4 MAY 1,2007
Smoke Signals
Tribal Youth Leadership Conference Focuses On Healthy Relationships
LEADERSHIP continued
from front page
held presentations to reflect on
ideas about what makes a relation
ship healthy.
"I basically had to repress ev
erything I learned that summer at
Smoke Signals, said Tribal member
Joseph Ham, who interned last
summer with Smoke Signals.
On a more serious note, his older
brother flack Ham, also a former
intern with Smoke Signals, said
that the program helped him "learn
some important values. It helped
me listen better," he said, "and
to learn how to work with other
people, how to be a better leader,
to take charge."
"The hardest thing I learned is
to take charge," said Joe Ham,
"because you don't want to be too
dominating."
Between Tribal youth and chaper
ones, the conference brought nearly
100 to the Tribal gymnasium.
Snohomish Tribe Chair Mike
Evans called "connection with other
communities" the big value of this
annual event. "Our family has now
become the whole Northwest."
"For my girls," said Sonya Tet
nowski, chaperone for Makah girls,
"it's the traditional ways of respect:
for each other, for the community,
for Elders, for the family, but for
themselves, mostly."
In one session, groups of high
school aged girls told the guys what
they'd like to see in them: "show
respect," "be outgoing" and "be
responsible."
When the tables turned, the guys
preferences for the girls included
"having similar interests," "don't
lie or hide things," along with "be
respectful" and "responsible."
"Honor her or thank her," said
Joey Holmes (Athabaskan). "She's
like your mother or girlfriend."
"They're saying the right things,
and that's the start," said Evans.
"We're trying to have young
people make a connection between
heads and hearts," said Tribal
member Travis Mercier, Youth
Education Cultural Specialist and
coordinator of the event, "and take
that to a deeper level. To make pos
itive choices and decisions. We're
bombarded with negative images so
we have to meet often to
counter them."
He called the confer
ence "a contemporary
way of gathering, like
our ancestors did, to
trade, to compete, to
play games."
It's about "living the
warrior spirit," he said.
"Be positive, productive
and pro-active. We want
young people to go and
make a difference." B
I 1
Members of the Siletz Tribal youth (above) performed their traditional Feather
Dance as part of the opening night of this year's Leadership Conference held at
the Tribe's education complex on Thursday, April 1 2. Grand Ronde Tribal youth
(below) performed a Canoe Family song and dance. The Leadership Conference
went from April 1 2-1 4 and included activities such as healthy relationship
workshops, community presentations, and a basketball tournament.
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I J
Housing's Deborah Kroeker makes this her mission.
By Ron Karten
Skukum-tamtam mamuk is Chi
nook Wawa for "Strengthen your
heart." It is the idea behind a
Tribal Housing program aimed
at strengthening the housing pro
gram's weakest link.
This link is the place where local,
state and federal safety nets all
seem to fray.
"Part of self-sufficiency is stability,"
said Tribal Housing Services Special
ist Deborah Kroeker in the Housing
Authority boardroom on Tuesday
night, March 19. "It is typical that
as a family starts getting ahead, gov
ernment support drops off, and then
'something happens, maybe the family
car breaks down. And a whole spiral
of things follows from that."
She ran through a litany of other
possibilities. A child gets sick and
the parent misses one day of work.
Then one child gets better and an
other gets sick. Then, taking into
account the sick days, there is not
enough money left when the car
breaks down. Or there's not enough
money when the rent comes due.
"We're trying to help people get
through, but the problem with the
system is that benefits diminish as
recipients make progress. And this
is where people give up."
Federally funded Individual Devel
opment Accounts (IDA) can provide
"that stability piece," said Kroeker.
'The next step after stability is the
ability to plan for the future."
Kroeker accesses money to fight
these problems from the federal
Department of Housing and Urban
The last meeting, despite a fine
spaghetti dinner as enticement,
drew only Tribal member Kalene
Contreras.
"I've been to every meeting," she
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Tribal Housing Services Specialist Deborah Kroeker
Development (HUD)'s self-sufficiency
programs.
"HUD is really working hard to
solve this," said Kroeker. And the
agency has been developing pro
grams to fill the gaps in the safety net
since the early 1990s, said Kroeker.
Monthly, she describes the pos
sibilities to an ad hoc group called
the Self-Sufficiency Advisory Com
mittee, a group with as many as
nine Tribal members.
said, "because I want to help, and
I want to be an example."
"It doesn't always work right
away," said Kroeker, referring to the
effort to bring the information to all
who need it. "Contact can be made
many times before it is effective."
On the other hand, "the (Hous
ing) Board doesn't like the idea
of just giving people money," said
Kroeker. Hence this class, and
others like it.
"I think it's awesome that the
Tribe says, 'We'll help you if you're
helping yourself.'"
One aspect of these self-sufficiency
programs, said Kroeker,
is that pieces of it are distributed
throughout many departments.
The Social Services program has
a piece. Vocational Rehabilitation
and Employment and Training
sections each receive funding for
self-sufficiency programs.
One of the next challenges for
Kroeker is to find ways to enable
all of the pieces to work together.
They've talked about putting to
gether a resource directory, un
derstanding that these programs
change frequently, and any effort
at maintaining a resource directory
would have to be updated regularly.
One place to maintain that direc
tory might be the Tribal website.
The group will establish a talking
circle and create an atmosphere
that builds self-esteem. Among
other issues that need attention
are: more accessible and affordable
day care, effective communications,
simplified job descriptions, and
encouragement to applicants who
may not have been through the
process successfully before.
More recently, Kroeker led a
financial skills seminar for Tribal
members. Both are on-going edu
cational efforts. B