January, 1992
Page 10
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3
WILLIE'S PAGE
Smoke Signals
Getting Rid of Boredom
Do you find yourself bored a lot? Some people
think that if you are always bored that you as a
person are boring.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself to
see if you are a boring person:
Do you have any interests?,
Do you look to other people to make your life
more interesting? If you do, then you know that you
are on your way to becoming a bore.
If you find yourself answering yes to these ques
tions, here are some ideas to keep you from getting
too bored.
Tiy to think of the least boring activity and do it.
Try learning something new everyday. Think of all
the things that you enjoy or used to enjoy doing and
do them.
Youth Council Chairman
Relaxing and keeping busy in school activities are some
of the things that tribal youth council chairman, Jeff
Mcrcicr, likes to do in his spare time. He says that
being chairman gives him the chance to help people in
the tribe and in the surrounding community.
In the future, he hopes the group will expand on other
Indian education and awareness as well as alcohol and
drug prevention education .
Jeff would like to see the group get more involved in
the community. As the chairman, he helps run the
group meetings and oversees the group activities.
Jeff meets with Camille Van Vleet, the alcohol and
drug prevention education counselor about three times a
month to plan youth group activities.
Attending college is something he would like to do in
the future, but for now Jeff likes the social side of
school better that the educational side. He doesn't like
the competitiveness in school because he thinks more
students would do better if the schools weren't so
competitive. Jeff is glad that he got involved with the
youth group and hopes that it expands in the future.
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Jeff Mercier, Tribal Youth Council Chairman
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Western States With Native
American Names
A lot of states have Native American origins. Here
are some that are west of the Rocky Mountains.
Alaska: From the Eskimo word "alakshak," mean
ing peninsula; also said to mean "great lands."
Arizona: Many authorities attribute the meaning to
a word meaning arid zone or desert. Others claim
the name is Aztec, from"arizuma" meaning "silver
bearing." Still another version attributes the origin
to the Papagos tribe of the Southwest, who named it
from the locality in which they lived called Arizonac,
meaning "site of the small springs" (lack of water).
This place was near the present town of Nogales,
and in the early 1700's, silver was discovered near
here, which gives some credence to' the Aztec word
"arizuma."
Hawaii: Hawaiian. English spelling of Owhyhee,
possibly from the native word meaning "homeland."
Idaho: Presumably from the Shoshone translation
of "Edah hoe," meaning "light on the mountains."
Also "Ida" means "salmon" and "ho" means tribe or
literally "eaters," hence "salmon eaters."
New Mexico: Called "New Mexico" when the
Mexicans referred to the territory north and west of
the Rio Grande in the 16th century. May have been
derived from the name of the Aztec war god,
"Mixitli"; still another interpretation is that it means
"habitation of the god of war."
Utah: Apache word from Yuttahih meaning "one
that is higher up," referring to the Ute Indians who
lived higher in the mountain country than the Navajo
or Apache of the area.
Wyoming: One meaning is "extensive plains" from
the Delaware word "maugh-wau-wama." Another
interpretation suggests that the name means "moun
tains with valleys alternating."
New Drug and Alcohol Pre
ventionEducation Counselor
Vernon Kennedy, the new tribal alcohol and drug
preventioneducation counselor is working with the
youth group.
He worked with the youth group on the Christmas
party. He works at the alcohol and drug program at the
Depot office. Working with the youth group is impor
tant to Vernon because he thinks intervention with
teenagers will make them more aware of their culture
and the negative affects drugs and alcohol have on it.
Vernon used to work at the Nanitch Sahallie treatment
center in Keizer.
Working with youth was one of the reasons he became
an alcohol and drug counselor. Vernon likes the recre
ational things that the group does. Vernon will be
involved with the youth all summer. He is originally
from Burns, Oregon where he went to the high school
and, then, to Anadarko Indian school.
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Vernon Kennedy, Youth Drug and Alcohol Counselor
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