8 JUNE 1, 2007
Smoke Signals 9
Bono
Smoke Signals june i, 2007
Videos, casino giveaways and plenty of conversation
all led guests back to the Grand Ronde homelands.
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Members of the Grand Ronde Canoe Family were on-hand at the Oregon State Capitol Building in Salem on Friday, May
traditional display of song and dance. The Tribe had a booth at the capitol where Tribal information was displayed and
1 8 to give those in attendance a
items were given away.
By Ron Karten
On Friday, May 18, a feast for
500 ushered in Tribal Information
Day in the galleria of the Capitol
building in Salem this year. Grand
Ronde sponsored the breakfast,
hosting one and all in the heart of
our ceded homelands.
Tribal Council gave Spirit Moun
tain Food and Beverage Manager
Toby TenEyck and Chief Executive
Chef Richard Burr ten days to pull
it all together.
"It's kind of a cosmopolitan offer
ing," said Burr. "Northwest fruits
and berries, a country pate offering,
including rabbit, pork and chicken
pates with cranberry jelly and chut
ney and honey roasted walnuts on
the side, a grav-lox prepared the
Swedish way, "green lip" muscles
from New Zealand (local muscles
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Tribal Council member Reyn Leno carried the Grand Ronde Tribal flag during the posting of the
colors ceremony which kicked off the events for the 2007 Tribal Information Day.
are touch and go at the moment," he
said), "great jumbo prawns, a special
pickled salmon, and the "grand fi
nale: Carlton Farms picnic hams."
They put on the final rush starting
at 4:30 in the morning and by 9 a.m.,
the food was all set up, looking good;
the ice and fruit had been carved
into a variety of forms by sous-chef
(assistant) Aaron Guera. The whole
team had been prepping on things
like the pate and the
ham for days.
"I think it was well
received," said Burr
when the break
fast leftovers were
packed up. "That's
what it's all about.
You work hard and
people enjoy it."
And before this
feast had even start
ed, Burr, TenEyck
and their team were
already preparing
the weekend's three
nights of VIP din
ners scheduled at
the casino.
Umatilla Elder
and Chair of the
state's Commission
on Indian Services
Les Minthorn said:
"It's a great day for
all of us Oregon
Tribes. It's good when we get to
gether with one voice. To honor one ,
another, these are the important
things today that we have to re-
member." Then, he commented on
the crowd: "It always seems when '
we put out a lot of food, we get a lot
of people."
Nearly every Tribe had a video ,
or two of their people, of their
culture of their current issues,
playing on monitors in the Capi
tol's Galleria.- The Klamath had
a video playing and protest signs
up: Un-Dam the Klamath.
Native American Rehabilitation
Association's (NARA) video fea
tured positive Indian parenting. The
Coquelle's said that their ancestors
had lived on the land "for as long as
salmon have returned to the rivers."
The Burns-Paiutes put up posters
that showed the many edible spring
roots and shoots in their area, and
another showing the summer edible
fruits and seeds of the Northwest.
Bud Lane, Chairman of the Siletz
Tribe, brought more than a dozen
baskets that he has made over the
years, and they included some that
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Members of Spirit
Mountain Casino's Food
and Beverage Department
supplied the complimentary
breakfast for the day.
had been made into hats, and one
into a baby carrier.
"What people like," he said, "is
that they're made from right around
Siletz. They could get the materials
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Former Chair of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians Ron Brainard,
Council member Cheryle Kennedy, and Siletz Tribal Chair Dee Pigsley posed
for a quick photo at the 2007 Tribal Information Day held in Salem.
Photos by
Toby McClary
in my backyard."
Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Kathryn
Harrison offered the invocation, and
State Senate Majority Leader Kate
Brown said that her long association
with the Tribes had "been an incred
ible learning experience." She shared
with the group the Governor's Ameri
can Indian Week proclamation.
Tribal leaders Alan Foreman
(Klamath), Dolores Pigsley (Siletz),
Sue Shaffer (Cow Creek), Wanda
Johnson (Burns Paiute), Bob Gar
cia (Coos) and others joined Grand
Ronde's Vice Chair Angie Blackwell
in describing the past and present
of Indian sovereignty and natural
resource issues.
"We have distinct visions of our
nations," said Blackwell, "and
all are very unique.
You'll be surprised
to learn how differ
ent all of them were,
so it's important
that we do a better
job of teaching."
"It is mandatory,"
said Cow Creek
Chair Sue Shaffer,
"for Oregon employ
ees to have Indian
training. People
do not understand
sovereignty and it
is not their fault."
She praised SB 770,
the state legisla
tion spelling out
sovereign rights for
Tribes.
She also reminded
the guests that an
Oregon advocacy group called, One
Nation United, continues to be "the
Ku Klux Klan for Indians. They
have as their goal the destruction
of Tribal rights and Tribal governments."
She said, on the other hand,
that "the contributions of Tribes
in their neighborhoods are just
monumental."
With more than 2,000 employees,
said Angie Blackwell, "the Grand
Rondes are the largest employer
in the area."
"In our case," said Siletz Chair
Dee Pigsley, "for the Tribes along
the coast, the best way to do busi
ness and take care of our people
was to work together.
"We have many collaborative pro
grams," she said, "to raise healthy,
happy families, something that is
very difficult in this day.
"Our number one priority is to
provide scholarships for anyone
who wants to go to college.
For Grand Ronde, said Blackwell,
"our Elders and our children are
our most important resources."
Performances came from the
Grand Ronde and other color
guards, the canoe dancers from
Grand Ronde and Umatilla singers
and dancers. Lunch was hosted by
the Cow Creeks and their Seven
Feathers casino. NARA hosted a
fry bread tasting.
Though this year's event focused
on sovereignty and natural re
source issues, observers saw an
other benefit. "Look at how much
communication is going on here
among the Tribes," said Joanne
Carr, Grand Ronde's Adult Educa
tion Coordinator. "That's what it's
all about."
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"Today, because we have so much
more, we have a lot to share."
"We're going to be here forever,"
said Coos Chair Bob Garcia, "so we
consider the best interests for land
and water in perpetuity."
Tribal member Alex Foster,
K-1 2 Program Coordinator Molly
Matthews, and Tribal member Kyoni
Mercier, all members of Grand
Ronde's Canoe Family, took part in
the activities held on Friday, May 1 8.