OR. COLL.
A Publicationrand Ronde Tribe www.le.org December 15, 2000
Author Sherman Alexie Talks Humor, Indians
and Politics in Restoration Performance
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals got a chance to talk with
Sherman Alexie the hottest commodity in
Indian Country right now fresh off of his success
with the movie Smoke Signals.
Alexie made time for us right before his perfor
mance at the Tribe's Spirit Mountain Casino.
Alexie's performance in Grand Ronde was in cel
ebration 'of the Tribe's Restoration Day.
Alexie, a Spokane and Cour d'Alene Indian,
currently lives in Seattle with his wife. Together
they have shunned the Hollywood lifestyle that
beckons to them from Los Angeles.
The interview was filled with laughter. But,
the interview was also serious at times and views
on some important subjects were shared. Alexie's
opinions are his own and you should remember
he is a comedian. Alexie may make you laugh
and he might even make you mad, but what he
should do is make you think.
What has your schedule been like? What
have you been doing? Obviously you are a
busy guy now days.
It's actually been pretty quite this fall. I pur
posely did nothing. This is my first event since May.
Was it just time to take some time off?
Yeah, for the first time in years. I took some
time off and played a lot of basketball. So it was
a pretty quite fall.
One of the things I noticed when I was at
the National Congress of American Indians
(NCAI) conference recently is that things
have changed so much in Indian Country.
In the past someone would give a presenta
tion and they would never be interrupted,
but now you have different cell phones go
ing off and people have their laptop com
puters out and there are all these well
dressed Indian people talking on the phone.
What do you think about the changes in In
dian Country between the old and the new?
It's money. It's money and with money comes
access to privilege. With the influx of money into
Tribes you are creating a class system within
Tribes and within the Indian world. So when
you are at NCAI you are talking about the upper
class Indians. So the similarity between upper
class Indians and upper class non-Indians is get
ting closer and closer. So I think that is what you
are seeing is privilege asserting itself.
So do you think it is all about the gaming
dollars or what?
Oh yeah. We had no money before that. No
body did. And it is not necessarily individual In
dians that are getting rich, but Tribes are getting
rich. Leadership of Tribes is enjoying the power
associated with that money.
continued on pages 6-7
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Un
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iversity of Oregon Library
ceived on: 12-19-08
oke signals
OPINIONATED Spokane and Cour d'Alene Tribal
member Sherman Alexie performed his stand-up
comedy routine at the Tribe's Spirit Mountain
Casino on Monday, November 20. Alexie's per
formance was in celebration of the Tribe's Res
toration Day on November 22. The author of books
like "Reservation Blues" and "Tonto and the Lone
Ranger Fistfight in Heaven" talked about Winona
LaDuke's vice presidential bid, the Makah's right
to hunt whales and the fact that local high schools
still use Indian mascots for their sports teams in
the 21st century.
Smoke Signals 2000
Interviews were insightful, humorous,
controversial and thought provoking.
By Brent Merrill
From Tribal Elders to Tribal leaders, politicians, celebri
ties, hall of famers and even a kid who saved some people's
lives on a burning bus, the year 2000 was interesting,
thought provoking and some times controversial.
Smoke Signals started the year 2000 with a celebrity coup .
and talked with Hollywood heavyweight Jay Leno between
his two shows at the Tribe's Spirit Mountain Casino. We
talked with Tribal Elders like Joe "Sonny" Mercier, Marce
Norwest, Orville Leno, Merle Holmes, Emma Sell and
Leonard Vivette. We talked with the Tribe's first attorney
who re-visited Grand Ronde after a 20-year absence. We
even spoke to Indian leaders like Oren Lyons, Kevin Gover
and our own Kathryn Harrison. Last, but not least, was
the funny man of Indian Country who is single handedly
putting a new face on Natives with his pen Sherman
Alexie. We hope you enjoy this look at the year in review.
r, i ,
w 1
Kathryn Harrison,
Don Wharton and
Jackie Whisler.
Photo by Kim Mueller
ET7aribe's First Attorney
u Revisits Grand Ronde,
sees many Changes
When Attorney Donald Wharton first
heard of the Grand Ronde Tribe in the late
1970s, there was no Tribe.
Federal recognition of the Grand Ronde
Tribe didn't come until years after Wharton
first met with Tribal members Dean Mer
cier, Marvin Kimsey, Margaret Provost,
Merle Holmes, Merle Leno, Jackie Whisler,
Eula Petite and Kathryn Harrison among
others.
Wharton remembers meeting at the Grand Ronde Elementary
School because the only thing the Tribe had left was a little green
building at the cemetery. He remembers watching a hat passed
around the room so coffee could be purchased for the next meeting.
Interview with Don Wharton:
Wharton: Your restoration was in 1983and I visited in 1978.
It was quite dramatic to see the difference between the very mod-
continued on pages 8-9
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Community of Oregon
9615 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
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The Tribal Council and Staff
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warmest wishes to you
& your family for your
friendship and goodwill
during the past year.