Smoke Signals
TraiD off T
mm
6
Continued from front page
Kimsey said he feels the honoring
of those who walked the trail has
been a long time coming. He said he
would like to see the recognition be
come an annual event.
"We have been wanting to do it for
years, even during restoration the
12-plus years we worked on restora
tion," said Kimsey. "We either didn't
have the time or the resources to do
it. Now, I feel the circle is somewhat
complete and I would like to see a
yearly event. I don't think it should
be a pow-wow just a tribal gath
" ering."
Kimsey said the inclusion of the
general community is a key element
in the future of the recognition cer
emony. "It (recognition of the suffering of
our ancestors on the journey) is as
important as the restoration of the
Tribe itself," said Kimsey. "It should
be a gathering of tribal people and
community people a way to bring
them back together. That (our sense
of community) is the only culture we
have left, because most of it was left
at Table Rock. Every Tribe has a
culture and some are hidden and
some are practically lost. We're
among the latter. We haven't had a
chance to practice our culture."
Kimsey said the most important
thing for the young people to remem
ber is not to forget what happened
to their ancestors.
"I think they should remember why
it was brought about," said Kimsey.
"Their teachers have done a good job
explaining to them what this is all
about. They need to know the suf
fering their ancestors went through.
They were brought here 144 years
ago against their will. They had to
go. I think they should really re
member what it was for and who it
is dedicated to and who we were try
ing to remember."
Holmes agrees with Kimsey on the
importance of remembering what
happened. Both like the idea of a
plaque or statue being placed at the
Tribe's cemetery to honor the survi
vors of the walk.
Although Holmes remains deeply
bitter and resentful about what he
sees as an extreme and unforgivable
injustice against the people of the
Rogue, Chasta and Umpqua, he
greeted the children upon their ar
rival at the Governance Center with
..v Cxi I
1
r
At
V Jib. A A. 1- & I W" J
-s V ' i
Ws j,
i -
ft
W. l
j
li A
r
-N ill j m
in 1 . r
' Kr .. "-iV - II II- J
V I " I II r
a smile and a warm message about
honor.
"I think this is a historic day," said
Holmes. "An important day. In 144
years I wonder what our descen
dants will think of this. I think they
will be proud of us."
Holmes spoke to the children in a
soft voice and tried to keep the mood
light and celebratory.
"I didn't harp on it too much but
the suffering those folks endured on
that long trek," said Holmes. "I said
that I was deeply bitter and com
pletely unforgiving. The whole
thing is what would it have hurt
if they (the Indian agent and his
troops) had waited three more
months? There would have been
springtime weather and there would
have been forage for the livestock
and the whole trip wouldn't have
been suffering it would have been
grueling all right, but there wouldn't
have been near the suffering. It was
just a matter of 90 days. If you look
back at the basics of it you can't
farm in the winter anyway. They
already had the land and every
thing. I just can't forgive them for
not waiting until summer. I'm just
saying a little good sense would
have helped a lot.
V1
.... - a. a'HMiw
1
Yi
A1-
'E
a;
Z
j
c
P
in
sz
a
J
MI . . '
o 1
Umbrellas, raincoats and hats kept participants dry as a steady rain came
down during the walk. An estimated 350 people took part in the 1st
annual Trail of Tears walk. Photo by Kim Mueller
"The underlying thing is maybe
they wanted more of them to die
but only eight of them did," said
Holmes. "Maybe they figured they
would lose more."
Tribal member Jackie Whisler, who
helped coordinate the event along
with Michaelle Kimsey, said she
could only imagine what the real
walk must have been like.
"One of the things that I noticed in
just that little, tiny space that we
walked was how cold I got and I
can't imagine what our ancestors
went through," said Whisler. "So,
that in itself was a tiny bit of per
spective that I probably would have
never had if I hadn't walked from
the school up here."
Whisler said she thinks the com
memorative walk was good for the
children who participated from an
educational standpoint.
"I think the walk was really impor
tant for the kids and the adults be
cause I don't think there is many
people that even knew that it hap
pened," said Whisler. "They knew we
TOP: Tribal Elder Merle Holmes
talks to the children after the com
memorative walk was completed.
MIDDLE: Everyone who walked
was presented with a Sacagawea
one dollar coin.
BOTTOM: Two of the event's co
ordinators, Michaelle Kimsey and
Jackie Whisler.
were driven up here, but I don't think
they knew the specifics the dates
and how long it took and how many
we lost and how many were born. I
think this is kind of restoring some
history as far as the kids are con
cerned. They get to learn. And, I can't
stress enough how important it was
to include the whole community be
cause a lot of the Tribe's restoration
was based on community support and
the Tribe's efforts still are supported
by the community."
Whisler said the recognition of the
past and the opportunity to bring
awareness to the surrounding com
munity was the important part of the
event.
Whisler would like to see the tradi
tion of honoring the people who sur
vived the journey passed on through
families.
"I love that idea," said Whisler. "I
think if we do this and if we keep
doing it, eventually those children's
children will do the same thing and
the history won't go away and we
won't lose that part of it." .