4
Smoke Signals
Continued from front page
the rodeo. Lyon remembers riding in the wild
horse races when the horses were from Warm
Springs and you could still bite them on the ear
to get them to behave. The dinner tents were
full of family and friends remembering together,
and the hum of laughter competed with the bees
looking for a free meal.
Night fell and everyone was grateful for the
cool. The dancers shimmered in the floodlights,
the cut beads of regalia flashing. The drums
around the arena tensed in anticipation of the
competition. Signal Butte, a Eugene-based drum,
rested after their turn in front of the many judges
with clipboards.
Behind Signal Butte, the local Grand Ronde
food stand, called Muk-Muk, had a line for their
fry bread up until midnight.
The All-Nations drum kept time as the night
wore towards a close, with Kim Contreras lead
ing off. Grand Ronde tribal employee Vernon
Kennedy said, "this Pow-wow is great fun, bring
ing all these people together, friends, relatives.
It heals the people. The Elders, the children, all
part of the circle. The circle is a sacred ground. I
love it. It focuses the mind on the culture, the
traditions. Medicine for your mind and spirit. The
drum beat is the heart beat of the people. Keep
ing the culture is very important, it strengthens
us. Pow-wow, it's also like being in heaven, this
ground is sacred like a church. That's why there's
no drugs, alcohol or profanity at the dances."
Sunday morning the Pow-wow got underway
with the Giveaway that Lester Labonte's family
held in memory of him. Spread out on the grass
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:
1999-2000 Royalty Court. Ashley Bedortha,
Kristy DeLoe, Jenny Bailey, and Shilo Dizick;
a visiting drum group during competition;
watching the dancing Pow-wow Commit
tee Chair Mark Cook (left), Ivanetta Cook,
Arvella Houck, Arlene Beck, and Pam Smith.
All photos on Pow-wow pages by:
Dale Peterson, Shelley Harman,
Bob McElderry, Karen Ring, and Kim Mueller.
were blankets covered with all kids of presents,
ranging from baskets full of homemade cookies
to cases of soda pop. Special friends of the family
were presented with the Tribe's Pendleton wool
blanket. Marce Norwest led the family and friends
around the arena for the Honor Song.
Later that day, an Honor Song was held for Mark
Cook, chairman of the Pow-wow Committee.
Seekaskootch, the host drum from Canada, took
a break between dances. Conroy Naistus, their
singer, spoke of their drum, "we first got together
nine years ago, we agreed then to use this name,
Seekaskootch. Us guys, we started from a base
ment group. We just started out singing because
we loved it, aye? Our family members been sing
ing for so long, we grew up to that kind of life.
We can't let any one come near the drum who
touched drugs or alcohol, we just can't allow it.
One thing we like to see at Pow-wow, is everyone
having fun, makes you feel good."
As he speaks the group around him nods in
agreement. Naistus continues, "on behalf of
Seekaskootch, I would like to thank the Grand
Ronde for inviting us a second time. If they were
to invite us again, we'd gladly come again. They
treat us so good here. We do our best, maybe
that's why they invited us back. And a very spe
cial thank you to the Pow-wow Committee, Lisa
Leno, Dana Leno, Shane Harmon, our moms, fa
thers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and all
of our teachers."
Tribal member, little Valeria Atanacio, gold and
green glitter shining on her cheeks said, "it's fun,
nice to watch and I like to dance."
Sunday, too, was the hottest day yet. Ila Dowd,
a tribal Elder who had given the morning's prayer
in Chinook, said, "my parents both talked Chi
nook, so I learned from hearing them talk. I'm
90 and I've had several illnesses that don't help
the brain at all, and I'm forgetting Chinook even
as we speak."
She smiled and looked out at the arena full of
dancers. "I think it's great, the dancing. We didn't
have the Pow-wow during my early days, years
and years ago. Now that we're a reservation, it's
made all the difference."
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