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