26, 2015
Commentary
Page 13
> from page 12
the country to establish local consultation
policies, establishing a direct, government-
to-government relationship with local
tribes/
In October, Grand Ronde Chairman
Reyn Leno explained to Portland City
Council that their relation with Portland is.
“not just with the city, but to the ground.
“You can pour a lot of concrete, pour a
lot of blacktop and lay down a lot of gravel,
but it does not change for us that when we
come here we aré walking in the footsteps
of our ancestors. That is really important
to us, so to have you acknowledge that by
naming this day is very great.” *
The indigenous peoples who originally
lived in Portland include the Multnomah,
Clackamas, Cathlamet and several Chinook
bands. These tribes were forcibly removed
to the Grand Ronde Reservation in 1854,
and now make up the Confederated Tribes
of thé Grand Ronde. In the winter of 1856,
native peoples were gathered near presento
day Medford and forced to march
continuously over 263 miles to the new
Grand Ronde reservation under the force
of U.S. military officers - an event known
as the Grand Ronde Trail of Tears.
In 1953, more than 60 Oregon tribes
were terminated in Oregon, sending
thousands of people to places such as
Portland with little more than a one-way
bus ticket. The goal of this “termination”
policy was to force the assimilation of tribal
members and eliminate their tribal identity
- a goal described by Roxanne Dunbar-
Ortiz as a form of genocide. More tribes
were terminated in Oregon than any other
state in the union. After termination, the
Grand Ronde tribe only re-gained its tribal
status from the federal government in
1983.
The title for this article was inspired by
Professor Judy Bluehorse Skelton, a senior
instructor at Portland State University in
the Indigenous Nations Studies
Department. Bluehorse Skelton advocates
for the creation o f an inter-tribal food
gathering park in the Cully neighborhood,
and has used the phrase “recovery from
discovery” to describe the re-connèction of
native peoples with the native plants o f the
region.
A letter of thanks for the Street Roots family
BY KATE COX
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
K ate Cox is the form er
development director
fo r Street Roots,
'
TT’ve learned a lot about generosity over
I the past year. And, I guess you could
-Lsay, I’ve learned it the hard way.
At 45, at the end of a five-year investment
in graduate school, I was diagnosed with
aggressive breast cancer. Instead of heading
into my new career as a speech therapist, I
jumped into a year of disabling cancer
treatment. And, instead of paying down
student loans, my family braceditself for a
whole new financial burden - expensive
insurance premiums and thousands of
dollars of out-of-pocket medical expenses -
all while I was sick, scared and unemployed.
That’s when I started to learn about
generosity.
My friends put the word out. They
organized fundraisers. They started a meal
train and took turns taking care of me when
I couldn’t take care of myself. In every
respect, I relied on my community to
survive, which was both incredibly
uncomfortable and deeply touching.
Before graduate school, I had worked in
the nonprofit sector, including four years
with Street Roots. 1 understood firsthand
the importance of giving. The health of the
organization, the vendofs and the
community as a whole relied on the
generosity of others. I could happily pitch a
new program or an expansion of services.
But receiving for oneself isn’t so easy. And
while I felt genuinely gratefol for every
check that arrived in our mailbox, I also felt
the vulnerability of saying, “Yes, I will
accept your help.”
So/when Israel showed up at my door
with two plain white envelopes, I knew I
was going to cry. And I knew I couldn’t open
them in front of him. We talked. We hugged.
And after he left, I sat alone in the living
room of our Southeast Portland home. I
opened the first envelope. It was filled with
cards from the Street Roots staff and board,
including some far-too-generous checks from
people earning very modest salaries. I felt
the increasingly familiar sense of gratitude
and unease. I was so humbled by these
gifts.
Then I opened the second envelope.
I pulled out a giant handful of one-dollar
bills and a huge card covered with heartfelt
wishes from Street Roots’ vendors. I was
stunned. Some were from old, familiar faces
- vendors who had been selling the paper
for a long time and remembered me from
my days in the Street Roots office. Some
were from people I’d never met. People who
wrote, “Stay strong!” and “You’re in my
prayers.”
That was when I really learned about
generosity.
Here I was, sitting in a bungalow in
Southeast Portland, holding a handful of
one-dollar bills, from people who know what
it means to struggle. People who are willing
to share what they have with a total
stranger, just because that stranger is sick
and is part of the Street Roots family.
Yeah, that’s when I started crying.
We are living in a tenuous time.
Unprecedented rent increases have thrust
too many Portland residents into housing
instability. Wages don’t cover the cost of
student debt. And many of us are one health
crisis away from homelessness.
Yet, we are also part of something much
bigger. We are a community that truly cares
about the welfare of our Portland family. We
know how to pull together, to stand up for
each other, and to share what we have with
those who need it.
I have always loved street newspapers
and the important role they play in creating
real opportunities for people facing poverty
and homelessness. But I now I get it in a
very personal way. It takes a lot of strength
to rely on our communities for survival.
Sometimes the most we can hope for is to
do it with a little bit of dignity. And if we’re
lucky, we get to give back. And we get to be
a part of something bigger than ourselves.
That’s what it means to be part of Street
Roots. “So, thank you, Street Roots. Thank
you for being generous with me when I
needed a hand. But really, thanks for being
there for all of us.”
-
Are you a
«11111
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