Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2012)
Smoke Signals Smoke Signals 1 1 JUNE 15, 2012 'Oft has grpDFOft $wfy D "SDn h (ua (garni ffddO GGdstS 10 JUNE 15, 2012 sttflDD' TOMANOWOS continued from front page For Archuleta, the ceremony was very moving and she said she was glad she made the trip. Also attending the ceremony was Tribal Council Secretary Jack Giffen Jr., Tribal Council member June Sherer, Tribal Elders Kathryn Harrison, Patsy Pullin (Harrison's daughter), Nancy Coleman, Arlene Kautz and Evelyn Seidel, Tribal members Travis Stewart and his daughter, Sophia Morningstar Stewart, Chris Bailey, Braden Ebensteiner, Jeremy Lane, Kathy Cole and her son, Tribal descendant Zack Edwards. Also present at the ceremony were Esther Stewart, Travis' wife and Sophia's mother, Tribal Public Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor and Seidel's sister-in-law, Jean Nolan. The Tribal contingent made the trip from the West Coast to New York City for the 12th year of the Tribe's private ceremony, with two years missed because of economic reasons in 2009 and 2011. The private ceremony was led by Stewart, Tribal Youth Education Culture specialist, and Harrison gave the blessing. For Giffen, this " . ; l I -w- 'i i n ii - .t mme fitr Tribal member Kathy Cole, Cultural Resources Department program manager, speaks about the cultural and historic significance of Tomanowos during the Tribe's private ceremony with the meteorite at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Monday, June 1 1 . was the third time he has partici pated in the ceremony. He said he ., was very impressed with Stewart, saying he is a young, spiritual lead er and was honored to be present. Tribal youths Ebensteiner and Lane were chosen for this year's Internship Program, which is a partnership between the Tribe and museum. They gave a brief history of Tomanowos and the relationship between the museum and Tribe, and the Internship Program. The Internship Program allows Grand Ronde Tribal youth to work at the museum every summer, giv ing them an opportunity to learn about Tomanowos and the muse um, and experience New York City, something that they may never get to do without the program. Cole, Cultural Resources Depart ment program manager, spoke in Chinuk Wawa, saying how happy ;' l't h V . - ' . v - . . 1 7 ' I r- trV. i If' - The Tribal group that made the trip to New York City for the Tribe's private ceremony with Tomanowos at the American Museum of Natural History included, from left front, Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison; second row from left Tribal Elders Evelyn Seidel and Patsy Pullin; third row, Tribal Elder Arlene Kautz; fourth row, Jean Nolan, Seidel's sister-in-law, and Tribal member Lisa Archuleta; right side front, Tribal member Sophia Morningstar-Stewart; second row from left, Tribal Elder Nancy Coleman, Tribal Council member June Sherer and Tribal member Jeremy Lane; third row from left, Tribal Council Secretary Jack Giffen Jr., and Tribal members Braden Ebensteiner and Kathy Cole; fourth row from left Tribal members Travis Stewart and Chris Bailey and Tribal descendant Zack Edwards. she was to be attending. About Tomanowos, she said, "It has spirit power. I think you can feel that still." Cole gave more history about the meteorite, including how the holes in it collected water and Native warriors dipped their arrows in the water for good luck. Young people would visit Tomanowos to get spirit power or puberty rites, and other Native peoples would go to become healed or grow stronger. Today, for the first time, Cole saw Tomanowos in person. She said she has seen pictures and heard about it, but she said she could feel power off it and it gave her chills. The ceremony was then open for Tribal members to wash Tomano wos with rose hip water and say and leave their prayers. Stewart, Ebensteiner, Bailey, Tribal Youth Education High School lead, Cole and Edwards sang a prayer song led by Stewart. Bailey, who is the chaperone for Ebensteiner and Lane, talked about his second time seeing Tomanowos. Referring to the meteorite as "he," Bailey said that "he" has taken the Tribe places, "he's" teaching lessons and teaching other people about the Tribe. Bailey said he believes that the me teorite was meant to be moved and . ended up in New York City for these teachings. He said that there are people in New York who don't realize there are still Native Americans and through the Internship Program, Ebensteiner and Lane are teaching people about not only the scientific aspect of Tomanowos, but what "he" means to us and where "he" came from so that people will see that Na tive Americans still exist. Bailey said he's glad the interns have the opportunity to come to New York City and added that he never would have come if it wasn't for this opportunity due to Tomano wos. After all, if Tomanowos were not at the museum, the Internship Program would not exist. For Seidel, it was her first time seeing Tomanowos and she said that it was amazing to wash it. She said she felt the energy and said that Tomanowos needs to come home to Oregon. Kautz made her UJIBi"J j I -x. v ' If i Tribal Elders Evelyn Seidel, second from right, and Kathryn Harrison, right hold hands as a prayer song is sung during the Tribe's private ceremony with Tomanowos at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Monday, June 11. VMuheTriW&- ft M HaMaHeaaAiHB iRMiHBaBavril 9 page to see more pHotos second trip for the ceremony and was glad a lot of people were able to attend. Harrison said she thinks it's very important to visit Tomanowos ev ery year to "give support, to show not only Tomanowos, but the people of the museum that it's ours. We lay a claim to it every time we come and that needs to stay." On Tuesday, June 12, the Grand Ronde delegation met with museum staff at the museum for breakfast and a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum's anthropology collection, where they viewed numerous Na tive American artifacts, including some Grand Ronde baskets. o - Tribal Council member June Sherer, left, and her sister. Tribal Elder Nancy Coleman, have their photo taken with Tomanowos by Tribal Council Secretary Jack Giffen Jr. before the start of the Tribe's private ceremony with the meteorite at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Monday, June 11. Tribal members Travis Stewart, Tribal Youth Education Culture specialist, left and Kathy Cole, Cultural Resources Department program manager, take photos of Native American artifacts during a behind-the-scenes tour of the American Museum of Natural History anthropology collection in New York City on Tuesday, June 1 2. Stewart was photographing a carved antler that was used as a dentalium holder from Rogue River and Cole was taking photographs of Grand Ronde baskets that are part of the museum's collection. Photos by Michelle Alaimo i
