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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1998)
2 News and Opinion Smoke Signals Warm Springs spiritual leader passes away (AP) Pierson Mitchell, a Warm Springs spiri tual leader and tribal administrator who helped preserve his tribe's language and tradition, has died following complications from surgery. He was 65. Mitchell, a widely respected religious and cul tural leader, was well-known throughout the North west for his compassion, knowledge, and humor. He served as the spiritual leader of the Simnasho Longhouse on the Warm Springs Indian Reserva tion and played an essential role in maintaining the songs, ceremonies, and traditions of the traditional Wah-shut religion. CORVALLIS When you plant your vegetable garden this spring, the Oregon Master Gardeners would like you to plant an extra row of peas, car rots, or tomatoes for Oregon's hungry. Fresh pro duce is one of the most-needed and hardest-to-pro-vide items for the one in eight Oregonians who last year needed emergency food through the Oregon Food Bank. This year, the Master Gardener Association, whose members volunteer their expertise through the Oregon State University Extension Service, has teamed with the Oregon Food Bank to launch the first statewide "Grow an Extra Row" program. It works like this: Home gardeners will plant a little extra fresh produce in their gardens this year. At harvest time, they will contact their local county extension agent for the name of the nearest emer gency food distributor, food kitchen or other out let for feeding the hungry. "We'll serve as an information point, directing people where to take their produce," said Ann Marie VanDerZanden, the OSU leader for the Master Gardener Program. Started by garden writers and suggested in Or ganic Garden magazine, the idea of solving hun ger at the garden-roots level has sprouted nation ally as the "Plant a Row" program. In Oregon, Jackson and Josephine counties have had a similar program for a number of years, with great success. Now organizers would like to trans plant that success to other areas of Oregon. "That help is invaluable to making the program work," said Amy Stork, the spokeswomen for the Oregon Food Bank in Portland. The Food Bank is the hub of a network of agen cies in Oregon that distribute the food to those who need it. Last year the non-profit, community-based "He was willing to share and teach it," said Rudy Clements, a Warm Springs spokesman who wor ships at the Simnasho Longhouse. Clements said Mitchell was frequently asked to conduct services in peoples' homes, to hold cer emonies for tribal functions and explain Warm Springs culture and heritage to the general public as well as to American Indians. Pierson Mitchell was born March 2, 1933 on the Warm Springs reservation. He was a former Tribal Council member. He served in the U.S. Army and married his wife, Rose, on January 16, 1976. organization collected and distributed emergency foodstuff to 385,000 Oregonians and served 2.7 million meals. Although the Food Bank can accept large dona tions and truckloads of surplus produce from gro cery outlets, it has neither the staff nor the distri bution system to collect and distribute fresh pro duce from thousands of backyard gardens. So the challenge was connecting gardeners with their local emergency food outlets. This is where the Oregon Master Gardeners Association entered the picture. Its members are trained in the fine points of gardening by OSU's Extension Service county offices. Home gardeners should contact one of the 21 local Master Gardener chapters throughout Oregon. This year, the OSU Extension offices will help Master Gardeners who would like to provide pro duce for food boxes and soup kitchens with the number and location of the nearest emergency food outlet or soup kitchen. Donations will be much appreciated. Fresh produce is a rarity in the emer gency food system. Ideally, gardeners should know where they will be taking their produce before they begin their harvest, so they can take it directly from the gar den to the food distribution center with as little lag time as possible. And don't worry if you have too many zucchinis or tomatoes and figure the agency will be inun dated with such items. Even too much zucchini is a treat, Stork said. "Fresh is always better than canned." For more information please contact your local Oregon Master Gardeners Association or the Or egon Food Bank at 1-800-777-7427 or (503) 282-0555. Letters To the Editor, Special thanks to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Medical Clinic. Two months ago, without warning, my vision became blurred. I was unable to focus and unable to recognize people. Other symptoms included halos around lights and no distinction of things within shadow or darkness. Thanks to the optometrist from Che mawa I got a blood test to check my blood sugar. Dr. Molloy from the Medical Clinic diagnosed me with adult-onset-diabetes. There were no symp toms other than the blurred vision, which was not painful but certainly annoying. I have since been able to monitor my diet, lower the blood sugar to normal, and I now have new prescription glasses so I can see the world and people once again. I appreciate our Medical Clinic staff; the optometrist, who is at the Clinic each Tuesday; the Pharmacy for their quick response to my medical emergency; and to Bonnie Tom for the emergency transport to the ophthalmologist in McMinnville on March 26. Yes, I am fortunate to live in Grand Ronde, within the Contract Health Service area. I am delighted to work in Forestry for the Tribe. Thanks to the Creator for blessings and my ancestors that I am a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Thank you, everyone, for your kindness. Sincerely, Claudette Parazoo Grand Ronde Tillicum Elder 2923 Dear tribal members: I was one of the first tribal members to purchase a manufactured home in the Grand Meadows Park. Everyone at the Housing Authority worked very diligently at helping me through the process. Bryan Langley went far above his job description to get everything done. This was my first time buying a home, so at times I did not understand the proce dures. Linda Layden was very caring and seemed to have answers to all my questions. Terri Easttorp takes pride in her job and was very helpful as well. At times, Lonnie Leno would help me with my con cerns. I am grateful to everyone at the Housing Authority. They are an excellent team! Jan Michael Reibach Roll 3227 SMOKE SIGNALS 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, Or 97347 Internet e-mail addresses: tracynewsmacnet.com kimnewsmacnet.com Editor: TRACY DUGAN (503) 879-2254 Graphics: KIM MUELLER (503) 879-2264 1 -800-422-0232 FAX: (503) 879-2263 SMOKE SIGNALS, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, is publised twice a month. We have established an Edito rial Policy to encourage input from readers about stories printed in SMOKE SIGNALS, as well as other tribal is sues. However, all letters must be received at the news paper office with author's signature, address, and phone number in order to be considered for publication. SMOKE SIGNALS reserves the right to edit any letter for clarity and length, and to refuse publication of any letter or any part of a letter that may contain libelous statements or personal attacks. Not ail letters are guar anteed publication upon submission. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS, tribal employees, or Tribal Council. Enterprise "Savages" decide to keep nickname (AP) Savages will still run the halls at Enter prise High School in Enterprise, Oregon, but the smiling Indian will have to go. Students voted last month to keep their nickname, despite the school board's objection to the way it depicts Native Americans. Students will have an other election to determine whether the Indian logo will be changed to a fiery muscular man or an axe wielding monster. Savages won 75 percent of the vote, beating out 26 nickname entries that included the Silverback, the Savage Bighorn, Savage Storm, and the Wol verines. When the new logo is chosen, the school will replace the tomahawks in the center court of their gym. Uniforms will be changed as they wear out. "We just don't have the money to get rid of ev erything at once," said principal Ron Brown. The Enterprise School Board voted last year to change the nickname after Nez Perce tribal repre sentatives said that a cartoonish depiction of a grin ning Indian is offensive. Oregon Gardeners: Plant a row for the hungry
