Smoke Signals 3
NOVEMBER 1, 2007
Piece off Tomanowos unsold at New YorEt auction
Future of 29.5-pound piece
still undetermined
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The auctioning off of a 29.5-pound
piece of Tomanowos on Sunday in
New York City failed to attract the
minimum bid sought by a meteorite
collector and was withdrawn from
sale.
The crown section of Tomanowos
also known a9 the Willamette
meteorite drew a high bid of
$300,000, far less than the $1.1
minimum price sought by its owner,
Darryl Pitt.
It was withdrawn rather than
be sold for less than the minimum
estimated price. However, the sale
of another piece of Tomanowos
a 1.1-pound sample went for
$29,875. It also originated from
Pitt's collection.
The reluctance of meteorite col
lectors to buy the larger chunk
of Tomanowos was good news to
the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde.
Tomanowos is considered a sa
cred object and was venerated by
the Clackamas Chinook before it
was "discovered" in 1902 by a part
time miner.
"We were thrilled to see that our
message of not trafficking in sacred
and cultural Native artifacts is
resonating throughout the United
States," said Siobhan Taylor, public
affairs director for the Confeder
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Taylor said she thinks the contro
versy surrounding the sale of the
crown section of Tomanowos made
potential buyers stop and think,
which quelled interest in purchas
ing the item.
Pitt said via e-mail that "false
statements" made by The Orego
nian in an Oct. 17 editorial that
the Grand Ronde might sue the
piece's new owner put a damper
on the sale. The Oregonian printed
a correction several days later re
garding the threat of a lawsuit by
the Tribe.
Pitt obtained the crown section
of Tomanowos in 1998 from the
American Museum of Natural His
tory in exchange for a half-ounce
piece of a Martian meteorite.
The following year, the Tribe
sought return of Tomanowos from
the museum, which has housed
it since 1906, citing the Native
American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act.
In 2000, the Tribe and museum
reached an accord that keeps To
manowos in New York City and
provides for annual ceremonial ac
cess to Tribal members, as well as
acknowledgement of the meteorite's
religious importance.
Pitt said also via e-mail that he
plans on retaining the 29.5-pound
piece of Tomanowos and perhaps
offering it at auction again in the
future. D
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FORUM continued
from front page
And diversification of Tribal
business pursuits.
What made the formula a winner,
many believe, was less the ideas
and more the effect of bringing
together so many different com
munities. Chemeketa Community College
and Portland State University
were represented. State and county
police and the West Valley Fire
District were there. Lawyers and
financial wizards, pastors and bu
reaucrats, nonprofits and legisla
tive representatives all showed up.
Tribal Council members, Tribal em
ployees, Tribal Elders and younger
Tribal members were involved.
It was a group that Tribal Human
Resources Director Walter Kalin
owski called a tremendous mixture
of different folks.
Tribal Public Affairs Director
Siobhan Taylor said it was an op
portunity for people with differing
views to sit down and hear why
others think they way they do.
Even the tables were planned for
diversity, said Vicki Willis, who,
with Connie Green of Salem-based
Willis, Green & Associates, facili
tated the two-day Future Search
Conference held Oct. 9-10 in the
Tribal gym. (Willis's husband, Jim,
served as the Tribe's general man
ager from 1986-96.)
The program, an update of a
similar future forum held in 1993,
started with Tribal history.
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle Kennedy guided the group
through thousands of years of histo
ry up to the time that Spirit Moun
tain Casino was built in 1995.
Tribal member and General
Manager Chris Leno brought the
group up to the present, describing
buildings and programs the Tribe
has developed since building the
casino.
Table by table, participants talk
ed in general about values it found
important for the Tribe to hold.
Later, they voiced hopes and fears
for the Tribe, and described out
comes they would like to see come
to fruition in the next 10 years.
Settlement of the enrollment
issue, total Tribal sov
ereignty, a sustainable
comprehensive health
plan and a healthy com
munity were among
those outcomes.
On Day Two, partici
pants created action
areas that will move
the Tribe toward its
vision. Among those,
participants suggest
ed holding continuous
community meetings
regarding enrollment
issues, assessing edu
cation needs and ex
panding the Tribal
library, as well as
developing a compre
hensive plan including
finding funding sources
for a heritage center.
After the conference,
members of the event's
planning committee
and other Tribal lead
ers will "move into a
more formal strate
gic planning process," said John
Mercier, director of Programs and
Services.
The 1993 process, for example,
led to a full land-use plan, but
Mercier emphasized that it is still
too early to see where last month's
process will lead.
Tom Fox, Oregon Economic De
velopment Department's Business
Development officer for Marion,
Polk and Yamhill counties, at
tended to see where the state and
Tribe's interests in developing envi
ronmentally sound energy sources
might converge.
"The governor would like to lead
the nation in the research and
application of alternative fuels
as economic development, and I
wanted to see where our interests
might intersect," Fox said after the
meeting.
"We're kind of challenging every
body to become more sustainable.
I think people were talking about
a lot of interesting stuff and we
probably do have some intersecting
interests."
"I was glad to see that a lot of the
things that I was concerned about
everybody is concerned about,"
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T
Photo by Toby McClary
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy
said recently elected Tribal Council
member Steve Bobb.
Bobb said he saw some new di
rections or changes in emphasis.
"We've kind of developed a few
problems because of the money,"
he said. "Members have been pretty
relaxed about taking care of them
selves. You can't have the privileges
and not the responsibilities."
At the last similar session 14
years ago, "We decided that a social
services recipient should have to
pay back to the Tribe for what he re
ceived," Bobb said. "What happened
to that? It looked good on paper, but
what about implementing it?"
"As time changes, our values
change," said Tribal member Perri
McDaniel. "It's not so much about
the money anymore. We're concerned
about what people do with it."
"Hopefully, we'll see a continua
tion of what we've been doing," said
Tribal member Dan Stroebel. "This
was a reaffirmation. Obviously, it's
been working well."
"It's good we're getting to talk
together in this atmosphere," said
Tribal member Monty Parazoo, who
drove up from Eugene to attend. "A
little bit of a negative: when we're
talking about the Tribe's future, I'm
reluctant to have so many outsid
ers. It's better to do it among Tribal
members.
"This will be some help for the
Tribe going into new businesses.
We've talked about it for years but
not much has been done."
"Hopefully, it will get people
excited about (planning) again and
remind them of issues they have
forgotten about that we can now
move forward with," said Tribal
mentee Angie Sears.
As if to prove Sears right, Tribal
member Leroy Good said he trav
eled all the way from Michigan for
the meeting.
"It's a great learning experience
from my point of view," Good said.
"I see how it functions, how differ
ent ideas are thrown around. Just
to be a part of it. I'm totally amazed
by the process."
"It shows the willingness of the
Tribe to commit to long-term plan
ning," said Tribal member and Cul
ture Department Manager David
Lewis. "I'm kind of hopeful that
so many care about participating.
My ultimate hope is that we can
continue working in a collaborative
manner. If the Tribal community
sees everybody working toward a
goal, we'll start to see more banding
behind that issue."
"I'm a great believer in planning,"
said Kennedy. "It's a necessary
tool."
Planning to send out survey
In a related process, the Tribe's Planning Office will soon send out a
socio-economic assessment survey to the membership.
According to Planning and Grants Manager Kim Rogers, this will al
low the rest of the membership input into the Tribal planning process of
which the Future Search Conference was an ongoing part.
The survey will be mailed soon.
Tribal members may contact Rogers at 503-879-2250 for more information.