Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

June 19, 2004 - Issue 115

Tribal Members Soar in Eagle Feather Ceremony

by Terry Dillman Of the Newport News-Times

credits: Jamie Mason, left, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and 2004 Toledo High School graduate, walks away with her eagle feather during the annual Eagle Feather Ceremony held June 8 at the Siletz Tribal Community Center. Fred Rider, coordinator of the Lincoln County School District's Indian Education Program, is in the background. The ceremony honors local high school graduates of Indian descent in a traditional sacred fashion. (Photo courtesy of Siletz News)

Sponsored by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the ceremony marks the achievements of members of various Indian tribes who are graduating from Newport, Taft, Toledo and Waldport high schools. According to Patty Savage-Socha, Keeper of the Feathers and a teacher at Siletz Valley School, the eagle feather symbolizes "the soaring of the human mind at its best."

"Lincoln County had the most (Indian graduates) in the state," said Fred Rider, the district's Indian Education Coordinator, noting the students represent various tribal affiliations.

Lincoln County also has the lowest dropout rate for Native American students in the state, thanks to the efforts of Rider and his staff - Juanita Whitebear (Lincoln City), Ann Goddard (Newport), Linda Wilson (Waldport), and Patty Savage-Socha (Siletz). They oversee the federally-funded program for the school district's 630 Native American students in all county schools, including new charter schools in Eddyville and Siletz.

The Eagle Feather Ceremony honors the graduates through a cultural tradition.

Savage-Socha said the feathers presented are not "ordinary" eagle feathers, but "have been blessed," making them sacred. "They must be treated as such," she added. "If you accept the feather, you accept the responsibility to take care of it in a proper manner."

Those who accepted that responsibility in 2004 were:

The ceremony for the Class of 2004 featured an invocation by CTSI Elder Darrel Butler; honor drum by the Eagle Beak Singers from Grand Ronde; Indian flute player Bill White Eagle Wilson; opening introductions by Patty Savage-Socha; and welcome messages from Scott Paul of the Indian Education Parent Committee, acting school superintendent Pat Cowan, Siletz Tribal Council member David Hatch, and Fred Rider.

Mike Darcy served as keynote speaker, Savage-Socha presented the eagle feathers, Juanita Whitebear told the story of the Eagle, and Siletz Tribal Council member Bud Lane offered the benediction.

A reception followed the ceremony.

"We are proud of our Indian Education students," said Rider. "We hope they will continue to make us proud by pursuing ways to help all beings soar like the Eagle."

These students and other Indian youth are the future of their tribes and their communities.

Rider and his staff, along with Siletz tribal leaders, and the Indian Education Program Parent Committee for 2003-04 - Darrel Butler, Bonnie Crawford, Sherry Draper, Cindy George, Heidi Goddard, Rhiannon Hamel, Creighton Kenney, Debbie Marthaller, Kenny Paul, Scott Paul, Heather Rivera, Kim Sutherland, Glenn Wagner, Jeff Wagner, Pat Whetstone, and Susan Whetstone - strive to make sure the students receive the best education possible, and to encourage the students to make the most of the opportunities presented to them.

In mid-April, the LCSD Title VII program and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians sponsored the Oregon Indian Education Association's 2004 Youth Conference in Lincoln City, which drew about 230 participants from throughout Oregon.

Built around the theme, "We are the future, and the future begins with us," the conference focused on education and careers, and provided a venue for Oregon's Indian youths to collectively explore their cultural heritage, learn skills to help them take charge of their own lives, to see their own strengths relative to others, and to break away from the stereotypes others try to impose on them.

Rider organized the effort, with help from the state executive board, and a host of others.

OIEA historian Patricia Darcy, who Rider calls "a mentor and a force in Indian education," also attended the youth conference. Darcy, who lives in Siletz, played a key role in establishing the Eagle Feather Ceremony here.

Rider, who started with the Lincoln County Indian Education Program 15 years ago, said he and his staff work with all K-12 students of Native American descent. They serve as liaisons and advocates, doing "whatever is necessary" to help students meet their academic, cultural, social, and emotional needs, and make sure they have the foundation to succeed.

The program has grown considerably in the past 15 years, from a two-person staff with a $60,000 budget to the current five-person staff using a $160,000 federal grant derived from the United States Department of Education's Office of Indian Education. Created in 1972, OIE currently administers the Indian Education Program under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It establishes policies and provides financial and technical assistance to support local education agencies, Indian tribes and organizations, post-secondary institutions, and other entities to meet the special educational and cultural needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives.

"We've been doing the No Child Left Behind thing for years," Rider concluded. "We encourage academics. If they don't do it, there's no tomorrow for them."

The Eagle Feather Ceremony is a symbol of hope they will soar toward a brighter tomorrow and better future - for themselves, their communities, and their tribes.

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