Smoke Signals 1 1
SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
Merrill documenting Lummi
Healing Pole journey
Event will commemorate 91 1 attacks, help survivors heal
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
Tribal member Brent Merrill
is producing video and still pho
tography for the Lummi Nation's
10th anniversary Healing Pole
journey across the nation that will
commemorate the 911 attacks on
U.S. soil.
Merrill also is serving as the
project's media liaison.
"My role is to film everything and
shoot still photography along the
journey as well as to be a liaison
to the media who will attend and
cover each blessing ceremony along
the way," he said.
"He's the man," said Kurt Russo,
director of the Native American
Land Conservancy, the group or
ganizing this latest totem pole
journey. "We searched high and
low for a Native journalist and
someone handy with a camera. We
did a national search, and selected
Brent because of his experience, his
passion and, obviously, his ability
as a journalist."
Russo also directed the last heal
ing pole excursions for the Lummi
Nation.
Ten years ago, the Lummis, lo
cated in the far Northwest corner
of Washington state, sent three
healing poles carved by master
carver and Lummi Elder Jewell
Praying Wolf James and his House
of Tears carvers across the country
to honor the fallen of 91 1 and to
help the healing process for those
who survived.
For the 10th anniversary of the
event, Jewell and his carvers cre
ated another pole, this one 20-feet
high. On Monday, Sept. 12, the
Healing Pole Journey 2011 began
with the first blessing ceremony
at Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine,
Wash.
The pole will travel from there to
the Seattle Center and then across
the country through Montana,
Wyoming, the Dakotas, Minnesota
and other stops on the way to New
York City, where on Sept. 30 the
Lummis will hold a ceremony with
the families of 911 victims at Ar
row Park. Merrill's photography
will be on display there.
The pole will be blessed by 12 dif
ferent Tribes along the way.
The project is funded by Bethes
da, Md.-based National Library of
Medicine, part of the National In
stitutes of Health, and on Oct. 5 the
pole will be raised at its final stop
on the journey, a healing garden at
the National Institutes of Health.
"It will be part of an exhibit that
will display Native peoples' con
cepts of health and illness," Russo
said.
This is a trip of a lifetime for me,"
said Merrill, who is a former edi
tor of Smoke Signals. "I'm honored
to be asked to do this. I'm super
stoked to be a part of something so
amazing."
SadldQe Owilb pern)
The Grand Ronde Saddle Club is now on summer hours and is open from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily near the former Grand Ronde Food Bank site west
of Grand Ronde Road.
Everyone is invited to visit the horses and go for a ride.
For more information, contact Clint Folden at 503-559-1977, LeLani
Folden at 503-438-5414 or Barbara Clark at 503-507-9107.
Grand
Ronde
Dental Clinic !
Eric Webster DMD Myron Peng DDS Erin Lange DDS
Mon, Tues, Wed and Fri
8 A.M. -5 P.M.
Thursday 9:30 A.M. - 5 P.M.
Closed for lunch 12:30 A.M. -1:30 PJVL
Emergency Hour: Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri 8 A.M. Thurs 9:30 A.M.
1
Please call for more information about Emergency times
We now offer Cleaning appointments 5 days a week
503-879-2020
Cascade Crossing Oral History Project
Grand Ronde's Site Protection Program, in The Cultural Resources
Department, is seeking Tribal members who have:
1. Hunted
2. Fished
3. Gathered
4. Participated in other traditional practices within the vicinity of:
Detroit, OR
Breitenbush Hot Springs
a Olallie Lake
Molalla Table Rock
0 Silver Falls
Santiam State Forest
We are seeking information on our people's connection to the
land in these areas both past and present. Information collected
will be used by the Tribe in confidential consultation with state
and federal agencies regarding proposed and future development
in these areas.
If you have information or know someone who does about our peo
ple's traditional use of the areas stated above, past or present, please
contact the Tribe's Cultural Protection Specialist David Harrelson at
503-879-2320 or by e-mail at david.harrelsongrandronde.org. H
IIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIiitllllliMllllllimiillllttimilllHimiHIIIIIIIIIIitm
Medicare Part B reimbursement
notice for Tribal members
If you are a Grand Ronde Tribal member, have reached the age of retirement
(65) or have started to receive Social Security Retirement or disability benefits
through Social Security (SSD), you may be eligible to receive Medicare Part B
benefits through the Tribe. To find out if you are eligible, or to get enrolled in
Medicare Part B, please do the following: call toll-free 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227)
or go online at www.medicare.gov. You will need to request an
application for enrollment in Medicare Part B and return it to your local Social
Security Office. Once you are enrolled in Medicare Part B through Social Secu
rity, you will need to call our office to request a Medicare Part B Reimbursement
packet to apply. As a Grand Ronde Tribal member, the Tribe will reimburse
your Medicare Part B premium each month at the standard rate.
Note: If you are currently on the Skookum Tribal Health Plan it is required
that you accept Medicare Part B when you become eligible. By not accepting
Medicare Part B, your coverage for medical expenses could be drastically
reduced.
If you need a Medicare Part B reimbursement packet sent to you or have
any questions regarding the Tribe's reimbursement program, please call
Reina Nelson in Member Services at 503-879-2223 or toll-free at 1-800-422-0232,
ext. 2223. You may call Barbara Steere with questions regarding
our Skookum Tribal Health Plan coverage at 503-879-2487 or toll-free at
1-800-749-2928.
. Ad created by George Valdez
American Indian Nations from
Termination to Restoration, 1953-2006
Roberta Ulrich
Whtn the U.S. government ended tu relationship with doieiu of Native
American tribes end bandi between tsj end 196. It w engaging In massive
octal experiment. Congress enacted the program, known at termination. In the
name of 'freeing" the Indians from government restriction, and Improving their
quality of life. However, removing the federal status of more than nine dozen
tribes across the country plunged many of their nearly 13.000 member, into
deeper level) of poverty and eroded the tribal people', Kiue of Native Identity.
Beginning In 197 and extending over a twenty-year period, the terminated tribes,
one by one, perniaded Congreu to restore their ties to the federal government
Nonetheless, so much damage had been done that even today the restored tribes
struggle to overcome the problems created by those terminations a half century
ago.
Roberts Ulrich provides a concise overview of ail the terminations and
restorations of Native American tubes from im to 1006 and explores the
enduring policy Implications for Native peoples. This is ibe first book to
consider all the terminations and restorations In the twentieth century as part
of continuing policy while detailing some of the individual tribal differences.
Drawing from Congress! on si records, Interviews with tribal members, and other
primary sources, Ulrich delves into the causes and effects of termination and
restoration from both sides.
Roberta Ulrich is a retired newspaper reporter. She Is the author of Empty Nttr.
Indian, Dams, and the Columbia River,
American Indian
Nations from
Restoration, I . j
I 1953-2006
December aoio
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