COMMENTS from the COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
On Thursday, February k 1982, Elizabeth Furs ej of Oregon Legal Services, Portland,
Oregon, and I met with Father Treadwell 'of thei Episcopal Church In his office in
KcHinnville, Oregon. The purpose of this meeting was to inform him of our Tribe and,
to gain his support for our efforts towards ..Restoration. Father Tr.eadwell has spent ;
a number of years working in Alaska among the Athabascans and is well-informed on' their
Culture. ,'. -:,
The final outcome of this meeting was that Father Treadwell visited our Tribal Office
on Friday afternoon, February 19, 1982, : He, not only viewed our slide presentation,
"Our Heart's Beat As One", at that timej but, looked at our Greenhouse and, was later, . :
able to see how we, in the Enrollment Dept.i strive to trace the ancestry of one person's
Family Tree. I felt that he left us with a 'greater understanding of our ef forts ' and he
seemed to be in support of what we are trying to do.
iir. Wilfred Bowkar and Mr. John Widdel df the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Portland Area
' ffice, rdrtland, Oregon, met with Atty. Don Wharton of Oregon Legal Services; Marvin
i.irtisey Jackie Colton and I on February , 1982 at 10:00 A.M. After some discussion, it
wes -agreed that they could assist us in locating data and records in the Archives in;
Seattle, V.'a. pertaining to us. This would save us a trip and will enable us to spend
rr,re time in researching the data once it arrives at the Portland Area Office.
I'Traditicnal Tribal Governments11 was the th&me of the Workshop I attended at the Univ
w'., ty oi Li-d;on in Eugene, Oregon on February' f & 6, 1982' sponsored by the Native Ameri
can Student Union and other Indian Programs .from the Eugene-Springfield area. Arriving
in the afternoon, after meeting with the Bil.A. that A.M., enabling me to hear the re
p.aining, Agenda. Speakers, were not only educational, but, colorful in their attire; each
one told of their Tribe's traditions and concerns in dealing with their Tribal Government
iore of the .tribal- leaders speaking for. thei r People . were : Mrs . Lydia George of S.E.. Alaska;
Albert Smith, one of the famous N avajo Code-talkers during WWII, Crownpoint, Aria.; Russell
Jir., of the Yakima Nation; Amos Simtustus,. of , the Warm Springs tribe,; and John Mohawk, of
V t- Seneca's. The final, day was conducted by Atty. Charles Wilkenson, Moderator, with time
; iven to such a line-up of Attorneys (inc. Wilkenson), it was awesomel Wilkenson waa iri
s Lrun;e.tal in helping the Menominee's and the Siletz Tribes regaining their Federal recog
nition.' Cthers attending were: Vine Deloria, Sam Deloria, his brother; Robert Barsch, and,
. ct. one as outstanding as the last in speaking about, their particular subjects .it was the
..vd time a group of thia caliber and magnitude had ever been brought together for a Sympo
sium on Indian Lawl An Honor Banquet for ALL speakers was given at 7 o'clock that evening
.?ith a menu of steak, potatoes & gravy, a vegetable, rolls & butter, apple pie and coffee,
sne evening ended with a pow-wow lasting until 11:30 P.M.
'v..ir Hearts t-.eat As One", the slide 'presentation, was given at Willamette University at
il o'clock on the u.orning of February 10, 1982 in Salem, Oregon at the invitation of the
ntercultural Student Counselor, Ms, Carole Colley. This, as a part of "Expressions VIII",
u eir annual ethnic cultural event sponsored by the Minority Student Union. After the pre
sentation, a panel, consisting of Council members, Margaret & Jackie Provost, Merle Holmes,
Tribal Chairrcan, and I, presented our views on Restoration and were available for a Ques, &
a s. segment; Merle did an outstanding job in answering all questions, Cheryl Carl attended
to assist with the projector, and because she was in Salem to do some enrollment. The group
Mini invited to lunch as guests of the Minority Student Union and, then for a Reception at
3:00 P.M. for all speakers, I felt that, all in all, we were well-received and that the Law
; uidents had asked important questions; but, best of all they agreed to support our efforts.
' w
.i.it evening on February 10, 1982, I travelled from Salem, Oregon to Western Oregon
otate College in Monmouth, Oregon to do the slide presentation at 7:00 P.M. with
assistance fron Jackie Colton. Tina Jones of the. Native American Student Association,
was responsible for wanting the slide presentation there and for setting up and making
all arrangements, including refreshments. The reaction to the presentation was positive
letters of support were vowed to, be sent in our behalf.