Spilygy Tymoo, W^rm Springs, Oregon
Page 9
J a n u a r y 4-, 2 0 0 7
Parents and children gather with Faith Trails organization
you can get to know. You just
need to have a place to meet
them.”
In the long run, Buller ex
plained, he hopes that the expe
rience of participating in these
events will help people develop
a relationship with God.
Buller emphasized that noth
ing is required of parents who
bring their children to the Faith
Trails activities.
He explained, “If you can
spend an hour with your kids
and be kind to other kids, or
maybe help out younger parents
who are going through things
that yo u ’ve alread y gone
through—that’s it, that’s all. You
don’t have to feel like you’re
going to get ambushed.”
B y L e s lie M itts
Spilyay Tymoo
Families have the chance to
get a little closer, both with their
relatives and their religio n,
through family activities with
Faith Trails. Faith Trails, a local
organization, conducts a weekly
family session at 1 p.m. on Sun
days.
Chris Buller, the director of
Faith Trails, said families can
come to the event and learn
how to ride horses, or just par
ticipate in any of their family-
oriented activities.
They’ve had riders ranging in
age from infants to teenagers,
Buller said, and often the adults
ride as well.
In Buller’s opinion, “Either
you love it or you don’t, and it’s
no big deal. It’s just a place to
get together.”
The events are set to continue
through the w in ter as w ell,
Buller said.
“The colder it is, the bigger
the bonfire,” he added. People
often bring food to share and
food to cook on the fire, but
Buller said that isn’t required.
According to Buller, the most
important aspect of the weekly
gathering is the opportunity for
families to spend time together.
Fam ilies are also given the
chance to participate in an ac
tivity that doesn’t cost anything
and is within driving distance of
the reservation.
“Most of the kids are just so
excited,” Buller said. “I love it
when they yell ‘Hey Daddy, look
at me!”’
For the parents, he added, it’s
especially important to be rec
ognized for spending time with
their families.
“We try to make a point of
telling them this is great—tak
ing time out on a Sunday after
noon,” he explained.
It’s also a chance for children
Buller said another focus of
the program is to build a net
work of parents who are able
to help each other out and
watch out for each other’s chil
dren.
Buller also delivers a ten-
minute message on a radio show
on KWSO.
“For some people it’s a safe
place to kind of hear me be
fore they engage,” he said.
The show features Buller’s
message and an hour of Chris
tian music on Sunday at 9 a.m.,
Tuesday at 10 p.m. and Wednes
day at 4 a.m.
For more information about
any of the Faith Trails activities,
Buller can be reached at 475-
3315 or cb@faithtrails.org.
Hope to replace stolen tack
Young people gather for horse riding with Faith Trails.
to learn something about their
parents.
According to Buller, “A lot of
the moms and dads grew up
riding and the kids never knew.”
Father and son teams are
often recruited to help break
horses too, Buller said. Later on
those horses are sold to help
support the organization, and
Buller said the process is a great
way for fathers to bond with
their sons.
“T radition ally my under
standing is that’s a place where
a lot of things were passed on,”
Buller said. “A lot of teaching
happened— not about horses
but about life.”
Family activities are espe
cially important, Buller said, be
cause many parents don’t get the
chance to spend a lot of time
with their children.
For instance, he explained,
parents drive their children to
and from activities, and support
them in athletics, but the chance
to bond is often lost.
“You watch them but you
don’t really interact with them,”
Buller said.
He added, “We’re trying to
offer a place where you can do
this together.”
While the organization ulti
m ately aims to help people
through religion, he said, the
adoption of religious beliefs isn’t
necessarily a focus or require
ment of the organization.
According to Buller, “More
it’s just an attitude of this is a
place where we care about each
other, and we treat each other
well and we learn about each
other kids.”
Buller also conducts a study
hall after school on Tuesdays.
Students are picked up at school
and taken to the fairgrounds,
where they are given something
to eat and spend two hours
working on schoohvork.
Subm itted photo
After that, the students are
taken to the high school where
they are able to take the bus back
to the reservation.
Neither activity has a cost,
Buller said, but donations are
always welcome in the form of
food or money.
Especially when it comes to
the Sunday activities, Buller said,
“Whatever people give is amaz
ing. It just helps pay for the
horses and the gas and all that
kind of stuff.”
Ideally the program aims to
develop the idea of home be
ing a place of light, Buller ex
plained.
“So many young people on
the reservation see their home
as a place of darkness. And it’s
not,” Buller said.
“There are incredible things
that you can do here,” he added.
“There are amazing people that
Theft interrupted Christ
mas Eve plans for the Faith
Trails organization.
Chris Buller, director of
Faith Trails, said they had
planned a Christmas Eve cel
ebration w ith horseback
riding and a Christmas cel
ebration.
But on Dec. 23 Buller
found that their tack room
in Madras had been emptied
of saddles, bridles, lead ropes
and halters.
“I called each of the fami
lies that have been coming
and told them that we
wouldn’t be able to ride, not
because of the weather, but
because of the theft,” Buller
said.
T hose in v o lv ed w ith
Faith Trials are asking com
m unity m em bers to help
replace or recover the miss
ing tack.
Buller expressed concern
that thieves targeted those in
volved with the non-profit
organization.
“These families live in one
of the toughest places to par
ent, and they are standing and
delivering,” he said.
Buller em phasized that
the organization has never
had a problem with theft in
the Warm Springs Commu
nity.
“I have had saddles and
horses in trailers all over the
reservation and have never
had a problem,” he said.
In Buller’s opinion, “The
community on the reserva
tion has been great.”
Anyone who wishes to
donate tack or has informa
tion regarding the theft can
reach Buller at (541) 460-
0177.
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