Smoke Signals 5
AUGUST 1,2007
Where Are They Now: A Glimpse at the Success of the 2004-2005 Hatfield Fellow
By Angle Sears
Joseph Hostler, Grand Ronde Trib
al member and 2004-2005 Hatfield
Fellow, has always had an interest
in politics. Even as a child he recalls
watching the news to see what was
going on.
Of course, this could stem from
having a family that was heavily in
volved in Tribal politics. His father, a
member of the Smith River Rancheria
(a small Tribe in California), served
on Tribal Council for his Tribe, and
his mother, a Grand Ronde Tribal
member, has run for Tribal council
several times.
Hostler has always tried to follow
his parents' example and take a
leadership role whenever possible.
This is how he came to apply for the
Hatfield Fellowship and ended up
spending nine months in Washington
D.C. working with Native American
Affairs and learning his way around
on Capitol Hill.
Hostler, a graduate of Humboldt
State University with a Bachelor of
Science degree in Natural Resource
Management and an emphasis in
Tribal Management, spent his fel
lowship working in Congressman
Greg Walden's office. Walden is the
House Representative for Eastern
Oregon.
Hostler feels lucky to have been
placed in an office that deals with Na
tive American Affairs. And even more
so that at the time of his placement,
the office was in the middle of a staff
turnover that involved the Native
American and Environmental Affairs
portfolios, which allowed him to step
up and help out.
"A big part of what I did is brief
the congressman, his staff and the
commission about upcoming Native
American bills. And whenever Tribes
came (to D.C), I acted as a host for
them, I sat in on meetings, and I
followed up on their requests," said
Hostler.
"They allowed me to work on the
things that I wanted to, which was
rare. So I chose to work on Native
American Affairs - any kind of pro
posed laws that affected Tribes, I
got to research them, brief the office
and the congressman, and then do
outreach for the Tribe. I was like a
legislative assistant to the office and
that was nice.
"For the nine months that I was
in the office, I pretty much took over
the Native American portfolio and
the new guy did the Environmental
portfolio. He helped me out a little
s hi .
t m i :
Tribal member Joseph Hostler
and I kept him in the loop of stuff.
And when I left he took over the Na
tive American stuff."
Hostler learned a lot about profes
sionalism and work ethics while in
D.C. The staff welcomed him and
took him "under their wing," he
said. They taught him everything he
wanted to learn and they got along
great; however, they didn't always
see eye-to-eye on issues.
"Congressman Walden is a repub
lican and I'm pretty liberal; I'm a
democrat. And so I didn't fully sup
port some of the work I did because
ideologically I didn't agree with it,
but they were always welcoming,"
he said.
Hostler was grateful for the op
portunities and benefits he gained
from the Fellowship, and was equally
grateful for the benefits it provided
for congress. The Fellowship allowed
him the opportunity to teach mem
bers of congress about native culture,
Tribal issues, Tribal sovereignty,
treaty rights, as well as giving them
exposure to Native people and to the
Native perspective.
He believes the biggest goal of
the Fellowship is
teaching leadership,
and teaching future
leaders how to excel
in Washington D.C.
and how to interact
with the U.S. govern
ment. "It is so over
whelming to go to
this big city and be
around all these
powerful people. I
see it all the time.
Some Tribal lead
ers come and they're
overwhelmed. They
don't know how to
act; they don't know
how to ask for things;
how to present their
self; and they don't
know how to get
around the Capitol.
They are just uncom
fortable with it. And
some people are vet
erans at it.
"There are some chair people who
have been representing their Tribe
for 20-30 years and they've been to
D.C. umpteen times. They're familiar
with the Capitol and they know who's
who," he said. "I think this program
helps teach leadership to future lead
ers. ... And it's valuable whenever
those people are ready to become
leaders for their Tribe."
For now, Hostler has returned to
California and perused his passion for
science. He is currently working as a
water quality biologist for the Karuk
Tribe, which is located on the Klamath
River in Northern California.
The Tribe is working on decom
missioning some of the dams on
the Klamath River in an attempt to
improve the water quality, the fish
runs, and the salmon fishery for lo
cal Tribes.
Although he is not currently uti
lizing his political ties or his newly
learned skills, he does have plans to
do so in the future. He feels that the
experiences he gained from the Fel
lowship will be beneficial for a future
career in teaching, Tribal leadership,
Tribal Council, or just about any ca
reer he chooses.
Hostler made the decision to step
away from the political scene for a
while because he wanted to be close
to his family, his culture and his com
munity. He recalled an experience
in D.C. when he was riding alone on
a subway that travels directly from
the House of Representatives to the
Capitol Building.
"I was going to a hearing and I was
in a car all by myself. I was feeling
kind of alone; I was a long way from
my family. ... I had this feeling like
my ancestors were around and I just
kind of had this feeling like I wasn't
alone. It was kind of nice. I felt that
even though I was 3000 miles from
home I still had my ancestors with
me. That was one thing that I learned
over there," he said. "I stepped out of
my world and went into a different
world and I still felt good. ... I still
had my culture and I still had my
ancestors with me. I knew that back
home I still had a community and it
made me feel good."
One thing he would like to see is
more Tribal people getting involved
with the Fellowship. When he fin
ished his term there wasn't another
Fellow to take his place due to a lack
of applicants. He fears it is because
not enough people are informed about
the program. And those who do know
about it don't understand what it's
all about. He would like to encourage
anyone who has even a slight interest
in Native politics to apply and learn
about the opportunities available to
them.
"I think it was Bodie Shaw (a past
Fellow) who told me to be open," said
Hostler. "You have to be open to learn
and open to whatever opportunities
pop up. Don't have any preconceived
notions, and don't be prejudice to
wards anybody or anything. Just ex
perience it and make the most out of
the opportunities that come up."
Tribal Member Pam McDaniel Gets Her G.E.D.
By Ron Karten
Tribal member Sabrina Pam
McDaniel can change out the
starter in a car and when the
washer goes south, she can in
stall a new element in twenty
minutes. But when it comes to
reading and math, she just never
has gotten it. At least not until
recently.
"I'd turn around and ask my
neighbor what the teacher meant,
and pretty soon, I was in trouble
again," she said recently from her
daughter's place in Grand Mead
ows. There wasn't a lot of time to
talk because she was due pretty
soon at her housekeeping job
with the Tribe, but she did want
to thank Joanne Carr, Tribal
Adult Education Coordinator,
the teacher in her life who made
a difference.
"I never had a teacher like
Joanne," she said. "She's a teach
er who knows what you need.
She knows how to work it. If it
wasn't for her, I wouldn't have
my G.E.D."
And from Carr's
point of view, Mc
Daniel's success
rests on two excel
lent attributes: "it
was just her sheer
determination to
do this," said Carr.
"She just kept at
it and kept at it.
She was a real in
spiration to other
people (wanting
their G.E.D.) She
carried around a
notebook with per
centages and times
tables in it, and
she'd keep consult
ing it, or she'd ask, what about this,
again? And the other thing is that
she had a sense of humor about her
own struggle."
"She needed it for her family, and
her job," said Carr, "and I think she's
really happy now working full time."
As of this spring, McDaniel has her
general educa
tion diploma
and is now six
months on the
job for the Tribe.
She turns 50 this
year all through
her studies,
she worked
with grandchil
dren running
around.
She dropped
out of Molalla
High School in
ninth grade, she
said, and ran
through a series
of iobs from
shearing Christ
mas trees to housekeeping for many
years for her father's business, and
eventually, she ran into a deadend self
medicating with alcohol and drugs.
"I couldn't find help out there," she
said, "like the Tribe found for me."
She came out to Grand Ronde to live
with her daughter, and learned that
! ; I
M t ' f (Li
x If
Tribal member
Pam McDaniel
the Tribe would not hire her un
less she was working toward her
G.E.D. Though she was at it for
three years, she said, "I only got
serious about it in the last year."
"I've had G.E.D. classes since
I was 18, but they always stick
you in a corner. Here, we have
open discussions and everybody's
in the same rut. I still don't read
and write well," she said, "but it's
not like I'm dumb and stupid."
In her time in Grand Ronde,
she has done more than study.
"She's an exceptional header,"
said Carr. "She has been bead
ing since the age of 12. It was
passed down from her mother
and her aunt. And she was really
was helpful for getting people to
come into the room. Pam started
the beading class, and maybe
somebody didn't want to do math
or sentence structure, but they'd
come in to make a choker with
Pam, then I'd have the opportu
nity to encourage the rest of it.
She also has volunteered to
help kids getting their G.E.D.s.'
"If I can do it, they can do it.
That's for sure," she said.