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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2002)
OCTOBER 1, 2002 Smoke Signals 13 His Job Is To Give Away Money To Tribal Members John Harp is the Tribe's Continuing and Distance Education Specialist. By Ron Karten John Harp suspects that not enough Tribal members know what he does. Listen up: he gives away money. As the Tribe's Continuing and Distance Education Specialist, Harp helps Tribal members living anywhere continue their educations. Through the Continuing and Distance Edu cation programs, Tribal members with a high school diploma or GED are eligible for up to $800 school term for undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and supplies; $l,600term for graduate level courses. The only requirement: earn a grade of C or better. At public schools and com munity colleges, $800 could fund two, maybe three, classes along with books and supplies, according to Harp, though for private colleges and universities, the funding will barely cover one class. Harp has been working here in Grand Ronde since July, but has worked as a teacher for more than 20 years. He started as Education coordi nator for the Chehalis Indian Reservation in Oakville, Washington. He also taught at the Yakima Valley Community College both at the main campus and the extension campus on the Yakima Indian Nation Reservation, and most recently at Chemeketa Community College. He came out of the Navy and the war in Vietnam "lost for a little while," he said. He found teach ing, however, and "fell in love with it." His travels among Indian education systems have led him back home time and again. For example, among his former students, he found Richard Sohappy and Jan Reibach Jr. here in Grand Ronde. Today, the Tribe funds about a dozen gradu ate students and more than 500 undergradu ates, said Harp. Of the undergraduates, 435 are Oregon residents including 161 from the Grand RondeWillaminaSheridan area. Eighty-one come from 16 states outside Oregon, and one each come from overseas countries En- John Harp gland and Spain. "These two components help fill out a really comprehensive adult education program for Tribal members," said Harp. "It doesn't really matter whether you want to go full time or part time, there's probably a Tribal program that works for you." So, what does it take to keep these programs going? "To monitor a smooth flow of communi cation and interaction between Tribal members and schools," said Harp. At any one time, Harp manages active files for three terms the most recent one, the current one, and the next one. In each case, he is making sure that students are enrolled and passing their classes, getting the help they need if they encounter academic trouble, checking to see that schools have the necessary papers, that Tribal payments are on time and complete, and in the few cases where students have not satisfactorily passed classes, that their repayment of Tribal moneys is pro ceeding. (Students who do not pass classes with a C or better are obligated to return the fund ing). The department balances "fiscal responsibil ity" with the Tribe's intention that every stu dent "succeed at their coursework...to the great est degree possible," Harp said. "We don't want them to feel like the resources of the Education division are shut off to them because of a one-time bad experience with their schooling," said Harp. As an accommodation, the Tribe allows repayment plans and hard c ship appeals, and as long as one of these op- tions is being met, the Tribe will continue to fund new educational adventures. "We want ( to have several doors open to them to access n these resources," said Harp. Harp started out living and teaching on a rural reservation. He went from there to big cities and community college campuses. Along the way, he taught in "a lot of non-traditional settings," including prisons, migrant labor camps, and developmental disabilities group houses. "This job is like coming home for me," he said. Post-secondary programs at the Tribe include the Higher Education program including adult vocational training (April Campbell) for full and part-time students and the Adult Basic Education program (Joanne Carr) in addition to the Continuing and Distance Education and Short-term Training programs that Harp ad Traditional Longhouse Project Will Be A Gathering Place For Tribal Members In Grand Ronde Volunteers needed to help bring project to reality. By Peta Tinda The Grand Ronde Tribe may soon have a tra ditional long house, if enough volunteers can be found to help build it. The Cultural Committee has been looking at the possibility of building a long house or some other similar gathering place in Grand Ronde for several member Don Day, who is also on the Culture Committee and well known for his knowledge of traditional ways. Day has gotten permission from the Bureau of Land Management to go and harvest fallen cedar trees for the long house. It's difficult work, partly because Day uses only "And not just kids. Big guys. Those planks are heavy." Even though a long house was tradionally a very simple structure, with dirt floors and no windows, getting one built in the modern world presents challenges that the ancestors probably never had. For iSWe need volunteers to get it done. We have all the materials. We have the know-how. Now we just need some folks to volunteer. And not just kids. Big guys. Those planks are heavy." "Grand Ronde Tribal member Don Day years now. Traditionally, such a build ing was made of cedar planks and had an earth floor. The building was used as a gathering place, a place to welcome visitors, and also as a place of prayer, where funerals and the ceremo nies would be held. The Tribal Council has tentatively agreed to the building of a Tribal longhouse, with the un derstanding that it will be mostly volunteers who do the work. It will most likely be modeled after a long house built by the Siletz Tribe, who built theirs with all volunteer labor. "It will be a community effort to get it built, like and old fashioned barn raising," said Tribal Council member Ed Larsen. One of the key volunteers has been Tribal traditional tools, like yew wood wedges and wooden mallets to split the cedar into planks. Then he has to haul the heavy planks up a hill into the back of his pickup truck. He feels that using time honored tools and doing the work by hand is an important aspect to building the long house "In a good way." It's work he's happy to do, because he feels that the Tribe needs a more traditional place to gather. He does concede that it would be easier if he had some help. "We need volunteers to get it done. We have all the materials. We have the know-how. Now we just need some folks to volunteer," said Day. example, there are no blue prints of a tra ditional long house. The knowledge of construction techniques was all inside the builder's head. Nothing was ever written down and few photos exist to give clues to the design. Additionally, building codes, particularly for gathering places, are getting ever more stringent nowadays. Another obstacle is that the site for the longhouse still has not been chosen. So, despite it's initial simplicity, the long house is actually quite complicated. In spite of these difficulties, the Cultural Com mittee and a few motivated volunteers are work ing hard to get a long house built in Grand Ronde.
