Smoke Signals 5
AUGUST 1,2012
Festival receives iimffusioini off TtribaD heritage
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Grand Ronde Tribe
prominent at annual
event in St. Heiens
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
ST. HELENS Opening day of
the three-day St. Helens Maritime
Heritage Festival on Friday, July
13, featured an enormous amount
of Native American flair courtesy of
the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde.
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle A.
Kennedy led a Tribal contingent
to St. Helens, which is part of the
Tribe's ceded lands, to accept a
ceremonial key to the city.
Two Tribal canoes escorted a
World War II patrol torpedo boat on
the Columbia River as it prepared
to dock in St. Helens.
And Tribal drum
mers and singers
performed for fes
tival attendees
following the fes
tivities at the City
Docks.
"That's a big key.
It must open big
doors," Kennedy
joked as she accept
ed the key to the
city from St. Hel
ens Mayor Randy
Peterson. He also
presented Kennedy
with a framed and
signed welcome proclamation.
Kennedy was accompanied in St.
Helens by Tribal Council members
Steve Bobb Sr., Chris Mercier and
June Sherer, as well as Tribal At
torney Rob Greene, Tribal Public
Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor
and Tribal members Nancy Renfro
and Bernadine Shriver, among
others.
Peterson, along with City Coun
cil members Keith Locke, Pat
Martyn and Susan Conn, said St.
Helens was extending its hand in
friendship to the Tribe and also
apologizing for the historically bad
treatment of Native Americans in
Oregon.
"I applaud the gesture," Kennedy
said. "That key is bigger than it
looks. It also represents the open
ing of a friendship."
Kennedy talked about how her
daughter was born in St. Helens.
"We have a long heritage here,"
she said. "The river is the lifeblood
and we need to take care of it."
In return, Kennedy gifted a neck
lace to a St. Helens Council person.
A Tribal emblem necklace made by
Kennedy's sister, CeCe Kneeland,
ended up around Conn's neck.
After the key ceremony, Peterson
accompanied Kennedy down a ramp
to the City Docks where everyone
awaited two Tribal canoes and PT
658, the only functioning World
War II-era PT boat in the world.
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl A.
Kennedy welcomes canoes to the
homelands of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde during the
Maritime Heritage Festival in St.
Helens on Friday, July 1 3.
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
The Grand Ronde Canoe Family escorts PT-658, a
World War II patrol torpedo boat, on the Columbia
River on its way to dock in St. Helens for the Maritime
Heritage Festival on Friday, July 13. Tribal Council
member Toby McClary traveled on the PT boat from
Portland to St. Helens.
After presenting Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy,
second from left, with a key to the city, St. Helens Mayor
Randy Peterson, left, reads a welcome proclamation
as Kennedy and Tribal Council members Chris Mercier,
middle, Steve Bobb Sr., second from right, and June
Sherer, right, listen at the opening of the Maritime
Heritage Festival in St. Helens on Friday, July 13.
While waiting, attendees wit
nessed a rare collision of ships. The
already docked Royaliste, a 55-foot-long
pirate re-enactors' ship, was
sandwiched between the dock and
the sternwheeler Portland while
the sternwheeler was attempting
to moor.
The collision pushed in several of
the Royaliste's side planks and the
ship began taking on water, forc
ing the pirate re-enactors to search
for a water pump and requiring
the eventual arrival of Columbia
County Sheriffs Office River Pa
trol personnel and the U.S. Coast
Guard. No injuries were reported
and no pollution of the river re
sulted from the crash, KGW.com
reported on July 14.
Meanwhile, there also was humor
during the wait.
When the pirate re-enactors fired
off a miniature, but very loud, can
non, Tribal Council member Steve
Visitihfilidbe
page to see more photos
Bobb Sr., a veteran of the Vietnam
War, jumped. "They shouldn't do
that when veterans are around,"
he quipped and then pantomimed
hitting the floor to avoid being hit
by shrapnel.
At approximately 4:05 p.m., the
Grand Ronde Tribe's canoes left
Sand Island upriver from St. Hel
ens' City Docks. The two canoes
hooked up with PT 658, which was
carrying Tribal Council member
Toby McClary, and escorted the
boat to the City Docks.
Between the sternwheeler and
River Patrol boats, the two Tribal
canoes squeezed in to be welcomed
r i .n
. i vf. ::. h
by Kennedy to the homelands of the
Grand Ronde Tribes.
After disembarking from the
PT boat, McClary said he met the
boat at Swan Island near Portland
and it took two hours for it to sail
westward on the Columbia River to
St. Helens. "There are a lot of good
people on there," he said.
After festivities at the City
Docks, the Canoe Family gath
ered under a gazebo in Columbia
View Park to perform three songs.
The drummers and singers were
fronted by Travis and Bobby
Mercier, Brian Krehbiel and Greg
Archuleta.
Grand Ronde participation in the
Maritime Heritage Festival did not
end on Friday. A Tribal information
booth was staffed on Saturday and
Sunday.
"We were very busy," Taylor said
about interest in the Tribe.
On Saturday evening, the Tribe
hosted an alderwood salmon dinner
on Sand Island for Tribal Council
members, Tribal officials, sponsors,
vessel owners and other dignitar
ies. Attendees were shuttled on a
ferry to Sand Island, which sits di
rectly across from the City Docks.
The Maritime Heritage Festival
celebrates maritime heritage, Na
tive history and the many stories
of regional waterways. Proceeds
go the Maritime Heritage Coali
tion, which is seeking to build
a regional maritime center that
aspires to be the "Mystic Seaport
of the West."
The Grand Ronde Tribe is a mem
ber of the coalition. D