Teaching Indian Heritage Early Birds Practice Culture, Learn About Modern Problems

With her hands in the air and her face toward the sunlit window, Susan Derogatis prayed in the language of her people.

“Thank you sun,” she said, calling to the Great Spirit in her native Suquamish. “Thank you for this day. Take care of us and protect us.”

Her blessing - taught to her by an Indian chief and medicine man - marked the beginning of beadwork Saturday in a small Spokane classroom.

For two hours, the Nooksack Indian and a group of 18 youths and volunteers made “giveaway necklaces,” colorful jewelry they later gave away to others. The gathering was the monthly meeting of the Early Birds, a Native American youth group that learns about drug prevention while practicing American Indian culture.

Indians have always lived off the land, Derogatis told the students. If a Native American kills a deer, he or she uses the horns for decoration, the skin for clothing, the bones for jewelry.

“We didn’t have Kmart or Footlocker,” she said. “We hunted deer or we fished. We only used what we needed. Nothing was wasted.”

Shiny glass beads in Kool-Aid colors covered the tables as agile fingers picked them up and strung them along the yellow buckskin. As the children and teens made necklaces, they listened to stories from their elders.

“This is a sacred part of our culture,” said Bertha Covington, a Colville Indian who started Early Birds eight years ago.

In the winter, American Indians stay inside to tell stories and do craftwork, she said. It’s a time of bonding, an opportunity to get in touch with one’s people and self.

Except for the monthly Early Birds meeting, most American Indian youths don’t learn about their culture, said Donna Seymour, a Spokane Indian whose two children are enrolled in Early Birds.

Necklace-making and Indian values aren’t taught at schools, she said.

Like 60 percent of Native Americans in the United States, these children also do not live on a reservation and are out of touch with their Indian heritage. Often, their parents, who also grew up outside the reservation, know little about the traditions.

“Now my children know,” Seymour said, as she watched her 6-year-old daughter, Shanna, play with the beads. “Now they’re proud of who they are.”

Early Birds was actually born out of grief.

Eight years ago, Covington’s mother and grandson were killed in separate car accidents. Both were caused by drunken drivers.

Covington and her daughters wanted to prevent this from happening to others. So they started educating youth with Early Birds, which also served as a memorial to their relatives.

During their monthly two-hour session, they begin by talking about prevention and education. They also promote self-esteem, Covington said, by helping the children feel comfortable with their Indian backgrounds.

The group, now funded by Spokane County, works with about 100 Native American youths - Yakamas, Blackfeet, Indians from dozens of Western tribes.

In addition to listening to guest speakers talk about substance abuse or violence, the youths also learn the traditions - powwow dancing, the use of sage, juniper and other plants, the importance of the medicine wheel.

“They lose that feeling of helplessness,” Covington said. “They realize that ‘If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.”’

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo