8 November 4, 1999
Warm Springs, Oregon
SpilyayTymoo,
Oregon Indian Education Association Conference, Celebrates Elders and Youth
By Lenora Starr
The Oregon Indian Education
Association sponsored a confer
ence for the youth at the Kah-nee-ta
Resort in Warm Springs Oregon
October 28, 29, and 30 1999.
A dinner prepared by the youth
members of the Simnasho Winter
Nite Club commenced the
weekend's activities. Special
guests, Wilfred Jim, Sr. and Jeri
Jim were honored as OIEA's El
ders of the Year at the youth pow
wow arid dinner. Following the
dinner a honor dance and give-,
away for the Elders of the Year
was sponsored by the Warm
Springs Education Department.
Dancers participated in an Owl
Dance, Rabbit Dance, Eel Dance,
and other social dunces. Miss In
dian World, Mitzi Tolino and Miss
Warm Springs, Rebecca Soliz also
made an appearance.
Following the general assembly
on Friday, students disassembled to
attend various workshops on youth
suicide prevention, drug & alcohol
prevention, and gain information
about scholarships and attending
college. Miss Indian World also
made a presentation titled "An In
dian World View."
Representatives from Oregon
Slate University and the University
of Oregon and other colleges was
on hand to exchange information
with the student participants.
Charlotte Herkshan of Commu
nity Counseling presented a work
shop on Grief Recovery along with
Hcrshal Gorham, a Jicarilla Apache.
Other health issues were presented
Friday.
In the afternoon on Saturday and
Sunday, Cultural Education and
Physical Education was the focus of
the workshops. Students were pre
sented opportunities to learn how to
weave yarn baskets, dream catchers
and sew Pendleton key chain moc
casins. Charlie Tailfcathcrs, Warm
Springs Deputy Prosecutor AKA
traditional dancer, made a presenta
tion on what is takes to be a tradi
tional or fancy dancer. He also ex
plained the Hoop and Eagle dances.
Golfing, swimming, basketball
and tac bo were some of the physical
activities students participated.
Students also had a chance to
display their talents in a Star Search
Talent Show which featured Nation
ally Recognized Comedian, Amanda
Old Crow. Old Crow, a motiva
tional speaker, Comedian, actress is
from the Crow Agency in Montana.
She addresses very serious issues
using "Indian" humor to convey her
message. In her comedy skits she
portrays a character named
"Gohmaaz," which means poor,
pitiful one in her native Crow lan
guage. She shed light on drug and
alcohol issues, promiscuity and the
need for higher education. Crow went
on to be the Master of Ceremonies
for the talent show.'
Saturday's events began with the
Invocation given by Mitzi Tolino,
Miss Indian World. The remainder
of the day was filled with workshops
regarding school issues in Warm
Springs, Leadership, Grief recov
ery, Languages, and information on
the Native American Teacher Edu
cation Program. More cultural and
physical education was conducted
later in the afternoon.
Mizti Tolino and Rebecca Soliz
offered a workshop for prospective
Pageant Candidates. Tolino ex
pressed her personal feelings of how
it was to win the title of Miss Indian
World. She competed with 19 other
contestants from the United States
and Canada with her poise, commu
nication skills and her rendition of
the Apache Rainbow dance. She is
the first ApacheNavajo woman to
receive the Miss Indian World Title.
Tolino says "The gift is to meet
people and showing how proud of
who you are. Traveling all over the
world is another gift." Her advise to
the girls was "to always have adream
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and to smile a lot. Getting along
with people and smiling even when
you're unsure of yourself will get
you points."
Soliz encouraged the girls to
prepare themselves and set goals
for themselves. She offered to make
herself available to them if they
wished to pursue titles. Soliz men
tioned the various titles for Native
American young women. Miss Teen
Indian World, Miss Indian U.S.A.,
and Miss National Congress of
American Indians. Soliz advised
the girls to not limit themselves to
those titles but relayed that there is
a NInfiv unmnn fmm $mtfh Ha.
kota competing in the Miss U.S.A.
pageant.
Tnc conference ended with a
Halloween dance.
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Miss Warm Springs, Rebecca Soliz and Miss Indian World offer information to young ladies on how to prepare for a
pageant while hoping to recruit some of them to compete for their titles
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Miss Indian World, Mitzi Tolino shares a moment with Elder of
the Year, Jeri Jim during the OIEA pow-wow
Amanda Old Crow, comedian from Montana flirts during one of
her comical skits for the OIEA talent show
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Shamona Charley portrays an old lady during a
jazzy comedy skit for the OIEA talent show.
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Jim's Honored As 1999 Elders of the Year for Oregon Indian Education Association
By Lenora Starr
Humble. Humble is a word that
could be used to describe Wilfred
Jim, Sr. and his wife Jeri's reaction
to the news that they have been named
Oregon Indian Education
Association's Elder of the Year.
A dinner and pow-wow was given
by OIEA to honor Wilfred and Jeri
and marked the beginning of the
conference October 28, 1999.
"I was surprised when they
announced our names. There were
doctors and professors that were
nominated and I couldn't believe we
won," said Wilfred in his address
during the pow-wow. "I have been a
maintenance man for 20 years, maybe
if I had more education I could have
gone farther in my career. Education
is very important and I would like
each of the youth here to understand
how important it is. I have a son now
who has gone back to school after he
has graduated from high school many
years ago. It's never to late to go back
to school." said Wilfred.
Jeri said, "We knew about the
award when it was first announced
at an OIEA conference in the Spring
but we just tell anyone."
Wilfred and Jeri have donated
their time at a variety of events and
rarely turn down requests for help.
In fact, the night of the OIEA talent
show, two young ladies were
planning to perform the Butterfly
dance and their drummersinger
couldn't be there. The ladies asked
Jeri to take her place. She did. Her
effort was rewarded a brand new
Polaroid camera and the girls
received first place in the traditional
category.
The next two days Jeri assisted
Betty Burke from the Umatilla tribe
with her workshop on demonstrating
how to make moccasin key chains
from Pendleton material. Wilfred
and Jeri are often seen at these types
of events sharing their wisdom of
the traditional arts.
Their hands are blessed with the
ability to produce many kinds of
traditional arts and crafts. Jeri and
Wilfred are able to make men and
women's traditional outfits, wing
dresses, ribbon shirts, and do
beadwork. Wilfred also does a lot of
leather work including belts and
making drums and Jeri weaves sally
bags.
Members of the Seven Feather
Religion and the Washaat, Wilfred
and Jeri are often approached for
prayers and spiritual guidance.
Wilfred often officiates at funeral
services and Jeri sometimes assist
with dressing ceremonies.
Although Wilfred wasn't able to
name any one person as a big
influence in his life he says, "I always
have looked up to the elders. There
were many people who have
influenced my life."
The Jim's have been married 40
years and in June they will be married
41 years. They have 5 children
together and raised two other
children from infancy. They have
three grandchildren and numerous
nieces and nephews.
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Elders of the Year Jeri Jim and Wilfred Jim, Sr. lead honor dance
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