Smoke Signals 3
APRIL 1,2008
State Fish & Wildlife Commission to consider Grand
Ronde ceremonial harvest request on April 1 8
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Photo by Toby McClary
Tribal member Shonn Leno is one of the 17 hunters approved by Tribal
Council to be a Tribal ceremonial hunter. The state Fish and Wildlife
Commission will consider on April 18 a request by the Grand Ronde Tribe to
conduct ceremonial hunts outside of state-sanctioned hunting seasons.
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The state Fish and Wildlife Com
mission will consider on April 18 a
request by the Grand Ronde Tribe
to conduct ceremonial hunts out
side of state-sanctioned hunting
seasons.
The commission will begin its
meeting at 8 a.m. at the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife's
headquarters at 3406 Cherry Ave.
N.E. in Salem.
The Tribe is seeking return of
its sovereign right to hunt for cer
emonial game outside of state-sanctioned
hunting seasons, a right the
Tribe surrendered during its effort
to gain state support of Restoration
in the early 1980s.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Fish
and Wildlife Commission mem
bers, including Chairwoman Maria
Rae, toured the Tribe's timber
lands in August 2007 and signed a
proclamation in support of Tribal
ceremonial hunts.
The Tribe is now seeking a Fish
& Wildlife administrative rule for
malizing the proclamation.
If all goes as expected, ceremonial
hunting tags will be available on
written request by the Tribe. They
will be valid in the Trask hunting
area, generally for periods when no
other big game hunting is allowed.
The Trask Game Unit includes
more than 1,000 square miles of
big game habitat and runs east and
west from the Cascades Range (in
cluding Mount Hood) to the coast,
and from McMinnville and Grand
Ronde on the south to Forest Grove
and Tillamook on the north.
On Jan. 30, Tribal members met
at the Community Center with
Tribal Council Chairwoman Cher
yle Kennedy and Vice Chairman
Reyn Leno, and Tribal Attorney
Rob Greene, to find out more in
formation about the process and
apply to become a Tribal ceremo
nial hunter.
Tribal Fish & Wildlife Commit
tee Chairman Harold Lyon said
19 Tribal members applied to be
hunters and 17 were approved by
Tribal Council.
As the effort to regain hunting
rights has progressed, the Tribe
received the support of the Mult
nomah Anglers & Hunters, who
said in a letter to the Department of
Fish & Wildlife that more animals
are lost to poaching than the Tribe
will take in its ceremonial hunts.
The Tribe negotiated a minimum
number of tags with the state to start
nine elk, 15 deer and three bear.
The number of tags remains
negotiable, however, which is why
"it's critical this first year to fill
every tag we can," Leno said at the
Jan. 30 meeting. t
Tribal members are encouraged
to attend the April 18 meeting to
show their support, Lyon said.
Lyon said Tribal representatives
who are knowledgeable about the
ceremonial harvest effort will tes
tify at the commission meeting.
Leno said those who might testify
include himself, Tribal Council Chair
woman Kennedy, Tribal Council Sec
retary Jack Giffen Jr. and Tribal staff
members, such as Cultural Resources
Manager David Lewis.
For more information, call the
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Director's Office at 503-947-6044. B
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Grand Ronde featured on 'Little People, Big World'
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde received national
TV exposure on March 17, and
again on March 24 in repeat,
when "Little People, Big World"
featured Tribal members build
ing a miniature plankhouse and
blessing it afterward at Roloff
Farms near Hillsboro.
In September, Grand Ronde
Tribal Elder Don Day and Cul
tural Resources Manager David
Lewis built the miniature plank
house at the home of Matt Roloff,
patriarch of the family featured on
TLC cable channel's show about a
family dealing with dwarfism.
Half of the six-member Rol
off family Matt; his wife,
Amy; and son, Zach are little
people, while two sons and a
daughter Molly, Jeremy and
Jacob - have grown or are grow
ing up to regular height.
Last spring, Matt decided
he wanted to expand the set
pieces at Roloff Farms to in
clude a Native American theme.
The show's producers contacted
Grand Ronde Tribal Public Af
fairs Director Siobhan Taylor
to inquire what would be an
appropriate "set" for Northwest
Indians.
Instead of a teepee, which Matt
had tried unsuccessfully to build
himself, Day, Lewis and Tribal
member Toby McClary, who was
taking pictures for Smoke Signals,
constructed a scaled-down plank
house using traditional methods.
Then, in November, a procession
of Tribal members and Roloff friends
and family returned to Roloff Farms
for the blessing. Tribal member
Bobby Mercier offered a blessing
in Chinuk Wawa and English, and
the Tribe served an Indian feast of
salmon, squash, fry bread and huck
leberry jam, traditionally prepared
for the group by Tribal members
Greg Archuleta and Jon George.
In addition, Tribal royalty and war
riors, drummers, dancers and Canoe
Family members, Elders, staff and
Tribal Council members Kathleen
Tom and Chris Mercier participated
in the making of the show.
Tom made gifts of bead necklaces
to many among the Roloffs and
their family and friends.
The two days of visiting Roloff
Farms outside of Hillsboro were
edited into a 30-minute episode,
which shared time with a story
about Molly practicing for and par
ticipating in a flag drill team during
a Beaverton parade.
"Peter was just beside himself,"
said Tribal member Reina Nelson,
whose son, Peter, is a Grand Ronde
Warrior and was shown explaining
the origins of his regalia to Matt
Roloff.
"It's amazing how they can take a
whole day and edit it down to 30 min-
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utcs and make it cohesive," Reina
said about watching the show.
According to the TLC Web site,
the episode, "Tribal Gathering,"
does not repeat again in April, but
it will invariably be included in the
box set of the current season. D
Photo by Toby McClary
Tribal Elder Don Day works on
a miniture plankhouse at the
home of Matt Rolloff, patriarch of
the family featured on TLC cable
channel's show about dwarfism,
In September.