OR . COLL .
E
University of Oregon
Received on: 05-18-95
Smoke signals
Tribal members offered
special price on maquettes
When the Spirit Mountain Ca
sino opens to the public this fall,
visitors will be greeted in the en
trance rotunda by a monumental
bronze statue of Martha Jane
Sands, a symbol of the Grand
Ronde Tribe's early history and
ancestor of many current tribal
members. Born into the Rogue
River Tribe, Martha Jane survived
a U.S. Army attack on her. village
by hiding in a beaver dam. After
emerging from her hiding place,
the eight-year-old Martha Jane
was captured by the soldiers and
forced to join the Trail of Tears
march to Grand Ronde.
Martha Jane survived these
tragedies to give birth to 14 chil
dren, seven of whom reached
adulthood. Martha Jane became
a famous basket weaver, support
ing herself and her family by sell
ing her exquisite baskets at mar
kets in Portland, Salem, and
McMinnville. Her baskets are
characterized by features associ
ated with Grand Ronde and by sty
listic elements unique to her.
The statue being created for the
Spirit Mountain Casino will be
twice life-size and shows Martha
Jane with a granddaughter weav
ing baskets on a river bank. The
sculpture is based on a graphite
drawing by her great-great-grandson,
Lon Mercier. Oregon sculp
tor Rip Caswell won the right to
produce the statue in a competi
tion. Mercier and Caswell have
succeeded in capturing Martha
Jane's strength, character, dignity,
and hard-earned wisdom.
Librar
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A special moonlight pour will
highlight the 23-step bronze cast
ing process. Resurrecting a tradi
tion of blessing statuary at the time
of the first pour, Caswell will un
dertake this crucial step at a post
sunset ceremony. When the mol
ten bronze cools, the mold will be
broken away to reveal Martha
Jane's face.
In addition to the casino statu
ary, Caswell is casting a limited
edition series of smaller sculptures
(called maquettes) identical to the
Martha Jane monument. The im
pact of the Spirit Mountain bronze
and the quality of Mercier's and
Caswell's works are expected to
make demand for the 150
maquettes very heavy.
Spirit Mountain has obtained
the permission of the sculptor to
offer the maquettes to Grand
Ronde members at deep savings.
After installation of the Spirit
Mountain statue, the maquettes
will cost $2,400; the pre-installa-tion
price to the public is $2,250.
Prior to installation of the large
statue, tribal members may pur
chase maquettes through the Spirit
Mountain Development Corpora
tion for $1,975. A reproduction
of Lon Mercier's drawing of
Martha Jane may be viewed at the
Development Corporation office.
Pre-installation purchasers of
the maquettes will also receive ( 1 )
a Lon Mercier print of the same
edition number, (2) a videotape of
the monument process from start
to finish and, (3) an invitation to
the moonlight pour ceremony.
Administration's Quarterly Report,
page 3
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May 7 General Council Meeting
Fourteen nominated for Council;
Eagle Feather holds open house
By Tracy Dugan
Tribal Council nominations
were held May 7 at the last Gen
eral Council meeting of the sea
son. Fourteen tribal members
were nominated. Lydia Mathena
nominated Joyce Kirk; Andy
Jenncss nominated Jancli I laller;
Evelyn Quinelle nominated
Randy Butler, Sr.; Jon George
nominated Kathy Tom; Dorothy
Lawe nominated Kathryn
Harrison; Mike Larsen nomi
nated Ed Larsen; June Olson
nominated Joyce DcHart; Bryan
Langley nominated Tom Jones;
Cheryle Kennedy nominated
Margaret Provost; Scott Lane
r
-m A Pri- lit
, lit
Eagle Feather Construction and workers, from left: Ken Schmid, Lenny Logan, Tim
Hutchinson, Thomas Ainsworth, Travis Stewart, Mike Barton, Tom Legachinsky, Tom Bean.
Sitting: Duke Olson, Linda Olson, Simone Copley. Not pictured: Chris Diick, Jim Wilson,
and Toby McClary.
Health and Education news,
pageS
nominated Earl Floyd "Butch"
LaBonte; Terry Warren nomi
nated Albert Jeffcrs; Emma Sells
nominated June Sherer; Donna
Casey nominated Pain Warren;
Darlene Aaron nominated
Reynold Leno.
Cliff Adams, Natural Resources
Division Manager, gave a pro
gram report on the status of the
tribal timber, and how much cut
ting will be done in this year, lie
also spoke about the fish and wild
life habitat and the types of ani
mals that are living in the reser
vation wilderness.
Also, Eagle Feather Construc
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"7
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tion, along with the Tribe, hosted
an open house for all tribal mem
bers who wanted to see the com
pleted modular building the Tribe
purchased. It will be used for of
fices and a training center. Those
who worked on the building arc
pictured below.
What started out as an inexpen
sive investment has rapidly turned
into one of the nicest buildings the
Tribe owns. Eagle Feather would
also like to thank members of the
cleaning crew who worked so
hard on the building. Tribal mem
bers are welcome to stop by and
walk through the new facility.
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