SEPTEMBER 1, 1999
11
MR to develop new 10-year Management Plan
Tribal member input will be needed for upcoming project.
By Cliff Adams
Natural Resources Manager
The Natural Resources five year
Management Plan for the Reserva
tion was developed in 1996. The
plan was developed to help guide
and regulate activities on the Res
ervation and comply with the Bu
reau of Indian Affairs requirement
to have an approved Management
Plan in place. In the current plan,
the sustained target timber harvest
volume was calculated at 5.7 million
board feet per year. This means that
we can continue to harvest 5.7 mil
lion board feet annually and never
run out of timber to harvest, as long
as we continue to follow our plan
and nothing catastrophic happens
to the forest stands.
The plan also specifies that the
Reservation is to be managed re
sponsibly, and the resources are to
be enhanced and protected. We
have developed cooperative agree
ments with various agencies, such
as Oregon State University to make
sure that the tribal management is
using current knowledge and infor
mation in applying forest practices
on the Reservation. When our cur
rent plan expires at the end of 2000,
our annual allowable harvest is es
timated to be 5.5 million board feet,
which is less than our target volume
of 5.7 million board feet.
Beginning this year, the Natural
Resources staff will be developing a
new 10-year plan for the Reserva
tion. The development of this plan
will require input from tribal mem
bers, committees, and other inter
ested parties. We will be sending out
a questionnaire as well as holding
meetings in various locations to fa
cilitate gathering input to the plan.
The staff and I are looking forward
to developing a new plan that will
take the management of the Reser
vation into the 21st century.
Chinook Conference
Continued from front page
son has been working with the
Tribes' children and says it has been
a great motivation for them to have
something of their own. Even the
Hudson sisters, who ran classes in
the late seventies and early eight
ies, and who were all Native speak
ers, used it for secret talk. As John
son recounts, they'd be on the party
line and say wawa Cinuk and then
start telling their racy stories to each
other. "But, they got in a little
trouble when their mom was on the
party line too" Johnson said with a
chuckle.
The Restoration of the Tribe only
began with federal recognition.
Each family has fought the battles
which followed. Johnson explains,
"After the first generation on the res
ervation, people knew English, how
ever, everyone continued to perpetu
ate Grand Ronde's language, Cinuk
wawa. It is an Indian to Indian lan
guage. In particular we know this
because of the sound system. It
started as a pidgin language, be
came the first language of the kids
and then became a Creole language.
Chinook is a perfectly expressive
language."
Though many stumbled over the
unfamiliar sounds, practicing the al
phabet in a sing-song repetition
with Johnson leading, there was a
core group who spoke with assur
ance. Of these, tribal members who
had been attending Johnson's lan
guage classes helped some of the
other students through the weekend
exercises, discussing amongst them
selves the possibility of enrolling for
the fall Chinook language class be
ing offered for college credit.
A natural teacher, Johnson admits
that working with the children is
one of the best parts of his job. "They
learn well, are excited to get better
quickly and are motivated," he says,
as the class awaits the group of
young people coming in to speak
Sawash wawa, Indian talk.
Five young grade school children
filed into the front of the room, fidg
eting and glancing surreptitiously at
all the adults staring at them. The
four brothers and sisters from the
Langley family and their cousin
Tanas Kim stood between Johnson
He (Johnson) teaches
and that's all.
I like it, when I get older
I can be in here
to talk Indian"
Kim Contreras
age 6
and their mothers and waited for the
wawa to begin. With Johnson's en
couragement and their mother's
smiles, they greeted the room, ran
through the alphabet and counted
to twenty. Johnson quizzed them on
vocabulary, animal names, body part
names and they replied with confi
dence and shy smiles.
As Johnson told the class later, the
children had not been working with
him during the summer, but still re
tained the language. In closure the
five young people sang a Chinook
song, repeated three times, each
time a bit quieter. The pride on their
young faces was bright enough to
notify everyone in the room that
here was a glimpse of the next gen
eration of restoration. As the children
scattered back to their mothers,
Johnson translated their song for the
class; "Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll do
better."
Johnson hopes to have compiled
the initial version of the Cinuk
Wawa Dictionary by the year 2000
and to publish some time after that.
It will be the first dictionary of In
dian Chinook, and as such there is
much debate over a language that
has largely been kept in the memo
ries of Elders. Johnson recognizes
that "Somewhere down the road
when I'm eighty and we have an
Academy of Chinook, then we'll
have ten old-timers that say T think
we ought to say...,'" but today delib
erations on issues of usage and nu
ance are still being worked through.
Meanwhile the children and their
families continue to piece together
their heritage. When asked about
learning Chinook, Tanas Kim (Little
Kim) responded, "he teaches and
that's all. I like it, when I get older I
can be in here to talk Indian."
Foster Home Recruitment
Have you ever heard the phrase "It Takes A Tribe To
Raise A Child?" Well it is no different for the children of
the Grand Ronde Tribe.
Seventy-two children, enrolled or eligible for enrollment,
are involved in the Indian Child Welfare (ICW) program.
Of these 72 children, 36 are living in non-Native homes,
33 are living in tribal homes, and three are in Native
(non-Grand Ronde) homes.
The Foster Care program is beginning a recruitment project to certify as
many tribal andor Native homes as possible. One of the purposes of the
ICW program is to ensure that the child's cultural ties are preserved. This is
a difficult task when 50 of the available foster homes are non-Native.
We need your help! If you are interested in becoming a foster parent or
would like further information, please contact the Foster Care program at
1-800-242-8196 or (503) 879-2044. Thank you for supporting our children!
McCutcheon sworn
in as Police Officer
Tim McCutcheon, tribal member from
Springfield, was sworn in as a City of Eu
gene Police Officer on July 13, 1999, at the
Hult Center. Tim and eight other officers
completed 19 weeks of training at the new
Eugene Region Basic Academy. Tim was
chosen as spokesman on behalf of the new
police officers. Norma Lewis, Elder tribal
member and Tim's grandmother, concluded
the ceremony by pinning his badge. Tim earned his degree, an Associate's
degree in Criminal Justice at Lane Community College with aid from the
tribal office of higher education. His GPA was 3.60. Tim's parents are Wil
liam and Karen McCutcheon. His grandfather was Delbert Lewis.
Firewood List
Natural Resources would like to
compile a list of tribal members in
terested in cutting firewood when it
is available. The availability of fire
wood is limited, so permits will be is
sued while supplies last. To be
placed on the list, please call Natu
ral Resources at (503) 879-5522.
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HUNTER
SAFETY
CLASS
Sept. 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15
5:30 to 8 p.m.
NATURAL RESOURCES
47010 SW Hebo Road
It is mandatory that you attend
ALL scheduled classes.
There is no age limit.
12-18 year olds must have a
hunter safety certificate before
obtaining a hunting license.
To register, please call:
Karen Larsen at (503) 978-2376
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