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4A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2021 Chemawa | APPEAL TRIBUNE Reddick’s list includes the names of all students for whom at least some evidence has been found that they died in the custo- dy of the school. Not all were buried at Chemawa Ceme- tery. The remains of some were returned home. Many died during the early years when infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza could spread rapidly in dor- mitories. Reddick’s research shows at least one- third of the students buried in the cemetery reportedly died of tuberculosis. During the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, there were 23 deaths at Chemawa, including 18 people who were buried at the cemetery. Fifteen were students. The last confirmed student buried at Chemawa Cemetery is Edward Bellinger, who died March 17, 1932. Lyle Young, who died more than two years later, is believed to have been a student but Reddick has yet to match him to a school roster. While thousands of students have at- tended Chemawa since, and some have died on campus, it isn’t clear why none were laid to rest at the school cemetery. Even in the early days of the cemetery, stu- dents’ remains were sometimes sent back to their reservations. There are gaps in the timeline, much like with other historic cemeteries. Information gets lost or destroyed. The people who keep records move on or die. And the cemeteries themselves suffer from neglect. Most recently, Pigsley and the Confeder- ated Tribes of the Siletz Indians helped bring attention to the cemetery after the school, operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, stopped mowing and caring for it because it doesn’t own the cemetery. The Bureau of Indian Affairs does. In an interview with the Statesman Journal, she said her son, who works at Chemawa, mows the cemetery on his own time. Maintenance has been spotty for dec- ades, some worse than others. In the 1960s, the cemetery had become so overgrown caretakers resorted to leveling the area, presumably destroying any remaining wooden markers from the early days. The cyclone fence was installed at the time, according to reports in the Spilyay Ty- moo, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Charles Holmes, who worked as an in- dustrial arts teacher at Chemawa for many years and was on staff at that time, de- scribed to Reddick how they “recreated” the cemetery layout using a grid with stakes and string and noting the placement of fir trees, which weren’t nearly as tower- ing as they are today. All they had to go on was a master plot map created in 1940. Cement bars affixed with metal plates were placed at each grave listed, although recent investigations conducted by re- searcher Marsha Small using ground-pen- etrating radar suggest many of the current markers may not accurately match up with gravesites. Shop students made the metal plates, and when they copied names and dates, er- rors were made. A second map was created at that time and is the one Reddick used to begin her research. At least seven burials since the 1940s, including Pigsley’s late husband and other family members in recent years, aren’t on the map. Former employees or students are eligi- ble for burial, but remains must be cremat- ed and only a flat marker can be used, ac- cording to Pigsley. Newer burials are in what is now the front section of the cemetery closest to In- dian School Road NE. Pigsley also knows of three unmarked Market city except Scotts Mills, which increased 3%. Continued from Page 1A When can taxes be raised? $253,304 a year before. In Turner, it went up 10% to $327,333, from $298,793, mostly from new construction. Other cities with significant increases included Jefferson (8%), Keizer (8%) and Mt. Angel (8%). In cities impacted by the September 2020 wildfires, real market values plum- meted. In Gates, those values dropped 12% to $182,704, from $207,853 a year before. They also dropped in neighboring Detroit (3%), Idanha (3%), Scotts Mills (3%) and Mill City (1%). That was despite an increase in the Santiam Canyon School Bond im- pacting all of those except Scotts Mills. But their taxes still went up 4% in each Property taxes in Oregon can only in- crease for a few reasons. Measure 5, which was approved in 1990, limits property taxes to $10 per $1,000 of value for general government and $5 per $1,000 for educations services. Measure 50 limits tax increases to 3% each year unless new activity taxes place on the property. But bonds and levies can cause larger increases. In St. Paul, voters approved a fire district levy in November 2020 that will increase taxes for the average homeowner by about 9%. Property owners in Stayton will pay Eviction state agency that provides financial assis- tance and promotes affordable housing. That agency relied on community action agencies, such as The ARCHES Project, to find those who qualify and help them apply. The agency was overwhelmed with the number of applications, despite bringing in an outside vendor to help handle the volume. The state’s figure of 11,900 households who could currently be evicted is only an es- timate. Tenant advocates say some people are self-evicting – leaving their residence as soon as a landlord tells them their time is up. Under the state’s grace period, a tenant has to show their landlord the letter from the state proving they have applied for the rental assistance program. They then have 60 days before the landlord can file eviction papers for nonpayment of rent. Tenants in Multno- mah County and in unincorporated areas of Washington County have 90 days of protec- tion. Estimates are that 14,000 people in the state have applied for the help, but are past the 60-day protection. Of those, 3,700 have been waiting more than 120 days. Some tenants are holding off until they re- ceive a formal notice of eviction and then showing the letter, which buys them more time. “It’s simply a matter of time before the checks reach the landlords,” said Sybil Hebb, legislative director for the Oregon Law Cen- ter, a non-profit law firm. But some landlords are done waiting. Since the state’s moratorium on evictions Continued from Page 3A the tribal affiliation of the deceased if known. A number of the grave markers have misspelled names. Julia Jopps’ last name, for example, is engraved “Lapp” on a marker near the middle of the third-to- last row at the cemetery. Reddick’s painstaking research was recently published online and is now available to the public. The site was made possible through a partnership with Eva Guggemos, archivist and associate pro- fessor at Pacific University in Forest Grove. The website is hosted by the Pacific University Archives, which also main- tains a site on the history of the Forest Grove Indian School. It includes ceme- tery maps and a spreadsheet with notes, citations, enrollment dates and other information about Chemawa students. Site records indicate that: h At least 270 students died in custo- dy of the schools at Forest Grove and Chemawa between 1880 and 1945. h Approximately 175 of those chil- dren were buried in the school ceme- tery. h Remains of approximately 40 stu- dents were returned home near the time of their deaths between 1880-1945. h The locations of approximately 50 student remains are unaccounted for, although maps indicate there could be up to 40 plots in the cemetery that con- tain remains of unidentified students or staff. Reddick, who lives in McMinnville, has been protective of her list, never wanting to perpetuate misinformation. With increased scrutiny over burials at residential schools nationwide, she’s shar- ing her research in hopes that it can be used in combination with other work that’s been done in recent years or will be done during the federal investigation. She has reached out to the Bureau of In- dian Affairs to offer her research but said she has not been contacted by anyone. “We’ve been super obsessive-compul- sive about making sure we’re extremely ac- curate — or at least as accurate as we can be,” Reddick said. “We’re hoping this is go- ing to help families. That’s the bottom-line objective.” Lost cemetery records Continued from Page 1A Though lawmakers have expressed con- cern about the extent of the backlog, they have yet to take action like calling a special session to address it. “While we have sufficient resources, there shouldn’t be anyone who is evicted for inabil- ity to pay,” Oregon Rep. Julie Fahey, D-Eu- gene, said. Meantime, options are running out for renters like Bouchard. For four months, Bouchard waited and contacted everyone he could think of – from trying to call OHCS director Margaret Salazar to appearing on a Portland television station. He received a check for 15 months of back rent Tuesday. He will use it to pay his land- lord and get caught up on rent. But he said not everyone will be as lucky. “I’m assertive,” Bouchard said. “Imagine those who aren’t.” 'Their patience has run out' The federal program was designed to give renters who earn 80% of the county's medi- an income up to 12 months of past-due rent and three months of future rent. Renters also were eligible for help paying for utilities. In Marion County, for example, a family of four earning up to $45,240 would qualify. Oregon put the program under Housing and Community Services, a little-known graves in that area that contain the uniden- tified, partial remains of multiple Native people from area tribes. Tribal agencies agreed to inter them together. In honor of all those buried at the ceme- tery, the Siletz and Lummi tribes worked together to install a commemorative totem near the front arch a few years ago. It de- picts a female looking east toward campus, where a male totem is looking west toward the cemetery. Preparing for tribal involvement Pigsley is willing to be involved in the federal investigation. So is Reddick. They have as many questions as any- one, including who will conduct it, when it will begin, and if it will be anything more than an archaeological study. At tribal meetings Pigsley has attended, some have expressed interest in the repa- triation of those buried at Chemawa Ceme- tery. She said members of her tribe don’t believe in exhuming and relocating re- mains because of rituals and ceremonies done at the time of burial. Reddick said she would support the idea of some type of memorial, perhaps a wall with student names and tribes. Calling for acknowledgment Other countries, such as Canada and South Africa, have held “truth and reconcil- iation” commissions for past atrocities committed against Native and Indigenous communities. These tribunals have provided victims, their descendants and survivors an oppor- tunity to share their experiences, process their pain and advocate for next steps. In- cidents are documented and recognized as part of history when they were silenced and hidden before. In Canada, for example, these efforts, in part, led to funding to revitalize languages the children were prohibited from speaking in residential schools. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is pushing for similar tribunals in the states. They also support repatriation efforts at schools like Carlisle. And they are advocating that U.S. officials provide more mental health sup- ports and trauma resources as further rev- elations emerge during the Department of Interior’s Federal Indian Boarding School Truth Initiative. In Canada, resources such as a national hotline are available to survivors of resi- dential schools. Recently, the Canadian government also committed to spending $107 million on mental health, culture and emotional ser- vices to support healing from boarding school intergenerational trauma. Accord- ing to the coalition, this was part of $321 million in new funding that includes help- ing Indigenous communities search burial sites at former residential schools. “The first step we need to take is caring for our boarding school survivors,” Deborah Parker, of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington, who serves as the director of policy and ad- vocacy for the coalition, said in a state- ment. about 5% more after voters approved levies for the operations of the library and parks in the May election. In Monmouth, property owners will pay a 4.3% increase after passing a $3 million bond to build a new city hall. Growth impacts taxes Taxes in Independence went up an av- erage of 3.7%. Patoine said much of that is due to new construction, including a new hotel, apart- ments and townhomes at Independence Landing between downtown and the Wil- lamette River. The average property owner in Inde- pendence will only see the standard 3% in- crease. “As you can see, Independence grew more than Monmouth did,” Patoine said. expired in late June, evictions for non-pay- ment of rent have skyrocketed, according to data compiled by the Oregon Law Center. Between January and June, there was an average of 66 evictions for non-payment per month. After the moratorium ended, that shot up to 361evictions in July, 463 in August and 473 in September. Nearly half, or 45% of tenants who were evicted for not paying rent in September had applied for the rental assistance program, ac- cording to OHCS. “Landlords have made it clear that their patience has run out,” Salazar said. “They have been patient. They have been receiving assistance on an ongoing basis, but we also know that landlords may begin evicting more people, even people who have applied for rental assistance.” She said they are pleading with landlords to be patient a bit longer. “We have asked them to do the right thing and we have reassured them that funds will continue to flow into their hands," she said. "But it’s likely not enough to stave off evic- tions." The waiting is the hardest part Nicole Taylor has never lived lavishly. She rents a two-bedroom duplex in the North Tabor neighborhood of Portland with her mother and daughter. Taylor worked at hospitals, for state agen- cies and schools through her adult life, but was unemployed at the start of the pandem- ic. The coalition is advocating for a Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Board- ing Schools, arguing it’s the “most complete step toward fully uncovering the truth, up- lifting survivors, and charting a path to- ward healing.” ‘Got to be more than an apology’ When Paul first heard about the federal investigation, she was angry that “it’s taken so long for this to begin to be acknowl- edged.” Recognizing what countless children and their families went through, and the impacts of those events, Paul said, helps to remove the shame many still feel today. “It helps to be recognized, that ‘I’m not crazy. The trauma really hurt me,’ “ she said. “It recognizes that there was harm and that I don’t have to feel ashamed of who I am as a Native person.” As for those not personally impacted, Paul said it’s time to listen and look for ways to be part of the repatriating and heal- ing process. “90% of healing is being listened to and acknowledge that it happened,” she said. But healing means something different for everyone. For many, they want the U.S. govern- ment to acknowledge the atrocities that were committed. Others want to find their ancestors’ burials. Some want their re- mains exhumed. Some want reparations and a reconciliation commission. The U.S. Department of the Interior is compiling decades of files and records to begin a “proper review” that will allow in- vestigators to organize documents, identify available and missing information and en- sure their records system is standardized, according to Giovanni Rocco, deputy press secretary for the Office of the Secretary. This project was completed by a team of three reporters and a photographer. It was produced after researching hundreds of archives, conducting dozens of inter- views, filing multiple media requests with local and federal agencies, traveling to Deer Park, WA, to speak with descend- ants, and more. Please support this im- portant work by sharing these stories with others and by becoming a States- man Journal subscriber. Were you or your relatives enrolled at Chemawa? We would appreciate hear- ing about your experiences. Natalie Pate is the education report- er for the Statesman Journal. She can be reached at npate@StatesmanJour- nal.com or 503-399-6745, or on Twitter @NataliePateGwin and Facebook at @NataliePateJournalist. Dianne Lugo is a reporter at the Statesman Journal covering equity and social justice. You can reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com, 503- 936-4811, or on Twitter @DianneLugo. Capi Lynn is the Statesman Journal’s news columnist. Contact her at clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or 503- 399-6710, or follow her on Twitter @CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiLynnSJ. “Monmouth had the 3% growth plus some new construction. But Independence, they’ve done all that construction. “They have the hotel and the apart- ments. In addition, they have new subdivi- sions coming in. They’ve had more growth, new growth that’s impacted their taxes.” In Marion County, those who disagree with the real market value on their property can request a review by calling 503-588- 5144. If a property owner does not agree af- ter the review, they can appeal to the board of tax appeals, which is composed of com- munity volunteers. For questions about a property tax as- sessment in Polk County, call the assessor’s office at 503-623-8391. Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@statesmanjournal.com or Twit- ter.com/bpoehler She received unemployment benefits and managed to pay rent and other bills with that money. But that ran out when the federal government’s pandemic benefits stopped. At the beginning of the pandemic, Taylor started taking classes at Warner Pacific to- ward a degree in health care administration. She hopes to complete the degree in Decem- ber. She applied for emergency rental assis- tance when the state’s program opened May 19. And then she waited, and waited. More than four months later, on Sept. 29, she received a payment for four months of back rent. “At the end of the day, I just don’t under- stand, and it kind of makes me wonder how many people are in the same boat as me, who only asked for a few months of assis- tance and didn’t get it?” Taylor said. After Taylor’s rent check finally arrived, she received notice from the state she may be able to apply for rental assistance in the fu- ture. She was perturbed that she is being of- fered more help while thousands in her situa- tion haven’t gotten any help and are being evicted. “They’re losing their cars and they’re los- ing their homes or something because some- body in a position of power isn’t saying, ‘We need to stop this, or fix this immediately,’” Taylor said. Bill Poehler covers Marion County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoeh- ler@statesmanjournal.com or Twitter.com/ bpoehler.