Spílygy Tyrnoo, W arm Springs, Oregon
February 19, 2014
Pgge 5
Child welfare among topics at Justice conference
L eona Ike, d ire c to r o f
W arm Springs Parole and
Probation, spoke on behalf
o f the Confederated Tribes
at a recent law conference at
the U.S. Attorney’s Office in
Portland.
Jocelyn Samuels, Senior
Counselor on Civil Rights at
the U.S. D epartm ent o f Jus
tice, was in attendance, with
Indian Child Welfare Associa
tion staff.
“I shared the history o f
the Columbia River peoples,
historical trauma documents,
spiritual history documents
and otir Tribal Constitution
and By-laws,” Leona said.
Topics, she spoke to in
cluded:
H ow negative politics in
Washington D.C. is affecting
funding to tribes and impact
ing our tribal people.,
Tribes vs. tribes politics. “I
gave th e exam ple o f th e
G rand R onde Tribes, who
w ould have never regained
their federal recognition with
out the assistance o f other
O regon tribes, particularly
the Warm Springs tribes,” Ike
said.
re la te d to th e h isto ric a l
trauma o f our Indian peoples.
“In our tribal history, men
and women were spiritually
stro n g and h o n o re d each
other in accordance to our
Unwritten Laws.”
iCWA
Courtesy of the Indian Child Welfare Association.
At the conference were Parole and Probation director Leona Ike (fifth from right) and
U.S. Department of Justice Senior Counselor on Civil Rights Jocelyn Samuels (third
from right).
e “N o w
th e
G ra n d
R onde T ribe utilizes th eir
m o n etary reso u rces to
create political barriers to in
hibit our financial growth.
T his type o f sham eful in
frin g em e n t is a v io la tio n
o f civil rights o f Indian Tribes
to grow and provide for their
peoples.
“This behavior is n o t a
trib a l p ra c tic e , an d goes
against our tribal practice to
positively engage and en
hance tribal communities.”
Tribal courts
Tribes have inadequate le
gal representation for defen
dants and community mem
bers in all legal areas, jeopar
dizing the civil rights o f tribal
people, ike said.
She shared th a t In d ian
tribes are grateful for the re
a u th o riz a tio n
o f ; th e
V iolence A gainst X^omens
Act. ■
T he A tto rn ey G eneral’s
O ffice
is
p ro s e c u tin g
habitual dom estic violence
offenders. However, she said,
there is a concern that issues
impacting generations o f sons
and daughters are not being
addressed and resolved.
“We need stronger preven
tion and education, and re
quirements tied into grants
received by tribes, so both
sided o f dom estic violence
are addressed,” Ike said.
“Until that happens, we will
continue to'deal with violence
within our tribal comm uni
ties. This type o f violence is
Representatives o f the In
dian Child Welfare Associa
tion were present at the con
ference.
“I shared a concern from
a tribal perspective surround
th e B aby V ero n ica .case
that eroded the ICWA for all
Indian tribes,” Leona says.
Young people should un
derstand that their personal
ch o ices can a ffe c t trib al
sovereignty fo r all In d ian
tribes, she said.
She emphasized the impor
tance o f Indian tribes educat
ing and teaching their history
to the younger generations. I
“A separate case revealed
that a young Indian m other
accepted $40,000 for her fe
tus for adoption. I shared to
p u t m oney value over the
value o f human life is a di
rect violation o f tribal and
cultural history o f all Indiati
people and their covenant
(eternal spiritual promise) to
the C reator in accordance
to His unwritten laws.
“I w anted the A ttorney
General to absorb these typéà
o f cases from a tribal stand-
point,” Ike said.
Vets - If
you can think of it, We
can get it done! ~ Handyman services
Contact Anthony Davis Jr.
541-460-2537
W o jo b too b ig or too sm a ll.”
Energy
assistance
The Low Incom e
Home Energy Assis
tan ce
P ro g ram
(LIHEAP) helps low
incom e households
w ith h o m e energy
bills.
For more informa
tion about assistance
in W arm S prings,
----- c o n ta ct-C h e ry l T om
at,, t h e , S o c ial .S ter-
vices/Voc Rehab of
fice in the Industrial
Park.
H er phone num
ber is 541-553-4952.
Culture &
Heritage offers
youth education
programs
Does your child neëd help
with math? Math is made fun
and easy at the E ducation
building.
Ittitam asha (counting) is
from 4-5 on M onday and
Tuesdays, and Thursdays and
F ridays. T h e p ro g ra m is
brought to you by the Warm
Springs Culture and Heritage
D epartm ent.
T h e re w ill be N ativ e
American games and projects,
and tutoring lead by certified
teacher E sther Kalama, as
siste d by Jam es Sam.
Ittitamasha features beading,
weaving, artistry, and assis
tance with school work. For
in fo rm a tio n call 541-553:-
3290.
Cover Oregon is a marketplace
for Tribal communities to find health
insurance and financial help to pay for it.
C
PAR
Kiksht
There are Kiksht language
classes at the Education build
ing Tuesday evenings from 5-
6:30, lead by Pam Cardenas,
assisted by Valerie Switzler.
--------------------- -
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Warm
Springs
Vocational Rehabili
tation has orientations
every M onday at 3
p.m. at their office in
th e in d u s tria l park .
O rientations are also
held on Tuesdays at 3
p.m. at the Community
Counseling Center.
\
Call 541 553 1196
Or Visit the Warm
Springs Clinic, or the
Warm Springs Health
Resource Center &
Library.
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