Page 9
November 23, 2006
Spilyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Team fighting problem of elder abuse
B y L eslie M itts
\Spilyay Tymoo
; Elder abuse is something that
¡is far too common, according
to the committee that is trying
Ito combat the issue locally.
The Elders Multi-disciplinary
¡Team was originally established
¡after the tribes partnered with
l the Department of Human Ser
vices and received some grant
¡funding to help prevent elder
¡abuse, according to W ilson
j Wewa from the Senior Program,
According to Wewa, “Our
i group comes together to discuss
potential cases that might end
up in court or have a propen
sity to be repeated.”
The team partners the Senior
j Program with IHS, Victims o f
Crime Services, BIA Social Ser
vices, Tribal Social Services,
| Housing and various other de-
! partments to help those citizens
¡who. may be victims o f elder
¡abuse. *
Ea£h month the team holds
¡a closed meeting to discuss-is
sues that are kept completely
I confidential.
Elder abuse is something that
I has a very broad range, accord
ing to V iola G ovenor, w ho
works w ith victim s o f elder
abuse through Victims of Crime
Services.
In some, instances elders are
the subjects of theft or physical
abuse, but often other problems
can indicate another type of el
der abuse.
Wewa said the team has re
viewed issues regarding physical
abuse, enftotional abuse, fiancial
abuse, and even self abuse.
Self abuse, he said, would
involve cases where a senior citi-
. zen isn’t taking medication that
is prescribed to them.
Even dehydration during the
summer can indicate self abuse,
he added.
“Dehydration is the door to
a lo t o f other ailments,” Wewa
explained.
G ovenor and Wewa agree
that financial abuse is exception
ally Common.
“Financial abuse is probably
the m ost prevalent in Warm
Springs,” Wewa, said.
Govenor said financial abuse
f could include family members
who take food from a senior
citizens home or who stay with
an elderly family member with
out contributing to the house-
hold income.
“They just take them for
granted,” she said.
A cco rd in g to Wewa, the
problem usually lies in the close
connection between the elderly
victim and the perpetrator.
“Because o f the love that
many o f our seniors have for
their children and their grand
children, they become a victim,”
he explained.
Wewa added, “T hat’s when it
falls into the realm, also, o f
emotional abuse.”
“It’s worse than being physi
cally hit, I think, to have emo
tional pain,” Govenor said. “You
carry it around in your heart and
it hurts, it’s painful. This is what
most o f our elders go through.”
Other cases can involve fami
lies who throw parties after their
elderly family member has gone
to bed for the night, Wewa said.
“Sometimes they think that
isn’t a problem because the el
der isn’t objecting to that action,”
he said, but that isn’t the case.
According to Govenor, it’s a
problem that often isn’t explored
because senior citizens don’t
want to upset their family mem
bers.
Seniors ask for increase in bonus
A group of 15 seniors met with Tribal Council last week,
suggesting that the year-end bonus be increased.
Lyle Rhoan Sr. spoke of the financial hardship that many
seniors experience. Winter brings higher bills with the need
for heating, he said.
Many seniors, he said, rely on the bonus to make it through
the winter months.
Elton Greeley, director o f the Senior Center, was asked
to be a spokesman of the group that met with Council.
Greeley said that the seniors who attended the meeting would
like to see an increase in the bonus. At the same time, Greeley
said, his department has received information from tribal
management that the tribes ate still struggling financially.
“It’s just never been really
been brought up by the elders |
themselves,” she said. “They
don’t want to get their family in
trouble.”
“Elders came in to talk about
abuse but that’s as far as it went,”
Govenor said.
“They’ll endure the stress. It
really does cause a lot of stress
to them, especially if they have
health problems already,” she
explained.
A cco rd in g to G o v en o r,
“They can’t believe that, their
family/members are causing sp
much pain. This is a lot for an
elder to endure.”
The committee can help se
niors by filing a petition on be
half o f the victim. They are
then able to work with the pros
ecutors’ office to find a solution,
and someone from the commit
tee is assigned the case so they
can check up on the senior citi
zen regularly.
Those needing assistance or
anyone who wants to report sus
pected elder abuse can call the
Senior Program at 553-3313 or
Victims o f Crime Services at
553-2293.
Eagle Tech opens tech center
' Eagle-Tech Systems has opened its new technology center that
features 12 state of the art computers; The computers are avail
able to new and existing small business owners, students and any
one else who is interested. The center will feature Internet access
and general computer use, as well as provide a meeting place for
the Warm Springs Area Chamber of Commerce.
In the future, computer trainings will be available. The center
will be open Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
It is located in the old clothing factory at 4202 Holliday Street.
For more information, contact Arlissa Rhoan at 553-3276 or Daniel
at dberumen@eagletech.org.
F o r u m to p r o m o te b u s in e s s , e n tre p re n e u rs
Eagle-Tech Systems will host an informational meeting on Nov.
28 entitled “What’s New in Warm Springs.’'’
The hour-long information session aims to lay groundwork for
business and entrepreneurial development,.as well as provide in
sight into the developments of several projects in Warm Springs’
business sector.
Community members can learn how these projects will benefit
th em — which will include an update on the new Tech Center, a
message from the Chamber of Commerce, and a question and
answer session. Appetizers will be provided. The event will take
place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Old Clothing Factory at 4202
Holliday Street. For more information, call 553-3276.
Community
Cleanup
There is a planning
meeting this week for an
upcoming comm unity
clean-up project.
The planning meeting
Is from 10 a.m. to noon
this Wednesday, Nov. 22
in conference room 3 of
the administration build
ing. Community Involve
ment Is requested.
J
N e x t de atipie to submit,,
items to the Spilyay Tymoo
is Friday, Dec. 1.
D esign
Leslie MittsZSpily ay
Jasper Jack and Fawntan Arthur took some time out from their Head Start B2 class to
enjoy a Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 14 at ECE.
■■■■■M i
Fish commission announces Internet
site dedicated to Celilo Falls project
The Columbia River In
ter-Tribal Fish Commission
has unveiled a new online
blog as p a rt o f its Celilo
Legacy project.
The blog will serve as a
clearinghouse for public dis
course, information, events,
activities, and memorials that
will mark the passage of 50
years since the inundation o f
Celilo Falls.
Celilo Falls was inundated
by The Dalles dam on-March
10, 1957.
“There is tremendous in
terest in Celilo Falls right now
among the educators, media,
arts communities, historians
and the public,” said Jeremy
FiveCrows, CRITFC editor
and webmaster.
“By hosting this blog, we
hope to provide links b e
tween these groups and open
a dialogue among them. By
coordinating these efforts
and offering this resource,
we can show how meaning
ful Celilo Falls was to the
tribes, indeed to the entire
region.”
A blog is an online journal
providing opinion, commen
tary or news on a particular
subject. The Celilo Legacy
blog features an online jour
nal, photo album, and calen
dar. The journal will include
announcem ents, historical
stories and essays, a photo
album o f Celilo Falls p h o to
graphs, and a calendar listing
Celilo-related events happening
throughout the regibn leading up
to beyond the: March 10th an
niversary.
“Celilo Falls evokes images,
emotions and passions for many
people in this country. This blog
is intended to give people an
accessible forum to express as
well as listen,” added FiveCrows.
“Visitors have the ability to make
comments on the entries and are
encouraged to add their own
perspectives, stories, and an
nouncements.”
L ocated betw een O regon
and Washington, Celilo Falls was
a unique natural feature formed
by the Columbia River approxi
m ately 100 m iles E a st o f
present-day Portland, Oregon.
During high water, nearly one
million cubic feet o f water per
second -five times the flow of
Niagara Falls - would pass over
the basalt rocks, creating a roar
that could be heard many miles
away.
For centurie’s, the salmon
caught here drove tribal econo
mies and created one o f the
W estern H em isphere’s great
market places.
O n the morning o f March
10, 1957, th é gates o f T he
Dalles Dam closed and choked
back the Columbia River.
Six hours later Celilo Falls
was gone.
Primary contributors for
the Celilo Legacy blog are:
Jerem y FiveC row s (Nez
Perce), CRITFC publications
e d ito r and w ebm aster;
Charles H udson (Mandan-
Hidatsa), CRITFC public in
form ation manager; Eliza
beth Woody (Warm Springs),
renowned author, poet and
the director o f the Indig
enous Leadership Program at
E cotrust; and Carol Craig
(Yakama), author and out
reach d irecto r fo r the
Yakama N ation Fisheries
Department.
CRITFC’s Celilo Legacy
project is an outreach effort
that uses the occasion of the
50th anniversary o f Celilo
Falls’ inundation to educate
people about the past histori
cal importance of Celilo Falls
and gather oral histories from
those who fished there, dis
cuss the effects o f the falls’
inundation on the tribes and
salmon today, and open a re
gion-wide dialogue in the
hopes that we can all work
together to prevent such an
act o f environmental, cul
tural, and biological violence
from ever happening again.
The blog is accessible by
going to www.critfc.org and
clicking on the “Celilo Legacy
blog” image, or by simply
entering^ “www.crj^c.^jyz/
celilo” in'your browser.
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