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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2011)
Chetco, con’t from page 1 said Crookes. “Great care is being given to historical accuracy. Expert and authori tative sources are being sought, used and the copy is being vetted.” All board members are private citi zens who are committed to volunteering their time and energy to this project. The consensus of the group was that “there is a near absence of history in the Brookings- Harbor area about the Chetco Indian people, the earliest known inhabitants of the Chetco River Valley. Most people who live in the region today are completely unaware that the area had once been the Chetco Indian’s aboriginal lands and that they were removed to a reservation.” “Our team started this project because there is a minimal amount of history about the Chetco Indians in the Brookings- Harbor area. If you visit the local museum, you will find information about the pio neers settling in the area, but very little history about the Chetco people,” said Crookes. “In fact, if you ask most local residents today, you will discover that they are completely unaware that the Chetco Indians were the original inhabit ants of the Chetco River Valley and that they were removed to reservations.” The design stage of the memorial was funded by a grant from the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund. The memorial will sit on a landscaped site, which will include indigenous plant species representing nature. The water effect will be a scale representation of each of the microcosms, from the head waters of the Chetco River to where it enters the Pacific Ocean, from the springs and upwelling at its source to the rapids and spawning pool of the mid-river to the metaphoric return to the ocean. This open system will pump water from the boat basin that will be aerated as it enters the top of the cascading pools. This aeration will continue as the water cascades down into the salmon pool, through the rapids and again as it falls back into the boat basin. Three educational story lines will be told along the pathways to the memorial grounds. The placards will be color-coded to make the story easy to follow. The first continuum along the path will tell the story of the land and the river. The second will tell of the plants and animals indigenous to the Chetco River Valley and how the Chetco people used plants and animals in their daily life. The third and last will be the history of the Chetco people themselves and their journey through time. A big part of this story will be told through the metaphor of Lucy Dick’s life. She was bom into a relatively isolated culture, lived as one with nature, saw the first white settler, experienced relocation to the reservation and lived long enough to return to the land of her birth, where she was laid to rest in 1940. The project will be lit for esthetic and safety purposes. It will have fencing and guardrails to control access to sensitive areas and for safety. It will be designed for disabled accessibility and will have benches throughout. Sculptor A. Vincen “Rusty” Talbot, a fifth-generation descendant of Idaho pioneers, has strong emotional ties to the American West and its rich cultural heritage. She is a disciplined historical researcher who insists on authenticity and detail in her sculptures and paintings of American Indians. Over the years, her works have been added to many private collections around the world. An article in the Curry Coastal Pilot on June 25, 2011, entitled Digging up the past: Tsunami repair work uncovers Indian artifact, followed the March 2011 tsunami damage at the Port of Brookings- Harbor. While repair work was being done, Indian artifacts were unearthed during drilling. This slowed down the work and representatives from engineer ing companies, the port and historical organizations promptly visited the site. Dr. Dennis Griffin of the State His torical Preservation Office (SHPO) was quoted as saying, “It’s not very often you can see such an extensive village site intact. It is pretty important.” Help Tribal youth by becoming a volunteer for Prevention Program If you are interested in volunteering with the Prevention Program, here are some specific guidelines: • Apply to be a Tribal Prevention volunteer at Human Resources. This will include agreeing to a criminal background check and a drug screen. • Attend an orientation with Prevention staff to learn about ethics and program policies and procedures. A volunteer training program will be developed. • For those with previous problems of alcohol/drugs, at least one year of living a clean and sober lifestyle is required. • Participate in making a prevention video/DVD. • All people to be filmed must sign an agreement to be filmed. • The Tribal general manager and Tribal Council must approve of the final cut before it’s released for public viewing. Any question regarding this process, please contact Jenifer Metcalf, Prevention coordinator, at jeniferm@ctsi.nsn.us or 800-600-5599 or 541-444-9618. ' ............................... File photo Nicholle Kessinger of the Siletz Tribal Charitable Contribution Fund (left) presents a grant check to Lynda Timeus, Adrienne Crookes and Karen Crump of the Chetco Indian Historical Memorial Committee. Crookes said that Dr. Griffin suoports the Chetco Indian Memorial project. The article is available at www.currypilot.com. It’s been said that, “Those who for get the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them.” “This monument is intended to remind us of these lessons and point to a brighter future for us all. This beautiful memorial will serve to educate thousands of visitors and create a renewed sense of awareness for the history of the area. The Chetco Indian Historical Memorial will be a resource of which the Brookings- Harbor community and the State of Oregon will be proud,” said Timeus. The group currently is working on two grant applications and fundraising activities, and is preparing to install a pre-monument informational sign on site. If you would like to donate, please visit chetcoindianmemorial.com or con tact Timeus at 541-661-4178 or Crookes at 541-510-0355 for more information. Calvin L. Van Pelt -1924-2011 Calvin L. Van Pelt, 87, of Portland, Ore., died Sept. 25, 2011, at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. A private family graveside service was held at Forest View Cemetery in Forest Grove, Ore. Bom Sept. 4,1924, in Alsea, Ore., the son of Roy and Gertrude (Sapp) Van Pelt, he was raised in Waldport, Ore. A veteran of World War II, Calvin joined the U.S. Army in June 1943 at Fort Lewis, Wash., and served for 214 years. He landed on Utah Beach and was part of the Northern France, Ardennes and Rhineland cam paigns. Calvin received his discharge in December 1945 at Camp Plauche, La., at the rank of technician 5th grade. After the war, Calvin returned to Oregon, where he graduated from Pacific University in Forest Grove in 1949. That same year, Calvin married Phyllis Asbury. Calvin subsequently attended Thunder bird Graduate School of International Management and upon graduation, he and Phyllis returned to Portland, where they raised their four children. Calvin began his career as an export trainee with Jantzen, Inc., in Portland and eventually became the manager of its international division. Later, he held executive positions at Columbia Exporters, White Stag, Sea-Pac International and Martin Sales International. He also worked more than 20 years to establish the World Trade Center in Port land and served several years as honorary consul to the Republic of South Africa. He served on the Pacific University Alumni Board of Directors, as an Elder for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indi ans and several other community-based boards, foundations and committees. In Calvin L. Van Pelt June 2007, Pacific University bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award to Calvin and five other graduates. In 1983, he was united in marriage to Loris Close in Portland. They enjoyed 28 years of travel, music and sports. Calvin was preceded in death by his parents, Roy and Gertrude Van Pelt. Sur vivors include his wife, Loris Van Pelt of the family home in Portland; his children, Nita Van Pelt and Ken Van Pelt of Port land, Paul Van Pelt of Bermuda, Lawrence Van Pelt of Newport Beach, Calif., and Craig Close of Chicago; sister Kathleen Forster of Siletz, Ore.; and grandchildren Blair Ana, Kellen and Hugh. The family suggests remembrances be contributions to the Scholarship Fund, c/o Pacific University, 2043 College Way, Forest Grove OR 97116, in his memory. Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home in Forest Grove handled the arrangements. December 2011 • Siletz News • 5
