May 1, 2013
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Page 8
Language: classes from pre-school through university
everyone before the guests
had to leave. Val Sw itzler
comm ented after the group
had gone:
“I am so p ro u d o f my
class teac h ers D allas and
Merle, and their elder advi
sors Anna, Suzie, and Arlita,
who work with the younger
te a c h e rs to stay in th e
Ichishkiin language. Virginia
is a wonderful mentor, advi
sor and elder. She freely
gives to all.”
She added, “The highlight
o f the visit I believe was see
ing two o f our own students,
Jade and Shayleen, working
towards becoming Ichishkiin
speakers. They also have as
pirations o f becom ing lan
guage teachers! It is a w on
derful day when we recognize
that the seeds planted by our
elders long ago are coming to
fruition. They stressed lan
guage is important. Language
is who we are. Language is the
essence o f our being.”
(Continued from page 1)
W ith them was teacher-
trainer R obert Elliott, who
also does video-taping o f lan
guage lessons.
Unique achievement
V irginia B eavert began
her teaching and cultural ad
vising career at the Univer
sity o f O re g o n a b o u t 10
years ago.
Last spring she received
her D octorate degree in Lin
guistics from the university.
“I thought I was done with
school,” Virginia, who is 90,
was saying last week, “but
some people convinced me
to keep working toward the
degree.”
H er doctorate dissertation
will be published soon by the
U niversity o f W ashington
Press. T he dissertation de
scribes her experience grow
ing up in a traditional family,
where the N ative language
was dominant, and her tran
sition to the non-traditional
modern world.
As a young adult, during
World War II, Virginia was in
the military, working as a ra
dio operator for three years.
“That was like learning a new
language,” she says o f the ra
dio code jargon.
She later became a court
ste n o g ra p h e r, and th e n
learned shorthand. “Every
thing I did had to do with
language,” she says.
As a child, Virginia lived
in a home where Ichishkiin
w as th e sta n d a rd . H e r
m other spoke litde English.
She learned five dialects o f
Ichishkiin, such as the N ez
Perce, Yakama and W arm
Springs dialects.
“My great great gran d
m other spoke Klickitat, so I
learned that as well,” Virginia
— by Dave McMechan
Merle Kirk, Jade Martinez, Shayleen Macy, Cassie George, JoAna Jansen, Robert Elliot, Suzie Slockish (back row
from left), and Dallas Winishut with student, Virginia Beavert, Ana Clements and Arlita Rhoan (front, from left).
says.
She atten d ed college in
Central Washington, and then
later earned a M aster’s D e
gree at the University o f Ari
zona. And then last year com
pleted her Ph.D.
She saw m any o f h er
frien d s d u rin g h er W arm
Springs visit last week. She
spoke Ich ish k iin w ith th e
Warm Springs teachers Arlita ;
Rhoan, Anna Clements, Dal
las Winishut, Merle Kirk and
Suzie Slockish, and depart
m ent director Val Switzler. Jade and Cassie learn Ichishkiin words that apply to
Josie Miller made lunch for cradle boards (above); and class time (right).
CPS: many services for child protection
(Continued from page 1)
These plans never mate
rialized, as the funding was
never secured.
An overview
Warm Springs Children’s
Protective Services provides
child abuse protection ser
vices for children living both
on and o ff the Warm Springs
Reservation.
T hese services are p ro
v ided in acco rd an ce w ith
tribal and federal law, designed
to p ro tect Indian children
fro m physical and sexual
abuse and gross parental ne
glect.
In accomplishing this mis
sion the Children’s Protective
Services program provides a
variety o f services.
• Case m anagem ent ser
vices co o rd in a te care for
abused and neglected chil
dren, working at the direction
o f the tribal court to assure
parental compliance with ser
vice plans, arrange fo ster
home placements and provid
ing for the needs o f those
children, and providing trans
p o rta tio n o f children and
families.
• T he CPS C enter p ro
vides emergency shelter for
children w hen they’re initially
rem oved from their families
for protection as well as long
term shelter for some chil
dren for w hom a perm anent
hom e situation cannot be es
tablished.
• Independent Living Ser
vices addresses the needs o f
children over the age o f 16
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
CPS currently is housed on the campus.
who have been in foster care
and need assistance in becom
ing established as self suffi
cient adults.
• Child Abuse and Neglect
Assessments are conducted
by CPS in coordination with
the tribal Police D epartm ent
to determ ine if a child has
been the victim o f child abuse
or neglect and what type o f
intervention is needed to pro
tect the child from harm.
• Indian Child Welfare Act
(ICWA) interventions involve
children living o ff the reser
vation who are the victims o f
child abuse or neglect and are
coordinated w ith the tribal
court and the state where the
child is residing.
• Foster Care Homes are
re c ru ite d , c e rtifie d and
trained by CPS.
CPS m aintains relative,
non- relative and medical fos
ter hom es both on and o ff
the Reservation.
• In -h o m e services are
provided to both at-risk fami
lies w hom are n ot involved
in the Child Welfare program
and to families who are cur
rently involved in the CPS
program.
• Support groups are pro
vided to children and their
families on a weekly basis,
these are catered specifically
to the needs o f the family.
T h e C ultural C onnectio n s
support group provides year-
round teachings and hands-
on learning experiences- this
group are for children, par
ents, and grandparents.
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