NOVEMBER IS, 2000
9
Hatfield Fellow, continued from frontpage
ervation life. Up until the age of five,
Macy says she was under the im
mensely flawed impression that the
whole world consisted only of Indi
ans. While that notion was eventu
ally expelled, negative experiences
made her idea of the other inhabit
ants very discouraging.
"When I was in the seventh grade,
I visited a friend of mine in Madras,"
she said. "And my friend's mother
told me she didn't want her daugh
ter hanging out with a 'dirty Indian.'"
At such an impressionable age,
Macy was, not surprisingly, mystified
by such behavior. Racism was in
comprehensible at the age of 12. In
hindsight, she accepts that Madras
and the surrounding areas were not
and perhaps still are not "culturally
sensitive" places. Yet that realiza
tion does little to soothe the sting, nor
for that matter lessen her gratitude.
"Definitely, experiences like that
shaped who I am," she said rather
nostalgically.
Nonetheless, as a teenager, Macy
realized that she just wanted out.
When her father died she stood be
fore his grave and made him a sol
emn promise that she would leave
and go to school. And even with the
incentive of keeping her word to pro
pel her, it was still not an easy en
deavor. "So many people left the reserva
tion," she said. "And they always
came back, defeated."
"I promised I would leave and
never come back until I had accom
plished something."
f She did, although the initial stages
-were not very promising. Macy en
rolled at the University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee. In her mind, she did it
because they had a first-rate cross
country team. But the truth is she
did it for her mother.
Carla lived in many states since the
divorce still an alcoholic and de
veloping a serious drug habit. Macy
hoped to help, somehow. So she fol
lowed her mother to Milwaukee, not
exactly sure of the situation but ear
nestly believing it to be the right de
cision. "That was... very... challenging,"
she said, patiently.
Her mother's influence was ad
verse, to say the least, and after two
years Macy bit the bullet and moved
to Tempe, Arizona, where she en
rolled at ASU. The University fit her
desires nicely, having excellent Na
tive American support-services, more
American Indian studies and a
higher minority population.
Carla followed soon thereafter, but
was less of a distraction. And that
was probably because Macy was too
focused to yield to anything. She
began pursuit of her Bachelor's de
gree in Justice Studies, and chose
Minors in Psychology and in Ameri
can Indian Justice Studies.
Unlike Milwaukee, Macy had prac
tically no doubts about Arizona, and
her experience backed up the deci
sion. Truth be told, just about ev
erything went right in Tempe. Macy
became immersed in the college at
mosphere. She developed lasting
friendships with professors and fac
ulty, developed a reputation in her
classes for outspokenness, served as
a tutor and engaged in numerous
physical activities, notably basket
ball. Her diligence earned an early re
turn. One summer Macy had the
good fortune to land a fellowship at
Princeton in Public Policy and Inter
national Affairs. A few weeks of rub
bing elbows with Truman Scholars
and straight-A students from around
the country served as a revelation of
sorts.
"I realized if I could be among this
caliber of students, then I could do
just about anything," she said.
Life in Arizona never took a turn
for the worse. Carla took a big step
toward mending her own life by en
rolling in a treatment program.
Macy continued to have loads of fun,
and long the way met a young man
Nathan Burhans. They recently
became engaged. Things just
couldn't get any better.
"I've definitely been blazing my
own trail," she said. "I have been
working hard, with lots of failure, but
lots of success, too."
The success was enough to steer
her back to Warm Springs earlier this
year after she graduated. True to
her word, Macy had not set foot on
that land since last she left, in 1993.
For now, her purpose lies in
Washington, D.C., where she
is slated to assume the new
role as a liaison for
Native American issues
under Darlene Hooley.
Although she is a greenhorn
to the political landscape
that defines our nation s
capitol, Macy feels reborn
and faced with a new
challenge, a new avenue.
She found work with the Tribe as a
Deputy Prosecutor of domestic vio
lence offenders, and even added
more to her credentials by winning
the Miss Warm Springs Pageant dur
ing the Tribes' Pow-wow.
A friend informed her of the Mark
0. Hatfield Fellowship, and Macy
submitted an application, but never
really expected to win it. She had
begun planning for her future, pos
sibly graduate school to pursue a
Master's in Public Policy, but was in
vited to Portland for the final inter
view in August and days later was
awarded the fellowship.
Although this brings a quick
change of plans she has to go to
Washington, D.C. and find an apart
ment and be prepared for the pre
liminary stages of the fellowship all
by early November Macy clearly
relishes the opportunity. She has not
ruled out that this foray into politics
might awaken something inside her.
"This definitely creates more possi
bilities for me," she said. "And I've
always wanted to get a good under
standing of how policies are devel
oped." Macy views Native American rep
resentation in Washington as
"grossly underrepresented." She was
known by professors at ASU to be a
very outspoken individual, one who
took a "no holding back" approach in
discussions, always leaving an im
pression. Perhaps that is why she
speculates this fellowship will be a
good chance to raise her own issues.
"Issues," she said when asked.
"Hmmm, where to begin. . ."
For starters she said, drug and al
cohol abuse. Second she added,
youth education. But foremost, she
concluded, "just having Indian
people around (in D.C.) to remind
others that we're still here."
Nobody would doubt that Macy will
get deeply immersed in her role while
living in Washington, D.C. How
ever, one might ask what will her
spare time consist of in the nation's
capitol. In other words, what else
would she like to do there?
"I plan to do some volunteer work
for the Native American Heritage
Foundation," she said. "And to play
some basketball."
She might also hope to find time to
indulge one other hobby: collecting
vintage Asian clothing. But no mat
ter what, she will always find time
for fun, her favorite pastime.
"These last three years have been
the happiest of my life," she said.
"I've learned that if I'm pro-anything,
I'm definitely pro-fun!"
Each year an applicant for the Hatfield Fellowship is selected from a federally
recognized Tribe in Oregon, Washington, Idaho or Montana to serve as a
Legislative Intern to one of Oregon's House or Senate representatives for
nine months. A stipend, moving and travel expenses are also provided.
American Indian Ambassador Opportunity
The purpose of the American In
dian Ambassadors program is to re
kindle dormant vision, refresh cur
rent leadership and empower emerg
ing leaders to create avenues for
Native Americans to express their
culture values in all arenas of con
temporary life.
B Personal inquiry into one's own
"medicine" or inner strength.
H Reaffirmation of Tribal values.
B Focused dialogue about current
issues in Indian Country.
H International perspectives
B Interactive meetings with estab
lished leaders.
B Indigenous leaders presentations.
B Public speaking competence.
B Readings and work assignments.
B Community organizing skills.
B Networks of contacts and re
sources. B Mentor relationships with national
and community leaders and Elders.
The Ambassadors remain in their
communities and come together for
several group meetings focusing on
the individual, the community, the
Tribe, national Indian issues and in
ternational indigenous concerns.
The 2001 Ambassadors Program is
open to American Indians and
Alaska Natives from the United
States between the ages of 25-36.
Interested emerging leaders must
submit an official application which
includes two nominations and a writ
ten proposal outlining a plan for a
community-based project.
For more information:
Americans for Indian Opportunity
681 Juniper Hill Road
Bernalillo, New Mexico 87004
Phone: (505) 867-0278
aiomailunm.edu www.aio.org
Applications are also available at
the Tribal Education Office.
Deadline: Dec. 15, 2000.
New Scholarship
Available
The Oregon Native American
Chamber of Commerce is offering
two $1,000 scholarships to Native
American students attending
Chemeketa Community College.
Applications are available at the
Tribal Education office. For addi
tional information, call Marty
Branch at 503-399-2367. Applica
tion deadline: December 8, 2000.
strong tbiT
Tribe's Education Office
GRAND RONDE
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
503-879-2288
Native American
Teacher Education
Program Offered
Eastern Oregon University, The
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, Jefferson County School
District 509-J and Central Oregon
Community College are now offering
the NATEP program that allows in
dividuals to become licensed elemen
tary or secondary teachers. NATEP
is a cooperative program designed to
recruit, support, prepare, and gradu
ate Native Americans as effective el
ementary and secondary teachers.
Interested parties may contact:
B The Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs
Higher Education Services
(541) 553-3311
B Eastern Oregon University
(541) 962-3741
B Central Oregon Community College
(541) 383-7700