A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
Exhibit: Battle against erasure is ongoing for North Coast tribes
Continued from Page A1
And certainly the story of
the Indian b oarding s chools
is complicated. Burns was
warned by the curator of the
Heard Museum that they
found people brought very
diff erent memories and per-
sonal experiences to the
exhibit.
The boarding schools of
the late 1800s and early 1900s
were created to separate chil-
dren from their families and
then they worked to sepa-
rate the children from their
n ative identities, cutting their
hair, taking away traditional
garb, often forbidding them
to speak their own languages.
Conditions at the early board-
ing schools — there were 25
federally-operated schools by
1902 — were often unhealthy
and abusive.
A report in 1928 criticized
the schools, fi nding that they
relied on student labor to
operate, were overcrowded
and did not provide suffi cient
food or medical services,
among other issues.
Reforms began in the
1920s and continued through
the 1930s. Native activ-
ism and involvement in edu-
cation in the 1960s and
1970s brought about further
changes. Many of the federal
schools closed in the 1980s.
The four off -reservation
schools that remain today are
tribally controlled and refl ect
n ative values.
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Ralph Burgoyne and Mary Burgoyne Simpson are decedents
of George Menz, who attended Genoa and Chilocco Indian
schools and was a skilled leathermaker.
For every story of abuse
and want, there are many
former students who can
point to vocational skills and
opportunities gained or cul-
tural awareness, knowledge
and community found in the
schools. Some students met
future spouses and credit
the schools with providing
opportunities and direction
that were not available else-
where at the time.
Still, says Tipiziwin Tol-
man, a member of the Stand-
ing Rock Sioux and one of
Thurman’s relatives, the
schools were born out of a
terrible truth: the purposeful
silencing of identities and a
way of life and the separation
of families.
She sees how this past
destruction continues today.
In her maternal line, there are
100 years of Catholic board-
ing school. Her own family
has had to fi nd ways to heal
and rebuild connections to
each other and their culture.
There is a reason her fi rst
language is English and not
Lakota, the language of her
people, a language she has
worked to learn and to pass
on to others as an adult.
“When we talk about it in
a historical context,” she said,
“it makes it sound like it’s
generations ago, or ancient
history, and it’s not.”
Burns eagerly booked the
exhibit two years ago when
he saw it would be available.
He knew it would be a “pow-
erful, relevant story.”
But events of the past
year have only highlighted
social and racial inequi-
ties and unresolved wrongs
across American history, and
the exhibit has proved to be
even more relevant than he
thought it would be.
“I would hope that it
makes people consider, or
reconsider, some of our
nation’s history and the inter-
actions we have had within
our society,” he said.
It is easy, he added, to
think of history as static
information, done with —
to think that it doesn’t aff ect
things today.
“But it does,” he said.
“The impact of these schools
still aff ects Native Ameri-
can communities generations
later. Events and attitudes that
one group has for another
makes ‘ripples through time’
that we are still dealing with.”
‘It is essential that this
past be acknowledged’
There were eight on-res-
ervation boarding schools in
Oregon and two off -reserva-
tion boarding schools, one in
Forest Grove and a second,
Chemawa Indian School, in
Salem, that is still in oper-
ation. There were none in
Clatsop County and the
North Coast is not addressed
explicitly in the “Away From
Home” exhibit.
But as much as the
museum is hearing from
people whose families were
directly aff ected by the
schools, “we are also hearing
from people who were com-
pletely unaware of this his-
tory,” said Chelsea Vaughn,
curator for the h istorical
s ociety.
“It is essential that this past
be acknowledged and under-
stood not just as a national
story, but also as a local one,”
she said.
Certainly,
the
battle
against erasure is ongoing for
North Coast tribal people.
The
Clatsop-Nehalem
Confederated Tribes regained
historical tribal lands — the
fi rst they have had since they
began to be displaced 200
years ago — only last year
through a transfer from the
North Coast Land Conser-
vancy. It is an important foot-
hold for the tribe, but still
only a foothold.
The Chinook Nation has
fought unsuccessfully for
decades for federal recog-
nition. While they are rec-
ognized as a tribe by Wash-
ington state, this does not
bring any rights to land or
resources.
Now, though, there is a
sign along U.S. Highway 101
ahead of Fort Columbia His-
torical State Park where tribal
members hold a ceremony
to welcome the fi rst salmon
Consult a
PROFESSIONAL
Port: ‘We are taking up a lot of water’
Continued from Page A1
edge of the dock. Moving the
seawall and fi lling in behind
would prevent the bowing
and eliminate maintenance
costs on the dock, he said.
“It will last for an esti-
mated 75 to 100 years,”
McGrath said. “So we won’t
have to worry about any of
the issues we’re worrying
about with maintenance right
now.”
The $17 million price tag
comes with the cost of permit-
ting and mitigating the envi-
ronmental impact of walling
in around 1 acre of shoreline.
“We are taking up a lot
of water,” McGrath said.
“We’re going to be required
to do a lot of mitigation, and
the National Marine Fisher-
ies (Service) may push back
because we’re taking up too
much water habitat.”
The Port and KPFF Con-
sulting Engineers , the fi rm
contracted to fi nd a fi x for
Pier 2, will try to prove to the
fi sheries service and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
that the project is the “least
environmentally damaging
and practicable alternative,”
McGrath said. If it isn’t feasi-
ble to push the seawall out the
full 60 feet, he said, the Port
will see if it can be pushed
out 30 feet with a repair of the
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
The Port of Astoria hopes to have a $17 million rehab of the
west side of Pier 2 included in the American Jobs Plan, an
infrastructure bill proposed by President Joe Biden.
existing dock.
The Port hopes to get
Pier 2 earmarked in Biden’s
infrastructure bill. Congress
banned earmarks a decade
ago but revived the concept
for states to ask for portions
of spending bills. Commis-
sioner Frank Spence has been
communicating with U.S.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon
Democrat, to include Port
projects in his ask.
“With the cost of a pier,
and the valued operation of
Bornstein and Da Yang, I
think it’s justifi ed and salable”
to ask for $17 million, Spence
said.
Shane Jensen, a contracted
grant writer for the Port, is
also applying for several
grants through the U.S. Mar-
itime Administration to fund
the Pier 2 work. But the Port
needs to fi nalize its preferred
fi x, he said.
Jensen and Will Isom,
the Port’s executive direc-
tor , have also been lobbying
state senators and representa-
tives for a piece of the Amer-
ican Rescue Plan. The stimu-
lus package contained money
for states, counties and cities,
but not for special districts,
such as ports.
“The hope is that once we
have some more concrete
information, we can really
start pursuing these things,”
Isom said. “But we’re already
doing the legwork to get us
there.”
Jensen said the Port has
also been pursuing state lot-
tery bonds for Pier 2 and a
$1.8 million project to repair
the East Mooring Basin
c auseway. The causeway runs
north from 36th Street over
the marina to a Army Corps
seawall. But the structure
has been closed to both vehi-
cles and pedestrians for years
because of rotting wood sup-
ports underneath.
The Port had planned to
repair 200 feet of the cause-
way in 2020, but did not start
the work because of layoff s
during the coronavirus pan-
demic, McGrath said. The
new project would remove
the concrete deck that has
caused rotting underneath
and return the pier to its origi-
nal wood deck, he said.
The pursuit of the grants
comes on the heels of the
Port’s capital facilities plan
being tentatively approved by
Business Oregon, Isom said.
The state’s economic devel-
opment agency paid for the
creation of a capital facil-
ities plan to prioritize Port
projects and work in tan-
dem with a strategic business
plan already approved. The
approved plans bring the Port
closer to receiving more state
support to fi x its numerous
infrastructure issues.
“It marks a huge milestone
for the Port, and it’s a long
time coming,” Isom said.
each year.
The sign, simple and
direct, reads: “Welcome to
unceded Chinook territory.”
“Away From Home”
is a temporary exhibit. It
closes on May 25. But when
it closes, a statement the
museum drafted in prepara-
tion for the exhibit will move
downstairs to a permanent
exhibit about North Coast
tribes.
The statement recognizes
the Chinook and Clatsop
people and the fact that indig-
enous peoples’ “connection
to this land has been chal-
lenged by violence, disease,
treaties, encroaching settlers,
relocations and other actions;
however, throughout this tur-
bulent history, this land has
continued to hold great his-
torical, spiritual and personal
signifi cance for the original
land stewards of this region.”
“We recognize and seek to
advocate for the recognition
of these, and other, n ative
nations,” the statement con-
tinues, “and we honor indig-
enous people, past, present
and emerging, and pledge to
be more accountable to their
needs.”
Why Get a Custom
Built Computer?
LEO FINZI
Astoria’s Best
$1250
Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat/Sun Closed
77 11th Street, Suite H
Astoria, OR • 503-325-2300
AstoriasBest.com
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600, benchmark
17,858 provides high speed computing for
years to come.
Memory: 16GB DDR4-3600, double the
standard for pre-builds, provides high
Frames Per Second in games
Graphics Card: Geforce GTX 1660
Overclocked 6GB Benchmark rating: 11,529,
typically a 50% improvement over pre-built
gaming rigs
Hard Drive: 1TB NVME M.2 Read/Write
speeds: 3400MBps/3000MBps provides
exceptional startup times & reliability.
Windows 10 Pro for better security &
networking
Q: Why is
chiropractic
important?
ASTORIA A: Life has its pitfalls. Accidents,
CHIROPRACTIC
injuries, and wear and tear
Alicia M. Smith, DC due to aging take their toll. Yet
Owner
chiropractic can help patients
rehabilitate from injuries and long
503-325-3311 standing problems, making you
1490 Commercial feel better in the moment, and
Street, Suite 202 preventing problems later on.
Q: What causes
bad breath?
Vaughn: ‘He was so, so generous ... and I don’t think people knew that’
Continued from Page A1
many of the standards he set
we adhere to, to this day,”
said Seaside boys golf coach
Jim Poetsch. “Even though
he was no longer coaching,
he never left the program. He
helped run the Seaside Invi-
tational and district tourna-
ments, and donated shirts,
rain gear, balls and lots of
money through the years to
the Seaside golf program.”
Seaside assistant princi-
pal Jason Boyd said, “he was
my seventh grade social stud-
ies teacher and golf coach.
Denny genuinely cared about
kids. He was very devoted
in making sure the youth of
our community had the best
opportunity to grow.”
Tributes
poured
in
throughout the county fol-
lowing Vaughn’s passing.
Jeff Ter Har, a local busi-
ness owner and photographer
who graduated from Sea-
side and is a big supporter of
Gulls athletics, said, “What a
great person. I was in his fi rst
class when he started teach-
ing here, and my daughter
was in his last, with a lot of
Ter Hars in between. Truly a
great teacher, golf coach, and
most importantly of course, a
devoted Duck.”
“I’m deeply saddened
to hear of the passing of
Denny,” said Dan Foss, a for-
mer Astoria boys golf coach.
“He was the patriarch of
Cowapa League boys golf
from the ‘80s through to the
mid-2000s. I will miss his
professionalism and genu-
ine friendliness. He cared
tremendously about kids. It
was an honor to know such a
wonderful man.”
Scorer’s table
teammates
She may not have known
Vaughn the longest, but Alice
Olstedt was one of those who
knew him best. You can’t sit
next to someone at the scor-
er’s table for countless games
and not get to know them.
Vaughn operated the clock
while Olstedt kept the score-
book for Seaside basketball,
and she spent countless hours
sitting to the right of Vaughn
at Gulls’ home games.
“Like so many of us,
everyone
knows
little
bits and pieces about Mr.
Vaughn,” Olstedt said. “We
spent a lot of time talking, but
Mr. Vaughn didn’t talk about
himself. He wasn’t that kind
of guy.”
Vaughn graduated from
Central Catholic High School
in Portland and later the Uni-
versity of Oregon.
“He was a huge (Ducks)
fan,” said Olstedt. “He had
season tickets for football,
but was a huge fan of Oregon
women’s basketball.”
She added, “He was so,
so generous … and I don’t
think people knew that. He
was a Seaside booster donor,
and had his name on the sign
in the gym and on the sports
schedule. But he was the fi rst
person to pull out money
when kids were selling raffl e
tickets at basketball games.
“He always gave money
to whomever was running
the halftime hoop shoot so
that kids who might not have
money to shoot could shoot.”
And Vaughn went a lot
further than that, Truax said.
“When Kyle (Truax’s son)
started playing golf, the next
thing we know, there’s a set
of Titleist golf clubs on our
porch,” he said. “Denny had
47 sets of clubs, so he gave
Kyle one. He even gave Kyle
an Oregon bag, and Kyle
used it, because Mr. Vaughn
gave it to him.” The Truax
family are big Oregon State
fans.
“Another kid needed
glasses, and Denny was there
for him,” Truax continued.
“That’s the stuff that nobody
knew about, and he didn’t
want people to know.”
A:
JEFFREY M. LEINASSAR
DMD, FAGD
Scorer’s table etiquette
“He was very particular
about how things should go
at the table,” Olstedt said.
“People thought he some-
times made mistakes with
the clock, but I can tell you,
it was the clock, not Mr.
Vaughn.
“We were kind of supersti-
tious at the table. Things had
to be set out a certain way. He
knew where he wanted the
clock. The home and visitors
books always had to sit next
to each other so you could
communicate.”
Olstedt added, “I was
hoping so much that Mr.
Vaughan would be there for
the fi rst home game at the
table in the new gym. It will
be pretty hard to not have him
on my left.
“Every year, towards the
end of the season, he would
say, ‘Well, I think I’m going
to retire from doing this.’ And
I would smile and tell him I
needed him there. And every
year, he would show up.”
L E I NA S S A R
DENTAL EXCELLENCE
503/325-0310
1414 MARINE DRIVE,
ASTORIA
www.smileastoria.com
Basically, all food eaten
begins to be broken down
in your mouth. Bacteria, which
accumulate with food, form a sticky
film called plaque which leads to
gum disease. This process creates
what is known as volatile sulfur
compounds resulting in bad breath.
Poor brushing habits, a coated
tongue, strong-odor foods, smoking
and heavy alcohol drinking all
contribute to bad breath. If this
is you, do something about it by
calling your dentist to schedule an
evaluation.
is the Consult
Q: What
a Professional section
and how can it help my
business?
Consult a Professional
A: The
section in The Astorian is a great
Heather Jenson and affordable way to advertise your
Advertising
Representative
971-704-1716
www.dailyastorian.com
949 Exchange St.
Astoria, OR
503-325-3211
business and inform readers about the
types of services you provide.
All you need to do is come up with a
question that a customer might ask
about your line of expertise and then
give a detailed answer to help educate
them before they even walk through
your door. We are offering great rates
and package deals that help save
you money!