Seminoles Defeat Government Troops at Kissimmee Slough Shootout

The Seminole Tribune 14 February 6, 2004Fourth Annual Reservation Rally v RallyContinued from page 1Jumper said she has sufferedfrom diabetes for 36 years and back thenthe tribe did not know how severely thisdisease would strike Native Americans.She said she wanted to serve as an examplethat diet and exercise will preventwhat happened to her.“The way the youngpeople are walking and runningtoday, if they do this, Ihope they won’t get diabeteslater,” she said.The enthusiastic 713participants showed up in theearly morning hours to testtheir physical fitness onSaturday Jan. 17, enduring theshivering early-morning coldand then sweating from thesun as it warmed up during therace.Before the racebegan, words of encouragementcame from the tribal representativesof each reservation.“It is good to havefriendly competition,” saidHollywood TribalRepresentative Max OsceolaJr. “But, today, it is not justteams from Brighton,Hollywood, Tampa,Immokalee and Big Cypresscompeting against each other.Today we are also teamSeminole.”“You are here toprove something,” he continued.“You are proving we arehere for our health.”Regarding the challenge of theBy Michael KellyBRIGHTON — WahillaDoonkeen, Band Chief for the MikasukiNation in Oklahoma City, OK said he washighly impressed at the 4th Annual RezRally held in Brighton.“I'm taking this event back hometo my band in Oklahoma,” saidDoonkeen. “This is a great event andthere is no excuse we can't duplicate it.There are approximately 1,400 people inour band, and after experiencing thisevent, I would like to challenge each andevery member to participate. It can bedone.”Doonkeen, a guest of ChairmanMitchell Cypress, met him about threeyears ago and recalled his enthusiasm forbeing healthy. Cypress understands theimportance of diet and exercise and theconsequences of diabetes."My diabetes levels were veryhigh, but with exercise and a proper diet,I've gone from 365 to 165," said Cypress."We need to get the message across nowto our young children about the dangersA Diabetes Prevention Program Study ended their studyearly to report their results to the New England Journal ofMedicine.According to the American Diabetes Association(ADA), by adopting a moderate, consistent diet and exercise program,many people with risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes canstop the disease before it becomes irreversible."Some of the positive effects that physical activity canhave on patients with Type 2 Diabetes are: Lower obesity rates,race, he brought a laugh to thecrowd when he said: “The lasttime I ran this far, I was chasinggirls.”It was evident thisevent was a family affair with manymoms and dads pushing their babies inthe stroller category. Rachel Smith of BigCypress pushed her baby, Julia, in thestroller category, while her husband,Mike, and son, Robert, walked.“This is about staying healthy,staying clean, no drugs, no alcohol,”Smith said.Parents set the example bringingtheir older children and doing the rallywith them. Brighton resident Matt Gopherwalked in the race as did his two daughters,Shemi and Shay. Gopher said he hadgained weight and this walk was motivationfor him to start an exercise programagain.“We have a tribe with a lot ofdiabetes which leads to poor health,”Gopher said.Sisters Lorraine Posada andLenora Roberts competed against eachother as well as the other reservations.Susan EtxebarriaAgnes Jumper was determined to complete the three milejourney.Posada placed 3rd in the runner’s division,while Roberts placed 4th.“My sister won last year so Iwanted to keep up with her,” said Posada.“We come from one of the smaller communities;we wanted to put Immokalee onthe Seminole map. I have been practicingall year and it paid off.”Last year’s first place winner,Lalo Rodriguez, representing Brighton,came in second in the race this year. Justahead of him by a few yards for the entireof diabetes."Although Doonkeen is excitedabout bringing the memories of an eventlike the Rez Rally back to her home state,she realizes there are obstacles.“It's difficult for the CreekNation and Mikasuki Nation becausethey're so spread out, said Doonkeen.“The Creek Nation is spread over 11counties, while the Mikasuki Nation ismixed in an urban setting,”If there was one element of theRez Rally that impressed the guests ofChairman Cypress was that all the reservationsgathered together for such animportant cause.“I'm really impressed with thisevent," said Matt Tiger, a Minister fromthe Creek Nation in Oklahoma. “We couldtry to get something like this togetherback home.”Rusty Powell, also a member ofthe Creek Nation and a Deacon, said,“Because we are spread out in 11 counties,it makes it hard to come together likethis, but we've set up health fairs in theAdditional Diabetes Factsrace was first place runner, Jordan Jones,who had placed second in last year’s race.Jones said he did not practice thecourse, but he stays in shape playing basketballduring the year. This tall, lankyninth grader ran the course in 12 minutes,47 seconds. Rodriguez said they switchedplaces this year but he looks forward to2005 when he will try to take back firstplace.No event this largeand successful happens accidentally.Sponsors and organizersstarted planning for thisevent in October. There weremany people involved, butmost important were the teamcaptains of each reservationwho worked at getting as largea turnout as possible.The captains for BigCypress were: Candy Cypress,Cathy Cypress, Cherelee Hall,Vera Herrera, RochelleOsceola, and Clea Billie.Brighton/Tampa: Terry Hahn,Patty Waldron, Amanda Smithand Lonnie Gore. FromHollywood/Ft. Pierce/Trail: BoYoung, Jo North, Holly Tigerand Diane Buster.Immokalee/Naples: DavidBillie and Maria Billie.Sponsors included theChairman and TribalRepresentatives, thePresident’s Office and BoardRepresentatives, the SeminoleTribe Recreation and HealthDepartment, and Nike, Inc.Numerous volunteers includedthe Seminole PoliceDepartment, SeminoleFire Rescue, and the GladesCounty Emergency MedicalService.Perhaps the closingwords of the master of ceremonies,John Madrigal, said itall.“We went from 620participants last year to 713this year,” he said. “Next year let’s makeit 1,000.”Then he reminded everyone whythey ran, why they walked, and that winningwasn’t the most important thing.“We are glad to see you takingcare of your health,” Madrigal said. “Weare glad you came out. This makes yourheart strong – and that makes the tribestrong. The only way you can lose is bynot showing up.”Guests of Seminole Tribe Impressed by Rez RallyBy Michael KellyBRIGHTON — ConnieWhidden and Suzanne Davis were allsmiles as they saw the huge number oftribal citizens participating in the 4thAnnual Rez Rally. Months of hard workand preparation paid off as nearly a quarterof the Seminole Tribe of Floridawalked, ran, or strolled their way to betterhealth.“Fitness is for every age andevery level,” said Chairman MitchellCypress. “The Reservation Rally representsindividuals, families and communitiescoming together to make a differencein the health of the Tribe. Together we arestronger and every year we get better.”Fitness Director VickyBarogiannis leads the tribe’s efforts inmaking exercise a priority.“We beat our total participantnumbers this year. We went from 629 in2003 to 713 people enrolled in the race,”said Connie Whidden, Allied HealthDirector. "It was great to see so manypeople out to participate in the RezRally.”Suzanne Davis, Allied ProgramHealth Manager, was pleased to seeeveryone take such a vested interest intheir health.So how important has the RezRally become? Nike, Inc. and Kinko’s arejust two of the sponsors that recognize thegrowing popularity of the Rez Rally.Thanks to Nike, Inc., anyone who completedthe Rally received a voucher for apair of athletic shoes.Dr. Robert H. Sheinberg, footand ankle specialist, was just one of thecommitted professionals available toassist Rally participants with foot issuesand shoe fittings. Dr. Sheinberg stressedthat proper foot care is essential for peopleof all ages, especially people with diabetes.“Children should be assessed forflat feet which have been found to be verycommon among Native American youth,”said Dr. Sheinberg. “Proper orthotics willalleviate future foot problems."While many enjoyed the friendlylaidback atmosphere of the rally, someindividuals are taking the competitionseriously.“I heard many people say thatthey trained for the event,” said Whidden.“This tells me that some people are beginningto take responsibility for their health.It was really good to see all the councilrepresentatives also participate. I thinkeveryone did a wonderful job at workingtogether to organize this event.”“Team effort coming from alldifferent tribal programs makes this eventa success,” added Whidden. “I also wantto thank the team captains from the differentreservations who put so much effortinto this.”Davis, along with a host of volunteerswho braved the predawn cold, isalready gearing up for next year's Rally.past and gotten a good response from thecommunity.”“We do hold community eventsand health fairs, but not on this scale,”said Clarence Johnson, of the CreekNation. “We're starting to implement diabetesawareness events to our community.We'll start small and hope that the eventsgrow like they've done here.”The Rez Rally didn't begin withhundreds of participants four years ago,Chairman Cypress recalled the first rally.“The first year we held the RezRally, we had about 100 people” he said.“This year we have over 700 people. Theevent keeps growing, but I want to set agoal of 1000 people next year."“This event is a great combinationof healthy competition, healthy food,and friendship,” Cypress continued. “Ithink a reason for the success of this eventis that people don't want to miss out onthe fun and health. Be healthy and havefun.”Health Department Enjoys "Healthy" Turnout at Rez RallyA big thank you to BrightonBuilding and Grounds and Jody Goodmanfor their many efforts to make the 2004Rez Rally a sparkling success.Center for Disease Control andIndian Health Service DiabetesFacts from 2000It has been estimated that 17million people in the U.S. have diabetes.Diabetes: U.S. population -Approximately 6.2%Diabetes: Seminole Tribe ofFlorida - Approximately 15%Nationwide cost of diabetes:$3.4 billionU.S. cost in medical expendituresand lost productivity climbedfrom $98 billion in 1997 to $132 billionin 2002 (American DiabetesAssociation publication in March 2003issue of Diabetes Care Magazine)Cardiovascular Disease is theleading killer in diabetes patients.Research has proven that regular exercisecan prevent or delay the onset ofdiabetes.Regular exercise is anextremely important part of controllingsugar in people with diabetes.For more information on diabetesplease contact your local clinicstaff, health educator or nutritionist.strengthened heart, stabilized blood sugar, and cells will becomemore responsive to insulin," said Dr. Barry Goldstein, Directorof Endocrinology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia,PA.He added, "Regular, moderate physical activity clearlyhelps to manage diabetes in those who have it and definitely canprevent it from happening among people at high risk for the disease."