Leslie Riggs takes lead role at Education

The Tribe filled the top spot in the Education Department that had been vacant for three months on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

Leslie Riggs, 47, former supervisor for the Tribe’s 477 Program, moved into the job.

It is not a small jump – from managing six employees to almost 50 – but not too big for his talents, either.

Riggs says he manages “in a very democratic way; not asking anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do. I’m willing to work long hours.”

As he acclimates himself to the job, he says he wants to know where his program leaders excel and where they might need assistance. Whatever that is, he wants to provide it for them. He wants to be the kind of manager who “gets out of the way and lets people do their jobs.”

That gives him time, almost right away, to keep his focus on grant issues.

In these early days, he continues meeting with program heads to bring him up to speed, to acquaint him with issues needing quick attention and to reinvigorate worthwhile projects that have stalled.

Top of the list, he says, is a federal Administration for Native Americans’ Chinuk Wawa language grant. “I’m very excited about it,” he says.

Bringing in grants and other new funding sources, creating new opportunities for the department and expanding the availability of a solid educational foundation for the Tribal membership are among the jobs on his desk. While the department already partners with institutions, Riggs says he wants to find new partners and new associations to broaden possibilities for the membership.

“The department is in very good shape,” he says. “Folks with responsibility for keeping it running have done an exceptional job.”

The Tribe’s revival of Chinuk Wawa, the Native trade language, has been an influence on Riggs since his days at the University of Oregon and before. While schooling in Eugene, he traveled up to the Tribe every week to study the language. His growing fluency in Chinuk Wawa enabled him to use it to fulfill the university’s second language requirement.

It also gave him direction in his career at the Tribe. He saw the chance to use language instruction in the education of Tribal “children and families, and for the revitalization of a moribund language.”

At the University of Oregon, he says, he discovered his love of academia. He calls himself a “lifelong learner, until it’s over.”

He had an inclination to stay in the university setting, but in the end thought a job might also be in order.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for education,” Riggs says, “especially the way things are going in the world. An associate degree is taking the place of a high school diploma.”

In 2005, a month after he graduated, he started as a Cultural Education specialist at the Tribe. As a teacher in the Head Start and Chinuk Wawa programs, he says, his fluency improved. He “saw a lot of value in what folks here were trying to do.”

He brings to the job more than a decade as a rock ‘n’ roll musician. He drummed his way through 30 countries, including villages in Spain and Germany, and big venues in cities like Los Angeles, London, Tokyo and Stockholm. He played with all manner of rock ‘n’ roll artists and bands. He continues to play locally.

One of the songs he co-wrote, “Cold Wind,” was part of the soundtrack of “Looking for Johnny,” about Johnny Thunders, a musician with the New York Dolls. The movie played in major cities across the United States and now is available on DVD.

From the road, he says he took away a lot of lessons, and some directly apply to his new position.

“You learn how to deal with all kinds of people, personalities,” he says. Traveling, he takes in the architecture, scenery, new languages, different thoughts and ideas, religions, belief systems and governments, and the various ways that people interact with them.

“Some situations are dangerous,” he says of the road. “At times you put yourself in precarious places, and you learn how to navigate all that.”

Along the way, he worked as head chef at Fluke’s Cradle, a North African restaurant in London. On the menu was “a lot of fish, very much a Mediterranean diet.” His days started early.

“You go to market, look for quality, haggle over price. There’s a lot to do. Inventory, staff rotation, dealing with personalities. Everyone wants to be head chef, and they want to know why did you get the job.

“I have led a very exciting and varied life,” he says, “and have been fortunate in so many ways. My hope is that I can maintain that excitement and variety in my new role as Education Division manager. I am very passionate about learning and hope that is apparent to all I work with in this endeavor.”

He credits all of his program leaders for their diligence during the period when John Harp, Continuing Education coordinator, took over as acting manager.

Mercedes Reeves, he says, kept higher education counseling going. Tim Barry carried and continues to carry “a big load” at Youth Education. Interim Assistant General Manager Bryan Langley and Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Martin, Riggs’ supervisor, have been overseeing all aspects of the operation.

Riggs still writes songs and poetry. These days, he says, “mostly, the poetry I write is in building blocks with my 2-year-old.”

Riggs and wife, Heather, live in Salem and are parents to four children.