Spilyay Tymoo, Warm
Meeting at
Kah-Nee-Ta
seeks range
of solutions
! Over 250 people attended
'the recent 28th Annual Oregon
Indian Education Conference at
the Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert
;Resort and Casino to discuss
solutions for Indian Education
on a local, state, and national
level.
' The Confederated Tribes of
;Warm Springs hosted the event.
I The two-day event covered
iissues ranging from kindergar
ten readiness to the Jefferson
'County Truancy board to higher
education preparation for Na
;tive American students.
; Warm Springs students
i kicked off the conference with
' a pow wow on Wednesday night.
! The highlight was keynote
'speaker Susan Castillo, state su
perintendent of public instruc-
LCpl. Tastaiia Hkks, on deity m Iraq
The first woman marine
from Warm Spring?
uses her military-acquired
electrician skills
to help dismantle
landmines in Iraq after
the fall of Saddam
Hussein's regime
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyay Tymoo
!;:-
Tashna Hicks, of Warm
Springs, had a hard time
not sharing the sweet candies her
parents sent her with the beg
ging children as her convoy
drove through a war torn Iraqi
town.
Her commander advised
them not to because the children
would flock to their tank, possi
bly causing an accident.
Help would come soon. The
U.S. Marines had arrived and
Saddam's regime was gone.
That was after the Marines
captured the Baghdad Interna
; tional Airport, a pivotal point in
;the war. A part of the effort,
! Hicks' unit landed a CI 30 plane
!at the airport.
! Before that, Hicks was based
Ihiancy board sees success in first year
By Shannon Ktaveny
Spilyay Tymoo
Sometimes it's as easy as a
;wakeup call.
; Other times, it's as complex
! as encouraging a parent to get
help for drug and alcohol de
pendency. ; Whatever it takes, the Warm
Springs Truancy Board has
worked to obtain positive results
after just one year on the reser
vation. The board's focus is get
ting kids to school.
-! "I'd say out of 50 families,
we see some level of success in
35 to 40 of them," said Butch
David, Warm Springs liaison for
! the 509-J Jefferson County
i School District and a volunteer
; on the board.
In the last school year, a
; Warm Springs student had
; missed over 40 days of school
and was skipping classes at an
alarming rate.
After the Warm Springs Tru
ancy Board took action and
started working with the
. mother, it was brought to their
Springs, Oregon
uoa
She spoke over breakfast on
Thursday morning, setting the
tone for the next two days.
Castillo spoke of achieve
ments Native American stu
dents have made in the past
years.
"American Indian students
have made outstanding progress
in recent years, and you, their
teachers, administrators, parents
and community advocates have
demonstrated that the achieve
ment gap can be closed," she
said.
Castillo said she hoped that
Oregon's weak economy would
not be used as an excuse to slow
the progress that is being made.
Castillo was presented with a
Pendleton blanket from the
tribes.
Local teacher, Arlene Gra
ham, was given the Outstand
ing Teacher of the Year Award.
Recognition was given to
many other outstanding Oregon
Native Americans in the form
of an award.
The additional award catego
ries and recipients were as fol
lows: Outstanding Indian Elder of
ance Corporal Tashna Hicks
in Kuwait at the only airbase
that offers showers and full elec
tricity. Not surprising since Hicks is
a Marine-trained electrician. Her
"shop" in Kuwait consisted of
electricians and people who are
in charge of purifying water.
She runs with the MWSS 373,
a military engineering company
that finds land mines. A couple
weeks ago they moved into Iraq.
Now in Iraq, Hicks directs
military personnel via radio on
how to dismantle landmines.
Women are still not allowed to
be in combat zones, but women
in the marines are trained to be
riflewomen.
She's also a participant in the
attention the mother needed
help. The board directed the
mother to the social services
office operated by the county.
With the improved stability
of the mother, dramatic results
were seen in the student. Since
then, the student has missed only
five days of school.
"The student has done al
most a complete turnaround,"
said David.
The truancy board is in
tended to be a mediating tool
for parents before legal action
is taken, which includes a mon
etary fine and, in some cases,
an arrest. It is illegal not to send
your child to school.
According to Oregon law,
school officials can take legal
action against parents after five
Rchool absences.
On the reservation 10 or
more unexcuscd absences can
result in legal action. A fine any
where from $1 to $5,000 can be
issued.
In a worse case scenario, a
parent or student can find him
self or herself in jail for up to a
year. Once families are brought
L
May 1,
the Year, Bill White Eagle
Wilson; Outstanding Indian
Educator of the Year, Ann
Goddard; Outstanding In
dian Parent of the Year, Su
san Whetstone; Outstanding
Administrator of the Year,
Doug Smith; and Outstand
ing Student of the Year,
Appollonia Lane.
The Oregon Indian Edu
cation Association (OIEA)
also granted 13 $200 schol
arships to Oregon Indian
students. Four of the recipi
ents are Warm Springs tribal
members.
The following students
from Warm Springs were
awarded a $200 scholarship
in 2003: Jessi Fuentes,
Scott Kalama, Arthur
Mitchell, and Shmawmpt
Sahme. OIEA officers re
elected were Lynn Ander
son, secretary; Urbana
Ross, treasurer; and Ellen
Hansen, president. OIEA
is a Oregon Department
of Education program
designed to address the
needs of Native American
students throughout the
state of Oregon.
Nuclear Biological Chemical
Team, the team responsible to
searching out chemical weapons
in Iraq.
Lance Corporal Hicks, 20,
joined the marines two years ago.
A Madras High graduate, she
was an ROTC sergeant for 4
years.
An outstanding student,
Hicks was nominated Whose
Who Among High School Stu
dents by, one of her teacliers.
Vf.fr; t 1 :!; m .
She was an active participant in
the program SMART.
Two weeks after graduation,
Hicks went to Pordand only to
call her dad with the news.
"Tashna called and said,
'Dad, guess what I signed up for
four years, eight years total with
the reserves,'" shared her father,
LeRoy Hicks II.
She would become both the
first woman marine from Warm
Springs and a third generation
marine, following the path taken
by her father and grandfather.
Joining the marines would
not only educate her, but also
be a place for her to learn skills
and discipline.
Hicks was in boot camp at
Penis Island in South Carolina
when tragedy hit American soil
into the juvenile court system,
there aren't many choices. In
rare cases, a non-cooperating
family is referred to criminal
court.
"I'm the end of the line," said
Daisy Ike, juvenile coordinator,
who addresses cases in the legal
system.
The Warm Springs Truancy
Board, which consists of eight
local volunteers, pinpoints cases
before they are turned over to
the juvenile court.
After the board reviews the
student's referral papers, contact
with the student is made. If that
doesn't work, someone from the
board makes a home visit.
A letter is issued requesting
the parents or guardians to at
tend a board meeting. The par
ent is allowed to discuss their
point of view regarding their
child missing school.
The board formally recog
nizes the student has an atten
dance problem and the reasons
why.
Reasons vary from a student
not having a ride, to no family
income, to a parent working a
2005
Above: Susan Castillo, state superintendent of public
instruction. Below: Charlotte Herkshan thanks Warm Springs
chiefs for their interest in the community's education. Photos
by David Jackson.
on Sept. 11, 2001. Soon after,
President Bush campaigned for
the War on Terrorism.
After training, she was sta
tioned at the Miramar Marine
Base in San Diego until January
of this year when she was de
ployed to Kuwait.
"She was excited to go, be
cause that's what she was trained
to do," said her father.
Life isn't easy in the deserts
of the Middle East. ,
Temperatures soar above
100 degrees. At the height of
conflict in Iraq, soldiers fre
quently had to put on full body
suits protecting them from the
use of chemical weapons.
Inside the suit, the tempera
ture quickly escalates to 120
degrees or more.
Nearby, they keep an atro
pine shot, to be plunged into the
leg as an antidote to some chemi
cal warfare.
Hicks had to use her suit
about one time a week, leaving
her dead tired and homesick.
Food consists mainly of Meals
Ready to Eat (MREs), a military
freeze-dried meal.
"She told us she can't wait to
come home and cook potatoes,
gravy, and venison for us," said
night shift, to not having an
alarm clock.
The board signs an agreement
with the parents that they will
with the Warm Springs juvenile
coordinator and the truancy
committee on getting their child
to attend school.
"We let them know, that we
can work with them if they work
with us," said David.
"We try to use the law as the
last step," he added.
Before signing the contract
the board explains to the par
ents the contract process and
what the consequence could be
if the contract is not met. The
hearing contract is written with
the family.
It's an opportunity for par
ents to become more educated
about what the school system
expects from them and what
the legal process is, said David.
Students are given incentives
to succeed. Local businesses and
organizations have donated over
$6,000 for an incentive program.
The truancy board, said
David, also tries not to step on
the parents' toes and gives them
. -sir-, i
1
her mother, Maria Hicks.
Her parents have had the
opportunity to send Hicks some
necessities at her base. Packages
take about two weeks.
Hicks has expressed her grati
tude for her family's love as her
fellow Indian soldiers remain
without mail.
An Alaskan Native, who
hasn't received any mail, wept
when she shared her dried
salmon with him, saying it re
minded him of home.
"We call it Tashna's Outpost
and Mercantile," jokes her fa
ther. Hicks met the commander of
the Marine Corps in Kuwait
before leaving for Iraq.
The four-star general shook
her hand, and based on positive
comments from her superiors
said, "I wish there were more
marines gung-ho like you."
"We're extremely proud of
her and all the people in the ser
vices," said her father.
Hicks has three younger
brothers and two sisters that also
live in Warm Springs. She hopes
to return to Warm Springs
some day and maybe get into
the trucking business.
See related letter on page 4.
respect; regardless of the rea
sons their child is not attending
school. In a small community
where everyone knows
everyone's business that can be
hard. But the board gives par
ents community accountability.
In the past, the only truancy
board was in Madras. Success
rates for Warm Springs families
were lower because parents had
to drive all the way to Madras
to attend a meeting. David
hopes that having a local board
will help Warm Springs get away
from the notion that there isn't
enough done for Indian students
in the 509-J Jefferson County
School District.
"We're knocking down that
barrier," said David.
The truancy board is a way
for community members to pick
up responsibility for other tribal
members and keep Indian kids
in school.
Statistics showing 60 percent
of Native Americans high
school dropouts end up in cor
rectional facilities, reflect the im
portance of community involve
ment such as the truancy board.
Page 3
Non-profit
promotes
wind power
Native organization
tours colleges near
tribal lands to
promote awareness
of sustainable
energy resources,
donates proceeds
to the cause
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyay Tymoo
Recently two-time Green
party vice-presidential candidate
and Anishinaabe Native Ameri
can, Winona LaDuke, spoke at
Central Oregon Community
College in Bend on a promo
tional tour with the non-profit
organization Honor the Earth.
LaDuke is director of the non
profit organization.
Honor the Earth raises funds
for Native environmental
groups.
The April tour was to sup
port the concept of wind power
on Native lands as an alterna
tive form of energy. The tour
targeted colleges close to Native
lands. All proceeds from the tour
were donated to the cause.
Honor the Earth claims Na
tive Nations hold only 4 percent
of the land in the U.S. but pro
duce almost 20 percent of all
U.S. energy resources.
The organization strives to
phase out harmful nuclear
power and dirty fossil fuels such
as coal, and dams in exchange
for renewable energy technolo
gies such as wind and solar
power. Honor the Earth claims
a switch to wind and solar power
would aid tribes in sustaining
cultural resources such as fish
by keeping rivers healthy.
LaDuke sited the Yakama
Nation as an example of a ter
ritory that has been devastated
by using contaminating energy
resources.
The Yakima reservation, im
mediately downstream from the
Hanford Nuclear Facility, is
poisoned with radioactive run
off, according to the group.
LaDuke says wind power
would also help jump-start a
multi-tribal sustainable eco
nomic development initiative.
Wind projects would be Native
projects, providing Native in
come, jobs and educational op
portunities. Wind turbines have been set
up on the Rosebud Reservation
in South Dakota with the help
of proceeds from Honor the
Earth. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Wind Turbine Project is the first
large-scale Native American
wind turbine in the country.
Honor the Earth is also work
ing on several projects with the
Pine Ridge Reservation in South
Dakota. KILI Radio, the largest
Native radio station in the coun
try, is erecting a small wind tur
bine near the station.
Warm Springs is already ex
ploring the possibility of wind
generation potential. Warm
Springs Power Enterprises re
cendy set up test towers at vari-.
ous locations on the reservation.
Power Enterprises is contracting
with a Seatde company to de
termine whether power-generating
windmills would be profit
able on the reservation. They
were funded by a $460,000
grant from the US. Department
of Energy.
The acoustic duo, The Indigo
Girls, who are partners with
Honor the Earth and a part of
the tour, gave a concert after
LaDuke spoke. .'
Also, the natural resources
specialist for the Klamath Tribes
spoke about the current water
crisis between the farmers and
local Klamath tribes.
For information about
Honor the Earth, visit
honorcarth.org or call 1-800-EARTH-07.
V