8 MARCH 15, 2003
Smoke Signals
Bringing The Summers Collection Home; Hund
Collection continued from front
The four-member Tribal delega
tion included Tribal Council Chair
woman Cheryle Kennedy, Tribal
Council Secretary June Sell
Sherer, and Cultural Resources
staffers Lindy Trolan and Kim
Mueller.
The story goes back to Reverend
Robert W. Summers, an Episcopal
priest who lived and worked in
McMinnville from 1873-1881.
While in Oregon, he purchased,
collected and documented hundreds
of objects from Grand Ronde Indi
ans. When Summers was nearing
death, he reportedly gave the col
lection to a friend, the Reverend
S.C. Freer, for safekeeping. Freer
had a connection at the British
Museum and on September 6, 1900,
Freer passed the collection on.
Except for three pieces that were
on display when the delegation ar
rived, the 300-piece collection has
been meticulously packed in boxes
nearly all of this time. Though the
collection is accessible to public scru
tiny by request and has previously
been viewed, most of it has in the
last century rarely seen the light of
day.
"To our knowledge," said Trolan,
"(the three) are the only objects
from the collection that have ever
been on display."
"I was very disheartened to learn
that this collection has not been on
display in the museum but has
been in storage," said Sell-Sherer.
"It saddens me to know that these
page.
I ' V 'U l!
'H r V-
Londoners A delegation from Grand Ronde, including Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle Kennedy (second from left) and Tribal Council Secretary June Sell-Sherer (middle)
recently made a trip to London, England with Culture Department staffers Lindy Trolan
(far right) and Kim Mueller (second from right) to view Grand Ronde Tribal items from
the Summers collection that are being kept in a "storehouse" of the British Museum in
London. While visiting the collection, the Grand Ronde delegation met with Museum
Curator Dr. Jonathan King. King is in charge of the museum's Department of North
American Ethnography.
precious artifacts that mean so much
to our people have not been open
for public viewing."
The delegation had to request
each piece individually. "They
brought the boxes out one at a
time," said Mueller. In five days,
Trolan and Mueller photographed
and documented every piece.
In addition, by checking through
the museum's database, the team
discovered another 900 objects from
Oregon.
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NIGHT BEFORE A SPIRITUAL
QUEST
"That night (before viewing the
collection) I didn't sleep at all," said
Kennedy. "I asked myself, 'Why
can't I sleep?' Then I knew why.
When I looked at the first articles,
a part of me knew why. June and
I were the first Grand Ronde people
to see and touch this article that our
own people had made and used
more than 100 years ago. I hon
estly felt like crying. This wave of
emotion came over me. I
don't know what that feel
ing was. To know that this
was your great, great aunt
that made this... It was a
spiritual thing."
Nearly fifteen years ago,
Grand Ronde resident and
Oregon State University
graduate student Dennis
Werth used drawings to
help describe for the Tribal
Council many of the pieces
in this collection. That was
the first that Kennedy
knew of the collection, but
even then she asked, 'What
are we doing to get this (collection)
back?"
It was not until two years ago,
however, that Trolan opened an
email dialogue with Dr. Jonathan
King, Curator, North America De
partment of Ethnography of the
museum, leading to the five-day
visit at the beginning of December.
QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP
The relationship between the
Tribal delegation and museum di
rectors was more than cordial.
"They were very sympathetic,"
said Kennedy.
"They didn't deny the fact that
(the collection) belonged to the
Grand Ronde people," said Mueller.
At the same time, in Great Brit
ain as elsewhere, the legacy of co
lonialism remains both as indefen
sible as it is hard to eliminate. At
one time, it was an article of faith
that the sun never set on the Brit
ish empire. During (and after) that
long period of colonization, the Brit
ish Museum has received artifacts
from these colonies.
"They were also firm that the law
of the land is that everything (in
the museum) belongs to the people
(of Great Britain), and that noth
ing has ever been returned," said
Kennedy. In short, she added, "It
would take an Act of Parliament to
change that."
Even knowing that, the Tribal
delegation traveled to London to
deliver the message: "We're here
to repatriate our artifacts,"
Kennedy told her hosts.
CULTURE IN THE EYE OF
THE BEHOLDER
When it came to looking at, pick
ing up and turning over the actual
items, Kennedy said, "I felt like gen
erations of my people were there
with me."
Items of greatest interest to
Kennedy were the pipes. "I didn't
know we had or used pipes here,"
she said.
"The bowl carved in bone," said
Kennedy. "It had to be a whale
the detail of it. It's just beautiful
the cutouts on the handle - the
faces on it. It had carved faces...
Everything I saw just amazed me."
My great grandfather was a
Emotional
Seeing pieces of the
collection like this purse
(the larger picture at left is
the back of the purse and
the smaller picture at right
is the front) had an
emotional impact on
members of the Tribe's
delegation that visited the
British Museum in London.
"When I looked at the first
articles, a part of me knew
why. June and I were the
first Grand Ronde people to
see and touch this article
that our own people used
more than 100 years ago.
I honestly felt like crying.
This wave of emotion came
over me," said Tribal
Chairwoman Cheryle
Kennedy.
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