Smoke Signals 5
MARCH 15, 2003
ribe's flasket Display Brings History T Ljfe
Baskets continued from front page .
tives, and represent different
styles, techniques and materials
used in basket making. The ex
hibit will be open until April 17.
Admission is free to Tribal mem
bers. "The idea of the exhibit was to
showcase the baskets and show the
continuity between weavers," said
Lindy Trolan, Cultural Collections
Specialist for the Tribe, who along
with Cultural Projects Assistant
Kim Mueller helped prepare the
display. "We tried to incorporate a
historical perspective with present
day. There are baskets from
present day Grand Ronde weavers,
as well as baskets from pre-settler
days, as old as the 1830's."
the rich history of Western Oregon
basketry. Baskets were an essential
item to Natives, critical in gathering
of traditional foods like camas,
tarweed and clams. They are also an
expression of the skill and artistry of
the weavers. There is a strong tradi
tion of basketry in Grand Ronde.
Tribal Elder Martha Jane Sands was
a prominent weaver, as were many
of her children.
"People don't know a lot about
Western Oregon basketry," said
Trolan. "There's not a lot written
down. With this we want to say
who Grand Ronde is, where the
people come from and that these
traditions still continue."
Mueller said the response to the
Many non-Natives do not know of display has been overwhelmingly
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Through The Looking Glass Tribal Elder Nora Kimsey made the trip to Salem
to be part of opening night at the Mission Mill Museum exhibit of Grand Ronde basketry.
positive.
"It was great working with the
Mission Mill people," said Mueller.
"Everyone there for the opening
night had positive things to say. A
lot of the Elders who were there
complimented us on the display.
And the baskets themselves are
great. It's a beautiful, beautiful
collection." B
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"I Remember" Tribal member Margo Mercier was part of the group from Grand
Ronde who attended the exhibit's opening night. Mercier grew up in Grand Ronde
and remembers what it was like growing up in a basket making family and listening to
members of her family speak in Chinuk.
A Collaborative Exhibit
by
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
and
Mission Mill Museum
Planned, Designed and Installed by
Lindy Trolan, Kim Mueller, Kuri Gill, Kari Busch. and David Birch
Display The Cultural Resources Department's most recent effort at increasing
understanding of Native Americans is seen in this museum exhibit showing baskets
from the 19th Century to modern times.
Cultural Committee Advises Tribal Council, Culture Program
By Ron Karten
The Cultural Resource Committee
is the advisory arm of both Tribal
Council and the Cultural Resources
Department.
"We're restoring the culture and tra
dition of the Tribe," said Committee
Chairwoman and Tribal member Pat
Allen. "It wasn't lost, but needed to be
revived."
Currently, the committee is moni
toring the work on the Portland Har
bor superfund cleanup, reviewing in
terpretive signs on Interstate 5, pro
ducing commemorative pouches for the
Lewis & Clark bicentennial, prepar
ing for the 20 Year Celebration of Res
toration coming up in November and
it is about to bring forth what com
mittee secretary and Tribal member
Janet Phillips called, "a new custom"
for the Tribes: The First Annual Bless
ing of Our Land, Food and Water.
Look for it March 29.
Committee member and Tribal El
der Don Day has been collecting cedar
for the building of a traditional long
house (See SS, 121502). "We're be
coming more aware of our culture and
creating a better understanding be
tween culture and people," said Day.
Committee members blessed the
Lummi Healing Pole when it came
through Portland last summer (See SS,
91502)." They will be teachers for
Tribal children at the first Tribal sum
mer camp this year. They will lead
the blessing of the white deer. They
are considering involvement in the
clean up of the Chemawa Indian School
cemetery.
"We're caretakers of the land," said
Allen. "We need to become more in-
Don Day
volved with what's going on around
us."
"It keeps us very, very busy," said
Phillips.
Geographic Information Systems Uses The Technology Of The Future To Protect The Past
By Ron Karten
The start of the Culture
Department's GIS (Geographic Infor
mation Systems) work is digitizing
a geographic area. The tool used
takes satellite readings for accuracy
of within 10 feet, said Josh Levy, the
Tribe's GIS Specialist. Levy then as
signs information on layers. For in
stance, topographical features like
rivers and roads and mountains may
be on one layer; federal and state
projects may be on another layer; and
culturally significant sites may be on
another layer. The computer program
allows Levy to view those layers in any
combination.
Then, for example, Levy can find out
how often culturally significant sites
are found at a river's edge or the foot
of a mountain or how close it is to other
important cultural sites in the area.
"It's useful for planning and man
agement," said Levy.
And for the future, it offers the pos
sibility that the Tribes will be able to
make predictions with a fair degree of
accuracy, as for example, the likeli
hood that there are or aren't objects of
cultural significance in one place or
another.
Imagine the power of such a sys
tem, when you add a number of pre
historic layers that show, for ex
ample, changes in land use patterns
historic trails, gathering sites,
sacred sites, petroglyphs, pictographs
or village locations. (Much of this
information may be unavailable to
the general public in order to safe
guard the sites).