JULY 1, 2005
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" Outstanding" Tribal Royalty Melissa Biery, Kayla Kneeland and Leah
Brisbois share a laugh on their 4.3 mile journey through downtown Portland.
Tribe Stars At Grand Floral Parade
Spirit Mountain Casino float wins award.
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By Toby McClary
"Taxayam! Hayash-tseqw
tilixam nsayka!" "Hello! We are the
Columbia River People!," won the
Sweepstakes Award for Most Out
standing Float in the 2005 Floral
Parala rViili
Saturday,
June 11 in
Portland.
The Spirit
Mountain Ca
sino and the
Confederated
Tribes of
Grand Ronde's
float won the
Sweepstakes
Award for the
second year in
a row.
This year's
float was a life-size replica of a
Chinookan village that included
two plankhouses, traditional
Chinookan statues and artwork
designed by Chinook Tribal mem
ber and Acting Culture
Manager Tony Johnson and
Carver Adam Mclsaac.
The float commemorated the
meeting between Northwest Na
tive Americans and the Lewis and
Clark Expedition.
Tribal members Ed
Hanson and J.R.
Robertson portrayed
Lewis and Clark wear
ing buckskin outfits
and Tribal member
Maria Ramirez dressed
as Sacajawea.
Hanson is the Cor-
Tribal Youth Or in John Allen
plained that he relies on the Cul
tural Resources Department and
Tribal member Elaine LaBonte for
as much authenticity as possible.
"I'd like to credit them for their
hard work,"
said Hanson.
There were a
total of 14
people on the
float. Grand
Ronde Royalty
accompanied
Tribal Elder
K a t h r y n
Harrison and
Tribal mem
bers Elaine
LaBonte and
Pearl
Mekemson
weaved tradi
tional baskets on the second stage
of the float.
The float was 70 feet long, 12 feet
wide and 13 feet high.
The Grand Floral Parade is the
second largest all-floral parade in
North America and the largest,
single-day spectator event in Or
egon. The parade travels 4.3 miles
beginning inside the Memorial Coli
seum, continuing throughout
downtown
Portland and finishing at
Lincoln High School.
The parade was broadcasted live
on Northwest NewsChannel 8 and
the Northwest Cable News channel.
"I think the process went ex
tremely well,"
said Hanson. "The fact
that it was a collaborated event
between the casino and the Tribe
was the key to success. This float
gave the Tribe another point of
pride," he said.
Hat Trick Grand Ronde community member J.R. Robertson (right), who
dressed as William Clark of the infamous Lewis & Clark Duo, traded hats with
KGW NewsChannel 8 Weatherman Dave Salesky.
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Over 500,000 people
lined the streets of
Portland for this year's
Southwest Airlines
Grand Floral Parade.
Spirit Mountain Casino's
float won the Sweep
stakes Award for the
second year in a row.