S moke S ignals
july 1, 2014
11
American Museum of Natural History volunteers watch as Travis Stewart, Tribal Cultural Youth
Education specialist, carves a mask out of a piece of cedar at the museum on Wednesday,
June 25. While Stewart is in New York City serving as chaperone to the Tribal youth who are
interning at the museum, he was asked by the museum to do the live demonstration to show
that Native American cultural practices are still alive.
Tribal Historian David
Lewis takes photos of
Tomanowos after the
private ceremony. He
was taking photos of
spots on the meteorite
that looked like pieces
had broken off from to
try to match where the
piece of the meteorite
that the Tribe houses
at Chachalu Tribal
Museum & Cultural
Center was taken.
Cedar boughs lay on Tomanowos after they were
used to brush off the meteorite during the private
ceremony held at the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City on Monday, June 23.
Tribal reps meet about Summers Collection
METEORITE continued
from page 10
Lund said she thought the cere-
mony was wonderful and it brought
to mind a lot of her own history
and her ancestors and how they
struggled to survive.
Fenwick and Lund were the two
Elders randomly picked from a
drawing to attend the ceremony
this year.
After Tribal members had their
opportunity to speak, they par-
ticipated in cleansing Tomanowos
with rose hip and Labrador tea
as Stewart sang and drummed a
prayer song.
Non-Tribal visitors, such as a
few members of the museum staff
who were invited to the ceremony
and other Grand Ronde staff in
attendance, were offered a chance
to speak.
Merrily Sterns, vice president of
Institutional Advancement at the
museum, said it has been an honor
to have a relationship with Grand
Ronde for 14 years.
Also at the ceremony were Tribal
Public Affairs Director Siobhan
Taylor; Public Affairs administra-
tive assistant and Tribal member
Chelsea Clark; Tribal Attorney
Rob Greene; and Dr. Jonathan
King, former keeper of the Depart-
ment of Africa, Indian Ocean and
Americas at the British Museum in
London, England. King is currently
a research fellow with the Museum
of Archaeology and Anthropology
at the University of Cambridge in
England.
On Tuesday, June 24, the Grand
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Paul Beelitz, left, director of Collections and Archives at the American Museum of Natural History, shows Tribal Elders
Richard Fenwick, middle, and Laura Lund Kachina dolls from the Hopi people during a behind-the-scenes tour of the
New York City museum on Tuesday, June 2.
Ronde delegation met with museum
staff at the museum for breakfast
and then Fenwick, Lund, Clark
and the interns went on a behind-
the-scenes tour of the museum’s
anthropology collection and viewed
numerous Native American arti-
facts.
While that was happening, the
rest of the group met with museum
representatives and King to discuss
the Summers Collection, which
is stored at the British Museum
and contains artifacts from Grand
Ronde.
The Tribe has been trying for
years to get the artifacts returned
and the meeting was to make a
commitment to continue working
together with the British Museum
for joint research, internships and
if not the return, then at least a
possible loan of the Grand Ronde
artifacts that are part of the Sum-
mers Collection.
Even though King no longer
works for the British Museum, he
said he is still involved in the ef-
fort because he believes it is very
important. n