Spilyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon
A ugust 30, 2 0 0 7
Page 7
Kah-Nee-Ta stables employ 15 youth workers
B y L e slie M itts
Spilyay Tymoo
f For Whitley Ruiz, working at
Ikiutan Stables this summer pro­
vides an opportunity to enjoy
something she already knows
plenty about: working w ith
horses.
, Ruiz, a recent graduate of
Madras High School, is one o f
several youth working at the
stables this summer.
I “It’s exciting,” she said o f the
job. “it’s fun.”
Ruiz, 18, works as a guide
along with Atcitty Begay, 17, and
varibtis other local youth.
”, She and Begay both have ex­
tensive experience with horses
that they bring to the job.
“I’ve been.around horses my
whole life,” Begay said.
; Both of them described the
same aspect as their favorite part
o f the job: meeting new people
and interacting with customers
from a variety of locations. 1
Chris Buller, president o f
Sanctuary and Faith Trails- is
overseeing the management of
the stables, this summerin. conr
junction'with Kah-Nee-Ta.
Because they ”w ork in con­
junction w ith K ah-N ee-T a,
Buller said, they are able to em­
ploys local youth through the
W ED P rogram and H igher
Education.
“We can actually employ a lot
more kids than if we were just a
'business,” Buller explained.
This summer 15 local youth«* *
are employed at the stables. The
total includes less experienced
youth employed as hands, those
employed as guides, and even
.^ttidents in college working as
mahajgers ‘ whb help" w ith the'
administrative and financial as­
Leslie Mitts/Spilyay
Whitley Ruiz is one of several youth working at the Kah-Nee-Ta stable this summer.
pect of the business.
In order to work as a guide,
Buller said, the .youth have to
meet.several requirements.
• “Thçre’s. a certain level o f
maturity you nave to have to do
that too,” he added.
In addition to working on
their skills with horses, he said,
the youth have gotten a chance^
to interact with alT different
types of-people.
“Every one of my guides, and
even tfie hands and ‘staff ©ut
So f a r this summer
they have led over
1,000 rides:f
people,” Buller said.
• They’ve had plenty o f oppor­
tunities to inaprove upon their
people skills in addition to many
other skills this summer— so far
Buller said they .have led over
1^,000. rides,., -
K efê^av#”% bfteri^n«‘édibry7 ' ' Buller added th '^w o rk tn g
good at advocating for their with youth is part of 'their suc­
Madras
X)&>ign
Centex
cess.
“We’ve been lucky that we’ve
just had phenom enal young
people to work with,” he said.,
Though some of the youth
w orkers already know a lot
about w orking w ith horses,
Buller said, others have to be
taught certain aspects.
“It’s a blend,” he explained.
“Even the ones thiat know a lot
will know a lot in a certain area.”
Because o f that, Buller said,
th u v o jith o fte n ,teach each
ptfietf^-uor instance,1 pe ¡saicif
they’ve explored different op­
tions for starting horses that
they might not have known be­
The deadline for sub­
fore;
m ission to’ the Tribal
^Puller said they are also striv­
Member Art Exhibit at the
ing to use the. stable to interact
Museum at Warm Springs
more with the local community.
is Friday, Sept. 21. The ex­
t h e y ’ve h o stted ' several
hibit will run from Oct. 4
barbeques this summer, and of­
through Jan.’6.
fered free horseback rides,to
Applicants must be 18
veterans on. veteran’s day. Of-
yejtrs of age or older and
: ten local people will stop by to
enrolled in the Confeder­
visit’as well, Buller said.
a te d Tribes) o f W arm
Several changes are notable
Springs. Applicants may
at the stables since Sanctuary
submit up to five items
and Faith Trails begap working
along with application be­
in conjunction with Kah-Nee-
fore the deadline. All en­
Ta: for example, they now offer
tries m ust be n o more
the opportunity for tourists to
than five years, old and
lease a pen and bring their-own
have not been exhibited in
horse onto the reservation.
any other exhibits at the
People can then hire a>guide and
Museum at Warm Springs.
ride their own horse in the area.
y Submitted works must
Recently, Buller said, they
remain on display through
began offering a horse sale in
ibe qntire deration o f the
May while working with college
exhibit dates. Applications
students or high'school seniors.
are now- available at the
,ko start horse(s, ,
museum. Contact Natalie
.The student then keeps a
M oody at the museum*
portion o f the proceeds Tor
553-3^3V est. 412 V
spending money while purstiing
higher education;—an opportu-
nity that doesn’t ,come often,
Buller said, when many schol­
arships apply only to tuition and
other related expenses.
There will be a 30 and over
Many o f their horses are
horses that . have been saved basketball tournament on Oct.
. from slaughter or been donated, 26-28. First place winners in the
and guides working with the men’s and women’s competition
. stables can even bring their own receive eight leather sleeve jack­
horses to work with throughout ets. Second place, eight hooded
sw ëatshirts. T h ird , :i.qight
the summer, Buller added., •
The stables offer one-hour sweatshirts. There will be one
rides, 4two-hour rides, half-day MVP and 10 all-stars, men’s and
women’s, ¿Contact the Tulalip
rides and full-day rides, i
Buller said they plan to re­ Recreation Department for in­
main open throughout the year, fo rm a tio n , (360) 651-4389.
Çheckç^
le ¿gÉggj ¡Tulajip
, egp^cija^j^y a p p o in tn i® |^
‘wy r W p e information” Call Tribes, Recreation Department,
54,1) 553-1112 ext 3375.
6700 Totem Beach Rd., Tulalip,
WA 98271. Entry fee is $300.
Hoops tourney
Oct. 26-28
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201 Crafton Road
THE DALLES, OR
2937 E 2nd St «6
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