleton Jacket; many other wards For more information contact: FosterJ'Dean Kalama PO Box 623 Warm Springs, OR 97761 (541 ) 553-1 392 TinaEaston Aguilar Po Box 934 Warm Springs, OR 97761 (541) 553-1960, home or 553-3274, work This is an alcohol and drug free event Not responsible for accidents, injuries andor theft A