September 1, 1998
News
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Elders' quilt, cultural items on display at Pow-wow
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Cultural Resources staff, members of the Cul
ture Board, and members of Seekers worked
together to provide a variety of culture materials
for the public during the Tribe's Pow-wow celebra
tion. Tony Johnson provided visitors to the booth
a Chinook Jargon interactive, and some illustra
tion of old tribal photographs were on display for
people to try to identify. Old inkwells excavated
from the Cloverleaf School site and a glass plate
made from the east windows of the school helped
tell its story. Also available for public comment
was the initial draft for the proposed Cultural Cen
terMuseum. But the unveiling of the two Elders' quilts was
the biggest hit at the cultural booth. Made by El
ders, the historical quilts express our common
tribal history and family descendency. These quilts
will be the property of the Tribe and will hang on
display for all tribal members to enjoy. It is not
too late for tribal Elders to participate in this project.
If you would like to have photographs of your an
cestors on the quilt, contact June Olson.
A number of items were donated to Seekers, and
raffled during the Pow-wow. A handmade buck
skin dress made by Josephine Dreyer; various home
made jams and syrups made from traditional na
tive berries by Janet Lyon; belt buckles donated
by Christine Contreras; a contemporary Native
mask by Wesley West; and a camas digging stick
from Dave Suderman.
Raffle winners were: Barbara Feehan, Don Day,
Dave Suderman, Carla Hill, Lea Chulik, Mary Loy,
Marie Schmidt, Edith Frank, Cookie Jensen, Julie
Goad, Crystal Miller, Emma Sell, Karen Hardy,
Michael Martin, June Sherer, Carla Dieter, Matt
White, Kathleen Feehan, Melissa T. Johnson, June
Olson, and Ken Gregg. Winners who have not
picked up their prizes may call Cultural Resources
at 1-800-422-0232 or (503) 879-2249.
A special thanks to: Jeff Nepstad, Bear
Robertson, and Randy Butler, Jr. from Natural
Resources for cutting poles and building the ar
borstructure; Frank and Joe Hostler for getting
Evergreen boughs and transporting tables and
chairs to the booth; Thomas, Tana, and Tamara
Ainsworth and others for set-up, clean-up, and or
ganizing displays.
Seekers is a community-based group interested
in identifying and collecting tribal information
and genealogy. Their primary objective is to help
the cultural revitalization process by sharing infor
mation they obtain.
Cultural Protection staff works on regaining pos
session of our people's remains and items that
are in university and museum collections all over
the world. They also work to assure that burial and
village sites are protected from disturbance and are
appropriately managed according to federal laws.
Kwelth Tahlkie Culture and Heritage Board was
created to help preserve and perpetuate the
culture and heritage of peoples who came here or
were brought to the Grand Ronde Reservation. The
Board helps to educate the general public, or those
individuals who want to know more about the his
tory and contributions of the tribes that make up
the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Com
munity of Oregon.
Kalapuya baskets tell tribal story
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By Oscar Johnson
A Grand Ronde official and Yakama basket
weaver last month joined in honoring Northwest
Native tradition and heritage while punctuating the
region's indigenous struggle for survival as part
of a opening ceremony for the Hillsboro Central
Transit Center.
"My main message is to let you know that we
are not gone. We are still here and will be here
throughout time immemorial," proclaimed Grand
Ronde Council Chairwoman, Kathryn Harrison,
in her opening remarks to the mostly non-Indian
crowd gathered at Hillsboro's new southeast 3rd
street depot. "I can almost hear the drums and
voices of my people nearby."
Harrison and Yakama traditional basket weaver,
Sophie George, were among many speakers and
artists on hand for the unveiling of the new light
rail depot bedecked with bronze figures, archival
photos and historic quotes representing the ethnic
diversity of Washington County's pioneer heritage.
Additional representations included members
from area Hispanic, European and Japanese Ameri
can communities such as George Iwasaki, whose
family, despite their prominent achievements as
members of the Hillsboro community, were dis
rupted during World War II when many Japanese
Americans were imprisoned by the U.S. govern
ment in internment camps.
Grand Ronde Kwelth Tahlkie Culture Board
members Marie Schmidt and Tony Johnson, as well
as respected members of the Yakima Tribe were
also on hand for the event. Johnson, also the
Tribe's curator and language specialist, addressed
the audience both in English and Chinook Jargon.
George, who earlier this year taught traditional
Northwest Indian basket weaving to Grand Ronde
tribal members, reproduced two traditional Kal
apuya baskets that were used in casting the bronze
replicas now on permanent display at the transit
center.
Emotionally moved by what she considered long
overdue acknowledgment of Northwest Native
peoples, George told the crowd that "constructing
the basket was like going back in time and reading
the minds of the people to see how it was done."
She said it took her three attempts to reproduce
the burden and seed-fan baskets once used by the
Kalapuya peoples to harvest seeds such as camas.
She painstakingly reproduced them from photos
of original baskets that were collected by a Ken
tucky minister in the late 1870s and are now on
display in London's British Museum.
Entitled "Niches," the new exhibit is part of the
Art on Westside MAX project which incorporates
more than 100 works in 20 different transit sta
tions spanning from Portland's Civic Stadium to
Hillsboro.
The Tri-Met-sponsored project brought artists,
architects, engineers and community members to
gether to collaborate on the theme of a local peoples
history and will also include a Grand Opening Cel
ebration at four different westside stations as well
as free MAX and bus rides Sept. 12 and 13.
However, for Grand Ronde tribal members the
Artist Sophie George (with daughter Ida) and
the bronze replica of her Kalapuya basket.
event is more than a chance to celebrate the open
ing of 33 miles of MAX track from Gresham to
Hillsboro. As both Harrison and George indicated,
it is a chance for Grand Ronde and all Northwest
tribes to hear not just history but their story.
"The hopes and dreams of our people were wo
ven into those baskets," Harrison said. "You won't
find it in the history books. It's passed down from
generation to generation."