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Volume 43 • No. 1
OCT. 22, 2021
DECADES
Details surrounding deaths at Chemawa brought to light
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI
Of the Keizertimes
Over 270 Native children from across
the Pacifi c Northwest died in the custody
of Chemawa Boarding School from 1880
to 1945.
For decades, the details about their
deaths have been diffi cult to access — bur-
ied in federal archives and public records.
On Indigenous Peoples' Day, Oct. 11,
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SUBSCRIBER ADDRESS :
SuAnn Reddick and Eva Guggemos pub-
lished a public website that for the fi rst
time compiles the scattered details sur-
rounding these deaths.
“For us to even begin to acknowl-
edge what happened, and move towards
making amends, we have to fi rst know
what we are even apologizing for,” said
Guggemos, an assistant professor at
Pacifi c University.
Chemawa, which remains open today
in north Salem and just east of Keizer
Station, was one of the many off -reser-
vation boarding schools created in the
late 19th century to assimilate Native
children into society while erasing their
Indigenous cultures and languages.
Recently, the discovery of over 1,000
unmarked grave sites of Native children
at similar residential schools in Canada
led US Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland
to announce the Federal Indian Boarding
School Initiative. The initiative began an
investigation into the history and leg-
acies of more than 365 boarding school
sites in the U.S.
But research for the Deaths at
Chemawa Indian School website began
long before this initiative brought the
issue back to light.
In 1995, Reddick for the fi rst time saw
Chemawa Cemetery and its many rows of
identical grave markings. While some of
the markers were named and dated, none
of them listed tribal origins.
“How could we know who they really
were and how they died? How could their
families ever fi nd them?” Reddick wrote
on the website, which is hosted by Pacifi c
University.
In 2003, using data she and oth-
ers had gathered, Reddick created two
spreadsheets: one with all of the recorded
deaths at the school since 1880 and the
other with names from grave markers
at the Chemawa Cemetery. Side by side,
See DEATHS, page 2
ELECTRIC BUSES COMING TO SKPS
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
For the second straight year, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
(SKPS) was selected as one of the winners of the Electric
School Bus Fund, which was started by Portland General
Electric (PGE).
With the grant, PGE covers the diff erence in cost between
a traditional school bus and an electric bus. According to T.J.
Crockett, SKPS director of transportation services, a gas-fu-
eled traditional small bus that seats 20 people is approxi-
mately $76,000, while the electric version of the small bus
costs $252,000. A large, 78-person traditional bus costs
$150,000, while the electric type is
$360,000 — SKPS ordered a
small bus for the fi rst grant
last year and a large bus
for the second grant.
PGE also covers
the funding for an elec-
tric bus charger with all
associated installation costs, as well as bus driver and techni-
cian training.
“We haven't had a lot of opportunities in this district to do
any alternative fuel work. The grant gives us an opportunity
to enter into that space to see if the vehicle will work for us,
without costing us as a district the full price of an electric bus,”
Crockett said.
Transportation is the single biggest source of greenhouse
gas emissions in Oregon and a major source of other air pol-
lutants. Benefi ts of the electric school buses include cleaner air
and lower costs for fuel and maintenance, plus better safety and
comfort for students.
“Electrifying transportation is a
key driver of reducing green-
house gas emissions and an
important step toward
reaching our goal of
See BUSES,
page 3