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4 MAY 15, 2001
Smoke Signals
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Educator Grand Ronde Tribal Social Services Director Anthony Gagliardo
informed participants about how important the subject of Elder abuse re
ally is.
If'-i. ,:-Fi) ".v .-
Staff Participation - Members of the Tribe's Social Services depart
ment attend this year's Elder abuse conference to learn what to watch for
while working with Elders.
Continued from front page
means to them.
"I know that from time to time,
some of us have been taken advan
tage of," said Tribal Elder Leon
"Chips" Tom to the participants.
"Maybe not intentionally or maybe
by accident, but we have all been
there before."
Tom said abuse can be subtle.
"I know when someone makes a
commitment or offers to take you to
the doctor, shopping or just stop by
to visit and spend some time with you
and then they don't show up it
hurts," said Tom. "You feel disre
spect, not value. As we grow older
we become more dependent and less
independent. Sometimes its tough
to say no to the people we love when
we are asked to loan money or maybe
to baby-sit our grandchildren or
great-grandchildren.
Despite the seriousness of the sub
ject, Tom brought some humor to the
crowd.
"And I know that from experience
I don't move as fast as the little ones
do or near as well as I used to," said
Tom amid chuckles from other Elders
who know how he feels. "I admire
some of the Elders that I see still
babysitting, because I know that
sometimes just watching children
with all their energy wears me out."
Tribal Elder Nancy Wall said she
saw Elder abuse first hand in nurs
ing homes that she worked in over
the years. She painfully recalled
times of watching nursing home staff
abuse Elders just by ignoring them
leaving them to cry out for
someone's attention.
"I've had 26 years of experience in
nursing homes and I have seen aides
that have abused the Elders," said
Wall. "It was not physical; it was
mostly mental because they would
talk over the person like they weren't
even there. Many times if they
wanted water or to go to the bath
room and were confined to a wheel
chair, they would just ignore them
and go on their way. That is the kind
of abuse that really bothers me. As
far as physical abuse I'm sure the
Elders are afraid of retaliation if they
reported it themselves. We really
need to be watching out for any
physical marks that we see."
Grand Ronde Tribal Elders Sharon
Hanson, Cherie Butler and Robert
Schmid joined Tom and Wall on the
panel. Warm Springs Tribal Elder
Adeline Miller also joined the Grand
Ronde Elders.
State Attorney General Hardy
Meyers was interviewed prior to his
speaking engagement at the confer
ence and said Elder abuse is a crime.
Meyers drew a comparison to the days
when even spousal abuse was not re
ported and if it was reported, the gen
eral perception was that it should be
worked out within the family.
Many times this type of ignorance
V 1 1 J
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Standing Room Only This year's conference drew a better than
expected turnout. Participants came from all over the state and several
Tribes were represented. State Attorney General Hardy Meyers was one of
this year's participants and he took the opportunity to remind everyone
that Elder abuse is a crime.
cost people their lives.
Meyers said times are changing and
so are people's perceptions of what
abuse is and how it should be handled.
"Yes, I absolutely agree that this is
an important subject," said Meyers.
"I think it is sometimes a difficult sub- .
ject for people to confront, but I think
it is important to recognize that what
we are talking about what ordinarily
is criminal conduct it is not private
conduct. There is a growing commu
nity interest in bringing to light and
stopping that conduct. I think that
one of the sad facts about Elder abuse
in particular, financial Elder abuse
the perpetrators are often family
members who have a relationship of
trust that is being greatly abused.
This is not only abuse of the indi
vidual, but of the trust relationship
and that is very disheartening.
"In the area of domestic violence, I
think we started some years ago with
the very widespread view that this
was a private matter that it was
not something that other people
should be concerned with," said
Meyers. "The marital relationship
was for the parties to work out. But
in that area and the area of Elder
abuse, we have made a lot of progress
in changing that attitude as we are
beginning to accept the fact and get
ting the community to accept the fact
that it is a community concern."
Meyers said he appreciates the
Tribe's efforts in helping communi
ties find answers to social problems
and for providing the resources that
lead to the answers.
"I think very definitely the Tribe has
a unique and important role," said
Meyers. "I think you put your finger
on an important development, which
is the ability now to create resources,
which cost money. But, again the
presence of professional resources of
different kinds seems crucial to me
and the fact that they are coming into
being is a wonderful development."
Bonnie Tom said the conference
was a huge success and she was
pleased by the turnout.
"I thought it was a wonderful day
and it is the kickoff to having our own
multidisciplinary team," said Tribal
Wellness Component Director Bonnie
Tom. "The Elders panel was a great
touch and we really enjoyed having
the Elders from Warm Springs and
Umatilla here with us. Everyone I
spoke to loved hearing what the El
ders had to say."
Warm Springs Elder Adeline
Miller shared her stories of what she
does for the Elders in her Tribal com
munity. Miller said even though the
body might not be able to do what
they did as youngsters, they still re
member. And they still play and pick
berries in their minds.
"I grew up with an Elder person
and the person had a lot to do in my
life," said Miller of her youth. "I have
seen my grandmother take care of
Elder people. She told me to respect
all Elders to listen to them. Then
later on, after I had my children I
passed that on to my children. To lis
ten, obey the Elders. This I try to pass
on to the children. Today, I myself as
an Elder, I feel it has paid off because
I feel very glad when I see that per
son go up to an Elder and speak to
them. Just go up and walk with them
or even talk to them. I have seen this
neglect a lot. When I go to an Elder's
home I always pick up another
Elder and take them along with me
and I was happy to see these two
people get together and reminisce.
That made them both happy."
Listening to Miller recall her youth
makes it easy to see the picture she
paints with her memories. The
beauty of her creation makes it hard
to understand how anyone could
abuse an Elder person.
"Sometimes I pick up three or four
of the Elders and I fix lunch," said
Miller. "I drive them up to the moun
tains, get out chairs and we sit out
there and we eat lunch. .We were
acting like we were picking huckle
berries. And, they point out to the
place where they used to go at one
time. And then when they returned
home, they were happy."
Miller urges others to pick up the
work that she can no longer do. Her
words were emotional and inspiring.
"Today, I do not see that happen
ing because no one has continued
that work along that I was doing,"
said Miller. "If you do this you will
feel good. Because we feel that no
one cares for us and that our fami
lies don't want to be bothered. So
they feel 'why should I care for my
self?' They don't want to eat they
just have a little snack. Next thing,
they are talking to themselves. But,
if you keep in touch with them a lot
then you can keep them out of do
ing things like that."