Pierre enjoys Washington Senate Page Program

By Maggie Plummer

Mary Pierre

SPOKANE - Mary Pierre, a Spokane 10th grader, recently completed five days as a page for the Washington State Legislature.

The daughter of Mary and James Green of Spokane and Sheila Pierre of Elmo, Mary and several other high school student pages were sponsored by Washington District Three Senator Lisa Brown (D). Mary attends the Medicine Wheel Academy, which is housed at Havermale High School.

A page is a helping hand during legislative sessions, which run from January through March or April. Pages perform tasks that allow Senators and staff to focus on legislative duties.

They also spend two hours each day in Page School learning about the legislative process.

"This experience was beneficial for me," Mary said, "because I learned about bills and how they become laws."

During Page School sessions, Mary said the students were able to come up with their own bills. At the end of their week as a Page, they presented their bills to the committee. "I was able to experience the position of the Chairman, one of the main people in a hearing," the 15-year-old student explained. "I got to hit the gavel and pass laws and deny laws."

And, she notes, she really liked the sound of "Senator" Pierre. "It made me feel as if I was someone very important," she said, "which will be true some day."

If given the chance to be a page again, she would definitely do it, she added.

Pages work eight hours a day from Monday through Friday, earn $35 per work day, and live with host families in the state capitol of Olympia.

"There was also a dress code," Mary commented. "Pages had to wear black slacks, socks, and (black) shoes, with no white on them whatsoever. Then you needed a plain white blouse. The dress code was very strict; your blouse was to be tucked in tightly. I didn't really have a problem with that because I like to dress up. I looked nice and official."

During Page School, the students had a chance to come up with their own legislation ideas. "One specific bill that was on my mind was American Indian Heritage Month," Mary said. "I picked that subject because African Americans have a month for recognition due to all the suffering."

She argued that Native Americans were the original people here, and suffered also. "We have no credit for anything our ancestors did," Mary remarked. "The only recognition we have is a Native American Day..."

But Mary's bill wasn't passed by her fellow Pages. "They figured that every race...would want a month of their own for recognition," she said.

Mary plans to go to college and eventually live in a self-designed house overlooking Flathead Lake.

Her inspiration is her mom, Mary Sophie Pierre Green: "She has taught me to be an independent woman...not to depend on a man or a per capita."

Success means education, Mary likes to say, and education means success.

"One thing I believe is that our culture and our people are slowly dying to drugs and alcohol, which we all know is not good," she added. "I want to be a model citizen to my fellow tribal members and give a message that no matter what the family backgrounds we can change and be as strong as our nation was once before. All over the world, Native Americans are underestimated and it's up to us as individuals to prove otherwise. I am slowly making a success and hopefully, just hopefully, making a difference."