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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2001)
4 10 april i, 2001 Smoke Signals laCowrse, ' .influential journalist; dies at 62 A Yakama and Umatilla, he was considered by many to be the dean of Native Americans in news media. By Kara Briggs (AP) Richard LaCourse, a Yakama and Umatilla journalist who led generations of Native Americans into the news media and founded several Tribal newspapers, died Fri day, March 9 in Seattle at 62. LaCourse was associate editor of the Yakama Nation Review, an award-winning Tribal newspaper. He died from a massive stroke. During his 33 years in journalism, LaCourse worked to provide Native Americans with news while challeng ing Tribal papers to always pursue the truth for their readers. He founded at least three Tribal newspapers, including one each on the Yakama and Umatilla Reserva tions. He was a founder of the American Indian Press Association in Washington, D.C., for which in 1972 he became the first Native American journalist to report on Congress from a Tribal perspective. He began his career as a copy edi tor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1968 to 1971. At the time, he was one of a handful of Native Ameri cans working in the news media. To day, more than 1,000 Native Ameri cans in the United States and Canada work in the Tribal and mainstream media, and most regard him as the dean of Native American journalists. "He really captured a sense of the Indian intellectual developing a phi losophy that wasn't necessarily based on European values," said Mark Trahant, president of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, Calif. "He captured that Indian intellectual not only in jour nalism, but also in writings about his tory and about the community." LaCourse was born Sept. 23, 1938, in Nespelem, Washington. He graduated from San Luis Rey Col lege in California with a philosophy degree in 1961 and later studied American literature at the Univer sity of Washington. At the Yakama Nation Review, where he had worked since 1989, he was known as both a kind and cur mudgeonly editor, his demand for truth as ever-present at his Pall Mall cigarette. The newspaper's subtitle, "Red Cover to Cover," was his idea. He said the newspaper was a suc cess if it kept the Tribe's grandmoth ers informed about world events and about Tribal families. "Richard LaCourse served the Yakama Nation with respect and dig nity," said Randy Settler, a Yakama Tribal Council member. "He will be surely missed by all members of his family, those who worked with him and everyone in his Tribe." As a journalist and historian, LaCourse covered the American In dian Movement since its inception. He left a book-length manuscript about the movement, called "The Walking On - Inspirational and influential Native journalist Richard LaCourse passed away in early March and left behind a hole in Indian Country that may never be filled. LaCourse, a member of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, was a mentor and example for many of today's top Indian journalists. A funeral for LaCourse was held on the Umatilla Indian Reservation on Wednesday, March 14. . , I HI r i aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai Buckskin Dossier," and published articles about it on the Internet. "Richard was very humble," said Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the Morning Star Foundation, a Native American lobbying group. She worked with LaCourse in Washing ton, D.C. "There may be many people who don't realize it, but he was a genius and he made history," Survivors include his daughter Shirley J. of Albuquerque, N.M.; three sisters; and two brothers. A rosary was held in Pendleton and the funeral mass was held at St. Andrews Catholic Church on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Editor's Note: I am greatly sad dened by the loss of someone I con sidered a mentor, role model and friend. I remember my first Native American Press (now Journalists) Association Conference I walked around in awe of all the superstars. And, then one of those superstars spoke to me and made me feel wel come. He assured me of my place and my role in Indian Country. Ri chard had a way of making you feel good. He was a true gentleman. Thank you Richard, for your kind ness we at Smoke Signals will never forget you. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa City of Salem will Rename Squaw Avenue, awaits Planning Commission Approval SALEM, OR. (AP) At the request of Mayor Mike Swaim, the city council has started the process of renaming Squaw Avenue. A motion, passed unani mously by the council recently, directed city staff to find "a name that is acceptable in our community" with the help of residents who live on the street. Earlier this year, the Legis lature considered changing all place names in Oregon that contain the word "squaw," which many people find an objectionable term for American Indian women. "What a neat opportunity for people who live on that street to rename the street," Swaim said. "It's appropriate we get ahead of the curve on this." The process could take two or three months, said Bill Healy, Director of Salem's Community Development Department. He said another resolution must be made by the city council. The matter then will go to the Salem Planning Commission before it is sent back to the council. Nebraska's Squaw Creek now Big Elk Creek BELLEVUE, NE. (AP) The Bellevue, Nebraska City Council reversed an earlier decision and voted to rename Squaw Creek. A month ago the council decided the name was not offensive. But Larry Cascio, the council's president, said in the intervening month that American Indians explained to him the word's negative connotations. The creek that runs through northwest Bellevue has been renamed Big Elk Creek in honor of the last full-blooded leader of the Omaha Tribe. Governor Mike Johanns has asked counties to rename 14 sites around the state that use the name squaw. Some counties have complied, but McPherson County last month rejected a move to change the name of Squaw Creek, a stream so small it does not appear on most maps. Nickname at North Dakota School Divides Campus GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) The University of North Dakota's Fighting Sioux nickname is dividing the campus in a dispute involving administrators, students, American Indians and a major contributor for an $85 million hockey arena. Opponents say the nickname demeans American Indians, and they contend it undermines the university's efforts to offer educational programs for those stu dents. "I feel a great deal of pain that a university I love so much could be so hypocriti cal," said Mary Lou Fuller, an education professor who marched in a recent protest against the nickname. Supporters say the name is used respectfully and is a source of pride for alumni, athletes and fans. The school's hockey team won the Division I championship last year, and its women's basketball team won three consecutive Division II titles, from 1997-99. "The University of North Dakota has been the Sioux and the Fighting Sioux for 70 years," said Earl Strinden, the retired head of the school's alumni association. "This is strongly supported by the citizens of North Dakota." North Dakota is the latest among at least 20 colleges or universities to face opposition to Indian team names or mascots since the 1970s. Oklahoma dropped a character named Little Red and Stanford abandoned the Indians name. Marquette replaced Warriors in favor of the Golden Eagles, and Miami of Ohio's fans now cheer for the Red Hawks, not the Redskins. Florida State's nickname of the Seminoles has the support of the Tribe for which the team is named. Tribal leaders of North Dakota's Sioux a name used to refer to Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Tribes have asked the school to drop the name. Ralph Engelstad, a casino owner and alumnus, has already put $35 million into the arena that is named after him. University President Charles Kupchella was preparing to decide the issue when Engelstad wrote him in December, saying he was prepared to withhold financial support of the arena. Members of the state Board of Higher Education were sent copies, and the board voted to keep the nickname the next day. Members wanted to end the controversy before the state Legislature convened. But the sudden action and Engelstad's letter have kept the dispute alive. Engelstad owns the Imperial Palace casinos in Las Vegas and Biloxi, Missis sippi, and was a North Dakota goalie in the 1950s. He did not respond to a request for an interview. When the board voted to keep the nickname, it also adopted a new logo that was favored by Engelstad and many alumni. An American Indian artist painted the logo, depicting an Indian with feathers and war paint. American Indian students make up more than 3 percent of the school's 11,000 students, the largest minority group on campus.
