JUNE 1, 2004
Smoke Signals 3
Memorial Day Ceremony Will Showcase Community Tribute To Veterans
Proud Tribal Veteran Gene LaBonte recently helped with cleaning and maintaining the West
Valley Veterans' Memorial in preparation for Memorial Day and other upcoming events.
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With Care Volunteers from the Northwest Indian
Veterans Association planted new flowers and spread
new mulch on the Veterans' Memorial.
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Update 1 50 new names were added to the Veterans' Memorial, along with new eagle feathers
denotingTribal members. The new names were unveiled at a ceremony on Monday, May 3 1 in Grand
Ronde.
New Names Added Kelly Breeding of Oregon
Memorials works on one of the 20-foot black granite
obelisks. Granite is the third hardest substance known,
after diamonds and sapphires.
New Life For Kalapuyan Book, With Help Of The Cultural Resources Department
KALAPUYANS
continued from front page
own perspective.
This in some ways makes the
book a clear snapshot of Kalapuyan
culture at the time of first contact
and the period following.
But it also makes it somewhat dif
ficult for the average reader to grasp.
The new edition is more accessible
and easier to read.
"It's the first attempt by our de
partment on behalf of the Tribe to
have something published that
gives the history of the Tribe in a
comprehensive way so that Tribal
members and the general public
can pick up the book and under
stand what happened," said Tribal
Cultural Resources Manager June
Olson, who also added to the new
afterward.
Other Tribal members contrib
uted to the afterward, explaining
the link between themselves and
their relatives in the book.
Tribal Language Specialist Jackie
Whisler told of her memories of her
great-grandfather John Hudson, a
direct descendant of Chief Joseph
Hudson, one of the original signers
of the 1885 Willamette Valley
Treaty and primary spokesman for
Kalapuyan today and the special
connection he feels to the land of
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Resource The second edition of The Kalapuyans has been given a new
cover, new photographs and a new afterward. It has also been made more
accessible and easier to read. The book has long been one of the most readily
available sources of information ofWillamette Valley Natives. The new cover is a
photo by Kim Mueller.
the Kalapuya in the late 1800's.
Tribal Librarian Chris Mercier
explained what it means to be
his ancestors.
"We tried to bring out more of the
Native perspective and the cultural
values of the time," said Olson.
Chinuk Language Specialist
Henry Zenk, who works with the
Tribal language department and
has spent over 20 years studying
the language with Grand Ronde
Tribal Elders, edited and corrected
the spellings and pronunciations of
the Chinuk words used in the book
to the Chinuk Wawa spellings.
One thing the Cultural Depart
ment sought to rectify is the chap
ter titled "The Last Kalapuyan."
"Whether it's the Kalapuya or any
other Tribe, the historians always
say 'last,m said Olson. "Maybe they're
referring to the last full-blood or the
last to live with the culture prior to
the reservation era, but it implies
that there are no descendants; that
the people themselves are dead...
and that's simply not the case.
"What we are trying to do is to
displace the myth that creates ig
norance of the people today and
who we are as a Tribe," said Olson.
The book has been reprinted in
an edition of 5,000. If you would
like to purchase a copy of The
Kalapuyans, it is available through
the Tribal Cultural Resources De