4 SEPTEMBER 1, 2002
Smoke Signals
Kevin Simmons Will Work In The Office Of Congressman David Wu
Hatfield continued from front page
individuals who know their way
around Washington, D.C. and pro
duce long-term benefits for all the
Tribes and the Pacific Northwest.
Simmons, 26, called it, "a great
honor for a young man like myself
to represent the Tribe and a great
responsibility." His approach to
this new adventure is still to be
determined. "I always try to find
my role or play my role."
He kindly declined to talk about
his accomplishments and you only
learn incidentally that he was
president of his class at LaSalle
High School in Portland, or Home
coming King, or even that he
played football in high school and
college. It's not that he's hiding
anything. He has a photograph of
the team in action in a box packed
to go. He likes to remember those
days.
"I just don't want to come off..."
he said. He trailed off rather than
specify the potential pitfalls of talk
ing about yourself.
"It's kind of the way I was
raised," he said. "You do what you
have to do; respect your creator,
respect your family, respect your
community."
After a year working for the
Tribe in Grand Ronde, Simmons
had the highest thanks and praise
for his co-workers in both the Edu
cation and Social Services depart
ments. He was a college counselor
at Education, and is an employ
ment and training specialist at So
cial Services. He reeled off names
of those who have helped him
seemingly without end. "They al
lowed me to spread my wings in the
community.
"A traditional world view is that
need to be within a community and
having these people open their
arms to me. . ." and again he trailed
off. "I've always had a great
amount of help. And this fellow
ship is a great example."
Simmons focused on "Native
American studies" at Humboldt
State University in Areata, Califor
nia, and within that field, his em
phasis was on law and govern
ment. He praised his Catholic
school education while recognizing
the excesses suffered by members
of his family at the hands of other
Catholic institutions. He had
uncles at both Wounded Knee and
the American Indian Movement oc
cupation of Alcatraz "who teased
me" about this education and still
encouraged him to make the most
of it.
"I always had that family there
to rein me in," he said, "keep me in
check and grounded.... They'd tell
me, 'you got this good education
and now you use it. That's what
we do.'
"It was always a learning thing,"
he said of the conflicts of growing
up, "but I didn't always know it."
His fellowship will take him to
serve on Congressman David Wu's
staff from November 1 through
July 31, 2003, but Simmons' only
plans are to "go in with an open
mind and learn."
He'll bring his family with him,
including his fiancee, Robin, and
his 14-month old daughter
Kaelynn Noelani Simmons. Her
middle name, given by her Hawai
ian godfather, means "beautiful
little girl from heaven," he said.
And though this time of year, he
really misses football, he said that
he now focuses his spare time en
ergy on Kaelynn.
Whether law school or govern
ment work is in his future, as he
now suspects, one thing he knows
for sure - "I found my career path.
I can't imagine doing anything else
in life than working with Indian
people." B
Fort Hoskins To Come Alive As An Interpretive Center
The first of three in the area to undergo changes, renovation.
By Ron Karten
Fort Hoskins in the Benton County
city of Hoskins is one of three forts built
to serve the U.S. government's 19th cen
tury policy of moving Indians onto res
ervations. (The other two are Fort Yam
hill in Grand
Ronde, under de
velopment see re
lated story, and
Fort Umpqua at
Winchester Bay on
the middle Oregon
Coast, and not yet
planned for development).
Memorializing sites of oppression
like this is a tricky business. History
is too often slanted by the viewpoint of
its winners, so it is important that all
participants gain a voice in the pro
cess. With that in mind, the Benton
County Parks Department early on
sought representation from the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde and
the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indi
ans on the advisory committee. Rob
ert Kentta, Siletz Tribes' Cultural Di
rector is the Siletz representative and
Tony Johnson, a member of the Chi
nook Tribe, is the representative from
Grand Ronde.
N. I
I - fc
i u y
Benton County Parks purchased the
130-acre property in 1992 from the
Dunn family that (as the Frantz fam
ily) had purchased it from the U.S.
Army in 1866 shortly after the fort
was decommissioned. With the prop
erty, the county also took on the task
of interpreting "multiple layers of his
tory," according to overview materials
supplied by Alisa Larson, an
Assiniboine Indian from the Fort
Belknap Reservation in North Central
Montana who is also a Tribal liaison
on this project for Benton County
Parks.
Three of nine "interpretive" panels
will discuss Indian history at the site.
Others will consider settlement and
Civil War eras, the
boom and bust of the
logging industry, the
Valley & Siletz Railroad
that aided the logging
industry while it lasted
and the current ghost town status of
Hoskins.
Kentta and the Cultural Committee
for the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde drafted the Indian panels. The
panels cover the Aboriginal inhabit
ants the Luckiamute band of the
Kalapuya (Calapooia) as well as In
dian interaction with the fort, and fed
eral Indian removal policies, includ
ing establishment of the reservations.
"Some try to soft shoe these stories,"
said Kentta, "or tell them from the fed
eral government's perspective." His
approach? "To tell the truth."
"I give a lot of talks (on the subject),"
Kentta said, "and sometimes (white)
people come up to me afterward and
say that they're so embarrassed (by the
history). I tell them that there's no
need to feel personally responsible but
when you hear of Tribal issues from
here on out, incorporate this under
standing into your reaction."
The question came up in a public fo
rum: "Why would we want to be in
volved with this the site of a perse
cution?" said Larson. "And our answer
was, 'So that the Grand Ronde and
Siletz side of the story can be told.'"
Opening Day ceremonies will be on
Saturday, September 14, at 10 a.m.
through 2 p.m. It will be the begin
ning of a new era in the life of these
forts, an era of learning and under
Fort Yamhill Project is a Partnership Between Tribes and Parks Department
2006 is a long way off, but the planning has already begun.
By Ron Karten
In 1856, infamous Civil War general
Philip H. Sheridan, then a 2nd Lieuten
ant, supervised construction ofbuildings
at Fort Yamhill. The fort became a
buffer between the newly created Grand
Ronde Reservation and local settlers.
"Initially," said Grand Ronde Cul
tural Resources manager June Olson,
"these forts were built for joint pro
tection protecting Indians from
white people and white people from
Indians. For a short period of time,
they were intended to maintain the
peace. Clearly, federal policy came
into play and the mission quickly
changed."
According to Grand Ronde Tribal
Elder Merle Homes, a participant in
the development of both the Fort Yam
hill and Fort Hoskins sites, "for the ten
years that Fort Yamhill was in exist
ence, the Indians had martial law. The
military decisions were final. There
were no appeals. When they ran away
trying to get back home and were
caught, they got corporal punishment
and they shaved their heads. That may
not be significant to white people, but it
was to our
people."
A lot of
history has
come and
gone and
now the re
stored Con
federated Tribes of
Grand Ronde (CTGR) have formed a
partnership with the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department (OPRD)
to study the site and develop "appro
priate educational and recreational
facilities" there, with a planned pub
lic opening on the fort's 150th anniver
sary in 2006.
1 r -
-: !
..iy ; I
The Parks department bought a 50
acre parcel in 1989, and recently,
CTGR acquired 114 adjacent acres
also associated with the original fort
complex. Archeological studies have
shown that at least 24 buildings in-
developed with the findings of a "grid
walk," said Olson.
In addition, though community in
put has been delayed until the fall,
Parks Department Master Planning
Coordinator Kristen Stallman said that
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imam
eluding a sentry box, officers' quarters,
barracks, carpenter's and
blacksmith's shops, a hospital, cook
houses, stables, barn, and sutler's
(mercantile, with military and Native
supplies) store were located on the
OPRD parcel.
This summer, according to Olson,
crews will do survey work to evaluate
the Tribe's acquisition. Maps will be
this summer would also be devoted to
doing inventory on plant communities,
wildlife habitat and contour informa
tion through aerial photography.
"One of the most important and
challenging elements of the master
plan will be determining the interpre
tive stories the site will tell," accord
ing to a recent Tribal brochure. But
that is still in the future.