Smoke Signals
10
NOVEMBER 1,2012
Youth Center seeks volunteers
The Tina Miller Community Center Thrift Store, 110 H. St., Willamina.
which helps fund the after-school and weekend youth community center lo
cated in the old high school gym, is seeking volunteers who can help run the
store, in addition to donated items and customers. The store accepts clothes,
books, knickknacks, etc., as donations.
It is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed on Sunday
and Monday. Donations also can be left at the Wild wood Hotel and Restaurant
in Willamina. For more information on volunteering, call 503-876-7897. The
youth center and thrift store that funds it are nonprofit and 100 percent self
sustaining and volunteer-run.
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Free online learning source (
The information includes:
Everyday life
Math and money
Computer training
Online classes
Work and career information
Check it out at www.gcflearnfree.org
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ENCAMPMENT continued
from front page
The first communities in the area
were settled by ancestors of the
Grand Monde Tribe. They lived in
encampments along what has be
come Clackamette Park in Oregon
City. To highlight that history, the
Tribe was on hand at the opening
to contribute to the historical re
cord. A modern-day Grand Ronde
encampment on Saturday offered
lessons in Indian history and cul
ture. "We still have the connection,"
said Tribal Attorney Rob Greene.
Tribal members keep it alive
through events like these, through
the Tribe's annual lamprey collec
tion at the falls and participation
in the cleanup efforts on the Wil
lamette and Columbia rivers.
Clackamette Park is not much
more than a stone's throw from
Willamette Falls where, from time
immemorial, Tribal peoples have
harvested lamprey.
The Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde have made growing
use of heritage- and community
centered celebrations to tell the
Grand Ronde story, through the
Chinuk Wawa trade language of
Northwest Indians, through the
many crafts that Natives have
developed over millennia in the
area, through stories of the Native
peoples who lived here and the
foods they ate.
The Tribe also has been a mem
ber of the coalition for two years
and participated on the planning
committee for the Willamette Falls
Festival.
On Saturday during the Tribal
encampment, Chinuk Wawa teach
er Eric Bernando showed one of
the language maps the Tribe has
developed. He explained that Na
tive languages that barely exist
today might be gone entirely in
the future.
Jordan Mercier showed baskets
he had made and he gave one
away.
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- - "
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council member Jon A. George gives a brief talk about the Willamette
Falls area and its historical importance to the Grand Ronde Tribe at the Arch
Bridge re-opening ceremony in Oregon City on Sunday, Oct. 14.
There was discussion about
soaking and drying basket-making
materials, and about how Greg
Archuleta leaned strips of salmon
against wires stretched by the side
of the fire in the traditional way.
"There used to be encampments
all along this park," said Archuleta
to an assembled group of festival
goers. Other bands found homes
along Eagle Creek, about 20 miles
up the Clackamas River.
Many Portland-area Tribal mem
bers are direct descendants of those
Tribal peoples who once lived in the
area, Archuleta said.
"The Tribe is putting our footprint
out here, to educate the community
about the ceded lands of the Grand
Ronde people," said Tribal Council
member Jon A. George.
"It's very nice to see the member
ship involvement, putting out who
we are and how we are interacting
in the interest of the larger commu
nity. I'm so proud of our Portland
group. They're always stepping up
to the challenge."
George, before being elected
to Tribal Council in September,
worked in the Portland office and
participated in many cultural ac
tivities in the area.
On hand from the Portland of
fice were Greg and Lisa Archuleta
and their mother, Elder Bernadine
Shriver, and her husband, Doug;
Elder Debi Anderson and her son,
Eric Bernando; Jordan Mercier
and his mother and father, Elder
Michael and Tammy Mercier; Elder
Dolores Parmenter; and George's
sons, Trey and Tynan, all who per
formed in the Tribal drum group
that played and sang often through
the Saturday afternoon event.
The drum group also performed
the night before at the Oregon
Territory Museum. The Tribe spon
sored the Willamette Falls Locks
Benefit Dinner, which featured a
four-course affair for 140 featur
ing Native foods gathered by Greg
Archuleta and prepared by chef
Matt Bennett of Sybaris restaurant
in Albany.
On Saturday night, the coalition
presented the premiere of "Wil
lamette Falls: Where the future
began," a documentary produced
by Portland General Electric, at the
Museum of the Oregon Territory in
Oregon City. The film features Greg
Archuleta and Tribal Cultural Pro
tection Coordinator Eirik Thorsgard,
who talked about early Tribal family
connections that filled in Native de
tails about the history of the falls.
George returned to the festival on
Sunday to welcome a large group
to the official bridge re-opening.
He spoke about Tribal history and
culture in the area.
Also helping from the Tribal of
fices in Grand Ronde were Public
Affairs Assistant Chelsea Clark
who, with Portland Tribal Services
Representative Lisa Archuleta, co
ordinated volunteers at the event,
including Colleen Payne and Bev
erly Mayorga, in addition to assist
ing Public Affairs Director Siobhan
Taylor with the early planning
stages. B
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L 1 1
Tribal Elder Debi
Anderson talks about
Grand Ronde Tribal
history with a visitor
to the encampment
at Clackamette Park
in Oregon City on
Saturday, Oct. 1 3.
Behind her are her
son, Eric, and Elder
Dolores Parmenter.
.
Photos by Ron Karten
The Grand Ronde community drummed for guests at the Willamette Falls
Festival at Clackamette Park in Oregon City on Saturday, Oct.1 3. The
Tribal encampment for the afternoon offered information about Tribal
crafts, foods, languages, culture and history. Drumming, from left, are Eric
Bernando, his mother, Elder Debi Anderson, Tynan George (son of Tribal
Council member Jon A. George), Lisa Archuleta, Tribal Council member Jon A.
George, his other son, Trey (hidden), Jordan Mercier and Greg Archuleta (his
back to the camera).