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JANUARY 1 5, 2009
A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe
www.grandronde.org
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Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Elder Marce Norwest receives a hug and
kiss from his daughter Tribal member LaDonna
Norwest after an all-veterans tribute to Marce
presented by the West Valley veterans on
Saturday, Jan. 10, in the Tribal gymnasium.
Jan. 10 event honors Tribal Elder
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Tribal Elder Marcellus "Marce" Norwest,
79, received the love, honor and respect
of the Grand Ronde and local veterans'
communities on Saturday, Jan. 10.
The ceremony, in the Tribal gymnasium, drew
more than 100 people. It had been two months
in coming, said Mark Weippert, Commander for
AMVETS Post 2000 in Willamina, who organized
the event.
"We wanted to pay tribute to him while we still
can," Weippert said.
"I'm happy that they're doing it for him now,
while he's still alive, instead of waiting till he's
gone," said Norwest's wife of 43 years, Sharon.
"It was amazing."
After a long life of service to the Tribe, commu
nity and the nation in the Korean War, Norwest
is now fighting pancreatic cancer. He is thinner
than he has ever been and the lines in his face
increasingly show the character that everybody
knows is his trademark.
But he says that chemotherapy doesn't bother
him at all. At the potluck afterward, he showed
he could still eat like a teenager.
By the end of the ceremony, he joked, "I'm so
hungry, I'm scared." And after the first round of
spaghetti, he went back for more.
"I want to fight it and fight it to the end," he
said. "Life is short, but if you keep at it, you can
accomplish a lot in a short time."
Norwest's life, as many remarked during the
ceremony, is a perfect example. He went through
ups and downs, "through hell and back," as his
See NORWEST
continued on page 7
David Lewis
earns doctorate
Cultural Resources manager
researches Tribe's Termination for
prestigious academic degree
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Tribal member David Lewis, manager of the
Tribe's Cultural Resources Department,
will walk in this spring's commencement
at the University of Oregon as a doctor.
His 500-page dissertation, The Termination
of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
of Oregon," is all but approved. He's got some
edits, some cutting, some re-organizing, but the
university committee evaluating the work says
it is doctoral material.
Lewis, 43, is among the first in the Tribe to
earn a Ph.D., says April Campbell, manager of
the Education Division.
"It's a long process," Lewis says. "A lot of
bureaucratic hoops, and a lot of people to ap
pease." But come spring, Lewis will have a doctorate
in philosophy with a specialization in anthro
pology. Lewis, raised in Salem, has taken a long,
thoughtful, wide-ranging path. After high school,
he enjoyed the hospitality of his mother's fam
ily, many of whom live in northern California.
His mother is Polly Lewis, who used to work for
the Tribe as a mental health counselor, and his
father is Tribal Elder Gary Lewis of Salem.
He lived in California from 1983-93. During
those yenrs, he attended Santa Rosa Junior Col
lege, where he earned an associate degree.
"I finished high school and wanted to get out,"
Lewis says, "and our relatives in Petaluma, Cali
fornia, invited me down. I liked it a lot."
See LEWIS continued
on page 6
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Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Sparks fly at the old Spirit Mountain Casino sign is dismantled In front of the casino on Tuesday,
Dec 30. A larger, more high-tech sign was erected earlier in the month to replace the old one.
The new sign became operational on Jan 5.