Spilygy T ym oo, Wgi-m Springs, O regon
Pgge 12
K-8 Academy
February 19, 2014-
Telecom expands service
T h e W arm S prings
T e le c o m m u n ic a tio n s
C om pany no w o ffers
phone and internet ser
vices in the Seekseequa,
Simnasho and Sidwalter
areas o f the. reservation.
T hat is in addition to
the existing service in the
Agency, Sunnyside and
Wolfe Point areas.
To learn m ore about
costs and services you can
stop by their office in the
Warm Springs industrial
park. O r call 541-615-
0555.
Help available for home energy
The energy assistance pro
g ra m — Low Income Home
Energy Assistance Program —
helps low income households
with home energy bills.
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n
ab o u t assistance in ,W arm
Springs, contact Cheryl Tom
at the Social Services/V oc
Rehab office in the Industrial
Park. H er phone number is
541-553-4952.
T he T hird Annual O regon Weavers T eaching
Workshop will be held at the Tamastslikt Cultural In
stitute in Pendleton March 20-21.
To learn more, contact Ethel Greene at 208-843-
7409.
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Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Construction continued through the recent snowy weather.
From Indian C o u n try
Federal panel meets on issue of violence against reservation children
M A R IC O P A IN D IA N
C O M M U NITY - D aniel
Cauffman, 21, can speak can
didly about the physical abuse
he suffered at the hands o f
his stepmother when he was
a child.
H e know s his sto ry o f
.closed-fist punches coupled
w ith other acts o f physical
violence speaks for hundreds
— if not thousands — o f chil
dren on N ative A m erican
lands across the country.
“I hope it does help,” said
Cauffman, a member o f the
P o k ag o n
B and
of
Potawatomi, Mich.
AHe w as one o f several
young people to give testi
mony Tuesday alongside re
gional experts at a public
hearing for the advisory com
m itte e to th e A tto rn e y
G e n e ra l’s T ask F o rce o n
American Indian and Alaska
Native Children Exposed to
Violence.
“I ’m glad they do stuff like
this ’cause it does raise aware
ness,” Cauffman said. “As far
as hopes goes, hopefully we
can pull kids out o f the situ
ation.”
A bout 75 people attended
the all-day hearing at Talking
Stick Resort near Scottsdale.
It was the second o f four
across the country to secure
testimony and information so
the task force cab generate
policy recommendations for
A tto rn e y G en eral E ric
Holder.
In D ecem ber, the com
mittee was in Bismarck, N.D.
The final two hearings will be
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and
Anchorage, Alaska.
The committee is one arm
o f the Justice D epartm ent’s
renewed efforts to com bat
violence and crime on reser
vations. The department also
has a federal working group
w ith m u ltip le agencies to
m ake im m ed iate o n -th e -
ground improvements.
The 13-member commit
tee, chaired by form er N orth
D akota Sen. Byron Dorgan
and Joanne Shenandoah, an
Iroquois, will issue policy and
legislative recommendations
this fall based on its findings.
Associate Attorney G en
eral Tony West said the com
m ittee was established last
year to specifically address
the difficulties native commu
nities faced because o f their
exposure to violence.
“Let’s be clear: Exposure
to violence by children in this
country is a problem all over
this country. We know that
more than 60 percent o f kids
regardless o f race, regardless
o f ethnicity, they are exposed
to some' sort o f violence, ei
ther as witnesses or as victims
and that can have significant
traumatic effects,” West said.
“B ut w hat we also know is
that when we look at Indian
Country, what we see are chal
lenges that are exacerbated.”
West cited higher rates o f
assault, crim e and traum a
among this population.
“When you look at Indian
youth and you look at the fact
that second leading cause o f
death for native children aged
15-34 is suicide ... when you
couple that with the unique
historical trauma native chil
dren have faced . . . those are
unique challetlges that native
communities and generations
o f the first A m ericans, in
particular children, face,” he
said.
Another speaker, Temetria
Young, 18, a mem ber o f the
San Carlos Apache Tribe, dis
cussed her time in and out o f
juvenile facilities, a time pe
riod she measures as cover
ing three birthdays.
Young earned her G E D
while in juvenile custody and
said she wishes there had been
more people to talk to, both
before and after her incar
c e ratio n . She said y o u n g
people in her situation need
access to adults and educa
tors who show they care.
Call 541-
615-0555
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INDIAN HEAD
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IRYAN BRArZER - Saturday, Feb. 22nd, 9pm
Highway 26, Warm Springs
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