6 OCTOBER 1, 2001
Smoke Signals
OCTOBER 1, 2001
Smoke Signals 7
rant: CCeep Chinuk Wawa Alowe
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Eagle Beak
Tribal Elder Marce Norwest
Veterans Merle Leno and Lynn "Bear" Robertson
Affordable Family Housing
in Grand Ronde
The Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority hosted a groundbreaking
ceremony on Friday, September 21 at the Tribe's planned affordable hous
ing development in Grand Ronde. The 20-acre site will hold 36 one through
five bedrooms homes that will be targeted at Tribal members with fami
lies. Construction will begin soon and completion is set for spring of 2003.
The site is located just off the east side of Grand Ronde Road across from
the Tribe's Housing Authority office.
LINDA LAYDEN
Housing Director
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CHERLYE KENNEDY
Tribal Council Chair
VAL GROUT F.TRAVIS BENOIST
Tribal Council member Spiritual Leader
gave the invocation.
PHIL MARQUIS
Architect
TIM HOLMES
Housing Board
Chairman
By Chris Mercier
As if the Generation Gap hasn't
caused enough communication
lapses between kids and their par
ents, a new $193,000 grant from the
Administration for Native Americans
(ANA) will have them speaking dif
ferent languages entirely. Only this
time around, local parents and chil
dren for that matter are all the more
ecstatic for it.
The Grand Ronde Preschool Lan
guage Curriculum and Training
Project will kick off this fall as Tribal
members engage in one of the more
ambitious attempts to fortify its iden
tity by restoring a cultural funda
mental: Language. The language in
question would be none other than
Chinuk Wawa, a first language for
some Tribal Elders not long ago and
the same that collaborators from Edu
cation and Culture hope to instill in
Grand Ronde youths, through early
age immersion.
"Kids are the best language learn
ers," said Tony Johnson, Tribal Lan
guage Specialist, Their brains are set
up for learning.'
But Johnson isn't expecting to
have a new generation of fluent
Wawa speakers to spring up over
night.' Rather, he hopes that through :
tins project ihf cpmmumtywillbeen- .
dowed with-tsTtontingency of solid -Chinuk
speakers, which will in turn
pave the way for a sustainable young
Wawa learning program.
This is one of the only ways, in
my mind, that we can move the lan
guage into the future in a natural
way," Johnson continued. "We will
teach them language by use, not for
mal schooling, but natural language
use."
But Johnson admitted that's easier
said than done, which is why he
plans to knuckle down with some
Chinuk speakers of note and get the
project going this fall. ;
Year One will basically be laying
the groundwork for Year Two, which
includes the vital aspect of hiring a
teacher. No less than a Tribal mem
ber will do, preferably one who has
some understanding and previous
experience with the language.
Johnson, along with Dr. Henry Zenk
and Tribal Elder Ha Dowd will enter
into a master-apprentice relationship
with the trainee and other Language
and Education staff, assuring a mini
mum of 300 hours of language ex
posure during the first year. Fur
thermore, the apprentice will learn
the nuances of teaching and linguis
tics through the University of
Oregon's Northwest Indian Lan
guage Institute.
The project team will also begin
to phase-in one hour of conversa
tional Chinuk into the preschool
program. This should be made
easier by the presence of Elaine
Lane Raven, who will serve as the
primary Preschool Teacher but also
as a secondary Chinuk teacher.
Raven would also be attending
training, and by the start of Year
Two will likely be a fluent Wawa
speaker. Thus by preparing teach
ers and introducing children to ba
sic Wawa, the immersion program
will be set for the second year.
Year Two will essentially be the
heart and soul of the program, as the
preschool, newly equipped with flu
ent Chinuk teachers, will kick into
full gear by implementing a daily
four-hour morning immersion plan.
Family immersion activities will start
as well, in order to accommodate par
ents. ' Picnics, potlucks and even
weekend excursions are planned, as
parents will have the opportunity to
learn or further their language skills
alongside their children.
The ANA grant will cover nearly
all framing costs and the apprentice's
salary, for the duration of the first
year, while splitting evenly with the
Tribe at the onset of Year Two. By
the third year, when the project will
hopefully be up and running, the
Tribe's Education department and
Language program should begin cov
ering the costs.
The ANA is a federal agency that
promotes self-sufficiency in Native
Americans, Hawaiians and Pacific
Islanders. Though they achieve this
by giving out grants that help foster
independence, the agency doesn't
exactly "give" them away, as Tony
Johnson can attest.
"This is the fourth straight year
we've applied for it," he said. "And
it's the first time we've gotten it."
Applicants for ANA grants gener
ally must submit detailed outlines of
their projects and the booklet
Johnson and others put together this
year is a good two inches thick. A lot
of work went into it and more looms.
For Johnson, no number of hours or
money can hint at the significance.
"I feel obligated to the language,"
he said. "And the best way to keep it
going is through the kids."
Even then, Johnson acknowledges
that this is just the first step in a
grand scheme of making Chinuk a
thriving community language.
"Our next goal is creating a main
tenance program," he said. To keep
the Chinuk environment.
"And I can't see a reason why we
can't do that, either."
WW MOUNTAIN
CASINO
sS American Graffiti, Casino Style
The 2001 Craps and Chrome Car Show on Saturday,
September 15 at the Tribe's Spirit Mountain Casino
drew 426 (compared to 280 last year) show cars from
27 Northwest auto clubs this year making the event the
biggest yet. More than a thousand people were drawn
to the event by the possibility of winning the show's
grand prize a 1949 Plymouth Business Coupe. The
car was won by Grand Ronde Tribal member Sandra
Stone (far right) and her boyfriend Curt Perkins. Stone
said she was thrilled by the score and wants everybody
to know that despite the fact that she is a girl, she loves
cars and plans to cherish this one.
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