6 FEBRUARY 1, 2006
Smoke Signals
Raising Children With Stars and Apples
"For too long we've been told our ways are bad. Those days are over;" Indian Child Welfare training reaches out to Indian parents.
By Ron Karten
When Tribal Chairwoman
Cheryle Kennedy and her family
wake up in the morning, the first
thing they do is have a drink of
water. The practice was taught to
her by her grandmother, who got
it from her father, who used plants
and herbs for medicines.
"He said," said Kennedy, "when
you open up your body in the morn
ing, it's like a new life. It's a form
of cleansing for the new day, and
a reminder that it is also a time to
give thanks in prayer."
"From the time my babies were
born," said Tribal member Elaine
LaBonte, "they were in baby bas
kets. These are traditional from
southern Oregon and California
Tribes. They're not a baby board or
a cradleboard. They're shaped kind
of like the womb and the baby is
tied in there in a sitting position. It
mimics the womb, so when they
come out, they're still feeling secure.
The way the rim is made, anytime
somebody wants to hold the baby,
they hold the basket, protecting the
baby from any negative forces."
LaBonte's children also were
named traditionally "by their great,
great auntie who was 82 years old.
She was driven six hours to be
there at the birth to name them and
she named them in the traditional
language. So that name gives them
strength. It named them for the
time they were born and they will
be named again.
"The other thing that I do," said
LaBonte, "since the time they were
in the womb, they have been go
ing to ceremonies. Built into that
way of life is a respect for Elders,
for themselves, for Mother Earth,
and to have values such as honesty.
That's what they get from cer
emony and being around cer
emony." For raising children, the National
Indian Child Welfare Association
(NICWA) recommends traditional
ways updated for today's chal
lenges. In Portland last week,
NICWA trainer Jillene Joseph
taught techniques of "Positive In
dian Parenting" to Indian social
workers from across the country as
well as from Canada and Alaska.
In three days, the program was
v .1
Family Values Colville Tribal member Delsie Greene attended the Positive
Indian Parenting training put on by the National Indian Child Welfare Association
(NICWA) in Portland on January 24-26. Greene brought her daughter, Umatilla
Tribal member Atosha Greene, who was celebrating her 4th birthday.
still an abbreviated introduction to
eight basic techniques first pub
lished by NICWA Executive Direc
tor Terry Cross in 1987.
"The information doesn't change
much," he said, "because it is based
in tradition. People want to be
grounded in our traditions. It is so
important to who they are. (The
program also is important) because
so-much damage was done by
boarding schools, and even states
and counties (governments)."
In one of the first training sections
back in the 1980s, said Cross, an El
der in a four-day training sat qui
etly for two days. On the third day,
"she stood up and cleared her
throat," said Cross. She was the
kind of person who commanded
authority, and when she cleared
her throat, everybody turned quiet
and listened.
"For too long," she said, "we've
been told our ways are bad. Those
days are over."
"She sat down," said Cross, "and
that was it. That was the last we
heard from her during the session."
The curriculum has trained thou-
'.AY t J . ';
Open Arms NICWA Trainer Jillene Joseph instructed a class of about
50 people that are involved in Indian social services programs across the
country. Case workers from as far away as Canada and Alaska made the
long trip to Portland to attend.
sands of trainers over the years.
Smoke Signals is pleased to provide
an overview of the ideas contained
in the training.
One: Traditional Parenting
To get started, the program opens
up the idea that parents can choose
the kind of parents they want to be,
and the kind of parents they want
their children to become.
In traditional Indian communi
ties, children were taught the right
way to do things, how to get along
with others, and self-control.
Two: Lessons of
the Storytellers
"American Indians have been us
ing legends as a way of teaching
since time began," according to the
program. It describes the differ
ences between storytelling and the
electronic entertainment from which
many kids today learn their lessons.
Three: Lessons of
the Cradleboard
The benefits of using a
cradleboard for infants is traditional
for many Tribal peoples and is now
receiving attention from main
stream society.
Among these benefits:
Babies are kept close to their
mothers
They allow mothers to do their
daily work and still keep their chil
dren right with them.
A tightly wrapped baby feels safe
and secure.
The baby on a board can sleep or
observe activities.
Because the hands are wrapped
up, babies use their eyes and ears
more. Later in life, babies raised on
a cradleboard seem to wait and look
over situations before fully reacting.
Four: Harmony in
Child Rearing
Many Tribal people believed in
balance and harmony among all
things. All things large and small
have a purpose, and these beliefs
are reflected in the way people of a
community treat each other.
Sharing is highly valued. Coop
eration rather than competition is
stressed. Non-interference with
others is considered a way to main
tain the harmony and balance
among people. Anger, mental ill
ness and violence are seen by some
Tribes as showing that a person is
out of harmony.
Five: Traditional
Behavior Management
Children raised with the self-control
that cradleboards teach, many
need little or certainly less addi
tional training as they grow. The
ability to look at and evaluate situ
ations before acting provides many
lessons itself.
This behavior management model
requires, however, that everybody
in the group agrees about the right
way to do things. That keeps expec
tations consistent.
A child who is respected as com
ing from the spirit world gains a self-
confidence and respect that also
allows other lessons to be learned.
Teasing and shunning were often
used as corrective techniques, with
the provision that mistakes were
quickly forgotten when the child
recognizes and acknowledges the
mistakes.
Respect for Elders is also part of
traditional behavior management.
Discipline is not separate from
teaching the right way. It is part
of the teaching.
Traditionally, Tribal peoples in
voked supernatural forces, believ
ing, for example, that spirits watch
over the children.
Six: Lessons of
Mother Nature
- Nature was always considered a
good teacher among Native Ameri
cans. Children were taught to ob
serve their natural surroundings
and learn from what they saw. All
nature was considered a teacher
and an ally.
As an example, an Elder teaching
a child patience might point to a
flower and say that the flower of
ten has to wait for water.
A Sioux, Charles Eastman, used
to be sent out in the dark for wood
or water, said Jillene Joseph. The
night taught him to be still and feel
the power of the world around him.
Storyteller Ed Edmo (Shoshone
Bannock Yakama, Nez Perce) was
once told as a youth to observe an
ant hill. It taught him about team
work and persistence.
Many turn to nature for solitude
and peace, and they come back to
their worlds renewed.
Seven: Praise of
Traditional Parenting
Traditionally, praise came to chil
dren both verbally and non-ver-bally.
And it often came in response
to customs or rituals that children
learned.
Early on, children would give
their first baskets or first fish caught
to Elders, who would praise the
work, and in the case of fish, they
would bone it, cook it and eat it, no
matter how small or raggedy the
specimen was.
One story tells of a child taught
by a grandmother to catch butter-