6 NOVEMBER 1, 2003
Smoke Signals
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Spirit Mountain Community Fund grant and long time Tribal support make it possible
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By Ron Karten
The crowd circled around the northwest cor
ner of the building and out into the streets. Traf
fic detoured. Parking spaces sat roped off and
idle. Chairs were
scarce. It was so
beautiful, yet too hot
in the sun and too
cold in the shade.
Work on a big new
dorm continued in
the background. All
this as the ceremony
to open Portland
State University's
(PSU) new Native
American Student
and Community
Center began.
Here was the best
sign yet that the university is succeeding in its
effort to make PSU, long a small-city, commuter
school into one with a core, with a heart, where
people not only go to class but stay and study,
bring their children and build community.
And 'community' was the message of dozens
of luminaries from state and Tribal heritages,
from architects and designers, artists and stu
dents, Veterans and even a Portland Public
Schools Native Montessori class, who welcomed
a crowd that could have been a thousand strong,
and whose energy was greater than that.
"So many starts, so many disappointments,"
said former Oregon Governor Victor Atiyeh.
"Now, that's all behind us." Atiyeh was instru
mental in securing $1.2 million in bonds for con
struction of the $4.5 million, 11,000 square-foot
project, according to emcee Tom Ball, a Klamath
Indian and Research Associate at the PSU Or
egon Social Learning Center.
"In an urban area," said Terry Cross, Execu
tive Director of the National Indian Child Wel
fare Association, "in the context of asphalt and
buildings, you find a sense of community by
gathering. We have created a place to gather.
For many, this will be the first experience of a
university campus.
"We are here to dedicate a building, but I call
on all of us to dedicate ourselves. This is a cen
ter that belongs not just to the city and to the
region, but to the Tribes. The real test is how
we use it."
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"I See It As A Vision" Grand Ronde Tribal
Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy spoke with passion at
the opening celebration.
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What Is Old Is New Again After ten years of hard work, planning and fundraising, the Portland State University
N.A. Student and Community Center opened its doors on Friday, October 24. The student center will be a home away
from home for the hundreds of Native students from around the country who attend PSU.
"I see it as a vision," said Cheryle Kennedy,
Chairwoman for the Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde. "All people have certain gifts, and
vision is one of them. (This vision was fulfilled
in this building) so we could take our rightful
place.
"When we look at the banks of the river that
flows through Portland, these are the homes of
our ancestors. They used to have their villages
here. These were the highways of my people.
"This building will serve for generations to
come ... (a place where) we can all come together
and give honor to each other. It shows our will
ingness to embrace one another," said Kennedy.
"Education is a key value of the Spirit Moun
tain Community Fund," said Spirit Mountain
Community Fund Director Angie Blackwell. The
Community Fund contributed $250,000 to the
project. The Fund's "commitment to lifelong
learning" also supported the Mark O. Hatfield
School of Government.
PSU students initiated this project back in the
1980s, according to William Elk, a former officer
of PSU United Indian Students of Higher Edu
cation, who took his turn pushing the project
forward starting in 1996. "Students were talk
ing about it ten years prior," he said.
"He was like a burr in our side," said Kathryn
Harrison, Tribal Elder and former Chairwoman
of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ron.de, who
singled him out as a driving force for the project.
"I thought, 'Crazy kid, what makes you think
you'll collect that much money.'"
Elk said he knew the project was on its way
when former PSU President Judith Ramaley
gave the group $35,000 for architectural draw
ings and set aside a piece of land for the project
"if we could get the fund-raising started."
Elk is now manager of Information Systems
for the Wildhorse Resort, a project of the Con
federated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reser
vation in Pendleton.
The Umatillas also contributed to the building
fund, along with the Siletz, Warm Springs, Nez
Perce Tribes and the Oregon Indian Education
Association. Many Indian associations, indi
vidual Indians and Native families also contrib
uted. Nineteen individuals served as Native
American Community Advisory members and 17
Tribes were represented at the opening cer
emony. Following 90 minutes worth of speeches,
Kathryn Harrison cut the ribbon, and after
wards said that as she cut it, she thought, "Oh, I
just wanted to cry for all those students who went
to school here and had this vision, and for their
families, who stood by them."
With the ribbon cut, the crowds surged into
the building from all sides from the west with
the classrooms, offices and computer room and
from the east, with the well lit Gathering Area
the so-called Civic Side and Wild Side.
The Gathering Area is on the Wild Side with
six poles rising like teepee poles that appear to
go up through the roof. Above, the poles con
tinue skyward above a courtyard... well, the de
sign team says it beautifully: "The Wild Side is
organic, constructed of brick, stone and block with
light penetrating the building in mysterious
ways. Lines of light in the roof spine filter day
light into the central gallery and provide a way
home at night. A courtyard for the students and
community honors the salmon and extends the
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All Indian Access Natives from all over Oregon
were on hand to celebrate the opening of the student
center. Grassdancer Amanda Wright (left), Traditional
dancer Rosa Frutos, and Junior Miss Mak-Klakas Queen
Rebecca Kirk (right) danced in the Grand Entry.
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