Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 2012)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Page 7 November 14-, 2012 Sharing can help with healing from loss By Duran Bobb fo r the Spilyay Tymoo JM ore than ten years ago, Charlotte H erkshan saw the need for a grief workshop on the reservation. T he w ork shop, she felt, w ould help com m unity m em bers cope with loss. Last week, the tradition c o n tin u e d at th e A gency L onghouse, sp o n so red by Community Counseling. “Charlotte w ent around to the elders,”- Peggy Williams, adult substance abuse coun selor, said. “She developed a model that shows the process o f grief. F rom the time o f the loss until after the m em o rial, we can see the process in a traditional way.” Tribal elders have taught m uch a b o u t the stages o f grief, Alice Sam pson, sub stance abuse counselor, said. “ S o rro w can be like a physical wound,” she said. “If you don’t take care o f it, tend to it, it’s going to become in fected and it’s going to poi son your mind, your spirit.” Nearly all o f the partici pants at the recent confer- Duran Bobb photo for the Spilyay Dorothy Yahtin, who recently lost her son, draws a picture of what her heart looks like, using a crayon and her emotions. ence shared their own stories o f grief and .losing a loved one. Dorothy Yahtin finds com fo rt iri the lessons learned from the workshop. “I lo st my son, M arcus Stewart Johnson, on O ctober 17,” she said. “Now, I’m«try- ing to carry on what he be lieved in.” Atwai Marcus was a stu dent at Naya in Portland. He was to atten d G ran t H igh School this year. “It’s been hard,” Dorothy said. “I ’ve been doing a lot o f praying. I ’m learning a lot from this workshop.” Som e o f the to p ics in cluded the stages o f grief, types o f losses, talking to chil dren about death, and the path to recovery. Participants learned ways to cope w ith their grief and shared their feelings through various ex ercises. ■ “O ne o f the things we’re trying to get out to the people is that it’s okay to cry,” Peggy said. “We’re brought up not to cry, to be strong, n ot to show emotions. B u tin truth, it’s okay to cry. It helps if you let it out and don’t stuff it down inside o f you.” . “Som etim es it gets to o hard for the, people,” Alice said. “Especially when we’re d ealin g w ith d e a th a fte r death, it gets difficult to try to face it. People get scared o f that hurt. They might need help making it through the pain or the expression.” As p art'o f the conference, Clem Picard, Foster Kalama, and a visitor played the flute. A nother conference will be held around the holidays. GED winter term in Jan. T h e w in te r 2013 G E D w inter quarter begins on Jan. 7, and lasts until March 22. There will be no class on Jan. 21. Registra tion is available only on M onday, Ja n . 7 and Wednesday, Jan. 9. W arm S prings classes are in the G E D room on the top floor o f th e E d u c a tio n building. Basic reading o n M ondays; b asic math on Wednesdays, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Classes are also offered at the M adras C OCC cam pus. For m ore infor mation, contact'Cindy Viles at 541 -504-2950; o r call th e M adras C O C C cam p u s at 541-550-4101. A lso ch eck th e w eb site: cocc.edu The next deadline to subm it items for publi cation in the Spilyay is W ednesday, N ov. 21. T he date is m oved up because o f the holiday. Thank you! Tribes, IHS open child center at clinic The Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs and the In dian H ealth Service hosted an opening ceremony o f the C hild A buse In terv en tio n Center in Warm Springs. The Center is a medical clinic where IHS caregivers will interview Native children who may have been sexually Snwiyaila Miyanashna. ‘T h e Warm Springs tribal elders have shown incredible leadership in protecting the children in their Tribal N a tion.” For many years, the Warm Springs community has oper ated a Child Abuse Multi-Dis ciplinary Team consisting o f o r physically abused. The tribal and federal prosecutors, Center will also provide chil police officers, FB I agents, children’s case workers, and medical personnel. The multi d iscip lin ary team m eets fnonthly to review a n d . dis cuss child abuse investigations and prosecutions. “O ur Child Abuse Multi- Disciplinary Team has been working for almost two years to make this Child Abuse In tervention Center a reality,” said N an cy Seyler, c h a ir woman o f the Warm Springs team. “T h is C e n te r w ill strengthen our tribal sover eignty by allowing us to care for our children and honor our culture right here in our own community.” dren with complete medical examinations in a com fort able, child-friendly environ m ent. Cases o f suspected child abuse will be referred by the Center to appropriate law enforcement officials. T h e C e n te r is n am ed “Snwiyaila Miyanashna” in the Warm Springs language, which translates as “Talking for the Children.” T he Child A buse In ter vention Center is housed in the IHS offices o f the Warm Springs clinic. T he center was formally blessed by tribal elders in a ceremony attended by Warm Springs Tribal Council mem- Health workers, law enforcement and other officials were on hand to dedicate the center (right). bers, as well as tribal police officers, prosecutors, victim advocates, and children’s p ro tective services case workers. Also attending were federal representatives from the IHS, U.S. A ttorney’s O ffice, and Federal Bureau o f Investiga tion, “This Child Abuse Inter v en tio n C enter is only the 2 impoverished tribes want off-reservation casinos FR ESN O , Calif. (AP) * Two impoverished California tribes are planning off-reser vation casinos. They would be the first in the state to have casinos off In d ia n re s e rv a tio n s. T h e 1,950-m em ber N o rth Fork Rancheria o f M ono Indians wants to build a gambling hall north o f Fresno. The tribe says the casino will pum p m ore than $100 million in wages and other Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay second o f its kind on tribal lands in the United States,” said Dr. Rachel Locker, the IHS physician serving as the ex ecu tiv e d ire c to r of Beads, Native American Gifts, Museum, Deli, Grocery, Ice, Fishing Permits, Western Union, Check-Free Bill Pay, ATM and Much More! ♦ 2132 Warm Springs St., Warm Springs - ph. 541-553-1597 Y______________ i __________ .__ J OSCAR'S EXPERT AUTO REPAIR Complete Service Foreign & Domestic re v e n u e in to th e lo cal eco n o m y each year. T h e other tribe is the 800-mem- ber Enterprise Rancheria o f Maidu Indians, near Oroville. The tribe says the casino near Marysville would gener ate a $280 m illion annual boost to the local economy. Gov. J e r ry B ro w n a p proved the N o rth Fork and E n terp rise casino plans in August. The Interior D epart m ent gave its tentative OK. Navajo council online stream draws new viewers FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) S W hen the Navajo N ation Council m et for its fall ses sion, it had a whole new set o f eyes watching. T he quar terly meeting was broadcast live on the Internet in an at tem pt at transparency. T he tribe's legislative branch also posts bills online and solicits written comments on them. T he broadcast has drawn p ra is e a n d c ritic is m fo r things th at only people w ho attended the council sessions in the tribal qapital o f W in dow Rock previously could see. _ , Serving Central Oregon Community * Warm Springs You need to get back on the road call Oscar's Expert Auto Repair, Towing available...If you fix the car with us, we give you the towing for half price. Call Oscar or Byron for more info 541-390-1008 821 S W 11th St. * Redmond 541-923-3554 www.autorepairredmond.com
