Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Fry Bread Clan

Puppets help Native American social worker in her work with children

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas Lisa Cherino is a one-woman dynamo. She is a puppeteer, a seamstress, a songstress, an artist, and she bakes one mean banana bread. Cherino is also a master's level social worker who found a need in her Native American clients for counseling tools and methods specifically designed for them.

"I needed to develop tools of my own to improve the counseling I was providing," she said. "I first started by painting Indian pictures and symbols on handheld rocks."

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Cherino said this technique was very effective, and she saw how Indian people became more expressive, confident and empowered when they could see and touch something that gave meaning to the purpose of the session.

The Haskell, Okla., native began searching for other tools to use, such as Indian dolls or puppets. "There wasn't anything like that out there," she said. "So I started making my own puppets and dolls." Cherino, a member of the Bear Clan from the Muscogee Creek Tribe, also made the clothing for her puppets representing the Creek tribe and New Mexico pueblo tribes.

That was back in 2000. Now, seven years later, her effort to help Native Americans has grown into an enterprise called the Fry Bread Clan. The group of puppets is comprised of Grandpa, Grandma, Young Chief and Pretty Eyes.

Cherino, who specializes in working with Native American children, said the stories she tells with her puppets seem to reflect what she has learned from the children about their families. "I saw many children who did not live with their parents and were raised by their grandparents," she said. "Both the families and children seemed to need skills to express themselves. I needed to find a visual way to teach."

After some trial and error with templates and felt, the clan was born. Now Cherino and the group make appearances at local schools, telling stories and singing song based on Native American culture. "The stories are to help the children feel safe talking about their feelings," Cherino said. "Feelings are scary, even for adults."

The stories she brings to the schools are very "safe" Cherino said. The first story is about finding your animal spirit. The story talks about the traits of many different animals, including the eagle, the deer and the skunk.

"All of the animals have positive traits that the kids can identify with," she said. "And we sing and do an animal dance, where they have to do everything I do. It is a very safe way for them to discover a different part of themselves."

Another story Cherino performs for school children is about the talking stick. The talking stick, or rock, is painted red, yellow, white and black to symbolize the importance of all cultures, Cherino said. "Those are the same colors as the ribbons on my dress," she said. "There is a simple song about when you have the talking stick, you speak from your heart."

The talking stick story also encourages listening to others' feelings in a respectful manner and taking the time to be considerate, Cherino said. The person who has the talking stick is the one who talks while everyone else listens.

In addition to making the puppets and their wardrobes, Cherino writes and illustrates the storybooks and writes and sings the songs. She also makes individual illustrations from the stories that can be used on a storyboard to let a teacher tell the story in his or her own way or to let the children tell their own stories.

While Cherino is still drawing her storybooks one at a time, she is hoping to find a publisher who will produce the whole package to sell to counselors, schools and Native American agencies and programs. "Right now, it's just me," she says with a laugh, gesturing around the room filled with puppets, storybooks, a piano, guitar and music stand. "Maybe someday I'll get an assistant."

While the puppets and stories are based on Native American culture, Cherino wants the Fry Bread Clan to be used to help everyone express feelings and be proud of their culture.

"I believe the Creator gives gifts to us to use to help others," she said. "The puppets are good things to use for all cultures to learn to how to better express feelings."

For more information about the clan and Cherino's stories and performances, e-mail lisahopalong@comcast.net.

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