Smoke signals., June 01, 2000, Page 7, Image 7

JUNE 1, 2000
7
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Jfoj have to
recall that this
was a time
when the Grand
Ronde people
supported what
they did with
bake sales and
trying to sell
beads and
craftsr
Don Wharton
This photo of the cemetery building was taken in the early 1980s.
When Wharton first came to Grand Ronde, it was the only Tribal
Structure in the Community. Photo courtesy of Cultural Resources
was clear to me that the Grand Rondes had the benefit
of terrific leadership. And, they have had the benefit of
that leadership throughout the years. Not just those
people I met, but the people who followed them and the
people who are in office now. You have the benefit of
having a terrific leadership there. That is a blessing.
Not every Tribe has it. Not all Tribes have it at all times.
You have been able to enjoy not only terrific leadership,
but also terrific leadership over a period of years. That's
not only something to be thankful for, but it is something
to be very conscience about in terms of what it hold's for
the future. Because it is easy to be led astray by those
who will not give you the same kind of leadership that
the folks you have had at Grand Ronde will give you. It
can lead to very tough times, very difficult times for a
Tribe in terms of creating internal strife."
People around here got excited about your visit.
How does that make you feel to know that you
are an important person to the community?
"Well, I don't know about being an important person,"
replied Wharton. "It is nice to have made connections
with people in the work that you do. It's nice to know
that people remember you from the days when you
worked together and the work that you did together.
There is a certain kind of bond that comes out of people
who share struggles. You have to recall that this was a
time when the Grand Ronde people supported what they
did with bake sales and trying to sell beads and crafts."
And passing the hat.
"And passing the hat," agreed Wharton. "There was a
real sense of mission. A real sense of struggle and com
mitment among the people who were there. These are
people who showed up because they believed in who
they were and what they were doing. There was no
other incentive. These were people that showed up be
cause they wanted their grandmother's medicine to be
paid for. These were not people who were looking for
casinos or any of the stuff that you have now. That was
not part of the vision. These people had very simple
needs. And the foundation of all of that was to remove
the insult that the United States had put upon them about
not being a Tribe anymore. Not being one of the Indian
Natiops amongst the great circle of Indian Nations. That
was first and foremost. But, they also wanted what they
deserved and that was to have the restoration of those
services for their young, for their elderly, for the people
who didn't have adequate housing. They felt they de
served that and they wanted that back and that was their
mission. It was very modest in that sense, but it was a
deep and enduring commitment. When you share that
with someone it creates a kind of bond that you are in it
together. I really appreciated that part of coming there
and meeting with the people of the Grand Ronde and
knowing that there was a time when we shared that
struggle and that commitment and that work. And it is
all the sweeter that it turned out so grandly successful.
But, it also would be sweet just the same if there were
nothing more than those programs that they had wanted
at the time."
Because that would be a victory.
"Absolutely," agreed Wharton. "Restoration of itself was
a victory. Having the land base the timber was a
terrific bonus. It didn't have to happen. It was impor
tant that it happened. The Grand Ronde people deserved
to have it happen, but it wasn't essential to the initial
vision and goals that the people were thinking about.
So, it was a terrific bonus. They deserved it. They
needed to have it, but they could have survived without
it. The gaming was beyond anybody's vision or dreams.
In the early days I mean. Those dreams and visions
evolved overtime."
What do you think is the most important thing
for our people to remember about the transition
that has gone on over the 17 years just from your
perspective? What do you think people should
consider important?
"I think it is always important for people to remember
their own story," said Wharton. "To understand their
own history and to recognize the contributions made by
the people in their community who went before them.
There is a temptation to think that history begins at the
point that we become involved and we forget or we sim
ply are not aware of all the contributions that were made
by the people who came before us to bring us to where
we are today. So, it is important for people to remem
ber their own story, to hear their own story some
times they don't hear their own story. It is important for
people to know who those people were that kept the
flame alive when there was little reward for doing so.
These are the people who didn't end up being the elected
leadership of the Tribe and didn't lead the Tribe into gam
ing or other things. You know, I think about people like
Dean Mercier I mean he was there, he was commit
ted and he added a lot of grit to those meetings. He is
not the kind of guy who goes back to D.C. and testifies
before Congress although he certainly could have. And
he is not the guy who sits down and negotiates with the
bankers over what the debt service rate will be on a
gaming enterprise. But, he is an intregal part of the
community that held together the belief that the Tribe
existed and had a right to exist and ought to be restored.
That contribution, by itself, is a really important piece of
understanding that all of the Grand Ronde people are
part of doing what happened here. And, not just a few
or some of those with the greatest recognition, although
their contribution was terrific, but it is these other folks
who are part of that story and people need to know that
story children need to know that story. Adults need to
know that story. The folks who showed up lately need to
know that story. They need to understand how people
got to where they are today. Because if they don't un
derstand that, then they won't know how to make very
important decisions in the future about where the Grand
Ronde people ought to go and what they ought to do
with the resources they have.
"In 1979, when I drove up to that elementary school to
meet with these people who had no idea who I was, nor
me them, and we talked about what are your dreams for
restoration and how can I help you?" remembered
Wharton. "Dean Mercier was sitting there in that room.
He had other things he could have been doing. He was
in that room and it made a difference that he was in that
room."
Not a lot of people know that information.
"There are others too," said Wharton of the people he
met in Grand Ronde twenty years ago. "Mrs. (Eula) Pe
tite, who didn't outlive this process, she was there too.
And, there are the people who provided so much sup
port in context to what was going on, like Candy
Robertson. There was never a meeting, there was never
a gathering, there was never anything going on that she
wasn't behind the scenes making sure that the food was
there, that the lights were on, that the heat was on.
Candy Robertson is the kind of person who even though
she's not up on the podium speaking, you couldn't be
there without her. It couldn't happen, it wouldn't happen
without her."
I appreciate that perspective. Is there anything
that I didn't ask you that you think is important?
"I guess what I'm sitting here thinking about is what
that little green house in that cemetery looked like and
what it looks like now," said Wharton.
Now it's a little bigger.
"Well, it's not just bigger," said Wharton. "It is bigger
and it has new siding on it and it has an awning and it is
next to a very impressive pavilion. The people they
want that. They want that as a way of dealing with the
passing of their people with dignity. But, you know there
was something really elegant about that little green shed
in the middle of that field. And, the fact that there were
people sitting there collecting money to try and figure
out how to pay the phone bill. It's sort of like that build
ing, to me, sort of represents the same thing that Abe
Lincoln's cabin represents to a lot of people. You know
that this is the symbol of humble beginnings that led to
very great things. And, now they are storing a lawn
mower there. I'm not saying you shouldn't store the
lawn mower there, but there is something about, for
me, looking at that building and saying this is for me
where it began. But, that little green building is a symbol
for me of where Grand Ronde's Restoration really began
and where it came from.
"There is one other thing and it has to do with the
courage," said Wharton. "The raw, gut courage. In
addition to the commitment and the showing up and the
putting their own money in the teapot and the bake sales
and the rest of it. When it came time to do things that,
for them, were very difficult to do, they did it anyway.
People now take that for granted. Like Jackie Colton
(Whisler) going to the radio station and talking on the
radio about Restoration. That seems a simple thing, but
for her, it was a raw act of courage to do that. Merle
Holmes and Marvin Kimsey traveling to Washington D.C.
and staying in the American Friends House and going
and visiting people on the Hill. This was not something
that came naturally to them. That's not the place where
they were comfortable, but they knew it needed to be
done. They put themselves out there in that way and did
things that were not comfortable for them and that they
didn't want necessarily to do. It had to be done and they
stepped up and they did it. Those were acts of valor
because doing grand things that people are in awe of
has nothing to do with courage. Courage has to do with
overcoming those things that you have no natural incli
nation to want to do or even a fear of doing. That's what
these folks did. They stepped up and they did that. That
is an awesome thing to see when people do what seems
like not such great things, but you know in your heart
that this takes a great deal of grit and commitment to do
these things."
It's not just about the money either. .
"It has nothing to do with money," said Wharton.
It's not even the benefits and all the things
it's about the community. It's about the sense of
family. It's not about the money. It's about the
sacrifices that people made and the ideal they had.
"More than anything else, it's about righting a terrible
wrong."