Smoke Signals 3
MARCH 1,2009
New Interior Secretary promises attention to issues
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
From the Secretary's Conference
Room in Washington, D.C., newly
installed Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar told reporters from
across the country that "restoring
the relationship with Indian Tribes"
was one of President Barack Obama's
top priorities.
The news conference on Jan. 28
addressed reporters on the scene and
by teleconference across the country.
It did not hear any questions about
Native American issues.
Priorities that Salazar named dur
ing the news conference included
"reform of the Department of the
Interior to restore the confidence of
the American people.
"We need to make sure we estab
lish ethical standards," he said, and
added that decisions must be "based
on good science."
He also listed an effort "to become
V
AP photo
Secretary of the
Interior Ken Salazar
an energy independent nation."
"There are major opportunities to
move forward," he said.
"There is a tremendous amount of
work that has to be done," he said, in
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Photo by Siobhan Taylor
Grand Ronde Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl A. Kennedy, left stands
with Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan and Friends
of Champoeg Chairman Greg Leo on Friday, Feb. 1 3. Kennedy
spoke at the opening of the renovated visitor's center at Historic
Champoeg. Tribal Cultural Resources Department staff members
were instrumental in the Tribal history section of the museum at
the visitor's center. The Grand Ronde Tribe and Spirit Mountain
Community Fund were contributors to the project. The Community
Fund awarded the renovation $50,000 in November 2008.
7th r Annual Native
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Youth Wellness Day.
March 20
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tribal Gymnasium
Native American Middle and
High School Youth
Contact:
Shannon Siml
ShannoiwalmKtg randron4e.org
B03-79-149
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preserving national landscapes and
conservation areas. His programs
would "mimic Colorado's Great Out
doors Program, the nation's premier
land preservation effort" that he
championed for preserving farm and
ranch lands when he was senator for
his home state.
He said the department would
"work to implement President
Obama's vision for community ser
vice," particularly in the national
parks division.
Fifth on the list was "to restore the
relationship of the United States of
America with Indian Tribes across
the country."
"Where we can collaborate, we
will," he said. "Our tough challenges
for our Native American families ...
include health care and the issue of
lawlessness."
Following the teleconference,
Smoke Signals asked two questions
of Salazar spokesman Matt Lee
Ashley: What is the Secretary's position on
off-reservation Tribal casinos?
What is the plan for dealing with
Tribal casino proposals left over
from the Bush administration?
Salazar's response was similar to
answers on many subjects asked
at the conference, including federal
spending for Everglades restoration,
domestic drilling for energy indepen
dence and changes in the Endangered
Species Act.
"These are issues we are carefully
reviewing," Lee-Ashley said.
West Valley veterans sought
Veterans from or currently living in the West Valley area Wil
lamina, Sheridan and Grand Ronde are being sought to have their
names engraved on the West Valley Veterans' Memorial.
Veterans can be either Tribal members or non-Tribal members.
Veterans who would like their names etched on the memorial
should submit a copy of their discharge papers to Tribal Elder Gene
LaBonte and his wife, Billie, by calling 503-879-5342.
New names of veterans will be added to the memorial in April.
Work will be among the
photo and paper archive
Ad created by George Vaktef
WOOD continued
from front page
accepted to work as an intern at the
National Museum of the American
Indian, the newest building on the
Capitol Mall in Washington, D.C.
Her office, however, will not be
exactly in the nation's capital, but
in Suitland, Md., where the mu
seum houses its Cultural Resource
Center. Her boss will be another
Grand Ronde Tribal member, Jen
nifer O'Neal, who has been head
archivist for the museum since last
July (see story in Jan. 1 issue of
Smoke Signals).
"I am excited," said Wood, "but
I'm calm about it, too. I'm excited,
but I'm not worried about anything.
I'm ready for the next phase of my
life to begin."
Wood's work will be among the
photo and paper archives, she said,
"going through the accession re
cords, categorizing and cataloguing
them." She has done "a little" of that
work at the University of Oregon's
museum, where she worked with
Oregon indigenous baskets.
Wood's duties also will include
processing collections for prop
er storage, as well as preparing
finding aids. She will interact
daily with the Archives staff and
researchers.
She will be preserving a small
series of textual records within the
Museum of the American Indian
in the ileye Foundation Collection.
She will work closely with the 1'hoto
Archives staff on creating a detailed
finding aid for the Ann Pen roe
I locker photograph collection.
And she will answer reference
inquiries and assist reoenrchers in
the Archives reading room.
The internship is scheduled to
last 10 weeks, from March 16- May
22.
When she returns, she has a
three-month internship at Tamast
slikt Cultural Institute with the
Confederated Tribes of the Uma
tilla Indian Reservation. She will be
working in the Collections Depart
ment, again cataloguing artifacts
and documents, and researching
ongoing projects for the institute.
"I think it's important to know
the stories and histories of all Na
tive indigenous peoples," she said,
"to understand your own people's
culture better."
After that, she said, "I'll be look
ing for a job probably either in a
Native American museum or in the
Cultural Department at an Indian
Tribe. I would love to come home
and work for the (Grand Ronde)
Tribe."
As early as grade school, she
remembered, she went over to the
Cultural Resources Department
and talked to Tribal Elder June
Olson, who headed the department
when it was housed in the Commu
nity Center.
"I've always been interested in my
Tribe," she said. "And because my
Tribe helped me financially through
college and emotionally supported
me, I'd like to give back."
Two summers ago. Wood traveled
for four days to Washington, D.C.
"It was my first flight. My first
everything. It was fun but it wasn't
enough time to look at everything.
But I never thought I'd hnve the
resources to go back. Now it's two
yenrs Inter and I'm going back there
to work.
"Everyone snys the cherry blos
soms are beautiful." B