Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 15, 2005)
Smoke Signals 7 MAY 15, 2005 Tribal Council Members Lobby Congress Expanded hunting and fishing rights will require working with the state. By Ron Karten Reyn Leno, Tribal Council Vice Chairman, and Tribal Council Mem ber Jack Giffen Jr. traveled to the nation's capital twice this month to lobby for Tribal concerns. The first visit grouped concerns about appropriations with an effort to expand Tribal hunting and fish ing grounds. "My feeling is that we got support (for expanding Tribal hunting and fishing grounds at the federal level)," said Giffen, "as long as we do our homework with the state." "I felt they were really receptive to things like our not being able to hunt in our historical hunting grounds," said Leno, "and having to use frozen meat for our cultural events." The Tribe aims ultimately to broaden the hunting and fishing rights for Tribal members through out the Tribe's ceded lands, extend ing from the Columbia River on the north down through the state line on the south, from the Coast Moun tain Range on the west inland to the Cascades Mountains, the range that holds Mt. Hood. Initial efforts in Washington let the Oregon Congressional delega tion know that the Tribe was em barking on this effort but did not go into specifics, Leno said. Currently, Tribal hunting and fishing is limited to the so-called Trask Unit, extending from the coastline on the west through Tillamook and Forest Grove on the north, then from Forest Grove on the East down to McMinnville and then back west through Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan on the south . Traditionally, the Grand Rondes hunted south of Highway 18, V. TTW7 WMAV-a MM 9 1 - """" . - Ma mnx . fc a The Negotiators Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn Leno (right) and Tribal Council member Jack Giffen, Jr. stop at a Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C. where the Trask Unit ends, and on up the mountain to Murphy Sum mit. "We hunted up to the summit," said Leno, "and the Siletz hunted the back side of the mountain." The process of negotiating with the state is just getting underway. "We have been contacted," said Anna Richter Taylor, a spokes woman for the Governor. "We're in the process of scheduling that meeting. The bottom line at this point is that the Governor's office will be sitting down to discuss is sues around hunting and fishing. The Gover nor feels strongly about being a partner with the Tribe." Giffen's testimony to a subcom mittee of the House Ap propriations Committee included three addi tional re quests: "First," from G i f f e n ' s written tes timony, "as others have noted this morning, we are con- c e r n e d about the BIA's proposed budget re structuring. Nobody from the BIA ever consulted with us about redo ing the budget. This is a very sen sitive matter to Tribes, and we ask that the Committee reject the pro posal and instruct the BIA to work with the Tribes on any proposed changes to the budget format. "Second, Grand Ronde requests that Endangered Species funding be restored to the $3 million level provided in FY 2002. Our 120,000 acres of forested Reservation in cludes habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl and the Marbled Murrelet. In FY 1991, when the owl was listed, we worked with other Northwest Tribes and this Committee to establish the very first ESA funding in the BIA... "Finally, Grand Ronde requests that the Committee look into the IHS distribution of Contract Health Services funds to see if it equitably accounts for the absence of any IHS-funded hospitals in the Port land area... We believe... that Con tract Health Services funds should be adjusted to compensate the Port land and California areas for not having any other IHS-funded al ternatives for in-patient care." "I was pretty nervous when I first sat down," said Giffen. "They were all..." and he put his hands on his face and raked them down his cheeks the way people do when they are as bored as they can be, "and I'm thinking, they're not in terested or paying any attention whatsoever." But afterwards, he added, "I felt really good. I got their attention. I made eye contact, and they asked questions afterwards." The second trip, that was also to include Tribal Council Member Angie Blackwell, intended "to tell the Oregon delegation and possi bly the Secretary of the Interior that we have potential problems with a casino at Cascade Locks, and it's not about competition but it's about services for our membership, and being able to maintain those services," said Leno. B People Of The River Native arts from Oregon territory Tribes turn up at the Portland Art Museum. -' - ' .TF. ...... ,. Y ,MM MMII .11111 Q- Interested George Rasmussen had a careful look at the People of the River exhibit. He said that despite a lifelong interest in Indian artifacts, he had never seen anything as good as this exhibit before. By Ron Karten Wandering through rooms of bas kets, sculptures and beadwork, George Rasmussen and his daughter, Linda Hoagland, who have spent years visit ing the petroglyphs along the north banks of the Columbia, took in the pieces of the collection with interest. "I've seen Indian relics," said Rasmussen, who was born in Oregon's High Desert near Burns, "but never anything like this." "My father took me along the river when I was young," said Hoagland. Before the artifacts were fenced in for protection, she used to get up close to She Who Watches and then feel along the ground for "bedrock mortars." "You don't explore like that any more," she said. Meanwhile, Barbara Guetti, an En glish Professor at Portland State Uni versity, had perched her chair by the entrance to the exhibit with a pencil drawing of the exhibit's opening piece in her lap. "I live near the museum," she said, "and love to come and draw the stat ues." Meanwhile, Forest Grove resident Linda Feik said that this exhibit "con firms what I thought about how tal ented the Indians are. The carvings, the art forms are wonderful," she said. Looking at a basalt crocodile-like carving with two 'bowls' carved in its back, she said, "Makes me wonder what some of these were for." Showing at the Portland Art Mu seum through May 29 is "People of the River." The 204 artifacts on display are from "Tribal groups that today live in the Umatilla, Yakama, Warm Springs, Grand Ronde and Chinook communi ties," according to background provided by Elizabeth Martin-Calder, a public relations representative for the mu seum. This is the first major museum ex hibition to focus on the art of the Co lumbia River Indians. The artwork is from Native Americans who have lived along these shores for over 10,000 years. Many of the pieces including work in basketry, sculpture and beads have been stored away in museums and private collections, and not seen publicly for more than 100 years, said Martin-Calder. "The presentation discusses the uniqueness of local Tribal communi ties, their traditions, and how each community developed independently from any other cultural region in North America," said Martin-Calder. "This art style, developed by the Chinookan people, is distinct among Northwest coast art and it deserves attention far beyond a regional focus," said Tony Johnson, Acting Cultural Resources Division Manager. Since 1997, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through the Spirit Moun tain Community Fund has contributed nearly $1.2 million to the museum, and serves as a major sponsor of this exhibit. PORTLAND ART MUSEUM HOURS 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday & Friday. " 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
