Chemeketa hosts Spring Gathering
By Emily Hoard, Staff Writer, Yamhill
Valley News Register.com; originally
posted June 2, 2015
Performers from the Grand Ronde
and Siletz tribes sang and danced in tra-
ditional regalia, to the rhythm of Native
American drummers, in a Thursday
celebration at Chemeketa Community
College’s Yamhill Valley Campus.
The occasion was the third annual
Native American Spring Gathering,
meant to honor Native American heritage
and encourage cross-cultural learning
and dialogue.
Keely Baca, anthropology instructor
and Yamhill Tribal Club adviser, said the
goal is to educate students and members
of the larger community about the indig-
enous people of their area. She said it also
provides an opportunity to celebrate local
tribes and simply have some fun.
Kassie Rosenbalm, a first-year stu-
dent, said she enjoyed the event and plans
to attend next year. “Experiencing another
culture is an amazing idea and will benefit
people later in life, no matter what career
they go into,” she said.
After a lunch of fry bread tacos, with
a mixed berry dessert, about 140 attendees
gathered in the front courtyard to watch
the Grand Ronde Canoe Family singers
and Siletz Feather Dancers.
The leader of the Siletz Feather Danc-
ers played the drum and sang in the Siletz
Dee-ni language, while young performers
waved feathers and danced. He said the
songs and dances were intended to thank
the Creator.
The Grand Ronde Canoe Family sing-
ers danced and sang in their language,
Chinuk-wawa. Their leader explained the
significance of each song and invited the
audience to join in the last dance, in which
performers imitated the movements of a
Great Blue Heron getting stuck in mud
and wiggling free.
The free event included two vendor
booths featuring native artisan crafts,
including dream catchers, beaded rattles
and jewelry. Terry Filer of Passion Vine
on Third Street demonstrated how to make
medicine bags at her booth.
Activities for children included face
painting, Play-Doh sculpting and the fash-
ioning of friendship bracelets. Attendees
also had the opportunity to learn the jargon
of the Grand Ronde tribe on an iPad app.
Ryan West, associate dean at Cheme-
keta’s local campus, said he appreciated
the performers for sharing their history
and culture with students.
“Native students in college are really
underrepresented, so, of course, their
viewpoints don’t get shared very often,”
West said. “Events like this allow stu-
dents, who would otherwise not really be
exposed to any sort of Native tradition,
have that opportunity.”
Courtesy photo by Marcus Larson/News-Register
The Siletz Feather Dancers perform during a celebration Thursday at Chemeketa
Community College’s Yamhill Valley Campus. The Grand Ronde Canoe Family
singers also danced and sang during the event. The third annual Native American
Spring Gathering is to honor Native American heritage and to encourage cross-
cultural learning and interaction.
Lea Griess, an academic adviser and
retention specialist, said the spring gather-
ings have all had a Native American focus
so far, but she would like to have other
cultures represented as well.
“I think a lot of our students haven’t
had the chance to explore different cul-
tures, or how other cultures experience
living in such a predominately white
space,” Griess said. “That’s my goal as
an educator, to try to get more of these
events on campus or in the area so our
students and community members can
have access and opportunities to learn
more about different cultures. I think
that’s really important.”
The event was sponsored by the Yam-
hill County Cultural Coalition, Yamhill
Tribal Club, Oregon Cultural Trust and
Oregon Community Foundation, in col-
laboration with the college.
For more information about the Siletz Tribal language program, please visit siletzlanguage.org.
July 2015
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