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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2002)
6 DECEMBER 15, 2002 SMOKE SIGNALS Leung house Project Gains Momemit Longhouse continued from front page they appear to enjoy it. They crack jokes, laugh and tease one another and in general seem to be having way too much fun. But they never lose sight of the reason they are here to harvest planks for use in building a Tribal longhouse in Grand Ronde. The planks are gathered using traditional tools; wooden mallets and Yew wood wedges. Suddenly, the crew becomes silent. An air of seriousness falls about them. They are about to make an important split. They stop and carefully examine the log, "reading," the log, as it's called. If it is split wrong, it could ruin many feet of valuable cedar. The idea is to remove as many good planks as possible, with as little waste as possible. Day and volunteer David Lewis carefully line up one of the handmade Yew wood wedges against the end of the log. Lewis swings the heavy wooden mallet and strikes the wedge. The log begins to split, ever so slightly at first then T, 1 ' r i'1 1 L 13 f;" r 1 - kc iW- -ri more and more, as wedges are driven into the split. The log begins to emanate creaks and groans from within, "talking," as the crew calls it. A few more whacks of the mallet and a ten-foot section of cedar plank literally pops out of the log, as . straight and as dry as any you could buy. Tribal members Norman Peters and his nephew Chad Peters hoist the heavy plank and carry it up the hillside, adding it to their growing stack. "You put your heart into it," said Day. "We don't use steel wedges. It's done with lost tech nology, antler and wooden tools. It's not that complicated, it's a matter of reading your wood. Some logs are tough, some split like butter it's very challenging." In 2000, a survey of Tribal members found that about half of those surveyed indicated that they would like to have a longhouse. The Tribal Council decided to look further into the matter. At the time, no one had any idea of how it would be built. The Tribe consulted an architectural firm, which wanted several thousand dollars just to draft the plans. The cost of a commercially built longhouse was estimated to be at least $1,500,000. Instead of paying professional contractors to do it, Day figured, he could organize volunteer workers, who would not only be learning how their ancestors did things, but also giving some thing to the community as well. Day, a Vietnam Veteran, is in his final year of study for an Ar cheology Degree from the University of Oregon. He is an experienced stone tool user, flint knapper, plank-splitter and all-around tradi tional Renaissance man. Day and his crew are following the example of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, who built their longhouse with volunteer labor. Day praised his volunteers highly. "These guys are committed, I mean, look at the weather they're coming out in. And it's not easy work. Some of those planks weigh 300 pounds and take six guys to lift. These guys here are all looking forward to being part of the crew all the way through. They call me the night before, wanting to go. That's pretty cool," said Day. The crew for the day was made up of David Lewis, Norman Peters and his son Jesse, Dietrich Preparation Tribal members Deitrich Peters, Norman Peters and Don Day position Yew wood wedges in a cedar log so Chad Peters (left) can split it into planks. Tools Of The Trade The vol unteers are using only traditional tools to split the logs. Wooden mallets, cut whole from the trunk of the tree, are used to drive the wooden wedges into the cedar logs. Though the wedges are made from tough Yew wood, they don't last long under the pounding they receive from the crew. Day estimates that he has gone through 150 to 200 wedges on the project so far. Peters and his two sons Chad and Dietrich II, with Don Day at the lead. For most of the crew this is their third trip. Except Jesse Peters, 16, who is making his first trip to the woods. He will split his first log today. Like many of the volunteers, Dietrich Peters says he feels privileged to be a part of the pro cess. "It's amazing, really," said Peters. "It's given us all a little knowledge about how we used to do things. And to see our young people getting involved, that's pretty neat," Peters said he al ways takes time on these trips to thank the for est for being what it is. "It's a blessing, that the forest is there. To be able to go up there and feel it's spirit, it does a lot of things for you." Peters and the rest of the crew believe that it is important to gather the planks in a good way. They burn sage to smudge themselves and though they kid and joke while they work, they do not argue or swear around the log. "rJf".V.4 5 m jfif; 2 SfKn--? ill- - '"i 1 By doing this, said Peters, they are respecting the spirit of the tree. Day said the most important thing is to select the right log. First of all, it must have died from natural causes - a "blow over" tree. It must have a straight grain, with as few knots as possible. It must not have any twists or spirals. It can nei ther be too green or too rotten. "It's a real challenge, choosing the right log," said Day. Large, old growth Western Red Cedar suitable for planks is becoming increasingly rare. Day estimated the market value of the log we were working on to be at least $1,000. "For cedar anything, you're talking a lot of money," said Day. 1
