6 AUGUST 1,2007
Smoke Signals
Traveling Exhibit Visits Spirit Mountain Casino
By Miranda Ellis,
Summer Youth Employee
On Monday, June 25, three mem
bers of the Washington County His
torical Society (W CI IS) came to Grand
Ronde. WCHS is located in Washing
ton County on the Rock Creek campus
of Portland Community College. The
reason for their visit was to set up
an exhibit of the Kalapuyan Indians
in Spirit Mountain Casino. All of
the panels have descriptive pictures
and text, all arranged neatly. While
reading it, it almost takes you back to
where they were located. The Tribe
edited the exhibit, and the major
sponsor was the Spirit Mountain
Community Fund.
Setting up the exhibit was col
lections and exhibits manager of
WCHS Jennifer Kozik who helped
coordinate the exhibit. Director of
WCHS Mark Granlund and Edu
cation Manager Scott Brown also
helped set up the exhibit. The idea
behind the exhibit is to raise aware
ness of the cultural history. Gran
lund explained that people should
be able to know about the people
who came before them without hav
ing the wrong information.
"The saddest story of the Kala
puya is the disease," said Granlund.
Malaria and many other harsh
diseases wiped out about 90 of
the Kalapuyans.
The exhibit took years to put
together, with over $80,000 raised,
and a budget of over $40,000. The
project took over 500 hours of re
search, with the Grand Ronde
Cultural Resource Department as
their number one source of research.
The rest of the money is still to be
used for the Mobile Museum, a
program for schools. Not everybody
(J
u'Comraunitylbiy jspql
is going to go to I " J
the museum in
Washington or
come across the
exhibit, but it's
best to have as
many people
possible to learn
about the Kala
puyans, so they
want students
to learn as well.
The Mobile Mu
seum will give
about 130 pre
sentations a
year, reaching
over 3,000 stu
dents learning
about the Kala-
puya along the
way. Another way to learn more
about the Kalapuya Tribe is a web
site that is currently
being developed.
The exhibit was at
Spirit Mountain Ca
sino because the casino
draws so many visi
tors. A second reason
they chose to bring
their exhibit to the ca
sino was all the events
happening in Grand
Ronde including both
pow-wows. Pow-wows
tend to attract a lot of
people, many of whom
f.
hi
3
2.
Tribal Summer Youth Employe Miranda Ellis talks with
Cultural Resources Administrative Assistant Kim Mueller
and Diractor of Washington County Historical Society Mark
Granlund about the traveling exhibit.
will need a place to stay. The more
people that stay at the Spirit Moun
tain lodge, the more people to see
the exhibit.
So far, Grand Ronde is the fur
thest stop for the exhibit. Most of
the time, the exhibit is kept within
Washington County I Possibilities
for where the exhibit goes next
include the Portland Airport and a
library in Washington County.
Visitor Rollie Cansler from Texas,
after looking over the exhibit, said
that the exhibit is really well put
together and very accurate. If
somebody who is clueless about
the Kalapuyans were to read the
panels, they would probably leave
with a lot more information than
they had before.
Tribal member Joann Mercier
says, "It needs more color," however
she also explained that the Grand
Ronde Today panel is really eye
Rollie Cansler from
Texas, looks over
the traveling exhibit
at Spirit Mountain
Casino.
Casino Comps Soldier-Dog Teams
Military services send canine teams to compatriot's funeral.
By Ron Karten
The military's canine units work
patrols, search for explosives and
narcotics, and sometimes, like
all soldiers, they fall in the line
of duty. Such was the case re
cently when the Spirit Mountain
Casino hosted six from among
the military's different services to
honor their fallen comrade, Kory
Wiens, 20, who was killed in Iraq
July 6th with his working yellow
lab, Cooper.
Canine teams from all the ser
vices but the Marines arrived in
Grand Ronde to attend Wiens fu
neral in Dallas on July 18th.
Dogs and their handlers stayed
free at the casino's lodge. As many
as three dozen soldier-dog teams
from military and civilian depart
ments attended the funeral.
"For the Veterans," said Tribal
member Rory Haller, Executive
Casino Host for VIP Services, "we
try to make accommodations." In
this case, the accommodations also
included the working dogs that
came for the funeral in support of
Wiens' family.
"Each of the services sent a dog,"
said Army Staff Sergeant Danny
Rogers, stationed in Tacoma at
Fort Lewis. Rogers worked in the
canine unit with Special Forces for
13 months in Afghanistan before
returning to Fort Lewis, where he
continues to train to be ready to go
back overseas at a moment's notice.
The soldiers, representing Army,
Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force, did
not know Weins, but according to Rog
ers, "The Military Working Dog com
munity is such a small community
that it's something you really want to
do when one of us is killed. It's just
another day to us, but to the family, to
have us there with the dogs, it's more
than any words can say."
Pat Moritz, a retired Staff Ser
geant with the Marines and now
Oregon State Captain for the Pa
triot Guard Riders (www.patriot
guard.org), a volunteer group that
stands in support of the military's
fallen, organized the contingent
and secured housing for them at
Spirit Mountain Casino.
"They come down at their own cost,"
said Moritz, "so we wanted to offset
their housing costs if possible."
Others who stayed at Spirit Moun
tain Lodge before the funeral in
Dallas included Master at Arms
Chief Petty Officer Me
lissa Szczerblak, based at
McCord Air Force Base in
Tacoma, with her working
dog, Argo; Regional Kennel
Master for the Navy in Sil
verdale Washington Tom
Hodges; Boatswains Mate
2nd Class Petty Officer
Darcy Sugarbaker of the
Coast Guard based in the
Seattle area, with her dog,
Halo; Teresa Carroll of the
Blue Star Mothers, herself
an Army Veteran whose
son, Ben, is now serving in
the Navy; and the Army's
Danny Rogers.
Wiens was assigned to
the 94th Mine Dog De
tachment, 5th Engineer
Battalion 1st Engineer
Brigade in Fort Leonard
Wood, Missouri.
"You may agree with
the war or not," said Tribal Council
member Reyn Leno, "but the sol
diers are out there taking orders
and trying to stay alive, and we
want to show that we're doing our
part for these guys." Leno served
in the Vietnam War.
o
' I "TWX t 3
1 v v I
o
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Army Staff Sergeant Danny
Rogers with his working dog,
Igor, a Belgium Mallinois, in the
lobby of the Spirit Mountain
Lodge. Executive Casino Host of
VIP Services Rory Haller, a Tribal
member, stands behind.