TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Highlights
from Siletz
Tribal
Head Start
Left and below:
Springfield families
enjoy their first
parent meeting.
Portland staff- Frances Gates, family services; Kaylie shores, Indian family
wellness; Debra Arias, classroom aide; Kyria Knutson, assistant teacher and
bus driver; and Judy Weegee, teacher
Portland
families
enjoy
their
open
house.
Walt’s Words of Wit and Wisdom
Well by golly, the Run to the Rogue
is coming up and by the time you read
this, it will have happened.
Years ago, Frank Petersen and Janet
were thinking, I was watching. They
were trying to figure out something for
the Alcohol and Drug Program to do to
keep our clients busy and interested.
Well, Frank came up with the reverse
Trail of Tears to the Rogue River.
After some preliminary planning,
Frank made a trip. He marked each
milepost and a description of what was
around it, how safe it was, then the
different mile areas and how safe they
were. Some weren’t really safe for
waiting, so he made some changes in
the distance those runners would do.
He had the campgrounds all picked
out for about where we would be. He
had it down to a science. Then the tribal
people down on the Rogue River end
were having their pow-wow, so it was
decided that we would work with them.
They would come meet us and they
also would hold their grand entry until
we arrived and we would be the grand
entry. This worked well for us. There
weren’t many of us running and we
were tired and the last few miles seemed
to be uphill. They put on a nice meal
for us and honored us.
As I said, there weren’t many of us
running, especially at night, which is
when I personally like to do it. Some
times it was a little misty, maybe quite
misty. I had the good luck and misfortune
to be with a group of young bucks who
didn’t know how to walk. Only name I
can remember is Tony Whitehead.
There were four or five in the vehicle.
I would do my mile and think well
now, I’m going to have some time here.
I would get all nestled down and in the
mirror would see that bobbing light.
Those young chaps didn’t just run, they
raced. They didn’t give us old farts a
chance to get rested up.
As time has gone on, there have
been changes, maybe for the better, I
don’t know. But we don’t end up at the
pow-wow now, which is now held on
the Big Bend. I still go there. We end
up at Oak Flats down at the river.
I miss the meeting at Foster Creek.
Years ago, I spotted a hazel or
something with wisteria wrapped
around it. The hazel was maybe half an
inch in diameter. I figured that I would
watch it and when it got to be an inch
or more, I would harvest it.
Well, I’m probably not the only one
who was watching that little of tree
shoot. Besides, I have forgotten where
I found it, maybe others have too.
Someday I will brave the poison oak
guardians and go looking for it. I do
know that it wasn’t too far from the old
pow-wow grounds. Maybe this year I’ll
go there looking. At Foster Bar, there
are some nice driftwood embankments
that are interesting to look at.
While making all these plans and
such, we also became acquainted with
the writings on the rocks. Speedy had
told us about the writings and where
they were. Rick and I went there and
we couldn’t see anything. We went back
to where Speedy was and he said he
would show us.
We went back and there were some
rocks with holes in them - those were
the writings. We did have the good luck
to see them when the university had
them uncovered deep. Anyway, all this
is a result of the Run to the Rogue as it
is called today.
October 2003 □
Siletz News
□
7