MARCH 15, 1999
9
Fa ray ls
Every Elder has stories to tell about the tribal
family trees, and Nadine McNutt has some good ones
By Tracy Dugan
M
ost young tribal members have heard
their family saga from its beginnings
.by their parents and grandparents, if
not from other tribal Elders. Some believe that's
what makes being part
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of a tribe so wonderful.
The fact that we can talk
to other people about
our ancestors and fam
ily relations, stories that
we haven't heard be
fore. Little tidbits here
and there that are all
part of a greater picture.
What is a tribe really,
but nothing more than
clusters of families inter
twined with one-an-other,
criss-crossing
through the genera
tions. , . r, ..-
Tribal Elder Nadine
McNutt is a member of
one of the, Tribe's larg
est families! Her grand
father was Frances Mer
rier, the first member of
the Mercier family to come to America.
"Frances Mercier came to America in the late
1800s, when he was 21," said McNutt. "He came
from a wealthy family in Belgium. He was sent
here, to Grand Ronde, to live with his uncle, who
was Father Crockett."
According to McNutt, one day Frances saw a
young Indian woman named Marie Petite, and
eventually asked her father's permission to marry
Marie.
'They did get married," said McNutt. "They had
eight children. Five girls and three boys."
McNutt said that their oldest son, Julius Mer
cier, is her father, who married Gertrude Hudson,
her mother. Nadine is one of five girls by Julius
and Gertrude. (Gertrude is the little girl in the
statue of Martha Jane Sands in the Casino.)
"Of course, my grandparents didn't stay mar
ried. My grandmother moved to Tillamook and
ran a hotel there. She married a man name Jas
per Luce. They had a home on the Siletz River,"
said McNutt, who remembers going to her
grandmother's house, and that it was only acces
sible by boat.
"I can remember going across the river," she
said.
McNutt also said that not long after that,
Frances returned home to Belgium for about two
years, and told his parents about America, who
were very shocked to learn, among other things,
that "in America, people eat at the same table with
the servants." But Frances did come back to
Grand Ronde.
Besides Julius, the other children by Frances
and Marie were Arthur, Harry, Elise, Josie, May,
Faye, and Carrie. Julius and Gertrude raised a
family of girls.
"So, I have sisters," said McNutt. "Two have
passed on, now. Dorothy and Barbara. But
Norma Lewis and Marion Forster
are my sisters who are living."
"We girls grew up in Grand Ronde.
We went to Grand Ronde schools.
My grandfather, Frances always
came over for Sunday supper."
So it was with Frances Mercier
and Marie Petite Mercier, that one
of the Tribe's largest families got
started.
Of their eight children, it was the
boys who had most of the children.
May, Faye, and Carrie never had
children, and Josie had one daugh
, ter, Florene Ray. Elise had two sons;
Tom and Jack Brown, who have
both passed away. Arthur Mercier,
Frances Mercier
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Nadine McNutt in the 70s
who married Agnes Leno, had several children,
many of whom still live in Grand Ronde today, as
do their children and grandchildren.
Nadine McNutt said her grandfather Frances
would be very proud of his descendents, and what
they have done for the Tribe.
"I am very proud of my sister Barbara's son,
Bruce Thomas," said McNutt. "We have a lot of
talented people in our family who have worked
hard for the Tribe."
...
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The children of Frances Mercier and Marie Petite Mercier, from left: Elise, Josie, Arthur, Julius,
May, Harry, and Faye. Photo taken around 1950.