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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2013)
Smoke Signals 7 DECEMBER 1, 2013 Tirobe Brostis firstl Wlsmy CDimffeirein)ce About 150 attend all day event to learn about Grand Ronde's past By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Tribal Historian Dr. David Lewis was pleased as he looked out on an almost full Tribal Community Cen ter, which hosted the first Tribal History Conference on Thursday, Nov. 14. About 150 people invested an eight-hour day to learn about Grand Ronde Tribal history after hearing about the conference through e mail, word-of-mouth or seeing an nouncements in Smoke Signals and on Facebook. "I am humbled by the response," Lewis said. "It tells me that this is needed." The all-day conference was bro ken into six sessions with the morning events concentrating on internal Tribal historical efforts and the afternoon presentations featuring historians talking about research into Oregon's Native American history that relates to Grand Ronde. The conference start ed promptly at 9 a.m. with an invocation from Tribal Elder and former longtime Tribal Chair Kathryn Harrison and a drum featuring Tribal members and employees Bobby Mercier, Travis Stewart and Jordan Mer cier. Tribal Council Vice Chair Jack Giffen Jr. welcomed conference attendees. "We've come a long way from our 2.5-acre cemetery," Giffen said as he thanked the Tribe's Land and Culture staff for their efforts in putting on the History Conference. "They have a huge mountain to climb because of the 28 Tribes and Bands that make up the Tribe," he said. Tribal Culture Committee Vice Chair Marcus Gibbons also ac knowledged how difficult it is for Tribal Land and Culture employ ees to incorporate every Tribe and Band into their thinking as they research Tribal history and plan events. Lewis, who very early on started referring to the well-attended con ference as the "first annual," said the event would help remedy the fact that the histories of Oregon's Tribes have not been properly documented. Or, as one presenter said later, it will help present historical infor mation from a Tribal perspective and maybe prompt a "re-appreciation" of what occurred. The first morning session fea tured Dr. Margaret Mathewson, a longtime contractor with the Grand Ronde Tribe, discuss the Grand Ronde Basketry Map, which gives an overview of traditional basketry in the region. "It's not a dead tradi tion," Mathewson said about Native basketry. "It's a living, real, real ( Vtf n ( -a i P. "111 1 . .. i 1 .iAvrn tik X U. ' -H I -A 9 i vMy f '"""-4 ;' Photos by Michelle Alaimo Dr. Margaret Mathewson, a contractor with the Tribe, talks about the Grand Ronde Basketry Map during the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Tribal History Conference held in the Tribal Community Center on Thursday, Nov. 1 4. Tribal Historian Dr. David Lewis was the host of the first annual Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Tribal History Conference held in the Tribal Community Center on Thursday, Nov. 14. the old Grand Ronde Reservation using Louis Kenoyer's autobiography of a Tualatin and their efforts to trans late it from the Tualatin Kalapuya language. After lunch, Dr. Stephen Dow Beckham talked about the failure of the Oregon Coast Reservation plan, Dr. Robert Boyd from Portland State University discussed the visual record of Native Americans in the Portland Basin before 1855 and Dr. R. Scott Byram gave a presentation on the Western Oregon Klickitats, centering on the years 1830-55. The final session featured Dr. Dan Boxberger, professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at Western Washington University, talk about the 22 unratified treaties signed by Native American Tribes and Bands between 1850-55. Boxberger said that antecedent Grand Ronde Tribes and Bands were party to at least 19 of the 22 tradition." As evidence, Tribal Elder and master weaver Connie Graves talked about her almost three decades of basket weaving that started when she attended a class in Aloha. "I found the thing I was supposed to do," she said. "It was something that I had to do." Graves passes on that knowl edge by teaching a weekly basket weaving class at the Elders' Activ ity Center from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays. "We are continuing to educate Tribal members and the commu nity around us," Graves said. Tribal Cultural Education Spe cialist Bobby Mercier also talked about how the Tribe is creating areas to harvest Native material, such as juncus, so that Tribal mem bers can use traditional materials in weaving modern-day baskets. Also during the morning ses sions, Tribal Archaeologist Briece Edwards discussed the Tribal Cultural Landscape Project, which helped the Tribe determine its cul tural connections to places in its ceded lands, and Tribal Compliance Technician Jordan Mercier briefed attendees on the sacred Chankal cultural site near Salem. The final morning session fea tured Tribal researcher and con sultant Dr. Henry Zenk and Jedd Schrock discussing the daily life of unratified treaties, as well as the seven ratified treaties that were ne gotiated between 1853 and 1855. Eventually, Boxberger said, his research, which will include tran scriptions of the unratified and ratified treaties, will become a two-volume set that will be posted on the Grand Ronde Tribal Web site for use by the membership and other researchers. Nora Pederson, a doctoral candi date from the University of Alberta, closed out the conference, talking about "Everyday Indigeneity in Western Oregon." She discussed how Grand Ronde transformed into a timber town in the early part of the 20th century and how Tribal members melded western lifestyles with traditional ways in their day-to-day living during that period. Conference attendees included Tribal Council members Toby Mc Clary and Jon A. George, as well as Tribal General Manager Mark Johnston, Attorney Rob Greene, Planner Rick George and Ceded Lands Manager Mike Karnosh. Tribal members who attended part or all of the conference in cluded Delores Parmenter, Reina Nelson, Wink Soderberg, Debi An derson and Greg Archuleta, among others. Other attendees represented Wil lamette National Forest, the Army Corps of Engineers, the University of Oregon, Oregon State Univer sity, the Oregon Historical Society, Willamette Heritage Center, the Oregon Geographic Names Board and the Willamette Falls Heritage Area Coalition. 'The project helps raise the profile of the Tribe about the importance of our efforts over the past 10 years as we have worked to develop our historic resources," said Land and Culture Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach in an e-mail the day after the conference. "Participants heard that we are writing the Tribe's history and our work will serve to more accurately relay the Tribe's heritage to the regional and even national communities." Reibach said next year's event might expand to a two-day Culture Summit with the History Confer ence taking up one of those days. Lewis thanked Land and Culture employees Julie Brown, Veronica Montano, Robert Ashman and Sequoia Raya, who assisted in put ting on the History Conference, and acknowledged the help of Greene and Public Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor in getting the idea off the ground. VoDuntteeirs wainttedl The Tina Miller Community Center Thrift Store, 110 B. St., Wil lamina, helps fund the after-school and weekend youth community center located in the old Willamina High School gym. The thrift store 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 Satur day and closed Sunday and Monday. Donations also can be left at the Wildwood Hotel and Restaurant in Willamina. For more information on volunteering, call 503-876-7897. The youth center and thrift store are nonprofit and 100 percent self-sustaining and volunteer-run. B
