Walking Shield, Inc.

Servin g Ame rican Indian Families Since 1986
Wa lk i n g Sh i e ld , In c.
www.walkingshield.org
Board of Directors
Dennis Wynott
Chairman
Manager, Raytheon
Michael Sherman
Treasurer
Manager, Raytheon
Stephanie Mendez
Secretary
Retired Educator
John Castillo, Ph.D.
Executive Director,
Walking Shield, Inc.
Gene Madrigal
Attorney at Law
Suzanne Schaefer, Ph.D.,
Computer Science Coach /
Senior Analyst
Graduate School of Education
& Information Studies, UCLA
Ronald Solimon
President and CEO,
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
American Indian Access Scholars Announced
Through a generous grant from the College Access
Foundation, Walking Shield has established the American
Indian Access Scholarship Program (AIASP) to carry out
its vision of making higher education possible for
qualifying American Indian and Alaska Native students.
Selected Access Scholars will not only receive
scholarships ranging from $500 to $5,000 per student,
they will also have the opportunity to take part in a
support program designed to ensure ultimate future
success, ideally in service to the students’ own tribal
community. Walking Shield’s staff will follow each
student’s progress and provide additional resources and
support throughout their educational journey.
On May 21st, initial scholarship winners were invited to
attend the University of California, Irvine, American
Indian Resource Program’s Regional American Indian
Graduation Ceremony. This event was sponsored by
UCI as well as long time Indian education supporters
Southern California Edison and the Wells Fargo
Foundation. In addition to the Access Scholarship
announcements this event also honored American Indian
students graduating from kindergarten through doctoral
studies.
Dr. Castillo presents Nikishna
Polequaptewa of UCI, with a check in
support of the graduation ceremony.
In January 2010, Dr. John Castillo, presented
information at the National Guard’s annual conference
in San Diego about the Walking Shield organization and
current Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) projects in
the county. National Guard personnel then conducted
site visits to local reservations including Mesa Grande
and La Jolla where efforts to address pressing
infrastructure concerns will be continued this summer.
Dennis Tafoya
Gary Wasoski
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Dr. John Castillo, Executive Director, with
a number of the Access Scholars.
National Guard Visits San Diego Reservations
L.A. County Director of
Affirmative Action Compliance
Director of Loss Prevention,
Luxottica Retail
Spring/Summer 2010
Program Manager Marvin Thurman
(center), meets with the National Guard
and Mesa Grande Chairman,
Mark Romero.
Similar Walking Shield supported projects will also take
place this summer on the Red Lake reservation in
Minnesota where IRT personnel will be building
multiple modular homes and installing 5 miles of water
and sewer lines.
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Holiday Gift & Humanitarian Aid Programs Thriving
The past half year has brought smiles to the faces of
thousands through Walking Shield’s Holiday Gift and
Humanitarian Aid Programs.
Throughout the last few months of 2009, Walking
Shield staff was once again very busy gathering and
shipping off literally tons of holiday gifts. These items
included new toys from donors such as Hasbro and
Toys R Us and amazing, customized backpacks filled
with school supplies from our friends at Pierce College
in Woodland Hills, California. Walking Shield would
also like to thank our friends at Oakley for helping us
organize our warehouse for these important shipments.
In total, 2009 efforts distributed over 30,000 gifts to 50
recipients both locally here in Southern California and
across the country.
In addition to our Holiday Gift Program, Walking
Shield has also been busy distributing items through our
Humanitarian Aid Program. In March Dr. Castillo
traveled with a Southern California Edison (SCE)
community relation representative to meet with Los
Coyotes’ tribal leadership to discuss specific education
needs as well as deliver numerous backpacks filled with
much-needed school supplies to the reservation’s
children.
Also, just recently Walking Shield partnered once again
with the Sons of the American Legion and the
Huntington Beach Waterfront Hilton to distribute over
200 mattresses, most of which went to military families
stationed at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base in
Oceanside, CA. ABF Freight System, Inc. donated two
28-foot trailers and U-Haul donated a truck to make
this effort possible.
A Camp Pendleton Marine (left) ready to distribute the mattresses.
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Children from the Blackfeet reservation enjoy their new holiday gifts.
Oakley Volunteer Day in November, 2009.
Los Coyotes reservation children with their new backpacks.
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Housing Relocation Program Update
Since the beginning of 2010, the Housing Relocation Program has focused on the Turtle Mountain reservation in
North Dakota and the Rocky Boy reservation in Montana. After numerous meetings and logistical coordination,
Turtle Mountain was given the balance of 34 homes relocated from Grand Forks Air Force Base. Malmstrom Air
Force Base recently announced that it currently has 20-30 additional relocatable homes for the Rocky Boy
reservation in Montana as well.
Houses being prepped on the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
Two Malmstrom AFB officials (left) meeting with Walking Shield staff.
In March, Dr. John Castillo as well Program Managers Marvin Thurman and Gary Doll met onsite with Malmstrom
Air Force Base officials to discuss the Crow, Ft. Belknap and Northern Cheyenne reservations as possible recipients
of relocatable houses in the near future as well.
Medical/Dental Support Program Update
Summer, 2010, will be full of Medical IRT deployments
across the country and a few have already begun.
Currently, both the Santa Ynez reservation, located in
Santa Barbara County, and the Hoopa reservation in
Northern California are receiving much needed
assistance from the Army Reserve. Hoopa is also being
provided with services by the National Guard and the
Navy this summer as well. This multi-unit medical task
force is the first of its kind for Walking Shield.
The Army Reserves will also be coordinating efforts on
the Northern Cheyenne and Fort Belknap reservations
in Montana, the Fort Berthold Reservation in North
Dakota, the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota and,
for the first time, to the Te-Moak Tribe of Nevada.
Both the Army and Air Force are sending personnel to
the Crow Creek Sioux in South Dakota, the Rocky Boy
reservation in Montana and the Turtle Mountain
reservation in North Dakota. Rocky Boy and Turtle
Mountain will receive assistance from the Navy
Reserves as well.
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A National Guard Reservist takes the blood pressure of an elder from the
Hoopa Valley Tribe located in Northern California.
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OneSight Supports the Troops and Reservations in 2010
Walking Shield is honored to be participating in our 14th year as a partner of the OneSight (formerly the Gift of
Sight) Program in 2010. The year’s missions were kicked off recently at Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base in
Oceanside California where 433 dependant children were given free glasses, some for the very first time. This was
the second year in a row that the OneSight program was able conduct a mission for Camp Pendleton as a way of
saying thank you for all that military families sacrifice for our country.
Children of all ages received free eye glasses with frames donated by Oakley at the 2010 Camp Pendleton OneSight mission.
Crow Creek
Dan Swett (left) of the Sons of the American Legion delivers a check in
Dr. John Castillo, Walking Shield Executive Director, meets
support of the Camp Pendleton mission to Gary Wasoski, OneSight
representative and Walking Shield Board Member, with Amanda Roggow,
Walking Shield Program Manager.
with Randy Jordan of the Crow Creek reservation during a
planning meeting in preparation for their upcoming OneSight
Mission taking place the end of June, 2010.
Walking Shield is also currently in the final planning stages with OneSight for two more weeks worth of missions in
Indian country. Starting June 14th, the Vision Van will be arriving to give exams and cut glasses on the Rosebud
reservation in South Dakota for five days. Next, the OneSight team will travel to the Crow Creek Sioux reservation,
also in South Dakota, and provide services to this tribe for an additional five days. Both of these reservations are
located in some of the poorest counties in the entire country. The Crow Creek reservation is located in Buffalo
County which is, in fact, the poorest in the entire United States.
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Donor Spotlight: Binky Patrol
For the past few years, the ladies of the Garden Grove Chapter of
the Binky Patrol have donated hundreds of handmade blankets and
other items to Walking Shield, Inc. These much-needed items have
been distributed to reservations across the country, most recently to
the Fort Belknap reservation in Montana. These beautiful pieces are
especially welcome on reservations in the Northern Plains where
tribal residents face some of the harshest winters in the country.
The Binky Patrol is an all volunteer, national, non-profit
organization that makes and distributes “binkies” to children aged
newborn to eighteen in difficult circumstances or who lack a lot of
the resources that other children may have. A binky is a homemade
blanket that can be sewn, knitted, crocheted or quilted. They range
in size from three feet square up to twin bed size and are simple
reminders that they are loved and thought of by someone who
cares.
The Binky Patrol officially began in Orange County, California,
home of Walking Shield’s office, in May, 1996 with founder, Susan
Finch putting a sign up sheet in front of her retail business. From
its initial 5 volunteers, Binky Patrol has grown to over 160 chapters
and an estimated 20,000 volunteers nationwide ranging in age from
four to ninety-four.
Cheyenne Reynoso, Walking Shield Intern, shows
off some beautiful items recently donated by the
Binky Patrol of Garden Grove.
Test Your American Indian Knowledge!
1. What United States tribe has the largest
registered population as of the 2000
census?
2. What tribe(s) does the Jingle
Dress/Prayer Dress originate from?
3. Which president signed the Indian
Removal Act into law in 1830 and is
subsequently credited for the Trail of
Tears?
4. In what year were American Indians
granted full U.S. citizenship?
...Answers on Page 7
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A Big Thank You to our Recent Supporters!
ABF Freight System, Inc.
Landmark Community Workshop
David W. Roeder
Brad Albert
Cassidy &Breanna Lemon, Mazda Trix
Delores M. Ross
Karen Bednorz in memory of Scott Collins
Nell Madigan
Ashley Russell
Deborah Ben
Lawrence F. Matranga
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri
Nancy Berg
Lowell Milken, Milken Foundation
John & Suzanne Schaefer
Binky Patrol
Robert Miller
Leland C. Selby
Chris Blake
Ruth Ann Miller
Loyola Seymour
Betty Block
Gary Shapiro
Elvira R. Cabral
Dr. Leland Shapiro
Malinda Pennoyer Chouinard
Marc A. Shereck
Ginny Cole- Weaver
Dee Silva
Common Ground Interfaith Spiritual
Center
Dr. Linda J. Sloan
Alan Cook
Gary Cromwell
Dr. Javier “Hawk” Davila
Karen Davis, Hasbro, Inc.
Mette Djokovich
Dr. Rose Marie Drake
Susan J. Fitzsimons
June S. Fox
Dr. Dale Freeberg, O.D., FAAO
MaLinda Freitas
Ramona Cortes Garza
Shirley Jandron
Bob Kelly, San Diego Foundation
Thomas Koltun
Evan Krewson
Cheryl Lamm
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Tim Miller, Toys R Us
Carroll Smith
Shirley Miller
Southern California Edison,
Native American Alliance
Robin Morsk
Native American Institute
Inga Nosek
OCB Trading Post
O.C. Society for Psychic Research
Arlene Opstad
Max Peppis, CoCaLo
Pine Tree Quilters
Tammy Powlas
Rev. Judy De Prete
Rev. Glenda Knox
Redbird
Robert & Debbie Reilly
Mark Robinson
Martha Rochin
Suzanne Sparks
Rev. Florence Stacy
Jeff & Debbie Stevens
Phil & Joan Stevens
Judith Swan
Pete Tagni
Alyce Thomas
Toys R Us
U-Haul
Geraldine Erickson Ttee
Gary Wasoski
John Whitfield
Westminster Yarn Spinners
Dennis & Karen Wynott
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How You Can Help
Monetary Donations
As a charitable 501(c)3 organization, any donations given are
tax deductible. Monetary donations enhance and support the
organization’s operation. Even a seemingly small amount can
go a long way in making a difference.
In-kind Donations
Throughout the year, Walking Shield also gathers new,
in-kind donations for distribution including:
hygiene products
clothing
blankets
toys
baby supplies
computers
backpacks
school supplies
blankets
toys
Please contact us today for further information on how you
can assist. Walking shield also welcomes partnerships with
private corporations, foundations and government agencies
and can assist you with any planned giving ideas.
Walking Shield
is now on
Facebook!
Follow us at
www.facebook.com/
WalkingShield
Quiz Answers (from page 3)
1. Cherokee According to the 2000 census, the
Cherokee have more members than any other
American Indian tribe. In 1976, Cherokee voters
ratified a new Cherokee Constitution, which
changed the ways of measuring tribal
membership. At that time, it was determined that
anyone who could trace direct descent from the
Dawes Rolls, a census taken between 1902-1907,
could become a registered citizen of the
Cherokee Nation.
2. Origin of the jingle dress is attributed to three
different Ojibwa communities: Mille Lacs
Indians, Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the
Whitefish Bay Ojibwe. In both the Mille Lacs
Indians and Whitefish Bay Ojibwe versions, the
dress and the dance appeared in a recurring vivid
dream that was realized about the year 1900.
3. The Indian Removal Act, was signed into law
by President Andrew Jackson on May 26, 1830.
The Removal Act paved the way for the reluctant
—and often forcible— emigration of tens of
thousands of American Indians to the West
including many members of the Cherokee, Creek,
Seminole, and Choctaw nations on the Trail of
Tears.
Walking Shield would love to have you help us help make a
difference in the lives of American Indians across the
country. Our staff and those we serve are eternally thankful
for your support and consideration. Wopila!
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4. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, also
known as the Snyder Act, granted American
Indians United States citizenship and was signed
into law by President Calvin Coolidge on June 2.
For more quiz questions and other important
information on American Indians please visit
our website at www.walkingshield.org.
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Servin g Ame rican Indian Families Since 1986
W a l ki ng Sh i e ld , I nc .
Non-Profit
Walking Shield, Inc.
22622 Lambert St. Ste. 303
Lake Forest, CA 92630
U.S. Postage Paid
Lake Forest, CA
Permit No. 102
Walking Shield, Inc.
Walking Shield’s mission is to improve the quality of life for American Indian families by coordinating programs that
provide shelter, healthcare, community development support, educational assistance and humanitarian aid.
Walking Shield is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that has significantly increased its program support activities over the
past several years. Working closely with tribal leaders, Walking Shield provides a variety of services to American Indian
families including:
The Medical/Dental Support Program
The Infrastructure Support Program
The Housing Relocation Program
The Humanitarian Aid Program
The Holiday Gift Program
The Education Program
The OneSight Partnership
Please help support Walking Shield. Your donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible.
Phone: (949) 639-0472 Fax: (949) 639-0474 E-mail: jcastillo@walkingshield.org Website: www.walkingshield.org
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