S moke S ignals
february 1, 2014
Board seeks Indian arts
and crafts for exhibitions
The Indian Arts and Crafts Board will host a juried arts and crafts
competition for Native youth at each of its three regional museums in the
spring. The theme of the competition will be “Where do we come from?
Where are we going?”
The competitions will be open to enrolled members of federally recognized
Tribes between the ages of 13 and 18. Official written documentation veri-
fying the youth’s enrollment and written parental or guardian permission
will be required.
The competition will provide Native youth with a realistic juried art show
experience; encourage the development and expansion of their production
and marketing skills; and enhance youth interest in culture, history and
the possibility of an artistic career.
Submissions will be judged by an independent jury of artists, artisans
and art professionals. Awards will be $100 for first place, $75 for second
and $50 for third.
The three museums operated by the Indian Arts and Crafts Board are
the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, S.D., the Southern Plains Indian
Museum in Anadarko, Okla., and the Museum of the Plains Indian in
Browning, Mont.
Artwork must be submitted by March 1. Winners will be announced
in April. Exhibition of selected works will be held from April 15 through
May 31.
For more information, including official contest rules and procedures,
contact Conor McMahon, chief curator, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, at
605-394-2381. n
Bernando teaches Wawa in portland office
Tribal member Eric Bernando teaches Chinuk Wawa language
classes from 5:30 to 8:20 p.m. Wednesday at the Portland office, 4445
S.W. Barbur Blvd., Suite 101. For more information, contact Bernando
at ChinukWawa@gmail.com or 503-709-3017. n
Ceremonial Hunting information
We have started the 2014 ceremonial hunting season. Deer tags
have gone out and they will be good for one month and then rotated
if not filled. We will be having the game meat processed at Willamina
Meat Processing this year. They will take in game seven days a week.
All meat is taken in and hides taken to Natural Resources.
New for this year, we will be giving out $25 gas vouchers for each
harvest. All hunters who harvest their first animal will receive a knife
with the Tribal logo and the year of the harvest on the blade.
Returning hunters are eligible for a $100 Cabelas gift card to replace
lost or broken hunting gear or update their gear with something new.
These are one per person per year.
We want to reward hunters for all their time and effort in some
way.
New also is we now have the right to hunt the tags with a bow. We
are very excited about this opportunity.
We are still recruiting for new members who have the time to help.
It is an honor to provide meat for our funerals and ceremonies so we
can have traditional meals.
Lastly, we get three bear tags a year, so we especially need hunters
willing to hunt those tags. Also, we will have a few tanned deer hides
available soon. Applications for those can be picked up at Natural
Resources. Thank you. If you have questions about ceremonial hunt-
ing, call Marline Groshong at 503-474-7000. n
elder Bingo moved to
saturday afternoons
Elder Bingo will be held at 12:30 p.m. the second and fourth Saturday
of the month at the Elders’ Activity Center.
For more information, contact Elder Activity Assistant Daniel Ham at
503-879-2233. n
‘every child deserves a quality education’
EDUCATION continued
from front page
ing through federal and state
rules and are targeted for inter-
vention representing the bot-
tom 15 percent of state schools.
For instance, all three schools
attended by students who live
on or near the Warm Springs
Reservation in central Oregon
are ranked in the bottom 5 per-
cent of Oregon schools based on
their 2011-12 test scores and
graduation rates.
• Three out of four Tribal stu-
dents in the seven Tribes are
eligible for free or reduced
price lunch, which means
their households have in-
comes below 185 percent of
the federal poverty level.
• Tribal students pass the state
math and reading assess-
ment tests at rates 13 to 20
percentage points below the
statewide average, depending
on grade level.
• Eleven percent were sus-
pended from school, compared
with 7 percent of Oregon stu-
dents overall, and 11 percent
changed schools at least once
during the 2011-12 school
year.
• Fifty-five percent of Tribal
students in the seven Tribes
in the class of 2011 graduated
on time with a traditional
high school diploma compared
to 72 percent of all Oregon
How the study was conducted
ECONorthwest and the Chalkboard Project have an arrangement
with the state Department of Education that provides the research firm
with access to confidential student records.
Leaders of the seven Tribes provided the Department of Education
with the names of their school-age children. The department then in-
formed ECONorthwest researchers which Oregon student ID numbers
belong to an enrolled Tribal member.
Researchers were then able to compile a statistical portrait of how
Tribal students fare in Oregon public schools without disclosing the
names of individual students that corresponded with the ID numbers.
students.
The seven Tribes that participated
in the study were the Burns Paiute,
Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Band
of Indians, Klamath Tribes, Confed-
erated Tribes of the Siletz Indians,
Confederated Tribes of Umatilla In-
dians, Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs and the Confederated Tribes
of Grand Ronde. The Coquille Tribe
and Confederated Tribes of Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw did not
participate.
In addition to the disheartening
findings, the study revealed that
identifying students who are Na-
tive American is a difficult task.
Oregon tracks students as Native
American if they or their parents
say they are. For instance, 67,172
Oregon public school students
were identified in Department of
Education records as American
Indian/Alaskan Native in 2011-12.
Of those students, only 4.4 percent
were enrolled in one of the seven
Oregon Tribes analyzed.
Seventy-four percent of enrolled
Tribal students were identified as
Native in Department of Education
records while another 18 percent
were identified as American Indian
in combination with another race or
ethnicity. But 8 percent were not
identified at all as American Indian
in state records.
In general, enrolled Tribal stu-
dents had below-average atten-
dance, achievement and graduation
rates, and the performance gaps
exceeded those for other students
who self-identified as American
Indian or Alaskan Native.
“These complications make it
difficult for Oregon Tribal govern-
ments to direct their resources to
meet the needs of their students,”
the study’s press release states.
“There is currently no on-going way
for the Tribes or the state to evalu-
ate Oregon Tribal member student
outcomes accurately.”
Spirit Mountain Community
Fund Director Kathleen George
said the fund is committed to
turning this data into “real ac-
tion” to help Oregon’s Tribal
children.
“Every child deserves a quality
education and it is clear that too
many Tribal kids are out of sight
and out of mind in our education
system,” she said. “We need to
act quickly and decisively to
help Tribal students. These kids
cannot wait any longer to get an
effective education.”
She also said that Tribes and
Tribal families need to “foster
a change in culture to help our
children understand that show-
ing up for school every day is
the path to success in school and
later in life.”
A full report based on the
analysis will be released this
spring and is expected to in-
clude recommendations to help
improve outcomes for Oregon’s
Tribal students.
“This analysis is a step forward
in understanding the challenges
facing the student members of
seven of Oregon’s Tribes,” said
Sue Hildick, Chalkboard Project
president. “We fully expect this
report to open up important con-
versations and lead toward com-
munity-driven solutions.”
The Chalkboard Project acted
as a catalyst and collaborator
with the Community Fund and
ECONorthwest for the study. n