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