Smoke Signals
8
NOVEMBER 1, 2008
Wettecrainis SEB seeks slhioft off miew fctoodl
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
At a Tribe-hosted dinner to in
terest new Tribal veterans to join
the Tribe's Veterans Special Event
Board on Oct. 21 at the Tribal
Community Center, 11 Elders and
members showed up.
Two were Tribal Council mem
bers: Tribal Elder and Vice Chair
man Reyn Leno and Tribal Elder
Steve Bobb Sr., both Vietnam vet
erans and council member liaisons
to the board.
One was Tribal member Kristy
DeLoe, Food Service coordinator
for the Tribe's Health and Wellness
Department.
Those who attended were full of
ideas for bringing the committee
now with only two Tribal mem
bers back to life.
Tribal Elder Bob Tom said that
the 250 veterans who lined up for
Grand Entry at the 2008 Veterans'
Powwow showed how valuable the
Veterans Special Event Board is.
The Veterans SEB also sponsors
the Veterans' Powwow annually.
To start with, Leno suggested
that Tribal Council might amend
committee regulations to reduce
the number required for the com
mittee from seven to five.
While a Northwest Indian Veter
ans Association group with Native
and nonNative members continues
to do the Honor Guard work that is
at the heart of the group's obliga
tions, Tribal regulations require
that the Veterans SEB be made up
of Tribal veterans.
Potentially, the membership
change also could include an
amendment allowing nonTribal
vets to join the committee, sug
gested Tribal Elder Gene LaBonte,
who has been the backbone of the
Veterans SEB for years and who
serves this year on the Governor's
Addiction treatment program receives ANA award
Culturally-based recovery
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
The Tribal addiction post-treatment
program received a presti
gious Commissioners Award for
Innovation in Substance Abuse
Treatment at the national con
ference of the Administration for
Native Americans held Sept. 22 in
Washington, D.C.
The Administration for Native
Americans is a federal Depart
ment of Health & Human Services
program.
Grand Ronde Social Services
Manager Dave Fullerton accepted
the award for the program, but
credited Post Treatment Services
Coordinator Joe Martincau (Minne
sota Chippewas, Fond du Lnc Res
ervation) and Support Counselor
Chris I loliday (Warm Springs), who
run the program, "and the guys who
participated."
Those "guys" have been "hugely
successful," Fullerton said.
Through the program, the Tribe
has provided post-treatment tran
sition services to about 36 men, all
but one of them Tribal members.
Photo by Ron Karten
Tribal Elder Gene LaBonte and Tribal Council members Steve Bobb Sr., center,
and Reyn Leno, right, discuss ways to increase Tribal member participation in
the Veterans Special Event Board during an Oct. 21 meeting held at the Tribal
Community Center.
Veterans Affairs Advisory Commit
tee. Most veterans who serve on
today's Grand Ronde Honor Guard
are not Tribal.
Tom suggested that "more ac
tivities" could make the committee
more attractive to Tribal veterans.
Tom said that the group might set a
good example of "Indians honoring
other veterans."
Tribal Elder Monty Parazoo, a
Vietnam veteran who came up to
the meeting from Eugene, where he
lives, suggested "doing something
special for Tribal veterans."
"Very few veterans just back from
the military are getting involved,"
LaBonte said. "We're doing a lot for
veterans, but we're failing Tribal
veterans."
Many veterans, particularly
those who have just come out of
the service, "don't want to be in
parades," Leno said.
"Five to six weeks after their re
turn," LaBonte said, "they're still
wound up."
cited as working well
The program also accepts Tribal
descendants and, space permitting,
other Natives. Currently, the house
is full with five clients.
Program funding started in Sep
tember 2005 with a $599,332 two
year grant from the Administration
for Native Americans, which in
cluded extensive renovation of
the home and outbuilding activity
space, enhanced prevention activi
ties and some supplemental funds
for treatment. The transition house
opened in September 2006.
For comparison, Fullerton point
ed to a study from the Bureau of
Justice Statistics called "American
Indians and Crime."
"The (Grand Ronde) client count
of only two (2) re-arrests from the
total number of twenty-six (26) cli
ents, or 7.7 percent, during these six
months compares highly favorably
measured ngainst national data
on re-arrests by Native Americans
of about 25 percent in the first six
months after release from jail."
The award highlighted the Trilw's
"innovat ive approach using a culturally-based
recovery program," Ful
VIM r 9
Among the ideas for additional
activities, Leno suggested that the
group invite speakers from Veter
ans Affairs. "If you're like me," he
said, "you sit at home and wonder
what's available to you as a vet. I
don't know."
Tom suggested including signa
ture projects, like other service or
ganizations sponsor. "Groups have
toy drives," he said. "We could help
Elders." He also asked, "What do we
do for veterans when they come and
go from the service?"
"You start with kids," Leno said.
He said that the Education center
is a place the Tribe might start in
stilling respect for and information
about veterans with field trips, for
example, to the Veterans Memorial
on the Tribal campus.
LaBonte suggested sending out a
survey to see what kind of activities
Tribal veterans want and would
support.
Because the Veterans SEB orga
nizes and runs the Veterans' Pow
lerton said. "It stressed
culture rather than
pounding in the mes
sage, 'Don't drink, don't
use drugs.""
The message is "you
should maintain sobri
ety while participating
in cultural activities,"
Fullerton said.
The program began
when the addiction com
munity realized that
"there was a huge gap in
services, that we didn't
have a safe and sober
place for a lot of people
to stay when coming out
of treatment," Fullerton
said. "That's what we
provided to them."
Since the end of the
two-year pilot, begin
ning with the 2008 bud
get year, the Tribe has
funded the post-treat
ment services program.
"Ultimately, this is funded by
Tribal dollars," Fullerton said, "but
it is saving Tribal dollars because
people aren't having to return to
treatment as frequently."
wow, this board function, at least,
will continue in some form.
Tribal Elder and Vietnam vet
eran Butch LaBonte, brother to
Gene, suggested increasing interest
with a contest for a new veterans'
blanket design.
"We also need good support staff,"
LaBonte said, "to take notes and
keep the budget."
Parazoo said that he had not pre
viously joined the Veterans SEB be
cause he was never asked to join.
"It seemed like there was a group
that was doing it, and they weren't
reaching out to others," Parazoo
said.
Leno said that a young vet, just
recently released from duty in Iraq,
joined the group but quit a couple
months later.
"Younger vets don't feel wel
come," said Parazoo. "You need to
personally reach out to them."
"Sometimes you think you work
them too hard, or expect too much,"
LaBonte said.
"Sometimes, we go to funerals
with less than five others in atten
dance," he added. Once, there were
just two others, explaining why
some might lose interest.
The numbers (on the board) have
been declining for years, Bobb
said.
When the meeting began, the
committee had just two Tribal
members: LaBonte and Elder Betty
Lambert. Lambert, however, is
leaving the group, LaBonte said.
As the meeting ended, Monty
Parazoo joined, single-handedly
trending the committee in the right
direction without actually increas
ing the committee's size.
"(Tribal Elder, now deceased)
Merle Leno said that once you start
something, you don't give it up," La
Bonte recalled. "We just need some
new ideas." B
M ii
Photo courtesy of the Administration for Native Americans
Grand Ronde Social Services Manager Dave
Fullerton accepted a Commissioners Award for
Innovation in Substance Abuse Treatment at
the national conference of the Administration
for Native Americans held In Washington, D.C
on Sept. 22. He stands with ANA Commissioner
Quanah Crossland Stamps (Cherokee).
An external evaluation by Dr.
John Spence of the Northwest In
dian Training Association contrib
uted to the Tribe's progrnm being
selected for the award.