Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
April 16, 2014
Let’s Talk Diversity Coalition
Training proves a life-changing experience
(To promote cross cultural
understanding, the Central Or-
egon regional health equity coa-
lition, Let’s Talk Diversity, is
asking community members from
different cultures to share their
stories about living in Jefferson
County including War m
Springs.
(We begin this series with a
community perspective from
Sonya Littledeer-Evans, who
has worked in Jefferson County
for 13 years with the Depart-
ment of Community Justice-Ju-
venile Division. She currently
resides in Jefferson County, and
serves as a Cultural Competency
trainer for the Let’s Talk Di-
versity Coalition.)
Sonya Littledeer-Evans
recognizes that she is one of
many people who historically
have not had power in our
society: as a woman, a per-
son of color, and a person
who grew up in extreme pov-
erty.
Sonya says that growing up
she “felt it—differential treat-
ment—but never heard any-
one talk about it. I didn’t
know how to talk about it,
and thought it was just in my
head.”
This all changed when
Sonya first attended an inten-
sive Cultural Competency
Training of Trainers.
“Cultural Competency
trainings were one of the
most life-changing events in
my life,” Sonya says.
“The first thing I learned
was that all the differential
treatment I had felt and wit-
nessed was real. It was vali-
dating and empowering to
realize this and discover
healthy ways to process it
with other people.”
These trainings helped
Sonya transform her ability
to understand the world
through all other walks of
life.
“It started changing how I
did business in my job,” she
says, “and then it started
changing how I did things in
my community, in my job rep-
resenting my agency, and per-
sonally too.”
Sonya realized she wanted
to continue this type of work
as a trainer. She was able to
do so through cultural com-
petency trainings of the Let’s
Talk Diversity Coalition.
These trainings help in-
crease cultural understanding,
Sonya Littledeer-Evans
change policy and social
norms, and expand the lens
in which we all view the
world.
During the coalition’s com-
munity assessment, commu-
nity members across every
racial, ethnic and socioeco-
nomic group repeatedly iden-
tified community relations in
public places as one area
needing improvement.
“Our trainings are a direct
answer to what the commu-
nity said they wanted to see
improved,” she says.
“The Coalition and its
trainings are about creating a
safe environment to get to-
gether and talk about our dif-
ferences, and about all the
things that make up who we
are without blame or judg-
ment.”
Sonya adds, “We get to
learn from it, to take away
from it, and use it in our daily
lives, to change how we do
our work and interact with
each other in our community
at every level.
“By the end of the day,
across every different walk
of life in that room, the com-
munity comes together and
heals together.”
Sonya concludes that only
with a better understanding
of each other will we have a
more unified and stronger
community.
If you are interested in
finding out more about the
coalition please visit the
website:
letstalkdiversity.org
Or attend one of our
monthly meetings. The next
meeting is at 12:30 p.m. on
Wednesday, May 7. Call 541-
325-5001 ext. 4221.
(Formed in 2008, the Let’s
Talk Diversity Coalition works to-
ward cultural knowledge and un-
derstanding within the Confeder-
ated Tribes and Jefferson County.)
Hepatitis C virus infection: Are you at risk?
by Lt. Jessie Casberg
Pharmacist, Warm Springs
Health and Wellness Center
Hepatitis C is a virus that
can infect the liver and lead
to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Hepatitis C is a slow moving
disease. It can take anywhere
from six months to more than
30 years to cause serious liver
problems. Because of this,
people who have hepatitis C
may not even know they are
sick until their liver becomes
Diabetes support
monthly meetings
The Diabetes Awareness
and Support Group is hosted
by the IHS Warm Springs
Model Diabetes Program
and the Warm Spring Senior
Program.
The group meetings are
from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the
Warm Springs Senior Center
on the following dates.
May 13: Topic: How to
keep kidneys healthy with Dr.
Tilley.
June 17: Sleep apnea/sleep
problems with Dr Creelman.
July: Diet drinks taste-test
with Eric Bradford, Diabetes
coordinator.
August 19: I feel good -
Why to do I need
medicine? Diabetes/blood
pressure
with
Diana
Wambaugh, FNP.
COCC offers
business course
Central Oregon Commu-
nity College’s Small Business
Development Center is giv-
ing a short workshop for
people contemplating busi-
ness ownership. There is one
scheduled for Tuesday, May
20 at the COCC Madras
Campus from 6-8 p.m. The
two-hour session covers all
the basic steps needed to
open a business. Cost is $29.
Pre-registration required. Call
541-383-7290 to register.
seriously damaged.
Hepatitis C can affect
people at any age, but recently,
the Center for Disease Con-
trol found that people born
between 1945 and 1965 have
a higher risk of having hepa-
titis C.
Hepatitis C is spread in the
blood. Any time blood is
shared between people, there
is a risk of hepatitis C infec-
tion. People who share per-
sonal items that come in con-
tact with blood, like used lan-
cets (used for testing blood
sugar), used syringes, or used
razors; people who abuse
drugs by injecting or snorting
them, and people who get a
tattoo or piercing with tools
that may not be completely
clean may be at risk of hav-
ing hepatitis C.
The good news is that
hepatitis C can be treated and
cured. The medications
needed to treat hepatitis C are
available at the Warm Springs
Health and Wellness Center
on a case by case basis.
The bad news is that the
medications do not work on
everyone, and some people
may not be able to use them
because of other medical
problems.
To find out more about
hepatitis C, stop by the Warm
Springs Health and Wellness
Center and ask your provider
for more information, or be
tested.
Questions? Call Linda at
541-553-2134.
Page 7
Cobell settlement helps
to fund scholarships
The Department of the Interior in April transferred
the first funds to the Cobell Education Scholarship
Fund. This initial transfer was of nearly $580,000 to
the American Indian College Fund.
The Scholarship Fund was authorized by the his-
toric Cobell Settlement, approved in 2012, to provide
financial assistance through annual scholarships to
American Indian and Alaska Native students wishing
to pursue post-secondary education and training.
In other a related Cobell settlement item:
The land buy-back program was created to imple-
ment the land consolidation component of the settle-
ment, providing $1.9 billion to purchase fractionated
interests in trust or restricted land from willing land-
owners.
Consolidated interests are transferred to tribal gov-
ernment ownership for uses benefiting the reserva-
tion community and tribal members.
Interior will contribute up to $60 million from buy-
back program sales to the Scholarship Fund, based on
a formula in the Cobell Settlement that sets aside a
certain amount of funding depending on the value of
the fractionated interest sold. These contributions do
not reduce the amount that an owner will receive for
voluntarily consolidating their interests.
The American Indian College Fund, headquartered
in Denver, will administer the Scholarship Fund, and
has extensive experience in providing students the re-
sources to succeed in tribal colleges and technical and
vocational certifications as well as traditional under-
graduate and graduate programs. A five-member board
of trustees is responsible for the oversight and super-
vision of the College Fund’s administration of the
Scholarship Fund and for developing and adopting a
charter outlining its role and responsibilities.
The College Fund is working with the Cobell Board
of Trustees to stand up its operation in concert with
this first transfer of funds.
More information about the Cobell Scholarship Pro-
gram and how interested students can apply can be
found at the American Indian College Fund website:
collegefund.org/Cobell
This first transfer of funds follows recent land
purchases from willing sellers at the Pine Ridge and
Rosebud Reservations. More than $100 million in
purchase offers are currently pending for landowners
with fractional interests at Pine Ridge.
Owners must accept and return current pur-
chase offers for fractionated lands on Pine Ridge
by May 2, 2014. Landowners can contact their local
Fiduciary Trust Officer or call the Trust Beneficiary
Call Center at 888-678-6836 with questions about their
purchase offers. More information is also available at:
doi.gov/buybackprogram/landowners
Participation in the Buy-Back Program does not
impact a landowner’s ability to receive individual settle-
ment payments from the Cobell Settlement.