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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2002)
3 Committee Feature Veterans9 Memorial Ad Hoe Committee BACKGROUND: If there were ever a defi nition of a "roughly formed" committee, this is it. A spin-off of the original Veteran's Commit tee, the Ad Hoc group was founded nearly ten years ago. PEOPLE INVOLVED: The committee has seven (7) members, though being informal the number of people involved tends to fluctuate. Marce Norwest also chairs this group. Other members include: Russ Leno, Steve Bobb, Gene LaBonte, Betty Lambert, Arlene Beck, Kathy DeWitt and Brent Merrill (Vice Chair). FUNCTION: No committee has a more clear purpose. Theirs' is simply to build the Grand Ronde Veterans' Memorial, which when finished will provide a stunning example of craftsman ship and a poignant reminder of our indebted ness to Veterans, all for everyone to see in front of the Tribal Governance Center. Fundraisers for the memorial have been oc- sm curring for years now, each and every day one step closer to their goal of $300,000. Ik J Extraordinary Artist Tribal member and Marine Veteran Steve Bobb designed the Veterans' Memorial. Bobb designed the memorial to be a man and a woman dressed in traditional regalia and reaching towards the sky. The memorial will honor Tribal members and members of the communities of Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan. The committee hopes to complete the project in 2003. Royalty Committee BACKGROUND: Technically, this commit tee doesn't exist. Yet. But it was created in 1992, tacked on as a sub-committee of the Pow wow Committee. 2002 should see its official cre ation at some point. L5E1- - til SHOE PEOPLE INVOLVED: Only four (4) people staff this particular body, all of them volunteer ing their time. Tribal Elder Margaret Provost is the Chair. Tribal member Julie Little, who in terviewed for this story, serves as Secretary and Treasurer. KIM2ERS: Claudia Leno, Julie Little Sec retary & Treasurer), Deitrich Peters, and Mar garet Provost (Chair). FUNCTION: Every year at the pow-wow, there are the Royalty contests Miss Grand Ronde, Junior Grand Ronde, etc. Anything dealing with royalty effec tively falls under the duty of the Royalty Committee. That and they recruit young women interested in being represen tatives of the Tribe through Royalty, which according to Little encompasses a whole lot more than fancy regalia. "This really serves as a con fidence builder," said Little. "It gets them used to speaking in public and teaches them to be active in the community." In other words, it's a stepping stone for young ladies who one day see themselves playing prominent roles in the future of the Tribe. But doing so is never easy. Though council gives them a budget, the group committee and roy alty are charged still with procuring their own funds, especially for the big projects. One in the works is sending four young girls to represent Grand Ronde at the Gathering of Nations Na tional Pow-wow in the fall, in New Mexico. Fund-raisers are fairly generic bake sales, can drives and fry bread socials. But they are also efficient. Last year's efforts raked in $5,000. Members are presently trying to develop a boys' version of royalty, which would basically be everything the girls do. They are also en- 5 - A i Ali Holsclaw (L), Grand Ronde Veteran's Sr. Queen, and Halona Butler, Grand Ronde Veter ans Jr. Queen, and princess Hope Lafferty. gaged in one prestigious project for which coun cil has already allocated extra funding. In May, the Royalty Committee will help host 40 young girls from the Czech Republic in what could be called an exchange of cultures. The Czech en tourage is traveling the country with an inter est in .Native American ways, sharing their own culture and colorfulness along the way. Little said the Czechs would perform traditional Slovakian-style dancing and music for Grand Ronde. It should be memorable. B Culture Committee fflffli I o tgj i.y jfc-s-MBSasaam " . BACKGROUND: Years ago, a prototype of the Culture Committee existed, but disbanded for reasons unknown. In October of last year, Tribal Council called into being the present day Culture Committee, which exists unofficially through the General Committee Ordinance, and for all purposes is a work in progress. PEOPLE INVOLVED: Though they had nine members originally, two have since then dropped out, leaving the total number at seven, fitting perfectly into the allocated budget. Members are paid an hourly wage. Tribal member Pat Allen Suppah sits as Chair. They meet the 2nd Tuesday of every month. MENDERS: Jessica Brann Secretary), Joe Brisbois, Don Day (Vice Chair), Peachie Hamm, Marilee Norwest Davis, Janet Phillips, Leon "Chips" Tom, and Pat Allen Suppah (Chair). FUNCTION: Because culture has long played such a key role in the Tribe, a Culture Commit tee was really an eventuality, especially since the Cultural Resources Department itself bears a pretty heavy workload. "When Cultural Resources has an issue," said Tribal member Jessie Brann, Secretary of the committee. "They come to us. And we advise them and council on how to handle it. That's our purpose." Issues have a wide range, too. Securing Tribal artifacts and relics, dealing with sacred sites, and working with many different agencies, Federal government, other Tribes all those comprise the duty of the Culture Committee. The Tribe felt so strongly about all this that they mandated I . . I ' vs. I V I HTr'1?tiTiV -isi committee members take a 40-hour archaeology course taught through the Umatilla Tribe. Mem bers should at the very least know some funda mentals of anthropology and archaeology. "I believe that the Culture Committee is very important to the Tribe in that we have so much culturally significant stuff out there," added Brann. "We need to preserve those. Every time we lose an Elder we lose history. "We need some sort of body out there docu menting this stuff," she said. "People won't for get. It's hard to have a future without parts of your past. The past guides us to the future." Though still evolving, expect to hear more from the Culture Committee. B
