Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 20, 2003)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Local receives mine 1 fr r ' fM f I ' - Dennis Thompson and other war veterans stand in formation, each sharing memories of their military action with the audience. It was part of a ceremony to present Thompson with medals 35 years after serving in Vietnam. By Shannon Keaveny Vietnam veteran Dennis Thomp son waited 35 years for his med als -but he finally got them. Delayed paperwork and other factors led to the long wait. Ceremonial tm 1 . 1 iisning oegins Sunday Although half the count of 2002, this year's spring chinook salmon run is the fifth largest recorded since 1938. Tribal ceremonial fishermen will start filling the tribes' spring chinook quota on Sunday. The quota this spring is 1,350 salmon, amounting to about 338 fish per fisherman. The fish will be caught with gillnets to speed up the process. Mike Gavin, Warm Springs fish biologist, estimates ceremo nial fishermen will meet their quota in about three weeks. The amount of spring chinook expected to cross the Bonneville Dam on the Colum bia River, where all ceremonial fishing takes place, is 145,500. Gavin says the decrease in returns is nothing to be alarmed about. Last year the returns were nearly double. ' "The numbers reflect the normal fluctuations in the cycles of fish," he said. Ceremonial fishermen cho sen by the Warm Springs Fish and Wildlife Committee arc Bruce Jim, Virgil Culps, Dou glas Palmer, and Eric Queahpama. Vietaaen war veteran ; j ( . .J Heroic actions, like pulling a dead man from a burning tank, earned Thompson' an Army Commendation Medal, ranked sixth highest, for his bravery. Recently community mem bers and war veterans gathered at the Agency Longhouse to present Thompson with his long overdue medals. More than 30 veterans stood in formation throughout the event. ' Teamwork Sixty percent of high school dropouts, says John By Shannon Keaveny Spilyoy Tymoo An Oregon Department of Education official visited Warm Springs last week and spoke about effective relation ships between school staff and students to prevent high school dropouts. The Warm Springs Community Action Team ar ranged for his presentation. John Ritter focused on high dropout rates for Native Ameri can students. Keeping kids in school is cru cial to where they end up, he said, Many people who don't fin ish high school live in poverty. People living in poverty have high rates of incarceration. "Sixty percent of Native American high school dropouts end up in a federal correctional facility," he said. Ritter spoke of ways public schools can help kids from dropping out. Attitudes in schools and com munities need to change too, in order to get behavioral changes from Native American students, he said. Discrimination based on race, creed, color and affiliation is commonplace in the school sys tem, he said. "I work to fight it a lot," said March 20, 2003 A Tl 35 mm y:' V , fa'ife(A verf honored to have received the med als and eagle feather,' saying that I am a warnor. - Dennis Thompson, Vietnam veteran Many of Thompson's close family members attended, in cluding his mother, Gladys Th ompson. Chief Nelson Wallulatum spoke on his behalf and sang a z needed to Native Americans Ritter. Native American kids, he said, often don't want to be in off-reservation schools and feel alienated. Native American kids enter the school system with a fear of government institutions due to the negative history between tribes and the federal govern ment, he said. Often they are more sensi tive and feel they are going to be "worked by the system," he added. For many reasons, students react in adverse ways that often get them kicked out of school. A public school that does not recognize these disparities, could set an Indian student up for fail ure, he explained. Behavioral and disciplinary issues in school are the number one reasons for student expul sions and suspensions. "Grade school is a crucial time to nab a child's attention," said Ritter. One way public schools can help is to create student engage ment and accountability in schools. Minority groups should have one contact in school on an administrator level, he said. Josh Adams, assistant princi pal at Jefferson County Middle School QCMS), called having student-faculty contacts "cred its in the bank." Credits are an- years later Shannon KeavenySpilyay warrior song. Thompson received an addi tional four medals from the U.S. military. The tribes presented him with an eagle feather. Both honors acknowledged Thomp ; . keep Jads in federal correctional facilities are Ritter, department "We create relation ships with students so when there is trouble with a student, we have something to work from. I call them credits in the bank." Josh Adams Asst. Principal JCMS other way to help minority kids feel less alienated. Faculty has a student's trust before he or she get in trouble. "We create relationships with students so when there is trouble with a student, we have some thing to work from," said Adams. An action team to focus on how to keep students in school also helps, he said. JCMS and Madras I ligh also have tribal liaisons that Ritter said could be as effective as an action team. JCMS has dramatically re duced student suspensions in one year due to concentrated efforts. Last year JCMS issued about 450 suspensions. This year, Adams estimates maximum sus pensions for the school year will be 140. A suspension is defined as a son as a warrior. The other medals were a Combat Medic Badge for being an active combat medic; a Good Conduct Medal for meritorious service; a National Defense Medal for basic army combat training; and a Representative of Vietnam Campaign Medal for service in Vietnam. A lieutenant from Bend pre sented the medals. 'T feel very honored to have received the medals and eagle feather, saying that I am a war rior" said Thompson. The US. military drafted Th ompson in February of 1967 when he was 19 years old. Thompson says he knew very little about the conflict at the time. "I was just a kid," he said. He was immediately sent to Texas to partake in an intense medical course for traumatic wounds. Thompson spent the first two months in a helicopter squatter doing medical evacuations. The next six months were spent in a tank, working as both a medic and machine gunner. After eight months, without injuries, he returned to the States. Thompson shared his opin ion on the present crisis in Iraq. "I believe we ought to do it with discretion. I have been in oppressed nations and people need to be liberated. The US. can help make a democracy" said Thompson of the pending war with Iraq. War veterans that attended the event to honor Thompson received Pendleton blankets and other gifts. Other attendees received gifts for their support of Th ompson. Thompson has been the log ging contractor supervisor at the Warm Springs mill for the last seven years. i i 1 in scnooi 01 uaucauun student's dismissal from school for 10 days or under. JCMS found alternative forms of sus pension. One alternative was keeping suspension in school. Another, says Adams, was putting more focus on working proactively with parents and kids. Still, Ritter said, schools need to be kept in check. Handing out pamphlets on state law, he in formed the audience on their student and parents rights. "Schools are like our partners and sometimes our partners don't listen. Sometimes they need to be shaken up," Ritter ex plained. To keep these kids out of jail, he said, it means more work for parents and school staff. Me encouraged parents to go talk to teachers and visit class rooms. If they are intimidated, Ritter suggested they bring friends and know their rights. If a parent does not attend a suspension hearing or other ac tion against a student, he sug gested the teacher go to the house and directly talk to the parents. For additional information contact John Ritter, education program specialist for the Or egon Department of Education, at john.ritterstate.or.us or (503) 378-3600, ex. 2364. Page 3 Community opinion Are you for or against the pending war in Iraq? "I don't think we need it. Look how many of our tribal members are over there." Joannie Seiam "For it, yes, but I think they should have taken him out the first time. He's gassed his own people and killed his own soldiers." Tom Kalama "I want to support our kids over there but I don't want a war. Cassie Katchia "Yes, I support it, but I think they should have vaporized him the first time. Mark Stevens "I'm against it. I don't think the US. has any business over there." Kenny Sahme III tlm si ' V ! mi) 0 i- V i
