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OR NEWSPAPER PROJ. UO LIBRARY SVSTEM PRE ptRMfT no. 17B
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EUGENE OR 97403-1209
MAY 15,2011
A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe
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www.grandronde.org
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Turnlbe IhiosDimg fiViemnxoirDaD Day ceGremoimy
Grand Ronde Honor Guard will visit local cemeteries to honor veterans
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
On Monday, May 30, the Tribal Memorial
Day observance will begin again at the
Grand Ronde cemetery at 8 a.m., accord
ing to Tribal Elder Gene LaBonte, a Navy vet
eran and former chair of the Governor's Advisory
Committee on Veterans Affairs.
As in previous years, the Grand Ronde Honor
Guard will begin its rounds at 8:30 a.m. honoring
veterans at local cemeteries, including those in
Willamina, Buck Hollow and Sheridan.
Last year, the National Guard in McMinnville
brought out its cannon and fired blank shells at
each stop. LaBonte anticipates they'll be back
again this year.
Also last year, the Honor Guard was invited
to stop at Tribal foster homes to honor veterans
living there. The group anticipates stopping at
them again this year.
"People tend to not think about the pressure
that's put on our military," said Tribal Council
member and Marine veteran Steve Bobb Sr., "but
it's always a good day to recognize our vets.
"We make heroes of athletes and entertain-
See MEMORIAL DAY
continued on page 13
Smoke Signals file photo
Tribal Elder Marc Norwest speaks during tha
Memorial Day observance at the West Valley
Veterans' Memorial on the Tribal campus in 2010.
T Written (&2.&r4
Original allotment,
pass books
uncovered at Oregon
Historical Society
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
David Lewis, manager
of the Tribe's Cultural
Resources Department
and a member of the Tribe, has
been busy researching Grand
Ronde history.
One day each week for the
last month, Lewis has buried
himself in files at the Oregon
Historical Society in Portland
to glean what information he
could.
"There's not one central in
ventory," said Oregon Histori
cal Society Reference Librarian
Scott Daniels, "but a lot of bits
and pieces. A box could be 95
percent something else and
5 percent on the Tribe you're
researching.
"There could be four to five
places to look for one piece of
information. That's part of the
joy and part of the problem."
In a box with most of the
material relating to Chemawa
Indian School and other Or
egon Tribes, Lewis found two
old books relating to the Grand
Ronde Tribe. He immediately
grasped the significance of the
find, though he wasn't sure
See BOOKS
continued on page 10
mi' i in , . j,,, in
Photos by Michelle AlaimoGraphic created by George Valdez
Cultural Resources Department staffers and Tribal members Julie Brown,
left, Cultural Collections assistant, and Khani Schultz, Cultural Collections
coordinator, work together to get hundreds of pages from a Grand Ronde
Agency allotment and pass books photographed at the Oregon Historical
Society in Portland on Tuesday, May 1 0. Cultural Resources Department
Manager and Tribal member David
Lewis came across the books while
researching Grand Ronde history
at the society. The photographs
of the pages will be the Tribe's
documentation of the books.
This page of a Grand Ronde
Agency book of allotments from
1889 contains information on
Tribal member Martha Jane Sands'
choice for her allotment of land.
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Center gifts
Tribe ancient
Kalapuya canoe
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
The Grand Ronde's Canoe
Journey exhibit currently
showing at the Willamette
Heritage Center at The Mill in
Salem includes a Kalapuya shovel
nose river canoe, arguably one of
the oldest Native canoes ever found
in Oregon.
Today, thanks to a unanimous
vote of the board of the Heritage
Center, the canoe has been repatri
ated to the Grand Ronde Tribe.
"Our institution is the combina
tion of Mission Mill Museum and
the Marion County Historical So
ciety," said Peter Booth, executive
director of the Heritage Center.
"Our new mission is to assist the
Willamette Valley community in
preserving its heritage and history.
We've done several projects with
other cultural institutions in tell
ing aspects of their stories. In that
spirit, we have desired to reach out
to the Grand Ronde community and
assist their Cultural Resources De
partment and the Tribe in general
in preserving their heritage, which
is very important in the overall his
tory of our valley.
"One asset that the museum has
had has been the historic Kalapuya
shovel-nose river canoe. The board
realized that the Grand Ronde com
munity could better tell the story
that the canoe represents than
the Willamette Heritage Center
could.
"We very much value all our part
nerships with all our community
See CANOE
continued on page 11