Smoke Signals 7
DECEMBER 1, 2003
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Family - Tribal Prevention Education Counselor Vernon Kennedy (right) holds his grandson,. Kaleb Allen, 18 months, while Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy gives
him a squeeze. The Tribes' Restoration Celebration was a time for families to come together in the traditional way, as a community.
Restoration Celebration Brings Tribal Folks Together
By Ron Karten
The image is hard to ignore:
Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison
driving up and down Grand Ronde
Road blowing her car's horn. That
was Tribal member Mark Mercier's
brightest memory of that day and
it told him something he had been
waiting almost 30 years to hear:
"So, I knew we were restored," he
told the crowd at the 20th Anniver
sary Celebration.
People came out of gratitude and
honor. Oregon Senate Majority
Leader Kate Brown, came because,
"This Tribe has given me so much
and taught me so much." Brown
is a long-serving member of the
Spirit Mountain Community Fund,
a bridge between the Tribe, casino
and the Legislature, and a mem-
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ber of the state Senate's Indian
Committee.
Tribal Elders Ellen Fischer,
Charlene Hoover and Joanna
Engelhorn, who are involved in In
dian education, used some of the
celebration to talk about what it
meant to them to be a part of the
Grand Ronde resurgence.
Fischer started out working as a
matron at the Chemawa Indian
School in Salem. She learned
things about students by observing
them after school and asking ques
tions. She went back to school for
a Special Education license, and
has since been part of the Indian
community active in turning
around the lives of Indian students.
It was not until Restoration that
Grand Ronde Indians
could even attend
Chemawa.
Hoover and Engelhorn
now work as volunteers
with the federal Title VII
program in Eugene
schools. It provides
Tribal outreach and
clubs to teach about Na
tive regalia, dance, living
and foods. It also is start
ing to catch Indian stu
dents who are falling be
hind in their studies and
Songs Local group
Cedar Feather Drum
performed during the
Tribes' Restoration
Celebration.
those who need help and guidance
for moving on to college.
"They have to earn it," she said.
It gives them respect."
For Tribal member Nancy
Renfrow, Restoration exemplified
another "great family gathering.
"I want to express my apprecia
tion for the casino employees be
cause they're here 247, working
with our customers, and they're the
ones that make the big difference,"
she said.
Tribal member Dakota
Whitecloud "was thinking how I felt
when I was a little girl and we were
terminated. It was horrible. I was
eight. I came home from school, a
happy kid, but Grandma was cry
ing and I didn't know why. She
said I couldn't be an Indian any
more. I could only be an American.
I looked at my skin and it hadn't
changed colors any and I asked
why. She said the President had
signed a paper that said I couldn't
be an Indian anymore."
For Tribal member Chris Mercier,
he only learned about being an In
dian around Restoration time. He
was in the third grade. "Our mom
kind of sat us down and explained
the fact that we were Indians. She
had a collection of those Time-Life
books on the West. She took down
the Battle of Little Big Horn, I re
member because I loved westerns in
those days. She told us how Sitting
Bull whipped Custer, and we went,
"Yeahhh!"
For Tribal member Jocelyn Kirk,
a junior at Oregon State Univer
sity who also works as an Intern
in the Tribal Education program,
participating in Restoration and
other Indian activities is part of
'giving back.' "My feeling is they're
paying for my school, I've got medi
cal, and it's my choice to be giving
back. I'm grateful for them."
Richard Kline, the Casino's act
ing General Manager, described a
dual effort to keep the Restoration
event separate, "memorable and
special" for all of the Elders, coun
cil members. It took "very good
planners" like Food and Beverage
Manager Toby TenEyck and Ex
ecutive Chef Richard Burr and the
work of their staffs to make the
going smooth both inside the Bingo
Hall where the Restoration events
took place and on the casino floor,
said Kline.
And down the hall in the Rogue
Room, Tom Bland, Manager of
Playworld and the Arcade, had a
setup for the kids of Tribal mem
bers that was like dreamland.
Open the door and tens of kids were
break dancing and acrobating.
Balloons were all over and you
know it's a good party when even
the garbage pails are filled with hot
dogs and popcorn.
Meanwhile, across the casino,
Crystal Gayle said between songs,
"I have Cherokee blood. When all
of our family gets together, we're
almost full-blooded." B