Smoke Signals 5
JUNE 1,2006
LEWIS continued
from page 4
quelle Tribe. After Wasson, the
project continued under his nephew,
Jason Younker (Coquelle).
During the two trips to D.C., each
of which lasted four to six weeks, the
group has collected 110,000 pages of
documents.
Although there is a lot more out
there, said Lewis, "I don't have a
sense yet of how much to collect.
Most older universities have some
archives."
He guesses that the pages collected
so far represent "maybe around a
third" of the total out there. The re
cent Coquelle grant keeps the project
moving forward.
In the 1998 trip back to D.C., the
project, said Lewis, "we had primar
ily Oregon Tribal members including
Patti Whereat (Coos Lower Umpqua),
director of the Tribe's Cultural De
partment at that time; Robert Ken
nta, Director of Culture and today a
Tribal Council member for the Siletz;
Denise Hockema (Coquelle); Amanda
Mitchell (Coquelle); and Lewis.
The group sent the collected mate
rial back to the University of Oregon
and organized them into a library
collection in 1999. All copies are be
ing kept in archival boxes to preserve
them as long as possible.
In 2001, the group published an
inventory of the collection.
"Also in 2001, we had a potlatch
where we gave all of the Oregon
Tribes copies of the collection," said
Lewis.
The effort has enjoyed several
grants showing institutional sup
port for the project, including over
$200,000 from the primary sponsor,
the Coquelle Economic Development
Corporation. Grants also have come
from the Smithsonian Institution and
many departments at the University
of Oregon.
The project needs around $10,000
a year to maintain and access the re
cords collected so far, said Lewis.
Since the Coquelle's $20,000 grant,
Lewis received a $5,000 grant from
the Morse Center for Law and Poli
tics to teach a class on Oregon Indian
History. It will be offered during
UO's winter term.
and culture. They can do their own
research into what occurred between
the United States and the Tribes,
(into) what conditions were like. The
knowledge in SWORP doesn't exist
in history books with an American
agenda," said Lewis.
"In next decade or so, Indians in
Oregon are going to start writing
their own history, sort of what hap
pened with Kathryn Harrison's book.
Celebration Feather dance regalia, including woven dresses with beads and shells served as
the subject of a UO class discussion about Nee-dash, an annual World Renewal Celebration, a spiritual
celebration for Coastal and Valley Natives of Oregon and California, held once a year each December.
Documents in the SWORP cata
logue will enable Lewis to describe
events that do not appear in Oregon
history books. After a century and
a half of history told from dominant
society perspectives with dominant
society research, Lewis sees a new
generation of historians working
from Indian documents providing
an Indian perspective.
He called it an "answer to the coloni
zation of our intellectual knowledge."
"The Tribes can recover language
It was Kathryn Harrison basically
telling her own history. So now we
have a more detailed recent history.
We can create a more detailed his
tory, a history almost never taught
in any kind of public school.
"It's true about the Grand Ronde
Tribe as well. In 1999, they hired
Stephen Dow Beckham to write
their history. Tribes are hiring the
white historians. They have not
tapped into the Native historians
yet. It's also true of recent book put
out by the Cultural Department,
the second edition of the Mackey
book (The Kalapuyas). It was the
same book with a few addendums
in the back by Tribal members, so
it's continuing to support the non
Indian history of Indians.
"Kathryn Harrison's book is a good
start. Another book is by George
Aguilar, a Warm Springs Tribal
Elder, When the River Ran Wild,
published by the
Oregon Historical
Society.
"(The collection
is) a basis for be
ginning to write
books, and more
important, a basis
for beginning to
write textbooks for
public schools."
Many pieces
of the collection
comprise letters
or correspon
dence from people
on reservations.
"Looking at this
correspondence
we can look at
monthly and year
ly reports of what
was happening on
the reservation,"
he said.
"This is one way Tribes can be
gin to decolonize from 150 years
colonization by the United States,"
said Lewis.
Most recently, the Jacobs Research
Fund for the Whatcom Historical
Society in Bellingham, Washington
gave Lewis a $1,200 fellowship for
a research project in which Lewis
will interview Grand Ronde Tribal
members.
The mystery of Indian history con
tinues to unfold.
Wisdom off the Grand Rondes
Wisdom of the Elders' Radio Series brings Grand Rondes to the air.
By Ron Karten
As part of a program of Turtle Island Storytellers, Publications Coordinator and Tribal
member Brent Merrill, a descendant of the Northern Paiute and Kalapuya Tribes, talks
about the Grand Ronde Trail of Tears, the story of the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde from the 1850s.
Merrill is a part of the third series of radio programs from Wisdom of the Elders
(WOTE). The entire third series will include eight one-hour "American Indian Cultural
magazine radio programs," according to the WOTE website.
The series features Tribes along the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail, including the
Grand Rondes, and storytellers include Tribal Elders, historians, storytellers, artists,
song carriers and environmentalists" from 13 Native nations living in the Bitterroot
Mountains and along the Columbia River.
Lemhi Shoshone; Nez Perce or Nimi'ipuu; Salish, Kootenai, Flathead; Cayuse,
Umatilla, and Walla Walla; Yakama; Wasco, Warm Springs, Northern Paiute; Con
federated Tribes of the Grand Ronde; and Chinook Tribes are all included. The radio
series is hosted by Arlie Neskahi (Dine, or Navajo).
The series was produced in Portland, and will be distributed nationwide via Ameri
can Indian Radio on Satellite (AIROS), public, community and college radio stations,
and on the website at www.wisdomoftheelders.org . International distribution of
this series to Canada and Australia began in 2005 and continues in 2006.
Listen online at www.nativeradio.org for WOTE Series 3; Program 7: Grand
Ronde, at the following times:
Tuesday 61306: 7 a.m., 1 p.m.
Saturday 61706: 2 p.m.
Sunday 61806: 2 p.m.
For more info: www.wisdomoftheelders.org
Learn more about the history of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. To order
a copy of The Grand Ronde Restoration film, contact the Publications Department
at 503-879-1358 or e-mail toby.mcclarygrandronde.org (VHS $10, DVD $15).