Smoke Signals 1 1
10 JUNE 1,2011
JUNE1,2011
MsiGowd IFnorsti Food
Smoke Signals
Annual event celebrates State-Tribal Government-to-Government relationship
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
SALEM Tribal First Foods
became an important metaphor
for the current state of Oregon's
environment during Tribal Govern
ment Day held Friday, May 13, at
the State Capitol.
While representatives from Or
egon's nine federally recognized
Tribes discussed traditional Native
foods salmon, camas bulbs and
edible wild fruits, such as huckle
berry Tribal government officials
reminded state employees and Ore
gonians in general that Tribal land
management techniques preserved
a pristine and bountiful land that
conquering Europeans reaped the
benefits of when they started arriv
ing in droves in the 19th century.
And Tribal representatives did
not hesitate to point out the state
of the current environment with its
polluted waterways and threatened
runs of traditional first foods, such
as salmon and Pacific lamprey, all
of which occurred under European
"management."
Bob Garcia, Tribal chairman of
the Coos, Lower Umpqua & Sius
law, brought the point home while
participating in a panel discus
sion on "Sovereignty & Resources"
that included Grand Ronde Tribal
Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy.
Garcia said that his Tribal ances
tors always held a salmon ceremo
ny upon the return of the Salmon
People from the Pacific Ocean. His
people would collect the bones of the
salmon caught and consumed and
return them to the ocean, thereby
honoring the Salmon People and
inviting them to return the next
year.
"It's a thought process of working
with Mother Earth," Garcia said
about ancestral values. "Mother
Earth is not something you manage.
Without salmon, we don't exist. The
more the state of Oregon listens to
the Tribal point of view, the better
the environment will be."
LeAnne Teeman, a Tribal Council
member for the Burns Paiute Tribe
in eastern Oregon, said that Tribal
members who eat traditional foods
live longer lives. "We age gracious
ly," she said, adding that her Tribe
is working diligently to ensure first
foods survive in the high desert
environment of Burns.
Kennedy said that Tribal sover
eignty and natural resources "go
hand-in-hand," adding that she
thinks modern society is in a battle
for people's hearts.
"If making money is the only
reason for living," Kennedy said,
"we are in a sorry state. We need
to train our children to look after
what is here."
Kennedy passionately encour
aged audience members in a packed
Hearing Room C to effect change by
supporting passage of laws that ban
pollution of the rivers.
"The dream is to one day drink
out of the Willamette River," Ken-
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Junior Miss Grand Ronde Makenzie Aaron shakas Gov. John Kitzhabar's hand as sha introducas herself aftar the
American Indian Week proclamation signing ceremony during Tribal Government Day at the State Capitol in Salem
on Friday, May 1 3. Looking on at left is Little Miss Grand Ronde lyana Holmes and on the right is Senior Miss Grand
Ronde Nakoosa Moreland.
nedy said. "There is a great value in
the tried-and-true ways of manag
ing the land. Our people lived here
10,000 years and it was a pretty
nice place when you got here."
During an earlier presentation en
titled "First Foods," Eric Quaempts,
Tribal member and Natural Re
sources director for the Umatilla
Tribe in Pendleton, discussed how
Native diets were healthy.
Natives drank clean water from
streams for digestion and hydra
tion, harvested roots for carbohy
drates, ate fish and deer for protein
and gathered huckleberries for
sugars.
"It was a high-protein, low-fat
diet," Quaempts said. "It was the
Atkins diet before there was an
Atkins diet. ... Treaty rights are
about these foods, but also about
access to these foods."
He lamented the current scourge
of diabetes in Native communities
and how it is tied to Natives aban
doning traditional foods in favor of
western fast foods.
Besides Native First Foods, this
year's Tribal Government Day
marked several important anni
versaries. In 1996, then-Gov. John Kit
zhaber signed an executive order
establishing government-to-government
relations between the state
and the nine Tribes of Oregon.
In 2001, the Legislature made it
official by passing Oregon's State
Tribal Government-to-Government
Law.
Kitzhaber, who also happens to
be the current governor in his third
non-consecutive term, also signed
a proclamation naming May 9-15,
2011, as American Indian Week in
Oregon.
Starting at 9 a.m., the State
Capitol Galleria was full of nine
information tables with Tribal
representatives distributing in
formation about their respective
Tribes and their traditional foods.
Grand Ronde Tribal Public Affairs
Director Siobhan Taylor, Tribal
member Kristen Ravia, Public Af
fairs Department secretary, and
Louis King, program manager with
Spirit Mountain Community Fund,
staffed the Grand Ronde table.
Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn
Leno, Tribal Council Secretary
Kathleen Tom and Tribal Council
members Valorie Sheker, Toby
McClary, Wink Soderberg, Steve
Bobb Sr. and Chris Mercier min
gled with state employees and
other Tribal representatives in the
Galleria.
"I think this is a wonderful op
portunity for all the Tribes to get
together because we are so diverse
in regards to food and we all have
rich resources where our reserva
tions are," Tom said. "So it's a
great opportunity to share that
with people who are not Tribal and
don't really know anything about
the Tribes."
Soderberg said he likes Tribal
Government Day because it is an
opportunity to get together with
other Oregon Tribes without letting
differences get in the way.
"It's good to be able to see them
on a friendly basis instead of talk
ing about Tribal stuff," Soderberg
said. "I look forward to this event
every year."
"I think it a good opportunity for
all the Tribes to get together and
it's not political," Leno said. "It's
more about people coming together
and sharing information about the
Tribes. As far as first foods ... it's
interesting to everybody that each
part of Oregon had its own foods
that they (Tribes) depended on. It's
interesting to see what they lived
off of."
"I think it's important to let ev
erybody know what first foods are
and what is traditional to Native
American Tribes, how important
they are and how they represent
our culture," McClary said. "I
think it is very important to have
the relationship between Native
American governments and non
Native American governments
and continue that relationship and
make it as strong as we can."
It was a very busy day for Ken
nedy. In addition to sitting on the
panel discussion, she appeared
on Oregon Public Broadcasting's
"Think Out Loud" show with host
Emily Harris to explain the impor
tance of Tribal Government Day
and the government-to-government
relationship between the state and
Tribes.
"Tribal Government Day is the
time when the state government
and Tribes get together to discuss
issues, but also celebrate the re-
lationship between the state and
Tribes," Kennedy said. "It's really
about sovereignty."
Kennedy said that the government-to-government
relationship
is about partnering and working
together to overcome obstacles,
improving both state and Tribal
governments and better serving all
Oregonians, which includes many
Tribal members.
At 11:30, Tribal representatives
and members of the public were
ushered into the cozy Governor's
Ceremonial Office, where Leo
Stewart (Umatilla), chair of the
Legislative Commission on In
dian Services, introduced Tribal
dignitaries after an invocation
from Warm Springs Tribal Elder
Delbert Keith.
Kitzhaber then made brief re
marks before reading the American
Indian Week proclamation and
signing it.
"Tribal Government Day is an
opportunity, as you know, for all
Oregonians to learn about the
rich culture and heritage of all of
Oregon's Tribes and celebrate and
honor the sovereignty of the Na
tive Americans here in the state of
Oregon," Kitzhaber said.
"Your histories and cultures are
each unique and are an important
part of Oregon's past, present and
future. It's very important for all
of us to reflect for a moment about
the history of struggle and sacrifice
that you have endured, but also
to celebrate your sovereignty and
survival, and your tremendous and
rich economic, political and cultural
gifts and contributions you have
made to our great state."
Kitzhaber then posed for photos
if
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Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy, left, speaks during the "Sovereignty & Resources" panel discussion during
Tribal Government Day at the State Capitol in Salem on Friday, May 1 3. In the middle Is Bob Garcia, Tribal chairman of
the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw Indians, and on the right, is LeAnne Teeman, a Tribal
Council member for the Burns Paiute Tribe, who also participated in the discussion.
with those in attendance and also
talked with Grand Ronde Royalty
members Nakoosa Moreland, Madi
son and Makenzie Aaron, lyana
Holmes, and Amaryssa and Amelia
Mooney, all dressed in their finest
Tribal regalia.
Asked afterward what they
thought of meeting Oregon's gover
nor, Grand Ronde Royalty members
chimed in with the adjectives "cool,"
"amazing" and "awesome."
Other Tribal members and staff
who attended Tribal Government
Day included Tribal Elders Betty
Bly, Leon "Chip" Tom and Kathy
Provost, Tribal Cultural Resource
Department Manager and Tribal
member David Lewis, Tribal Ex
ecutive Officer and Tribal member
Chris Leno, Tribal Director of
Development and Tribal member
Peter Wakeland, Tribal Attorney
Rob Greene, Tribal lobbyist and
Tribal member Justin Martin and
Tribal employees and members
Alton Butler, Trevor Aaron, Khani
Schultz, Julie Brown, Janell Haller
and Barbara Mercier.
At noon, Spirit Mountain Casino
staff, led by Executive Chef Richard
Burr, served a lunch of cedar plank
salmon, chicken breast, Yukon gold
potatoes, asparagus, salad, tortel
lini pasta salad, beef jerky and
pickled herring and salmon.
The line to eat was long about
650 people were served and
people looked hungry, and, just
perhaps, they were thinking about
a diet change to include more Na
tive First Foods. D
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Gov. John Kitzhaber reads the American Indian Week proclamation before signing it as, across the table from him from back to front, Grand Ronde Royalty
Princess Madison Aaron, Little Miss Grand Ronde lyana Holmes and Junior Miss Makenzie Aaron look on during Tribal Government Day at the State Capitol in
Salem on Friday, May 13.