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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1999)
Smoke Signals 2 (Sramid Ronde baslketlball team makes dehitit a jndoan.PlayolFfe- By Oscar Johnson For the first time ever Grand Ronde's basketball team made the national Indian tournament where they made a valiant effort against some tough competition. Melvin Brisbois, Richard Brisbois, Haa-nah. Mike, Issack Kentta, Lenny Logan and Duane Many Hides played a couple of tough games in the first two days of the National IndianAthleticAssociation's (NIAA) 26th annual basketball championship in Salem. "This is almost a privilege just to be playing in this tournament," said Melvin Brisbois. "It's the most pres tigious Indian tournament in the country it's like the NBA playoffs." The team did not bring home any victories this year. Their April 14 game against the Chiloquin Kla-mo-ya ended in a 119 102 loss, despite strong scoring from Mike and the two Brisbois'. The following day, ManyHides, team coach and sponsor, had to fill in for Logan who was unable to take time of from work. With no extra players on the bench to rotate, they were swept by the mostly 6-foot and over Klamath Sons, 91-60. I ... s x X I $ This is almost a privilege just to be playing in this tournament. Its the most prestigious Indian tournament in the country its like the NBA playoffs." Melvin Brisbois "We played with a lot of heart but we just didn't have enough backup. "We didn't have a bench," explained ManyHides. "What killed us was our shooting wasn't there today," added Melvin Brisbois. "It's a tough competition here, you got to come ready to run." NIAA's annual championship fea tures women's and men's teams from all over the country. Players say teams scout for top players at the competitions and many teams sport ex-pro and college ball players. Despite the stiff competition, the Salem-based non-profit sports group has a higher goal in mind. For the last 26 years they have been using sports to promote the "Sacred Circle of Family, Identity and Health," by encouraging players to be outstand ing role models for Na tive youths, according to a statement released by X. L. Kugie Louis, NIAA director. The Association is involved in 13 annual sports tournaments and also helps tribes and communities estab lish their own youth and adult sports programs. Support' for NIAA usu ally comes from events such as one made by the Grand Ronde Tribe for last months tournament. 1 wm 1 . . . rcd,. ft e spirit If-lr I j. -,, -, ., of thd -Sfy ? - - - mmmjk'i f" " "'". ' ' '' jj ''Jj '' 'You cant touch this!' young powerhouse, Haa-nah Mike (left front) defiantly faces off two towering Klamath opponents for the rebound at last month's 26th annual Indian basketball tourney. Photos by Oscar Johnson Masks: grant will finance gallery continued from front page seums, private collectors, Native art ists and tribal groups and have a variety of functions. They range from artworks made to sell to early pioneer collectors, sa cred portrayals of the Spirit World and modern artistic renditions of Native and European faces. At least one of the items, a mask from Kitkatla, Canada, is kept at the Vancouver Art Museum against the will of Tsimshian tribal members whose ancestors used it in sacred rites more than 100 years ago. Nevertheless, the exhibit is en dorsed by 11 Native nations, accord ing to Robert Joseph, chief of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribe in Van couver Island, British Columbia. Most of the masks come from coastal tribes residing from the Olympic Peninsula and the Puget Sound to Yakutat Bay, Alaska, in cluding the Tlingit and Nuu-chah-nulth nations. The Museum is also featuring, "Ed ward Curtis: The North American Indian," a separate exhibit of vintage photographs taken at the turn of the century. It will be on display for the same period as the mask exhibit. Both exhibits bring Native art and culture face to face with the Museum's "Project for the Millen nium." The $16 million project will expand and renovate Portland's pre mier place of art making room for the Center for Native American Art. Most of the Community Fund's grant will help convert two floors of the Museum complex's Hoffman Wing into 8,000-square-foot of per manent gallery space for Indian art. The Center will also host a variety of Native lectures, performances and demonstrations as well as sponsor related research, publications and local Indian artists. "The gallery featuring Native American art of our region will be designated the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Gallery in rec ognition of the Tribe's commitment," Museum Executive Director, John Buchanan Jr., said in a statement released last month. Kwakwaka'wakw Spirit Dancers of Secret Societies performed tradi tional dances at the event showing the customary use of some of the masks on display. The dances had been outlawed by the Canadian gov ernment and missionaries from the 1800s to 1951, he said. Grand Ronde officials are hoping the Museum's new facelift will bring in more distant tribal neighbors. "It was nice to be able to have the tribes from the north there," said Kathryn Harrison, Grand Ronde council chairwoman who was on hand for the event. "It's an investment for all children," she said. ; Vl V ' v V -f i f .: J J S X V X. . i Sun mask (circa 1800s) represents the Sky World of northwest coast Nuxalk peoples. It is one of more than 150 masks the Tribe's grant helped bring the Portland Art Museum exhibit "Down From the Shimmering Sky." "Down From the Shimmering Sky: Masks of the Northwest Coast" Tuesday-Saturday, 10am. to 5pm. Sunday, noon to 5pm. First Thursday of the month until 9pm. Admission: $7.50 Students and Elders (55 and up): $6 Students under 18: $4 Kids 4 and under: free These same hours and fares apply to the "Edward Curtis: The North American Indian" exhibit Portland Art Museum 1219 S.W. Park Avenue (503)226-2811 ww.pam.org
