18
S moke S ignals
may 1, 2014
Tuomi earns Ph.D. in health services
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Ron and Brenda Tuomi realized
from the beginning that education
would be very important for their
children.
As the children grew, Brenda
said, “We also knew it was impor-
tant that they attend schools that
fit their personalities, and met their
needs.”
On March 9, eldest daughter
Ashley, 30, became the first in the
family to receive a Ph.D. Strictly
speaking, it is a DHSc, Doctorate
in Health Sciences from A.T. Still
University’s Arizona campus, with
a focus on leadership and organi-
zational behavior. She wrote her
applied research project on dental
anxiety among American Indians
and Alaska Natives.
“It didn’t matter what income or
education Indians belong to,” Ash-
ley said. “All showed significant lev-
els of anxiety about the dentist.”
She started working on her doc-
torate in 2010, she said, and for
the last two years she has been
executive director of American In-
dian Health and Family Services
in Detroit, Mich. The non-profit
serves all 12 Michigan Tribes and
75 different Tribes from across the
country, including members of the
Grand Ronde and Siletz.
It serves more than a 1,000 cli-
Ashley Tuomi
ents a year,
600 families
and as many
as 20 clients a
day. The clin-
ic does this
with a staff
of 34 that is
half-Native,
including
two half-time
doctors, one
Native.
Ashley oversees the operation,
budgeted at $2.7 million this year.
The clinic is funded by 16 grants
including approximately $1.2 mil-
lion from the federal Indian Health
Service. The agency is one of four
organizations in Michigan awarded
a $50,000 grant from the federal
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
to enroll individuals and families in
the Affordable Care Act. More than
600 families have been enrolled as
a result of the clinic’s work.
The clinic serves clients with “pret-
ty typical” health care problems, she
said. Diabetes and hypertension top
the list, and in the mental health
category many present with depres-
sion and substance abuse.
The clinic also offers the sweat
lodge experience, cultural services
and traditional healers.
Ashley said she has learned that
“there are such great health dis-
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parities in the Native community.”
When she talks to students, she
said, she emphasizes all of the op-
portunities for Native Americans
entering the workforce.
“It’s hard to get Native staff,”
she said.
She had a midlife crisis at a very
young age, she said. When partici-
pating in Grand Ronde Royalty (for
seven years winning three different
crowns), she was always introduced
as one of the Tribe’s future doctors.
Early on, she wanted to be a physi-
cian. “That didn’t work out, but I
ended up getting a scholarship from
the Indian Health Service.”
It required a two-year payback
period. After two years, she said,
she “fell in love” with the work. She
has now been working with Indian
Health Service for seven years.
“I really like the opportunity to
give back to the Native community.
Even though I’m not back at Grand
Ronde, I get to help the Native com-
munity as a whole,” she said.
She comes back to Grand Ronde
for one powwow each summer,
and this year she will be back as a
speaker for the Tribe’s graduation
ceremony.
She says that Grand Ronde schol-
arships for all three of her degrees
were among the reasons she was
able to complete her education.
Her sister, Tyla, 29, another suc-
cess story from the family emphasis
on education, teaches sixth grade
in Eugene.
“(Ashley) was always very focused
about what she needed to do and
how to get there, from the minute
she started college,” said Brenda.
“I could go on bragging about her
for 10 days.” n
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‘Another great day for the Tribe’
BRIDGE continued
from front page
The $135 million, 1,720-foot
transit bridge coming to life over
the Willamette River will connect
Portland with Milwaukie for Tri-
Met buses and light rail.
At the naming ceremony, Lewis
described what the name means
to the people of the Grand Ronde
Tribe. A century and a half ago, he
said, Grand Ronde ancestors were
forced off their land and sent to
reservations.
“It is an important time for us
to re-establish our presence here
in partnership with so many oth-
ers,” Lewis said. “Our people came
from this place, but it’s not simply
a Native place. The bridge name
means people, and it represents
all people.”
“This is really an acceptance and
appreciation of our people,” said
Tribal Council member Cheryle
A. Kennedy, who attended the
naming ceremony. “It represents
years of work and hope, and now
it’s here.”
“To me, it’s like another great
day for the Tribe,” said Tribal
Council member Jon A. George.
“Once again, we are having our
footprint being recognized in our
ceded lands.”
“This is well-deserved and long-
awaited recognition of the Tribe’s
presence in Portland,” Taylor said.
“We’re the Portland Harbor Tribe,
the Willamette Valley Treaty Tribe.
The government of this Tribe has
always had its hand out in friend-
ship and partnership with other
governments and agencies in our
ceded lands.”
“It was an historic naming pro-
cess, very deliberate,” said Sue
Keil, a member of the Naming Com-
mittee and treasurer of the OMSI
Board of Trustees.
Tri-Met General Manager Neil
McFarland said that it was another
step toward “full development” of
the area.
Portland historian Chet Orloff,
chair of the Tri-Met Naming Com-
mittee, said that the bridge name
reflected “a shared sense of place.
This is a bridge that will last.”
At the “ta-da moment” in the
ceremony when the name selected
for the bridge was revealed, Tri-Met
General Manager Neil McFarland
said that “the bridge will announce
its own name.”
Martin Zarzar, a drummer for-
merly with the Portland band Pink
Martini, started a drum roll, but
nothing happened.
“You can’t blame the banner
for having a little stage fright,”
said McFarland. Then, a 150-foot
banner unfurled and the name ap-
peared: Tilikum Crossing, Bridge
of the People.
Immediately, drumming from
eight Tribal members could be
heard. Moments later the group ap-
peared with Native drums and the
Tribe’s traditional welcome song.
The drum group included Bobby
Mercier, Jan Looking Wolf Reibach,
Jordan Mercier, Brian Krehbiel,
Reina Nelson, Cole, David Harrel-
son and George.
“After the announcement presen-
tation and drumming, folks were
coming up and congratulating us,”
said Reibach. “Several had tears in
their eyes and expressed how happy
they were to see the Tribe recog-
nized in such a beautiful way.”
The bridge is designed to carry
light rail trains, streetcars, buses,
cyclists and pedestrians, but no
private vehicles.
“We think it is the first of its
kind in the country,” McFarland
said.
The bridge is set for completion
in September 2015. “It created
10,000 jobs when the region needed
them most,” McFarland said. “The
project is on the way to creating
14,000 jobs before the bridge project
is finished.”
“In the past at this very place,”
said Orloff, “Native Americans took
canoes back and forth across the
river for celebrations, not unlike
what we will do here.”
The decision by the Naming Com-
mittee was unanimous.
“I didn’t have to push very hard,”
Lewis said. “They understood our
story in a deeper way than for the
other names.”
Tribal interpretive signs explain-
ing the name and the lands the
bridge connects are still to come.
The Tribe will be on board for
future events tied to the project,
Taylor said. n