1988-08-17 Char-Koosta News

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A neufs publication of the Salish and %ootenai Tribes
of the 'Jtathead Indian Reservation
Chief Charlo of the Salish VOLUME 17, NUMBER 13
MONTH OF THE HUCKLEBERRIES
Chief Koostatah of the Kootenai AUGUST 17,1988
Indian culture camp is on Japanese visitors' Montana tour agenda
The Friendship Force, a group of western Montanans striving for world peace, hosted 63 Japanese guests during the first part of August, providing them with a place to sleep and a tour of the area.
The extensive touring brought half of the group (the half staying with Mis-soula-area hosts) to the Flathead Reservation Aug. 9 for a visit to the National
Bison Range, a cattle ranch at Round Butte, a llama farm near Ronan, and a look at living Indian traditions at Agnes Vanderburg's Cultural Camp at Valley Creek.
The travelers, all from western Japan, had never met an American Indian before, let alone spend an entire morning trying to converse with one, talking mostly about the traditional Indian activities going on around them... beading, hide tanning, chipping stones for arrowheads, and the making of a tepee back-rest. It was all quite new and very interesting, according to the looks of wonder and delight.
Hiroshi Kitamura, a 24-year-old junior-high English teacher from Kyoto, Japan, expressed his interest in the head-
work. "The beading is very beautiful," he said. "The items are very expensive. Fifty dollar for hair-piece, I cannot buy." Kitamura said he was also amazed at Montana's "great plains" and the late sunset "In Japan the sun sets at six or seven (even in summer). Here it sets at nine."
Kitamura and his colleagues, many of whom are teachers, gathered around Vanderburg posing for pictures and offering her small gifts (cigarettes, and a packaged snack of almonds, sesame seeds and dried minnows). Although Vanderburg didn't eat the snack, she did enjoy having the visitors.
Tomosaburo Minato, a 40-year-old elementary teacher from Kyoto, said the (Continues on pages four & five)
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Nutrition program income levels increase
A limited number of openings are now available for participation in the Flathead Reservation WIC Program. The clinic is located at the Tribal Health Department in Ronan, and is open from 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Field clinics are also held monthly in Arlee, St. Ignatius, Elmo, Poison and Hot Springs.
WIC is a supplemental food program and a health care program which pro-
vides nutrition education for women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or who have recently given birth; infants; and children up to five years old.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women need plenty of nutritious foods that will help their babies get off to a healthy start in life. The first years of life for infants and children are important because their bodies and minds are changing and (Concludes on page two)