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JUNE 1, 2022
Natural Resources slates
Hunter’s Education Field Day
The Natural Resources Department’s Parks and Recreation Program
will hold a Hunter’s Education Field Day on Saturday, June 18, at the
Natural Resources office, 47010 S.W. Hebo Road.
Registration for the class must be made online at the Oregon Department
of Fish & Wildlife website.
Cost is $10 per student. The class is open to Tribal and nonTribal youth
ages 9 to 17 by the beginning of the 2022 hunting season.
The class is the only field day and students must have attended either
a conventional course, online course or completed an at-home workbook.
In Oregon, all youth 17 or younger must pass a certified hunter’s edu-
cation class before hunting unless they are participating in the Mentor
Youth Hunter Program for youths 9 to 14 years old.
The minimum age to hunt big game in Oregon is 12 and hunters age 13
and younger must be accompanied by an adult 21 or older when hunting
unless on land owned by a parent or legal guardian.
To register, visit myodfw.com and search for how to register for hunter
and bow hunter education field days. 
‘I gave up on being
a mom for a while’
PRISON continued
from page 10
my dad. He was using drugs, I was
still partying but in school, and my
sister was using meth and living at
my dad’s as well.”
She recalls a time when her
mom was at the house and her dad
“freaked out.”
“He was attacking her and I
jumped on his back and tried to get
him to stop,” she recalls. “He ended
up shoving me into a counter and
punched me. … My dad was never
a dad to me. He was in and out of
jail, and never paid child support.”
Soon after, both parents went to
jail and Courtney moved in with
her older sister and her sister’s
boyfriend. She found herself im-
mersed in a world of drug use and
dysfunction, all while trying to go to
high school. Eventually, it became
too much.
“I was riding Tri-Met every day
to go from Milwaukie to Oregon
City High School,” Courtney says.
“It was bad. One day I came home
and found a giant bag of meth in
my bed and eventually my sister
lost the apartment and I dropped
out of high school my sophomore
year. It was just too much for me.”
Despite everyone that she lived
with using hard drugs, Courtney
avoided those. However, after she
had her daughter at 19 she was
given OxyContin for pain and
ended up becoming addicted. She
recalls using her “21 Money” to buy
large amounts of the drug after she
couldn’t get it via a prescription
anymore. Eventually, she began
using heroin, a stronger opioid.
“I wanted to get clean so badly,
but no matter how much I wanted
it, it just didn’t work,” she says.
“I gave up on being a mom for a
while and didn’t get to see my kids
a whole lot.”
Then came arrests for various
drug-related misdemeanors, jail time
and multiple stints with inpatient
and outpatient drug treatment.
The decision to quit for good came
after she was arrested in April
2019. Courtney found the strength
she needed to stop using drugs. Re-
siding in a sober house and access-
ing medication-assisted treatment
also has helped her immensely.
“It’s good support,” she says. “I
had gotten tired of the drug life and
lost the desire for it. I will never do
it again.”
Now, she has full custody of her
6-year-old son, a full-time job at
Nordstrom and is going to court to
enforce visitation rights with her
8-year-old daughter, whom she
hasn’t seen on a regular basis since
she was 3 despite a court-ordered
parenting plan.
“I’ve only seen her twice in five
years,” Courtney says as her mom
sobs next to her. “It sucks. She
doesn’t know my family and my son
doesn’t remember her. I didn’t even
get to talk to her on Mother’s Day.”
Nichelle carries a heavy burden
as a result of that.
“I have had people tell me my
daughter made her own choices, but
I blame myself a lot for all of this,”
she says. “My kids were around
drugs a lot and a horrible divorce.”
Courtney’s advice to other Tribal
youth who have had parents incar-
cerated and have started using drugs
themselves is not to give up on life.
“Eventually if you want it bad
enough, you will get it,” she says.
“Just keep working at it and find
a good support system. That is
crucial.” 
Are you frustrated with your diabetes control?
Do you have questions about diabetes?
Do you need help managing your diabetes?
If so…
Call the Medical Clinic today at 503-879-2002
To schedule an individual diabetes education appointment
11
Mental Health walk
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Youth Empowerment & Prevention
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS
Grant Coordinator Angey Rideout
goes over the routes with Sydney Clark
SmokeSignalsCTGR
and her 13-year-old daughter Clara
West during the Mental Health Awareness Walk held at the old powwow
grounds on the Tribal governmental campus on Saturday, May 21.
Walkers choose from two different routes — a 5K and a 3K. The walk was
sponsored by Youth Empowerment and Prevention, iLaunch and Children
and Family Services. Approximately 50 people took part in the walk.
Angela Schlappie joins her grandson, Bennett Schlappie-Guerrera,
1, and Bennett’s father, Jared Guerrera, during the Mental Health
Awareness Walk held at the old powwow grounds on the Tribal
governmental campus on Saturday, May 21.
Willamina Fourth of July
Committee seeking donations
WILLAMINA — The Willamina Fourth of July Committee is seeking
donations for the annual fireworks show, which generally costs between
$10,000 to $13,000 to fund.
The committee also is responsible for raising an additional $5,000 for
the cost of the mud drags, trophies, T-shirts, dash for cash, paying for
portable restrooms and other expenses.
The committee is a 501(3)c organization, which means donations are
tax deductible. Donations can be dropped off either at a fundraiser or
mailed to P.O. Box 1081, Willamina, OR 97396.
The committee also is seeking vendors for Saturday, June 25, and
Monday, July 4. The mud drags are held June 25 at the corner of Adams
and Lincoln beginning at 10 a.m. Vendor fee is $40.
July Fourth vendors begin to set up from 7 to 9 a.m. with non-electri-
cal vendors on the north end of B Street and those needing electricity
located on the south end of B Street. Non-electric fee is $30 and electric
vendor fee is $40.
For more information and to have an applications mailed to you, con-
tact Jency at 971-237-3230. 