S moke S ignals
JULY 15, 2017
11
'We don’t talk about women veterans enough'
SUMMIT continued
from front page
Veterans coordinator with the Or-
egon Department of Veterans’ Af-
fairs, and Air Force veteran Linda
Woods, who is a summit regular.
After listening to the other female
veterans share stories of sexual
harassment while serving in the
military, Davis shared her story
of being sexually abused by her
commanding officer and executive
commanding officer while serving
in the Army from 1977 through ’80.
“I wouldn’t apply for my MST
benefits until last year,” Davis said
on Friday, July 7, the second day of
the fifth annual Veterans Summit
held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds. “It
was very hard to come to terms with
it after decades and the system that
they use … they interview you, but
it’s like an interrogation.
“I put this off for years and years
knowing that I had a right to do it,
but I wasn’t going to go through
the emotional part. But being here,
with the Healing Circle, I could
actually do it.”
Estabrooks accompanied Davis
when she went to Veterans Affairs
and endured the pension and com-
pensation interview. The result?
She was ruled 70 percent disabled
for military sexual trauma and now
receives a monthly $1,300 check
from Veterans Affairs.
But the money is nowhere near as
important as the principle to Davis.
“I have managed to survive
through something that most men
would never have survived through,
spending two years of being abused
like that,” Davis said. “I come here
and it just charges me and fires
me up. … I’m 60 years old. This
happened in my 20s. I thought I got
it under control and I never did. It
was my personal shot back at those
guys who did it.”
Davis now handles military sex-
ual trauma claims as the Veterans
Service Officer for the Yamhill
County Disabled American Vet-
erans chapter. An estimated two-
thirds of women who have served
in the Army have endured some
degree of sexual trauma, she said.
“I know that if it wasn’t for Linda
(Woods) and this last year, I never
would have filed,” Davis said. “I
never would have healed or started
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Portland Veterans Affairs Health Care System Director Michael Fisher gives
his welcoming speech during the opening of the Veterans Summit: Gathering
of Warriors V at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Thursday, July 6.
healing. It changed my life.”
Leno, a Vietnam War-era Marine
Corps veteran, gave a welcoming
speech when the Veterans Summit
opened for the fifth time at 1:15
p.m. Thursday, July 6.
“You can’t wait until a veteran be-
comes a statistic,” Leno said. “You
got to help them now, not later.”
Other welcoming speeches were
delivered by Oregon Department of
Veterans’ Affairs Director Cameron
Smith, Veterans Affairs Office of
Tribal Government Relations Spe-
cialist Terry Bentley and Portland
Veterans Affairs Health Care Sys-
tem Director Michael Fisher.
“The Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde are truly committed
to helping veterans and their family
members,” Bentley said. “My hat’s
off to the council, Chairman Leno
… thank you for allowing us to
be here at this wonderful place of
honor to take care of veterans and
their families.”
Fisher said David Shulkin, in-
coming director of Veterans Affairs
under the Trump administration,
has five priorities – greater health
care choices for veterans, mod-
ernization of systems, focusing
resources, suicide prevention and
improved timeliness.
“Twenty veterans a day commit
Emily Courtney (Warm Springs) makes a necklace at the crafts and traditional
jewelry activity during the Veterans Summit: Gathering of Warriors V at
Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Friday, July 7. Also making one is Terry Bentley,
Veterans Affairs Office of Tribal Government Relations Specialist and a Karuk
Tribal member.
suicide,” Fisher said. “Six of those
are in our VA system and 14 of
those are not. We have to locate
those people and provide services
and connect them to some people
who can help them.”
Other Tribal Council members
who attended the two-day summit
included Secretary Jon A. George,
Jack Giffen Jr., Chris Mercier, Ton-
ya Gleason-Shepek, Denise Harvey
and Brenda Tuomi.
Navy veteran Nick Sixkiller
(Oklahoma Cherokee) performed
the master of ceremonies duties
and the colors were posted by the
Grand Ronde Honor Guard – Ray-
mond Petite, Al Miller, Richard
VanAtta, Dennis Kleffner and
Daniel Helfrich. Helfrich also gave
the blessing to open the Thursday
afternoon session.
Charlie Tailfeathers (Cree/Black-
feet), Woods (Odawa) and Iraqi
War veteran John Courtney (Warm
Springs) performed the solemn
prisoner-of-war ceremony before
Crystal Purdy, a funeral director
from Lincoln Memorial Park & Fu-
neral Home in Happy Valley, spoke
about helping veterans reconnect
with civilian life.
“There is no way to erase expe-
rience,” Purdy said. “Returning
veterans need to find a sense of
purpose again. … Be kind, give a
crap and be selfless.”
Oregon Department of Veterans’
Affairs Veterans Services Director
Mitch Sparks and Training Coor-
dinator Joe Glover delved into the
intricacies of applying to the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs for
disability payments and pension
eligibility.
Glover distributed a 46-page
packet that detailed how to apply
to Veterans Affairs for benefits
and discussed presumptive condi-
tions – medical problems Veterans
Affairs will automatically cover
for military personnel who served
in combat areas within specified
dates.
Portland Veterans Affairs Ben-
efits Office Assistant Director
Michael Rohrbach said that events
like the Grand Ronde Veterans
Summit are helping get the word
out regarding veterans benefits and
that they are seeing an increase in
applications.
As in previous summits, the
outer edge of the Uyxat Powwow
Grounds’ arbor was occupied by
information tables that included
the Department of Veterans Affairs
Crisis Line, Department of Justice’s
Bureau of Prisons, Military Help-
line, Social Security Administra-
tion, National Association for Black
Veterans and the Veterans Center
mobile unit.
The Tribal Mobile Clinic and
Diabetes Education recreational
vehicle also was present. Health
& Wellness Clinic Dental Assis-
tant Tammy Baird and Dental
Hygienist Sheila Blacketer signed
veterans up for dental and blood
pressure checks.
Tribal Nutrition Program Man-
ager Kristy Criss-Lawson and her
staff served continental breakfasts,
lunches and dinners in the meal
tent and a cultural sharing night
was held in achaf-hammi, the Trib-
al plankhouse, on Thursday.
Cultural Resources employees
Bobby Mercier, Jordan Mercier
and Brian Krehbiel performed the
blessing song to open the Friday
session and Veterans Special Event
Board Chair Steve Bobb Sr. gave a
welcoming speech.
Estabrooks, an Army veteran,
discussed the “I Am Not Invisible”
campaign she created in association
with Portland State University.
Twenty-two posters of female vet-
erans from Oregon were created
as an awareness raising campaign
that not all veterans are men. The
posters and the women’s stories can
be viewed on the Oregon Depart-
ment of Veterans’ Affairs website
at www.iani.oregondva.com.
“We don’t talk about women
veterans enough,” Estabrooks said
about the white male-dominated
culture of the military.
Courtney, who served a year in
Iraq from 2005-06 as an Army Rang-
er, also discussed post-traumatic
stress disorder that occurred after
he returned to Colorado following a
12-hour firefight in Baqubah. Un-
diagnosed PTSD led to a drinking
problem and eventual dissolution of
his marriage before he returned to
the Warm Springs Reservation and
received counseling.
Woods also discussed her expe-
riences as a woman warrior who
enlisted in the Air Force in the
1960s as she has done at previous
summits.
Friday afternoon workshops and
activities included a healing and self-
care village, mental health first aid,
crafts and traditional jewelry making,
and continued staffing of the many
information and resource booths.
The summit concluded with sep-
arate sharing circles for male and
female veterans and a forgiveness
ceremony led by Native Wellness
Institute Executive Director Jillene
Joseph.
Social Services Director Dana
Ainam, who helped check in sum-
mit attendees, said 55 veterans
registered and 83 people attended,
including presenters and people
who staffed the information tables
and booths.
The Veterans Summit was spon-
sored by the Gresham-based Na-
tive Wellness Institute, the Grand
Ronde Tribe and Veterans Affairs’
Office of Tribal Government Rela-
tions.