4 JULY 15, 2003
Smoke Signals
Tribal Members Reunited With Tomanowos In New York City
Tomanowos continued from
front page
sky people to come to our planet. Most
people who refer to it as the Willamette
Meteorite don't know how to pronounce
Willamette.
Although its origins are mysterious,
its present situation is clear cut. It is
a long way from home and encased in
steel and concrete in the largest city
in the world.
Clackamas Tribal people never saw
the Statue of Liberty. They never saw
Central Park or took a tour of the mu
seum that would become home to their
sacred rock.
When warriors dipped their arrows
in the pockets of water that collected in
Tomanowos, they were hoping for luck,
health and protection. They had no idea
their source of strength would one day
become someone's property. They had
no idea that the eventual "owners"
would hack pieces of it offand offer them
up for sale to the highest bidder or the
most interested trader. People who
think they own those pieces should be
ware or at the very least be careful.
Tomanowos' fingers were just as
important to him as yours are to you.
Why would they be for sale? Because
they are valuable that's why. Because
at 15 and a half-tons, Tomanowos is
the sixth largest meteorite to ever land
on Earth and is easily one of the most
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Home For Now Oregon's Willamette Meteorite or Tomanowos as it is know to
the Clackamas People is currently being displayed in the Rose Center for Earth and
Space at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. In June, a group of Grand
Ronde Tribal members traveled to New York to be reunited with Tomanowos in an
annual ceremony.
famous space rocks ever. It is a com
modity traded by museum curators and
hobby collectors globally.
For now, Tomanowos sits in the
Museum of Natural History as the cen
terpiece of the Rose Center for Earth
and Space. The museum's newest sec
tion is home for the meteorite and
draws millions of visitors from around
the world to see it, to touch it. Chil
dren gather around it and they feel its
rough edges, and they imagine.
For the third year in a row, Tribal
members traveled to New York City
in June to be reunited with
Tomanowos.
Tribal member Bobby Mercier was
asked by the Tribal Council to perform
the private ceremony afforded Tribal
members on an annual basis. The mu
seum staff cleared the building out and
secured each entrance. Tribal members
were brought in and they were allowed
some quiet time with Tomanowos.
If you listen intently, Tomanowos
will speak to you.
"Why did it take you so long," said
Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison of her
impression of what Tomanowos was
saying to her. "I've been waiting a
long time to see you."
Those gathered, including the two
Tribal youth selected as this year's in
terns to the museum, said they felt
humbled to be in the presence of this
sacred object.
For now, Grand Ronde Tribal people
will continue their pilgrimage to the
largest city in the world. They will
fly in big airplanes and stay in leg
endary hotels. They will brave the
infamous New York cab rides and ven
ture into the subways to see the sights
maybe even a celebrity or two.
They will walk around the streets in
awe and wonder. They will eat a slice
of pizza and watch the colorful vari
ety of people go by.
Each time we come from home to
this place, we will bring a little bit of
home with us. We will share that little
bit of ourselves with Tomanowos just
like it shares it power with us when
we are in its presence. And, we will
thank Creator. A-ho.
They Have Plans For The Future, But Right Now It's All
Tribal Member Twins Julie and Jada Endicott raise the level of school sports at Taft
About Work, Play
High School in Lincoln City.
By Ron Karten
This summer, the Endicott twins
will travel two hours each way to play
ball for the Northwest Outlaws, an
Amateur Softball Association team
based in Kelso, Washington. The
coach had seen what they did for the
Taft High School Tigers and invited
them to join.
They discovered that even in the
amateur big leagues, not many play
ers have the competitive juice that
keeps the two of them going.
"Only three at the most are looking
to be recruited (by a college team),"
said Julie Endicott, daughter of Cathy
Steere, Operations Manager for the
Spirit Mountain Gaming Commis
sion. "For most, the goal is not to win,
just to pass the summer and have
fun, and we went to go out and kill."
"I don't mind if we lose games," said
twin sister Jada. "I just want every
body to try."
The girls graduated this year from
Taft High School and brought the Taft
volleyball and Softball teams from ob
scurity to the top of their leagues.
Jada helped do the same for the bas
ketball team.
"The volleyball team never had gone
to state or even took first place in a
tournament," said Julie, "but this past
year, we won the league champion
ship." The softball team, which sat
in the cellar for years, ended up first
in the league this year and went to
the semi-finals at state. The basket
ball team had not won the league since
1979, according to Jada, but won the
league this year and went to state.
Their successes come on the heels
of their dedication.
"We don't have time to hang out
with friends," said Julie. "I work two
jobs, play sports and sleep. During
the school year, with softball and
homework, I get about five hours of
sleep. Sometimes," she said of sister,
Jada, "she goes off of three."
"I had really hard classes," said Jada.
She referred to calculus honors English
literature, and anatomy-physiology.
When it comes to Julie's best sub
ject, she said, "Boys," but with the joke
over, she added, "My favorite class was
weight training."
When Jada's math teacher left Taft
after her junior year, and another, less
well-received teacher came in, Jada and
Julie regularly traveled to Waldport
where their teacher had gone (1-12
hours each way) to get help and extra
University in Spokane. ' - - - -
She came up with the plan this way:
"I went to our school counselor and
said, 'this is what I want to do. How
do I get there?' I also want to stay as
close to Oregon as possible, to be close
to our little sister, Kari." Kari is six
years old.
Not necessarily so for Jada. "I don't
care about being close to home," she
said. "I want the full college experi
ence." Her plans are to go to school at
the University of Hawaii at Manoa in
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work that would help them keep up
with the subject.
While both sisters still hold out hope
of being recruited by a college team -possibly
Northern Idaho College in
Coeur d'Alene, they have alternative
plans in place. Julie wants to attend
Oregon State University for pre-nurs-ing
courses, then transfer to Linfield's
nursing program and finally study an
esthesiology for four years at Gonzaga
Honolulu for a year and then maybe
transfer to University of California at
San Diego to pursue a pre-med college
career.
Jada earned all A's with one excep
tion in high school. That math
teacher. Along with good grades and
a batting average in the high 300s,
Jada earned the Valco League's
Scholar Athlete award, and a similar
one from the Army. For the last two
years, she also earned the Athlete of
the Year award.
Julie was named to the softball sec
ond team All League as a right fielder
in her freshman year, and in Volley
ball, was first team All League off-side
hitter.
In academics, the story is also very
competent. "I can keep above a three
point," said Julie, "but not a 3.5." And
one subject caused particular prob
lems. She couldn't stand that math
teacher. "Jada had to teach me," she
said.
Besides playing ball this summer,
each of the girls has a job on a tree
farm in Grand Ronde. They get up at
five in the morning and work from six
to three each day.
"Being outside makes the day go by
faster," said Julie.
"Yeah, watching me do all the work,"
said Jada.
Julie also is a hostess at Mo's Res
taurant in Lincoln City. "I don't like
it," said Julie. "The work environ
ment is not very interesting. Stand
ing, waiting for two hours at a time.
The waitresses don't like where you're
seating people and management com
plains that you want SO MUCH time
off to play softball."
"A lot of hot guys come in," suggested
Jada.
"Yeah, but they all have hot girls
attached to them," said Julie.
The girls attribute their sports start
tot-ball.
"We've been playing ever since," said
Julie. "We've been able to get better
because there's two of us and we com
pete." "With hard feelings?" asked Jada,
whose batting average is higher.
"Yeah," said Julie. Then, she added,
"You're not better than me so don't give
me that smile."
"Yeah," smiled Jada.