Smoke signals., April 01, 2011, Page 11, Image 11

Smoke Signals 11
APRIL 1,2011
PSU sponsors suicide
prevention poster contest
Our Healing Feathers Project, a suicide prevention awareness and
wellness program at Portland State University, is sponsoring a poster
contest for Native AmericanAlaskan Native junior high and senior high
school students attending Oregon, Washington and Idaho schools.
The theme is "Breaking the Silence" and entrants are asked to cre
ate posters that encourage young people to step forward and help their
friends who may be expressing suicidal thoughts or have threatened to
commit suicide. Posters must be 8.5-by-ll inches and can use photog
raphy, pencil, charcoal, paint and digital mediums. Applicants must be
enrolled in sixth through 12th grades and be of Native descent.
First-place winner receives a $100 gift certificate, second gets a $75
gift certificate and third receives a $50 gift certificate.
Entries should include a separate piece of paper with the entrant's
name, age, address, Tribal affiliation, e-mail address, school and phone
number. One entry per student is allowed.
Entry deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, May 16, and entries should be mailed
to Healing Feathers Program, do Dean Azule, Native American Student
& Community Center, 710 S.W. Jackson St., Portland, OR 97217.
For more information, contact Azule at azuledpdx.edu or call 503-725-5348.
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PHOTOS continued
from front page
before seen one photo of her oldest
brother, Harold, as a baby.
One of the letters, from the 1950s,
"is telling grandma to get down
here (to Grand Ronde) to get on the
rolls," Danforth said.
Victoria Howard's chants, stories
and creation myths have made her
the subject of books and academic
studies.
"My intent was to share these
pictures, and to see if anyone knows
who they are. I also wanted Tribal
members to gain access to family
member pictures that they didn't
have," said Danforth.
"(Howard) worked with (Univer
sity of Washington anthropologist)
Melvin Jacobs," said Danforth's
daughter, Sara, of Portland. "How
ard's work is in both UW and
Smithsonian collections."
Sara's interest in her great-great-grandmother
has landed her on the
board of a North Carolina-based
organization dedicated to preserving
indigenous languages and verbal
traditions.
Here in Grand Ronde, Barbara
Danforth has allowed the Cultural
Resources Department to scan all
of the pieces in the collection.
"I'm just very proud of her contri
butions to Chinuk language," said
Barbara. "She was one of the last
few that knew the language and she
recorded it on disks. I think that's
important for our sustainability."
"I wish the last generation was still
around," said Harrison, "especially the
Hudson girls." She inspected picture
after picture with a large magnifying
glass. Some were so faded that she
could barely make out a face.
For those with clear faces but no
known identity, Harrison added,
"I'll bet (former Tribal Elder) Ro
setta (LaBonte Manangan) would
remember.
"This is just the beginning. Next,
we're going to take the copies
around and see who recognizes
these people."
Many pictures, however, had
already been recognized by mem
bers of the group of Elders looking
through them on Friday, March 25.
In addition to those noted, the El
ders included Olson's sister, Joyce
DeHart, and mother, Marion Da
vidson, as well as Peachie Hamm,
Dale and Ivan Langley, Marilee
Norwest and Laura Gleason.
'There's a lot of information here
about her family and neighbors," said
Olson, "and our culture. These are
the experiences of the first 50 years
on the Grand Ronde reservation."
Some of the identified tintypes
and pictures show the following
early members of the Tribe, all
passed on now: Henry Curl, John
Silas, Rena Hoffer, Sally Hudson,
Scott Jones, Susette Norwest, Paul
Lafferty, Charlie Wacheno, Lillie
Tipton, Joe Day, Frank Wheeler,
John Wheeler and many others.
"These are the children of the
first generation at Grand Ronde,"
said Olson.
What makes the collection so
valuable, she added, is that "a lot of
the folks identifying these pictures
are directly related or more inti
mately connected to Victoria."
Three large oval pictures that
look like hand-colored reproductions
of photographs from 1919 show
Howard and her husband, Eustace,
along with Danforth's grandmother,
former Tribal Elder Agatha Howe.
"This is the photo that it came
from," said Sara Danforth, referring
to the hand-colored reproduction of
Victoria Howard. The original was
maybe 3-by-5 inches.
"It's amazing," said Sara. "So
cool."
"That's the Indian agent," said Ol
son. "And these are the Hudsons."
Some mysteries, however, may
never be solved.
"This one says something about a
dog dying," said Olson. She looked
on the back. "The year is 1919," she
said, "but I don't see a dog in the
picture." B
Vefteirans Powwow sett
The 2011 Veterans Powwow will be held Friday through Sunday, July
8-10, at Uyxat Powwow Grounds off Hebo Road near Fort Yamhill State
Park.
Grand entries will be held on 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and
1 p.m. Sunday.
Master of ceremonies will be Nick Sixkiller and whip man will be Tony
Whitehead.
All veterans, dancers and members of the public are invited to attend.
There will be arts and crafts and food vendors. Free camping and parking
will be available, but no drugs, alcohol or pets will be allowed.
For more information, contact Veterans Committee member Chris Tin
ney at 503-883-3610 or chris.tinneygrandronde.org. D
Tribal CD orotic keys inro
odd diabetes caore
By Jennifer Leggett
Tribal Nurse Supervisor
We hear in the news almost every day about the problems with
health care and the increasing prevalence of diabetes.
The Health and Wellness Center also has been thinking about
these things and how we can make an impact for the positive. Be
ginning with the 2010 year, the Grand Ronde registered nurses
took on some new duties. Their job description is no longer to only
triage medical concerns, but also to "case manage" our diabetic
population.
Clinic staff hoped that this approach would both improve health
outcomes and help provide a personal touch, strengthening our
bond with the community.
The registered nurses spent weeks combing through the records
of our patients and began placing the active clinic user with diabetes
on a diabetic register. Once the register was populated, they began
the process of reviewing their care.
The goal was to improve the rate of compliance by the patient
and the clinic with two targeted standards of care outlined by the
American Diabetes Association and the Indian Health Service.
Those being the annual testing of cholesterol and blood pressure
control.
These topics were chosen because of the significant correlation
between diabetes and heart disease. The Indian Health Service
factsheet on diabetes indicates that the rate of developing heart
disease is three to four times higher than for those without diabetes.
And heart disease continues to be the No. 1 reason for death year
after year in the Indian health care statistics.
Below is an excerpt from our 2010 Quality Improvement study.
We hope that you find this both as informative and positively af
fecting our community.
Baseline 20O9 1st 2n 3r 4th
Diabetes Audit Q. d Q. d Q. Q.
Cholesterol
screening 80 89 89 95
64
BPs equal to or 43 43 43 31
less than 13080 27
cholesterol screenings
100
80 j00".
60
50
40
30
20
10
0 , , , 1 ,
-cholesterol screenings
Dec. 2009 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
2010 2010 2010 2010
As you can see, there has been a significant improvement in the
care of diabetics who receive their primary care at the clinic. While
the blood pressure control did decline in the winter months, we
did see an improvement for three quarters of the year exceeding
the national standard. We are expecting that to rebound after the
winter cold and flu season is past.
The Tribal Clinic will continue to work this method as it has
shown to be beneficial, and we hope to bring you more good news
about other aspects of our efforts to improve the health of our com
munity. B