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
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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. _
,
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