Smoke Signals
Grand Ronde Medical Clinic Bids Farewell To A Man Of Many Talents
10 JULY 1,2007
By Angie Sears
Tim Yett, Commissioned Of
ficer with the U.S. Public Health
Service, has worked at the Grand
Hondo Medical Clinic for nearly two
years. Yett is contracted by Indian
Health Services and works for the
Office of the Surgeon General of
the United States. I le is one of only
1500 nurses on the surgeon general
medical staff in the world. Cur
rently, the Tribe has two officers
working at the medical clinic.
"I'm honored," said Yett. "To get
in isn't easy; the selection process
is a very long one."
Yett works as the nursing supervi
sor and the patient care staff supervi
sor. It is his responsibility to supervise
the registered nurses and the medical
assistants. He also does direct patient
care, specializing in ambulatory care,
medicalsurgical, ER, public health,
and behavioral health.
But medicine isn't Yett's only
talent, he is a multi-instrument
musician. He plays guitar, bass,
percussion, and the Native Ameri
can flute.
Yett has been playing guitar
since he was 10 years-old. In fact,
he says he can't remember not
playing the guitar.
"Guitar is the main instrument
for me," said Yett. "My brother-in-law,
who lived in New Orleans,
played guitar in a band called, The
Band. They used to back up Bob
Dylan. I remember when I first
started playing guitar, he came and
visited. And that's when I heard the
story about him.
"His name was Kenny Verret;
' 1 he was a well known performance
musician back in the 60s. He played
with some of the top acts like Bob
Dylan and Janis Joplin.
"So he showed me some chops
when I was a kid. He was a real
neat guy." And at that point Yett
was hooked.
Later, he formed a band of his
own in California, focusing on blues
and blues rock. He played in the
band for about 15 years and has
been a performing artist for about
20 years, playing clubs, parties, and
festivals.
He also did some producing for
his brother's band, a hard core punk
band in LA, called Total Chaos.
In 2001, Yett, who is one-eighth
Cherokee, attended a pow-wow
and Avocado Festival in California,
where he met a flute maker.
"I've always wanted to learn how
to play Native American flute. I had
several CD's. So when I met the
flute maker, I bought one. I started
playing it right in front of him, and
I had never played one before.
"The flute maker asked how long
I had been playing, and I said I just
picked it up right now. It freaked
him out; it freaked me out too. I
said doesn't everybody do this?
And he told me it doesn't happen
that way. It really was surprising
to me," said Yett. "It was like the
Creator just went 'BAM!'"
Several years later, after coming to
work at the medical clinic, Yett met
Tribal member Jan Michael Looking
Wolf Reibach. The two formed an
instant friendship, but it wasn't until
later at the 2005 Grand Ronde Pow
Wow, they would learn that they
share a talent and love for music.
The two friends began playing
music together in the fall of 2005,
and have since recorded a CD called
Breath Maker.
"When I first heard Jan's music
and started playing with him, I
thought he is by far
the best that there
is. There is just no
doubt," said Yett.
During the pro
cess of recording the
CD Breath Maker,
Keith Summers,
guitar player for
the songs "Breath
Maker" and "Trou
blemaker," came to
the pair and asked
if he could write a
guitar melody for
their CD.
"I was at work and
Jan called me and
said that Keith has a
really cool guitar line.
He said "I'm going to
put a little flute to it
and let you listen."
"When I got off
work, I went straight
to the studio. They
had already been
working for an hour
or two. I walked into
the studio and Jan
was all excited the
way that he is. (He's
a 300 lb. 10-year-old.)
And he said listen to
this guitar; it sounds
beautiful. It's the song
"Breath Maker."
"(Breath Maker in
the Mikasuki lan
guage means Cre
ator. How many
people can basically
call their CD God
and get away with
it? ... This whole
project has been
blessed from day
one. It seems like
everything came to
us by divine placement.)
"So I went to the studio and Jan
was playing his part, and I'm listen
ing to this melody and I'm thinking
this is gripping; it's just awesome.
Then they said "here's your part;
you're going to play something right
here on the flute."
"The anxiety welled up in me
and I said, I can't add anything to
that. It's perfect now. Why don't
you just keep playing what you're
playing; it's beautiful. They said
"no, we're leaving this section for
you to play."
"I was anxious and scared. I went
into the studio and Jan asked me to
play the high part, and he handed
me a flute that I had never played
before. I said let me practice first
and see what I can do with it. ...
I went in, and for me I was just
playing along and getting used to
the song. At the end, I said Ok I
think I'm ready. They said that
was a take and told me to come and
listen. . . . And what you hear on the
CD is one take, the first take I ever
heard," explained Yett.
Later Yett explained that each
flute has its own characteristic,
and many are made in different
keys. Each flute is hand made and
when you switch flute makers, you
have to get used to a different style,
different woods, different fingering,
and you have to alter the way you
use your breath by using a differ-
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Tim Yett
ent amount of pressure to avoid
squeaking or going out of tune.
The CD Breath Maker has only
been out for a short period of time,
but has already proven to be a big
success for them. The duo played a
sold out show at their CD Release
Concert in McMinnville last De
cember; they played Flute Quest in
Washington, as a premier act; and
they have played several benefit
concerts. They are also semi-finalists
for NAMA (Native American
Music Awards).
The album Breath Maker is a semi
finalist for seven different categories,
including best Blues & Jazz Album
and best instrumental. Yett is also
up for best producer. NAMA will be
held October 6, 2007 at the Seneca
Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara,
New York. Nominations will be an
nounced sometime in July.
According to Yett, if Breath Mak
er wins a Native American Music
Award someone from the Grammy
Commission will submit it for a
Grammy next year.
"Breath Maker would not be here
without Tim Yett, and it would not
be here without me," said Reibach.
"It was collaboration between two
artists who have different styles
and different talents. We wanted
to focus on spirituality while trying
to keep an indigenous Native sound
that everyone could relate to, and
it turned out great."
Currently, Yett is working on a
solo project, titled Creating Sacred
Space, which incorporates guided
imagery with Native American flute
music and stories of the natural
world. Yett plays all the instru
ments on the CD, including percus
sion, guitar, bass, and flute. He also
wrote all the stories and acts as the
narrator. The CD will be available to
the public sometime this summer.
Reibach has also been working on
a solo project and is currently pro
moting his latest album, Unity.
"We're like brothers; we're really
close," said Reibach. "Even though
I'm involved with the Unity album,
and Tim's doing his thing, which I
think is really cool, and we're going
down separate paths artistically, I
still see him all the time. He's my
brother and I support him."
Both Reibach and Yett have de
cided to limit the amount of shows
they perform so they can focus on
the important things in life, their
families. Even though they have cut
back on performances, they are still
open to performing for charities. In
fact, the pair will be performing at an
upcoming benefit concert for Tribal
member Jackie Whisler on June 30,
and have both donated copies of their
latest albums for the cause.
Yett was recently accepted into
a Nurse Practitioner program at
Cal State University, and will be
leaving the Tribe's medical clinic on
July 22. This is a four year program
that will allow him to complete his
courses on line while he works at
the Sheridan Federal Correctional
Institution as a staff nurse.
He took the position at the cor
rectional institution because of spe
cial funding requirements for the
program. In order to be considered
for special funding through Indian
Health Services, a student has to
have at least one major agency
move in their career. By moving to
the correctional institution he will
fulfill that requirement and will
then be eligible for funding.
Yett has been competing for this
program for the past two years and is
looking forward to this opportunity.
After completing two years of intense
graduate prep work, he plans to com
plete his required clinical rotation at
the Grand Ronde medical clinic.
"It gives me an opportunity to
give something back to the Tribe
because it's free labor," said Yett. "I
actually like the idea that I would
be providing a non-paid service bet
ter because it just takes a dimen
sion out of it, and then it purely is
service. I like that."
"Tim is a great Native American
flutist. Tim is a humanitarian,
and he cares' more about playing
for charities than he does about
playing for profit," said Reibach.
"His focus is on healing; cultural
healing and social healing. He
walks what he talks, and he talks
a lot about healing. But that's how
he lives his life, and I'm blessed to
know him." B