Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2015)
S moke S ignals FEBRUARY 15, 2015 Royalty seeking past members for Chachalu display Previous Grand Ronde Royalty queens and princesses are being sought as the current Royalty Court is trying to compile a picture and biogra- phy collection of current and past Royalty for the Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center. “It would be great to have any past pictures and dates that you were on Royalty Court, as well as a short bio of who you are,” said Royalty Coordinator Jackie Manyhides. Please contact Manyhides at 406-450-2917 or through e-mail at jack- iemanyhides@gmail.com. Letters can be sent to P.O. Box 419, Grand Ronde, OR, 97347. n St. Michael’s offers weekly brunch St. Michael’s Catholic Church offers an open house brunch every Sunday following Mass. The brunch is free to the community. Brunch begins at about 11:30 a.m. following the 10:30 a.m. Mass. Mass attendance is not required for brunch attendance. For more information, contact Janelle Justen at 503-550-0923. n Elders’ phone numbers wanted The Tribal Elders Committee is compiling a volunteer phone list of Elders. If you would like to submit your phone number and ad- dress to be available to other Elders, send it to elders.committee@ grandronde.org or leave a message at 503-879-2231. n 9 Tribal Legislative Day set for Feb. 19 Tribal leaders from throughout Oregon will have a chance to interact with state legislators on Thursday, Feb. 19, during Tribal Governments Legislative Day at the State Capitol’s Galleria in Salem. Sponsored by the Legislative Commission on Indian Services and the nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon, the day will provide a time for state legislators and government employees to visit and chat with Tribal representatives, who will staff information and visiting tables. The event is titled “Oregon Is Indian Country: Say Hello to Your Neighbors.” Light refreshments will be served and the Grand Ronde Tribe is helping to sponsor breakfast. Fry bread will be provided by the Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest at noon. The more public 40th anniversary celebration of the Legislative Com- mission on Indian Services is set for Thursday, May 14. Tribal Council member Cheryle A. Kennedy is the Tribe’s longtime representative on the commission. n Health coverage sign-ups continuing Native American and Alaska Natives can enroll year-round in Medicaid and the Oregon Health Plan, as well as for private health insurance coverage. For more information, contact Certified Appli- cation Assisters Loretta Meneley at 503-879-1359, Sydney Clark at 503-879-2197 or call 800-775-0095 for an appointment to apply for or discuss health insurance coverage. n Tribe to create plant materials program PLANTS continued from front page Applied Ecology. She was joined by Ecological Education Director Stacy Moore to lead a Native Plant Propagation Workshop, an educa- tion about how to plant and harvest trees, shrubs and seeds native to the Willamette Valley. The workshop was held Thursday, Jan. 29, outside in a chilly, sunny area behind Chachalu Museum and Cultural Center. Funding for this and other projects comes from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. The grant incorporates traditional ecological knowledge into restoration sites: one at the Tribe, another at Champoeg State Park and a third at Herbert Farm in Corvallis. “We are looking at introducing traditionally cultural significant plant species into these restoration efforts,” said Moore. “As part of this, Grand Ronde Elders have come out to Champoeg and Herbert Farm where they spoke about cul- turally significant plants and those they would like to see planted at these sites.” The institute also is collaborating with the Tribe to create a Tribal plants materials program. Those attending this workshop – Tribal and community members, and employees of the Natural Resources and Land and Culture departments – used the hands-on session to build on the Tribe’s early successes. First contact between the in- stitute and the Tribe occurred in 2008 when the cooperative effort prepared almost two acres behind the Tribal Housing Authority office for what became the Tyee Nature Preserve. Clearing the land of un- wanted species, the partners’ work has blossomed into a field where 40 native wildflower and grass species Photo by Michelle Alaimo Tribal Elder Terri Wood plants sea blush seeds while using seed propagation to produce new plants during the Native Plant Propagation Workshop held at Chachalu Tribal Museum and Cultural Center on Thursday, Jan. 29. now grow. Once abundant in the area, many of these plants have been sparse for a century or more. Among plants making a comeback in the preserve today are tradition- al camas roots and the threatened Nelson’s checkermallow. The Tribe’s work has focused on “propagating and spreading the pop- ulations of camas and other plants crucial to our identity,” said Jordan Mercier, Cultural Protection coordi- nator, acting with the institute in a technical advisory capacity. Creating access to native plants and increasing their availability is a barrier at the moment, he said. In that effort, the Tribe is in con- tact with federal agencies to give better plant access to members of the Tribe. At the same time, said Bobby Mercier, Cultural Outreach special- ist, “We’re finding thick patches of native plants to gather from, and we’re working to improve them.” The population and diversity of native plants “will never be like it was before,” Jordan said, “but we can do what we can.” Moore and Guenther shared the science of restoring native plants and habitat, but the Tribe, Moore said, shares the “cultural aspect.” Institute staff brought many native trees and shrubs for the workshop. Those attending plant- ed some in flower pots during the workshop and took the rest home. Tamping down the soil mix around a start, Cultural Education Specialist Brian Krehbiel wanted to know if his plant needed more water. This was the kind of hands-on work the institute fosters. When not in Grand Ronde, the institute brings workshops like these to two state prisons and more than 40 schools in Oregon. Dormant branches of Indian plum (one of the first to bloom in spring), dogwood (distinctive red stems that stand out in winter), salmonberry, twinberry (the flower is a source of nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies), snowberry, Douglas spirea, mock orange (long-lasting, citrus-fragrant, white blooms), Pa- cific ninebark (believed to have nine layers of shreddy bark on the stem) and oceanspray were available. Three different starts (lupine, checkermallow and sea blush) and packets of six different seeds (some the same as the starts, and also including willowherb and wooly sunflower) were up for grabs. Tribal Elder Terri Wood, who attended with her daughter, Steph- anie, came to get native plants for placement around a pond on her Dayton acreage. Information for planting included three ways to propagate new plants: collecting seeds in the wild for plant- ing, taking cuttings from existing plants and layering, a process that uses a branch from a tree like the dogwood and runs it underground for a short distance. Roots develop underground and the branch can then be separated to allow the new plant to grow independently. Cuttings may look much the same on both ends during the dormant period. Moore advised cutting the bottom at an angle when the cut- ting is first taken as a reminder later on. She also suggested that diehards go to the national forests where collecting is allowed. (Taking cut- tings in federal or state parks is not allowed.) “Mark the plants in the summer and fall when the leaves are still on the trees,” Moore said. In winter, during the dormant period when it is time to take cuttings and the leaves are gone, this may be the only way to identify the desired plants. “Don’t take whole plants out of the wild,” said Moore. It risks both a dead plant at home and a shrink- ing species in the wild. Re-establishing native plants as the Tribe is doing here, said Chris Adlan, a biology and botany stu- dent, is “really, really cutting edge.” “The more diversity of plants,” said Guenther, “the bigger the service we are doing for the com- munity.” n
