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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2012)
Smoke Signals 1 1 DECEMBER 1, 2012 Cultural Trust Board seeking grant applicants The Tribe's Cultural Trust Board received $6,359 for the 2013 grant year and is now accepting grant applications through Dec. 15. The board will finalize grant awards by Jan. 10 and applicants will receive notification of their grant application status by Jan. 15. This is the earliest the board has ever opened the grant cycle to allow more time for grantees to complete their cultural projects since final reporting is due to the Oregon State Cultural Trust each year by Aug. 31. Since 2009, when the Grand Ronde Cultural Trust Board started giving cultural grants, it has funded individuals' participation in Tribal Canoe Journey, sewing classes, moccasin making classes, an ethno botany project, a Chinuk Wawa project, research for a book about Tribal member families, camas digging, huckleberry picking, regalia making, wood carving and other cultural projects. Grand Ronde Cultural Trust Board members include McDaniel, Contreras, Vice Chair Betty Bly, Secretary Stephanie Wood and board member Claudia Leno. D Education offers Chinuk Wawa classes The Tribe's Cultural Education Department offers adult Chinuk Wawa language classes from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday and Wednesday in Room 207 of the Tribal Education Building. Language classes can be taken for college credit or fun. For more information, call 503-879-2249 or 503-437-4599. Q $ust a tTKeroory cway I'm no longer by your side, but there's no needo weep; I've left sweet recollections . I'm nopingyou will keep. . Eternal joy arid memories stay in our hearts forever. , Strengthening our special bond that parting cannot sever. Now it's time to journey on, so let your faith be strong, For i am in a better place,... I'm home where I belong. And if times of loneliness bring sorrow and dismay, Don't despair, for I am there... jfust a cAtemory cftway . Family and friends Nora Kimsey went home Sept. 7, 201 1 . She was 1 02 years old. Nora was a quiet lady, never asking for anything. She cared about her family and friends. Nora planned her own funeral not wanting to burden us or by any memorial or hardship on anyone. Nora wanted us just to remember her life with us. Margaret Provost WDDDiamrDS co-fooomidledl SaDmnxooD Coops CHUCK continued from page 10 cil Andrus sought out Williams' pri orities for national parks. Twelve of his 13 "wish list" items received National Parks System protection as a result. Giving protection to these wish list items also cleared out the back log of National Parks legislation, Williams says, "so that protection for other proposed parks, including the Columbia Gorge, could finally be considered." It was also during this time that he determined to finish his college degree. In 1973, a month before he turned 30, he received a bachelor of arts degree in Expressive Arts from Sonoma State University in California. While working on the Gorge book in the late 1970s, Williams co-founded the Columbia Gorge Coalition, the grass-roots group that began the campaign to save the Columbia Gorge National Sce nic Area. After years of fighting, his idealism hit the hard edge of a longtime Oregon reality. Protection for the Gorge ran head first into a Portland society class that from the beginning of the century had controlled virtually all environmental efforts, Williams says. "They favored timber interests, utilities and moneyed interests," he says. A3 a result, still today Oregon has fallen well behind neighboring states in protecting the flora and fauna. "While 4.4 percent of Washington state and 5 percent of California are in the National Park System, u.i; in; - : : . ' r?'.:- .... v ....... 7 it. -. ? . ( '-4-.,, ... ? mil i w : M ULL i i: 4s - y;.c-"- , ' ) t i-. r r J t-T. , sr. j j . vr - ' - VH' Photo courtesy of Chuck Williams Asian-American drumming ensemble Portland Taiko performs at the Obonfest at the Oregon Buddhist Temple in Portland. only 0.3 percent of Oregon is," Wil- ! iiams says. It wasn't long before development began in the Columbia Gorge Na tional Scenic Area. "Instead of a real park," he says, "we got a zoning bill based on Oregon's land-use planning. So the wealthy are still able to move to the Gorge and build their McMan sions." In 1986, in debt after fighting the Gorge battle, Williams went to work for the Columbia River Inter Tribal Fish Commission, where he first began to photograph people and celebrations. He notes, rue fully, that back in the day when he first started shooting, he had oppor tunities to photograph The Grate ful Dead and Janis Joplin, among many cultural icons, but was still a nature photographer-purist. In addition to his work protect ing and restoring salmon runs at the fish commission, Williams co founded Salmon Corps, an Ameri Corps program for Native American youth. "Unfortunately, Salmon Corps no longer exists, but hundreds of Indian kids got to go to college be cause of it and I'm probably more proud of setting it up than anything else I've done." His political efforts in environ mental issues have brought him into conflict with many of the best known names in the environmental movement today. "He is a determined and relentless activist for native rights, for envi ronmental health and for the legacy of the Grand Ronde Tribe in the Columbia Gorge," says Lewis. "He has a wealth of experiences in all of these areas and has sacrificed his own economic well-being in defense of these ideals. Some of his books are self-financed and all of the proceeds have gone toward defending the lands of his people, the Cascades. Without his selfless activism, I don't know if we would have a scenic Co lumbia Gorge today." D
