VIEWPOINT
a selfi sh daycare director are threats to a
wide variety of living organisms — some
over 100 years old.
UO, turn off your sprinkler system and
stop terrorizing life on Moss Street. There
is no land for an indoor track in the east
campus area. Your creepy mega-donor will
have to fi nd a different location.
Zachary Vishanoff
Eugene
REMEMBER DARFUR
I am a child of immigrants. My father,
born in Nuremburg, never completed more
than eighth grade and served in the cavalry.
He became a labor relations arbitrator, thus
pursuing a career of securing equal pay for
equal work through unions. To this day,
teachers fi ght to secure their wages and
benefi ts, and when all is said and done,
women make just 77 cents to a man’s
dollar, which is not fair.
My mother was born near the family
farm in Bristol, S.D. She very simply said
two things to my sister and me, “You can’t
change the weather,” which I really don’t
believe, and that she was “crazy for daisies. ”
Simon and Garfunkel intoned “still crazy
after all these years,” and as one who has
lived with mild to severe depression over
20-plus years, I can state that 10,000 lux
“Happy Lights” from Costco may be your
saving grace. Research may well prove
craft lights are equally effective in leading
men and women back to fi ne point work.
But in seriousness, although the Dalai
Lama brought sun and warmth to the
region, we must not forget the people of
Darfur. After a hiatus, the Lane County
Darfur Coalition is mounting a new
campaign in the Willamette Valley to do
what we can to bring human rights, peace
and justice to the region of the Sudan. Our
movement follows the blog of Eric Reeves
and Nicholas Kristof.
On this Memorial Day, we mark the
lives of all those lost to the genocide.
I’ve asked my sister to put sunfl owers on
our parents’ grave in San Diego. We are
immigrants, and we come from good stock.
Martha Sjurson Amberger
Lane County Darfur Coalition
BY CHARLOT TE BEHM & VICKY MELLO
Talking Stones
DEDICATION OF NEWEST MONUMENT
A
chorus of bird songs fi lled the air on a recent stop at HAL-BA (“downstream”), one of the new
Kalapuya Talking Stones that will be dedicated at a public ceremony on June 8. The beauty of the
Whilamut Natural Area provided a peaceful place to refl ect upon the incredible progress Springfi eld
and Eugene have made in honoring the Kalalpuyas.
It’s been only 15 years since a member of the Citizen Planning Committee of East Alton Baker
Park (CPC) heard Kalapuya elder and storyteller Esther Stutzman say that there were no Kalapuya names spelled
correctly displayed anywhere in Oregon and that The Oregonian newspaper had reported that the Kalapuyas were
extinct. Stutzman said it was as if the Kalapuyas never existed even though they were the largest indigenous group in
western Oregon.
The CPC began conversations with Stutzman, and together they set on a course to bring Kalapuya presence back to
the park. The CPC hoped that the partnership would increase public support for the value of preserving the park land
in its natural state, balance the park’s history that was dominated by stories of European settlers and provide insights
into native plants.
Four years after the initial contact, the park name was changed from East Alton Baker Park to the Whilamut Natural
Area of Alton Baker Park (WNA). Whilamut is the Kalapuya word for “where the river ripples and runs fast” and is
likely how the Willamette River was named. The 2002 naming ceremony was attended by hundreds of people who
heard a Kalapuya song sung in public on the banks of the Willamette River for the fi rst time in 150 years.
The fi rst 11 Talking Stones — basalt stones inscribed with Kalapuya words — were installed in 2003 throughout the
WNA, four in Springfi eld’s Eastgate Woodlands and seven in Eugene. Both Willamalane Park and Recreation District
and Eugene Parks and Open Space sponsored the name change and the Talking Stones project.
When the construction of the I-5 Willamette Bridge was announced, the CPC immediately went into action to name
the bridge for the Kalapuyas. Springfi eld CPC members met with their state representative Terry Beyer, who was chair
of the House Transportation Committee, and spoke at a meeting at the UO Longhouse to ask local Indian leaders for
their support.
CPC members were part of the initial community group convened by ODOT in 2006 and today remain active. At
fi rst, their idea of honoring the Kalapuyas wasn’t taken seriously, but six years of persistence paid off. Backed with
information and wisdom from Stutzman and David Lewis, ODOT staff and other community members warmed up to
the idea of having the bridge and art honor the Kalapuyas.
As part of mitigative restoration from the I-5 bridge project, ODOT sponsored four more Talking Stones to
complement the existing 11 for a total of 15 Talking Stones. Both the numbers fi ve and three are special to the Kalapuya
people.
Stuzman will lead the dedication ceremonies at 1 pm Saturday, June 8. Attendees will hear Kalapuya songs, and,
hopefully, some of the park’s resident birds will again be singing.
The event will begin at GUDU-KUT (“frog”), located at the north end of the Knickerbocker Bridge. Parking is
available at the Aspen Street boat launch area in Springfi eld’s Eastgate Woodlands. The longest distance between one
new Talking Stone and another is just over 1 mile. For more information, see willametteriverbridge.blogspot.com.
Charlotte Behm made the initial contact with Esther Stutzman and as chair of the CPC, led the efforts to rename the park. Vicky Mello is the current CPC chair.
Behm and Mello promoted the idea within the ODOT project that both the bridge name and art honor the Kalapuyas.
Help plan Springfield’s
transportation future!
Alison Shiboski
Custom Work
343-4972
The City of Springfield has identified
potential pedestrian, bike, transit and
road projects for the next 20-years
and wants to hear from you.
Share your thoughts today!
Listening Station
Friday, June 14 from 3 to 7 p.m.
Sprout! Farmer’s Market
418 A Street (EMX or #18 bus)
Online questionnaire
open through June 21
www.SpringfieldTSP.org
Showing at:
Call David Reesor at 541-726-4585 (or
dreesor@springfield-or.gov) for hearing impaired
services or Spanish translation 2-days before
event. La ciudad de Springfield ha identificado
proyectos de transporte en el futuro para los
próximos 20 años y quiere saber lo que piensa.
Obtenga más información y nos dicen lo que
usted piensa en una estación de
escucha (de llamar a los servicios de
traducción el 12 de Junio, David
Reesor 541-726-4585) o en línea.
eugeneweekly.com • June 6, 2013
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