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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2015)
NOVEMBER 1, 2015 S moke S ignals 5 Luncheon continues awareness effort By Brent Merrill Smoke Signals staff writer The third annual Renewing Spirits luncheon held on Monday, Oct. 19, at the Elders Activity Center continued an effort to bring awareness of assault and sexual assault to the Grand Ronde Tribal community. The message was clear and the reality stark – one in three Native American women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes and three in five Native women will be physically assaulted in a domestic relationship. The turnout for the event was large. Presenter Lisa Norton, executive director of My Sisters' Place in Lincoln City, spoke to an audience of more than 200 people – mostly Grand Ronde Tribal Elders. In the au- dience were Tribal Council members Tonya Gleason-She- pek, Denise Harvey, Bren- da Tuomi and Jon A. George. Also in atten- dance were the staff members who put on the Lisa Norton, executive director of My Sisters’ Place, speaks luncheon – Ja- mie Adams and during the Renewing Spirits luncheon held at the Elders Anne Falla and Activity Center on Monday, Oct. 19. My Sisters’ Place serves Assistant Gen- people facing domestic violence, sexual assault and dating eral Manager abuse in Lincoln County. Dawn Doar. begin the Renewing Spirits events. They were joined by Shawna “My world changed,” said Adams. Ridgebear, Mychal Cherry and “So here we are today. This is for Angey Rideout from Spirit Moun- our Elders. This is for our mothers, tain Casino. our grandmothers and for you.” “This is our third annual Renew- Falla, the Tribe’s Domestic Vi- ing Spirits luncheon,” said Adams. olence Advocate, then introduced “And we are pretty proud of that.” Norton as the luncheon’s guest Adams began the luncheon by speaker. sharing a story that motivated her “I was first introduced to her to create the event. She said she when she was a member of the had attended a training session Sexual Assault Task Force and on domestic violence and sexual now she is the director of one of the assault in Indian Country. She said advocacy centers in Lincoln City she felt she had to do something, – My Sisters' Place,” said Falla of but was unsure of her next step. Norton. “We’ve done a lot of advoca- The following Sunday was the cy together. She’s been amazing for Tribe’s General Council meeting me to learn from and to grow from.” in Grand Ronde. Tribal Elder Val Norton, who is a member of the Grout said to the membership that Siletz Tribe, started her slideshow if you have a good idea and you presentation by saying “trauma is didn’t speak up, it was on you. life-changing.” “I left that meeting with those Norton discussed the effects of words embedded in my heart,” said trauma on a person’s brain and she Adams. explained how people’s minds and Adams said she had a moment of bodies react to trauma. She talked “clarity” after Grout spoke and she about the fight or flight response, applied for a grant from the North- but she added the “freeze.” west Indian Area Health Board to Fish & Wildlife Committee has e-mail address In an effort to better serve the membership, the Tribe’s Fish & Wildlife Committee created an e-mail address for those who hunt, fish and gather on the Reservation. The e-mail address is designed so that Tribal members can make the committee aware of any concerns or questions, and to make positive comments. The committee will do its best to provide answers and feedback so that everyone who wishes to utilize the Reservation lands may do so legally. Submit your comments, questions and concerns to FW.Committee@ grandronde.org. n Photos by Michelle Alaimo Kim Contreras, right, talks with Emily Fanjoy, volunteer coordinator for Tillamook County Women’s Resource Center, at an information table during the Renewing Spirits luncheon held at the Elders Activity Center on Monday, Oct. 19. The event is held annually to bring assault/sexual assault awareness to our neighbors and Tribal community. “When you freeze it’s not your fault – it’s your body trying to keep you safe,” said Norton. “Trauma affects how we walk in the world. Trauma affects the way we reach out for help. “What we know about post-trau- matic stress disorder is that the single biggest element in recovery is belief, support and validation. In order to have recovery you must be believed.” Adams said the first step in the healing process is acknowledging the issue exists. “Everyone deals with and re- sponds to abuse differently,” said Adams. “It’s multi-generational trauma. We’re talking about it and that is one thing I want our nation to know is we are talking about it. It’s deep stuff. “This is for the grandmas that couldn’t say a word. It’s for our men as well. It’s going to take everyone to stop the violence.” Falla said the Renewing Spirits luncheon was designed to give the Tribal membership a voice and to help them understand the trauma that they have faced as a people. “Everybody in this community has pulled together to say it’s im- portant,” said Falla. Falla said that most advocacy centers miss the opportunity to reach out to Native Americans. “Historical trauma when it comes to Tribal nations is usually lost,” said Falla. “People kind of specifi- cally try and treat people the same. They miss the historical trauma so I think it is really powerful and important to talk about it. “It’s powerful to give that voice to Tribal members within this community and for community members in general to understand a little bit of their identity and who they are, and to understand the trauma that they have faced.” Falla said the recognition of Na- tive American populations being at an increased risk for domestic violence and sexual assault is changing. She said that advocacy centers like Polk County’s Sable House, Yamhill County’s Hender- son House, Marion County’s Center for Hope and Safety and Tillamook County’s Women’s Resource Center were all represented at the Renew- ing Spirits luncheon. Falla said the most important part of her job with the Tribe is being able to say “I believe you” to her clients. “I just listen and let them be as honest as they want to be,” said Falla. “I’m willing to listen.” Norton said Native communities are unique and they need this type of awareness and education so they can finally move past it as a people. “There is a fairly selfish part of that because I’m Native and I see the pain so intimately in my cir- cle,” said Norton. “I have to assume that it’s not just me or my Tribe or my circle. Native people have been socialized to shut up to survive. We aren’t going to fix it until we can talk about it. As Native people we have been so conditioned as a way of pro- tecting ourselves to keep silent. It’s especially important for us to stop.” Norton said the most important message she can convey is that people facing these issues are not alone. “It’s important for people to un- derstand we’ve all walked a similar journey,” said Norton. “There is a very fundamental empathy that we all need to have with each other and it is so important in our jour- neys because when I’m privileged enough to bear witness to a story and aid in somebody’s healing I’m hearing a message for me as well.” Norton said the issue has to be brought out in the open now. “In order to address trauma in a way that we are going to be able to heal from it, it has to be done from peeling back the secrecy and making it OK to talk about these things,” said Norton. “For me, it’s the first step. “You can recover. It can be done. It is work, but it doesn’t have to be the way it has always been. Every- body in this room has had trauma in their life. We need to be kinder and gentler to each other.” After Norton’s presentation con- cluded, George gave the pre-meal invocation after thanking everyone who attended. Before the prayer, he told the audience of his own ex- periences with the issue and that the luncheon was one more step in our healing. “As we live with this and the trau- ma that we go through, it’s not for us to forget, but in a way to forgive,” said George. Adams said she wants the discus- sion to be continued. “I hope that we can bring this luncheon every year for as long as the Tribe exists,” said Adams. “We are starting a new generation and they need to know that there are no more excuses for violence in Indian Country.” n
