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
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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.
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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.
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