JANUARY 15, 2005
University of Oregon Longhouse Dedication
7
Cell Phone
Story It was
the cell phone of
Umatilla Chair
man Anton
Minthom(left)
with its William
f Vj Tell Overture ring
that reminded the
oldest in the
crowd of the
1950s television
western, The
Lone Ranger.
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Solemn find fippireciative Dedic
day, came from 150-year-old
douglasfir trees cut from the forests
of the Coquilles.
On hand for the ceremony was
Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Don Day,
a UO graduate student who har
vested and hand-axed the timbers,
and Tribal member Leslie Riggs, a
UO student who helped Day in the
collection process and participated
in the meetings bringing this build
ing dream to life.
"It took us 11 years," said Jason
Younker Ph.D. (Coquille), who now
teaches anthropology and Native
American studies at Rochester In
stitute of Technology, "but we got
it right."
The dedication kicked off a full
year of celebration. Already, said
Riggs, there is talk about holding
Chinook language classes here.
The day's theme seemed so clear:
the Many Nations Longhouse hon
ored the culture that Oregon's nine
Tribes have in common.
"It's a place where (people from
the nine Tribes) can come and be
in peace," said Grand Ronde Tribal
Council member Jack Giffen Jr.
At a time when Tribal tensions
over a potential Warm Springs ca
sino in the Gorge are simmering,
this longhouse for all Indians, and
for non-Indians, too, showed how
much more in the culture unites the
project.
The Spirit Mountain Community
Fund gave $125,000 to the $1.2
million project at the beginning of
f lit) i r p X
Welcome Professor Rob Proudfoot describes how the longhouse is made of
dreams as UO President Dave Frohnmayer (seated) listens.
Tribes than divides them.
"What's wonderful is we're all
here together," said Cow Creek
Chair Sue Shaffer. The Cow Creeks
provided financial support for the
2002. Used as a matching fund at
a crucial period of fund raising, the
money helped the Grand Ronde
Tribe be "part of their educational
process," said Community Fund
Director Adam Henny.
Of many gifts given to the new
longhouse during the day, Brent
Florendo (Wasco-Warm Springs),
Academic Program Coordinator for
Native American Studies at South
ern Oregon University (SOU), pre
sented a Pendleton blanket for El
ders to keep warm when they visit
the longhouse.
Another was a cradle board made
by Grand Ronde Tribal Council
member Wesley West. "(The
longhouse is) drawing all the Tribes
together culturally and spiritually,"
said West. "I feel that the Tribes
have united more today than at
any other time."
Grand Ronde Tribal Council
member Valorie Sheker-Robertson
presented the cradle board before
the hundreds of guests who helped
usher in this new era at the uni
versity. She said that while the
blanket from SOU honored our El
ders, the cradle board showed Na
tive American concern for young
people.
UO Professor Rob Proudfoot, di
rector of the university's Center for
Indiginous Cultural Survival, stood
tall and spoke at length to the