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History Baskets from the Grand Ronde collection are currently on display at the Mission Mill Museum in
Salem until April 17. The baskets showcase the skill and artistry of Willamette Valley Natives. Tribal Elders
Kathryn Harrison (left) and Merle Holmes (right) attended the display's opening. This issue of Smoke Signals
is dedicated to our Tribe's Cultural program with several stories inside that relate to cultural issues.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Tribe's Cultural Program works on a wide variety
of projects.
Stories and Photos by Ron Karten
With a staff of nine, the Cultural
Resources Department manages the
cultural collection, protects impor
tant cultural sites and teaches
Chinukwawa.
"We're working together to iden
tify, preserve and restore the Tribe's
cultural resources and to revitalize
common practices that are still of
interest to the Tribe," said Tribal
member June Olson, Manager of
the Cultural Resources Depart
ment. History, however, "is equally im
portant and may be larger than tra
ditional practices," said Olson. Ques
tions like, who the Tribes were and
what life was like for them before
Restoration and back through his
tory are not taught in school and it
falls to the Cultural Resources De
partment to fill that teaching role.
The Cultural Collections team
June Olson
manages the physical record of the
Tribes. This includes the clothes
and tools, the shelters and weap
ons made by and used by the
Tribes; photographs and drawings,
documents and books relating to
Tribal history and culture, as well
Cultural Department continued on page 7
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Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
Community of Oregon
9615 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
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Cultural Department staff members play a key role.
By Peta Tinda
The Western Oregon basketry
display at the Mission Mill Museum
in Salem presents the form, func
tion and beauty of traditional Na
tive baskets and leaves the viewer
with a better understanding of the
people that made them.
The baskets of the display are all
the work of Willamette Valley Na-
Baskets continued on page 5
Bringing The Summers
Collection Home
Hundreds of items have been in storage in Lon
don for 100 years; only three have been displayed.
By Ron Karten
In December, a Tribal delegation
from Grand Ronde traveled to Lon
don for a viewing of the 125-year-old
Summers collection. This was
the latest step in a 15-year effort to
repatriate the single most important
collection of Grand Ronde Indian
artifacts.
At 300 pieces, the collection will
be a sizeable addition to the 1,100
piece collection the Tribe now has,
but its full value goes beyond the
individual pieces.
"What makes this one so special,"
said Lindy Trolan, Cultural Collec
tions Specialist for the Cultural
Resources Department of the Con
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde,
"is the variety and that all can be
traced back to one particular place
here. You know, in many cases,
we know what household (the ob
jects) came from, who was the
maker and where they came
from... To have the wealth of in
formation (that accompanies) the
Summers collection is unheard of."
Collection continued on page 8