Sptlyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Page 3
Maay 10, 20 07
Veterans focus on spiritual healing at conference
By Leslie Mitts
Spilyay Tymoo
Flames begat* t# q rack leas
Larson Kalama helped a woman
lig h t a fire at the H eH e
longhouse.
The woman recently served in
Iraq* and for herself and her fel-
losy veterans of war, what would
ordinarily be a campfire instead
served as a symbol of healing.
: The fire burned continuously
throughout the weekend for
those in attendance at the an
nual' Healing o f Veterans Con
ference, from April 26-29. >
§ Kalama first began the heal
ing circle with the help of fellow
veterans and friends at a veteran’s
hospital in Washington in 1987. |
From there the circle, ex
panded and has since traveled,
through several states and res
ervations in order to reach as
many veterans as possible.
For Kalama, a Purple Heart
recip ient,‘and Veteran of: the
Vietnam War, the healing circle
brings to life inspiration that he
saw in a vision at a young age.
As a child, he said, he saw a
vision on the w ay , home from
ch urch o f flam es > dan cing
around the steeple.
Kalama then saw seven war
riors sitting on the top who then
went riding into th,e white hill
and vanished between the earth
arid the sky.
“That was the last time I saw
them,” Kalama said. “Now I
know why it happened because
I work with veterans.”
This year the circle chose to
honor women combat veterans
specifically, Kalama said.
Elke Bach-Zeeroeah proved
' to he instrumental in building the
healing circle in the early 1990s
because of her own work with
veterans as" well as her connec
tion to the Kalama family.
A veteran h e rse lf, BaCh-
Zeerocah had worked with vet
erans for years and saw that
American Indian veterans in
particular were struggling for a
way to heal spiritually ¡ ?
It’s an event that she said she
looks forward to ever^ year—
and a p rocess th at B aeh-
Zeerocah feels would be useful
for everyone.
‘1 think situations like this are
undervalued ' in dominant soci
ety medicine,” she said.
Cyndi Johnson served in Viet
nam and said she’s attended thè
healing circle for several years.
Because she suffers from
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,
Johnson said the only place she
feels at peace is, in nature.
‘1 love walking in the woods
around here,” she said.
The .first time she attended a
healing circle, Johnson realized
it was something that she could
benefit froin.
“They were just all so friendly
and wonderful,” Johnson said.
She now travels to the heal
ing circle from her home in
Washington----and said she feels
a great sfense of belonging with
those at the healing circle. |
It’s som ething she hasn’t
found in the rest o f I society,
Johnson said. ■
. “Just the opportunity to be
around other people that are
acceptant o f the way that yoh
are-—it’s a very familial feeling,”
Johnson added. ‘T hese people
are my family.”
A fter serving in Vietnam ,
JohnSon said ¿she qntered a
veteran’s hospital • While thaC
helped heal her physically, she still
felt that het spirit was wounded»
With the help of the healing
circle, Johnson said she feels she
is bging healed, spiritually.
‘T h e VA doesn’t treat that,’!
she’ said. “My' spirit was gone.
This all helps me get back tefit:’?
Jim Waetjen traveled to .the
healing circle from Prineville.
He served in the Korean War
and became acquainted with the
Kalama family through therapy
with die VA in Warm Springs.
Now, Waetjen said,. “We’ve;
Museum
hosting Day
of Discovery
Photo courtesy of Susan Hess
Reuben Henry recently recevied an award recognizing
. his work on Tribal Council for the Celilo. Housing
¿Restoration project. The project, funded by the Army
Corps of Engineers, is helping improve the infrastructure
'a n d living conditions of Celilo Village.
The M $|eum at W arm
Springs will host the Seeds of
Discovery science day-camp for
fottrth-gradeis-' tms IMday;*MaV
11
4
1 1 Tnis' year the sciene&, eamp
will include presentations by the
World. Forestry Center- and the
Central Oregon Audubon Soci
ety, which w ill be new at the
camp this year.
OMSI will be present, as in
years past. >/;;
- Close to.300 fourth-graders
o f the Jefferson County 509-J
School District will participate
in the cam p, said R o salin d
Sampson, education coordinator
at the .M useum at W arm
Springs.
Thè Seèds of Discovery sci
ence camp is funded by a grant
from NASÀV
8
kind of adopted each other, like
brothers.” ■
He said the healing circle is
vital to helping veterans. “We fed
safe here,” he explained. “We’re
all from the same family.”
“It is a place that I feel .I can
relax and enjoy .the company of
these veterans and their fami
lies,” Waetjen added. -
■Plus, he said, “It is a means
o f exten sio n
the N ative
American culture.” fj
Bob “Sandman” Coalson has
been .a part of the healing circle
since it’s beginning in the early
1990s.
A veteran o f the Vietnam
War, Coalson said, “I think that
healing frotri the trauma of war
isn’t something that you do in
one setting or one season.?;' s
—
operied the door to m y own
spiritual path.”
T fs just been a real, real bless
ing to me personally,” he said.
“We’re just all in it together:”
In addition to speakers and
time spent in the sweat lodges,,
veterans had an opportunity this
year tp w o rk w ith H eidi
Katchia, who attended the circle
to deliver the “healing touch.”
The healing touch, she Said,
works with the body’s, energy
centers.: and the energy field
around the body.
“It’s basically light touching
and hands over the body, work
ing with the energy field,” she
explained.
Plus, he said, “We have to heal
in all the w ays th a t w e’re
wounded in war.”
B ecause o f that,. Çloalson
said, the healing circle allows
him and his fellow veterans to
concentrate on the part of heal
ing not: typically addressed.
■ For some, the healing circle is
about focusing on spiritual inju
ries acquired in other parts of life.
. Cordell Covert traveled to
the healing circle from Washing
ton and said he first -began at
tending healing circles with a
friend who was a veteran.
While Covert isn’t a veteran
o f war, he faced his own de
mons in the form of a wild past
of drug and alcohol abuse.
■When he first entered a sweat
lodge, Covert said, ‘T h a t,really
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