Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1999)
January 1, 1999 Culture and Heritage moves forward The Tribe's Culture and Heritage program is moving forward with several important goals and activities in the coming months, all of which are important to creating a strong foundation for the mu seumcultural center. The immediate goals are: BTo create a solid governing foun dation in which roles and relation ships are clarified and strengthened. DTo develop professionally sound policies and procedures governing all collections and functions. DTo complete the architectural and interpretive master plans and two feasibility studies. DTo implement a fund-raising plan as needed. To have a professionally trained program staff. . To accomplish these goals, the following activities will take place, each of which is identified by area: Governance DDevelop charter and by-laws, val ues and codes of conduct which in clude confidentiality statements; Determine and, if necessary, file for 501c3 nonprofit status and articles of incorporation. Create a new board of directors. Refine mission statement. BClarify-roles and strengthen rela tionship between Cultural Resources Protection. Address proprietary and copyright issues. Stewardship Create and implement collections policies for artifacts, photographs, oral histories, linguistic research and historical documents. ' Inventory existing collections. Acquire additional storage space for current collection needs. Work closely with General Services on electronic archiving system for cultural center needs. Collaborate with Cultural Re sources Protection to develop a shared electronic database. Plan and implement a community wide collections acquisition campaign. Planning for the cultural center Develop an architectural master plan. Develop an interpretive master plan. Plan and implement a community focused consultation process. Evaluate potential sites. Select the site. ' Begin design phase for the build ing and exhibits. Conduct a fund-raising feasibility study. Develop fund-raising plan and be gin implementation as needed. Financial planning Conduct a marketing and finan cial viability study. Research revenue generating op tions. Staff Development Hire a curator. Hire a cultural education special ist. Identify and implement training work plans for professional staff. Identify services and programs we can realistically provide now for tribal community dependant upon adequate staffing and available funding. -Begin implementing cultural edu cation programs wherever possible. Determine how best to use volun teer work teams. Establish policies and procedures for work teams. Professional staff lays out their ac tivities for calendar year 2000. Artifacts due for return x - to Grand Ronde Tribe SALEM, Ore. (AP) In a glass case full of bowls and arrowheads at Champoeg State Park, a simple digging handle made of elk antler caught Ryan Heavy Head's eye. It had belonged to a woman of the Grand Ronde Tribe. It would have been a gift from her mother. It would have been with her, when she married. It should have been buried with her. 'That kind of thing is sitting out there on a display, and it doesn't even have a label to say what it is," said Heavy Head. "People will look at it and say, That's a piece of antler with a hole in it."' .: Digging handles are among the thousands of artifacts that are ex pected to come back to the Grand Ronde in the next two years from museums and universities across the country. The Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 allows tribes to take back sacred artifacts and human remains. Under the act, museums receiving federal funding must re turn artifacts upon request to the descendants of the owner or the owner's tribe. It can take two years to get an item back because of a complex federal process. But the Tribe expects that 70 percent of the artifacts they want back will be at" the reservation within two years. The Tribe plans to build its own museum. Some objects were taken in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the looting and desecration of Indian burial sites was com mon." In 1868, Army officers shipped Indian skeletons to the surgeon general for studies that purported to prove white superi ority based on cranial size. Heavy Head and his wife, Adrienne, have entered 2,000 ob jects in a database for the Grand Ronde, and more inventories are coming in every week. Tribal members looking for a particular ceremonial item will be able to find out which museum has it and what it was used for. The Heavy Heads are Blackfoot, hired by the. Grand Ronde to help them claim objects from museums, universities and public agencies. The Grand Ronde Tribe sent 4,000 letters to museums around the United States, asking for lists of tribal artifacts. Willamette University and the Museum of Natural History at the University of Oregon are among institutions working with the Grand Ronde. , Many artifacts are considered so sacred that outsiders aren't al lowed to photograph or display them. At the U of O museum, thousands of obsidian blades, stone objects and human remains are locked away because of sensi tivity to the feelings of American Indians. Some museums with such sa cred objects still offend Native peoples by storing them poorly. Heavy Head finds Grand Ronde artifacts stashed in paper bags, or crammed in back rooms. At one university collection, rodents ap parently had gnawed through the boxes and nested among the arti factsT! Just as the university is being required to return these relics, DNA testing and chemistry have advanced to the point where the artifacts would be of immense value, said Professor Mel Aikens, director of the museum. ; i Such tests could determine how Native people lived, what they ate or what afflicted them, he said. Once the remains are returned and reburied, that chance will be lost. Aikens would like to keep the remains long enough to test them or to be able to borrow them back for testing. Reservation roads get new signs Have you ever, taken a trip up to the reser vation and wondered, if you were really on tribal land or not? Well, have no fear! Reser vation road signs are here! Yes, that's right, the Timber and Roads Department of the Natu ral Resources Division (NRD) has put up "En tering" and "Leaving" reservation signs. These signs are place along roads wherever a road crosses the reservation boundary. The "Enter ing" signs are white with red lettering and a black Tribal logo. The "Leaving" signs are white with green lettering and a black tribal logo. Jeff Kuust, Timber and Roads Coordinator, informs us that "these signs will help gatherers, hunters, fisherman, and other recreationists know when they are on tribal land and when they are not. It should really help avoid confusion. For instance, many people like to know when they are on tribal land rather than Hampton Tree Farms land, because Hampton does not allow camping or firewood gathering." Thanks to this latest effort of the Timber and Roads Department of the NRD, tribal members can get to know their reservation a little better now! I entering t , ft it TRIBAL LAND 1
