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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
r OR. COLL. E 7B .0& STA 'QUA M.LA UYA 1MOTE im December 1, W0 nuiaUt RIVER A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe www.granclronde.org December 1, 2000 Indian Leaders Gather in Minnesota for 57th National Congress Ancient Ways Meet with Modern Times. () none Lattes, laptops, cell phones and PowerPoint presentations By Brent Merrill ST, PAUL, MN -The Fall 2000 gath ering of the National Congress of Ameri can Indians (NCAI) in Minnesota was the place where two worlds collided. The ancient world of traditional beliefs and values was in direct contrast to the new world where speakers were constantly in terrupted by the ringing of cell phones and where the line for lattes was bigger than the lines for the con ference registration. The message was clear, a new generation of modern Indian leaders is on the rise and the cur rent toys of technology are just an other way to get your Native voice heard. This year's NCAI conference was a place where the Indian leaders of the past and present met head on with the Indian leaders of the next generation. And, although their toys may be different (drums and eagle feathers versus laptop comput ers and touch-of-the-button laser images) the message is the same. The message may never change. The message is we have sur vived everything that has come our way. We are still here and we are getting stronger, smarter and bet ter equipped to the play the game by whatever rules you want. You can even change the rules along the way and we will adapt and learn and get even stronger.' On hand for the conference, held this year at the Touchstone Energy Place at RiverCentre in St. Paul, where representatives from over 300 Tribes throughout the nation gath ered for the oldest and largest group of Native leaders. It was the first time since 1951 that NCAI was held in the state of Minnesota. Tribal leaders met in hopes of plan ning new strategies for dealing with Wan m. o The Tribe's Intergovernmen tal Affairs Director Justin Martin gave a presentation to Harvard University's "Honoring Nations" awards committee at the annual NCAI conference in St.Paul, Minnesota in mid-November. Martin's program was one of 16 finalists chosen for excel lence in Tribal Government. ' -'ft 5v K i ' 1 ' J 1 4 'Ml If. Haudenosaunee Tribal Chief Oren Lyons used the NCAI conference as a platform to encourage Tribal leaders from across the nation to work on saving their ancient languages. Photos by Brent Merrill This hawk uses Highway 18 between Grand Ronde and Lincoln City as its own personal hunting ground. This image was captured in the late afternoon in mid-November. Photo by Brent Merrill a new presidential administration and the lack of a new president to focus attention on obviously took away from that plan. Tribal leaders also discussed the BIA's new plan to restrict Tribal enrollment through blood quantum restrictions. Questions were asked, and even though no answers were given, the questions are now on the record and the process of trying to sort these important issues out has begun. Tribal leaders asked who at the BIA was responsible for the new blood quantum requirements and said they wondered if personnel at the BIA had enough to do. "I don't think it is the business of the BIA to tell us who is Indian and who is not," said Mark Jacobs, Jr. of the Haida in Alaska. Some Tribal leaders said they thought the Elders of the Tribe should decide who is a member and who is not. Some said the new re strictions would put Tribes in direct competition with each other for fed eral dollars. Some leaders called for Tribes to rally around each other and oppose the BIA's enrollment re strictions they said it was a lack of respect and an infringement on Tribal sovereignty and Tribal laws. continued on page 6 Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 Address Service Requested PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM, OR PERMIT NO. 178 Fox, Jane (Special ColJ Kniaht Library Uof'O Eugene OR 97403 Respected Tribal leader, and veteran of many television projects that have educated the nation about Tribal history, Onondaga Haudenosaunee Chief Oren Lyons (pictured above) was a central fig ure in the 57th gathering of the National Congress of American Indi- Lyons also served on a panel of judges for the Harvard University ans "Honoring Nations" Awards. He took a moment after the awards cer emony to speak with Smoke Signals. Upclose and personal with Oren Lyons: By Brent Merrill, Smoke Signals Editor What do you think about the Harvard Honors as part of the 57th NCAI conference? I think it is a very worthwhile event as far as they have spent over two years on this. We think that the efforts that are made by people who are trying to stay true to their nations and keep their nose above the water deserves some attention and recognition. The fact that we are able to scratch up some money for them is good, but I think it is more about the recognition on a national basis. We hope to inspire other people. One of the prerequisites after you win this award is to share it and so they are given monies and it is their duty to use some of that for getting out the word to other Indian Nations' peoples. I noticed one of the things you talked about tonight was the importance of keeping our languages. Of course. We heard a couple of good examples today of people who are so intent on getting a good nation that they forget who they are. The more you look like your brother over there, the less you are going to look like yourself. It is so important the first foundation for sover eignty is to know who you are and to protect that. And it was so impor tant as you saw our (the "Honoring Nations" awards committee) main support which was unequivocally the first was the Elders from Apache it was 100 percent first on the board. Why? Because they represent the core of their nation. They represent knowledge. They represent spirit. They represent the Elders and they also represent the future. So for us that was unanimous right off the top. One of the things we are doing back home is we are teaching our Chinook language to our children because they seem to really retain it and they go home and they teach their older siblings and their parents... That is what happens. You are not the only ones a lot of Indian nations are teaching the kids and the kids are going home and teaching their parents. The parents have to learn out of embarrassment they continued on page 6 University of Ore i Received on: Id-W Smoke signals ion Library
