■ SILETZ, OREGON
May 1990 - PAGE 9
NATIVE AMERICAN CRAFTS
AN ART, A TRADITION......
(AN INTERVIEW WITH GLADYS
MUSCHAMP AND DELLA SHORT)
BY: Teresa Miller
Recently
I had the honor of
interviewing Gladys Muscharhp, Siletz
Tribal Elder, and Della Short of the » Modoc
Tribe at Gladys' home. Together they were
able to pass on to me a wealth of information
that I would like to share.
Della Short often visits the Siletz
area stopping to visit with Gladys , and
together they share techniques of basketry,
beading and other traditional crafts which
both have mastered but continue to expand
and improvise their techniques.
Delia'graduated from Clark College
as a Geologist. She studies minerais and
says that it is interesting to realize that
minerals and plants are linked in a
way...where you find a particular mineral
you will usually find a certain plant that
will normally grow moist often where that
mineral is found. She teaches native crafts
to those who show an interest simply for
the joy of sharing he,r knowledge, Della
enjoys taking part in dance competitions and
says she usually places well in tradlticna!
dance. She has not started fancy dance yet
but sees:that in the future. .Della-makes all
of her own regalia including rattles from
deer hooves.
Gladys Muschamp,born to James and
Ida Bensell, has spent most of her life here
in the Siletz Valley where she and her
husband George raised their two sons and
have watched their" grandchildren grow.
Over the years Gladys has made
innumerable Indian baskets (so many that
an estimate was hard to arrive at).
However, in Gladys' home you will not find a
large display of her work, as she has given
most of her work to others: What was there
for me to see was beautiful, as you can
easily see in the photo. I only wish the
photo could have been in color to show more
detail.
Gladys said that she learned to make
baskets by watching her mother* Ida, and
OREGON AMERICAN INDIAN
WEEK
Submitted by Pat Morrell:
|
On A pril 10, Governor Neil
Goldschmidt signed two proclamations. One >
proclamation declared the week of May 13- |
19, 1§90 as American Indian Week in |
O regon.
The
o th e r
proclam ation?
affirmfed the government-to-governmenti
relationship between the State of Oregon and
the recognized tribes in Oregon,
In
attendance at the signing ceremony were
Commission" on"indian X e t Y I ^
fibers'»
her sisters as a young girl. However, she
did not begin to make them in earnest; until
around 1955... the first ones were made to
hold her sons marbles I Since then she lias
created baskets of all shapes and sizes
including papoose baskets. Presently she is
making raffia baskets small enough to hang
from a car rear view mirror. Each one
takes a full day to complete.
Gladys and Della explained to me the
process of gathering and preparing the
maidenhair, beargrass, hazel and spruce
roots to be used in basketry. It is becoming
increasingly difficult to find places to
gather the items needed.
All this makes one appreciate the
Pat Morrell, Siletz Tribe; Woody Patawa,
Chairman of the Umatilla Tribe and
Chairman of the Commission; Lavonne
Edmo, Willamette Valley representative;
and Bill Ray, Portland area Representative.
Other tribal leaders preserit were Jane
John; Siletz Tribal Council member, and
Mark M ercier, Grand Ronde Tribal
Chairman.
/
The Commission on Indian Services
members and staff have worked toward
getting an Indian policy statement from the
Governor’s Office and. have been urging
Governor
Goldschmidt
to
formally
recognize the government-to-government
relationship between the state drid'4Vte:
extensive amount of work required riot only
today but iri long years past to make a thing
of beauty that was also a very necessary
part of survival....for then there were no
paper bags, glass jars, plastic bags or
cardboard boxes.
It also makes us
appreciate those who have sought to
preserve this art form enabling not only
this generation but future generations to
understand and enjoy a substantial part of
their heritage and culture.
Thank you Della and Gladys for
giving of your time and yourselves. Also,
thank you to Francis Klamath for helping
get us all together.
tribes, similar to the Accord recently
signed by Governor Gardner in the State of
Washington. The Accord, signed jointly by
the governor and twenty-five of the twenty-
six, recognized tripes in Washington
basically affirm s that the State of
Washington, form ally recognizes the
sovereignty of-each of the tribes and will
address mutual concerns on a goyernment-
to-government basis, , "This is ; a major
breakthrough for the tribes» in, Oregon.
Hopefully, the government- to-government
relationship between the state and. the
tribes will continue to strengthen in the
next administration," said Pat Morrell.
A stellB erli rrltiw GEtbsmiHs .'sgniraym