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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2015)
8 S moke S ignals APRIL 15, 2015 Culture Committee invites people to April 25 First Foods Celebration The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Culture Committee invites community members to attend the First Foods Celebration on Saturday, April 25, at Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center, 8720 Grand Ronde Road. The celebration begins at 10:30 a.m. and runs until a closing prayer. The gathering is made possible through a partnership with the Land and Culture Department, Youth and Adult Education pro- grams, Youth Council, the Elders Committee, iskam mfkhmfk haws (the Grand Ronde Food Bank) and Tribal Council, as well as communi- ty Elders, youth and parents. The First Foods Celebration will officially welcome spring and the return of abundant plants and animals to the area. It will include a family-style dinner honoring the importance of food in the lives of Tribal families. Organizers said they hope that they can inspire Tribal members to think about food in old and new ways, as stated in their slogan: “Food is history. Food is life. Food is medicine.” “There are edible and medicinal things all around us,” says Culture Committee Secretary Sarah Ross. “Many Tribal members have their own family traditions and teach- ings about the many uses of plants. Some Tribal members want to learn more about plants as medicine or food. This is a good way to bring our families together to share those stories and experiences.” This year’s event also marks the first time the First Foods event will be held at Chachalu. Smoke Signals file photo Zachary Bly places salmon on a plate for it to be served at the First Foods Celebration held at the Tribal Community Center in April 2012. This year’s First Foods Celebration will take place at Chachalu Tribal Museum & Cultural Center on Saturday, April 25. “The First Foods ceremony is just what Chachalu is for. In addition to a museum, the purpose of the Cultural Center is for these sorts of community gatherings,” says Land and Culture Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach. The First Foods Ceremony has been a long-standing tradition sponsored by the Culture Com- mittee. Past events have included demonstrations of traditional food preparation. Two years ago, fam- CTGR Recreation Department Gymnasium-Fitness Center Hours/Access Updates ilies were invited to crack acorns and grind them with a mortar and pestle to prepare an acorn mush that they ate after it was cooked. “That experience is something my children still talk about,” says Ross. “We want to offer this opportunity to the community to come together with the focus being something as simple and yet hugely important as food.” Acorn soup, or nupa, will be served again this year. “It’s important to introduce these First Foods to people who may have never even tasted them or eaten them in the past. We are celebrating the foods that our ancestors ate so that they don’t go away, and so the younger generations will know what foods are traditional,” says Betty Bly, Culture Committee chair. Faye Smith, Culture Committee member and Tribal Elder, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Science and spent 18 years working for the Women, In- fants and Children program with the Puyallup Tribe. She said that many diseases can be prevented by eating nutritional foods. “Nutrition is one of the most important things about life. It would be nice to get the Tribe back to being healthy by eating more traditional foods. Food can be our medicine,” Smith said. In the future, Smith said she would like to see more Tribal mem- bers going out with youth or Elders to collect wild harvested foods, as well as see Tribal members learn how to prepare and preserve them. On the menu are a variety of wild meats, fowl and fish including deer, elk, rabbit, quail, turkey, duck, salmon, eel, crab and shellfish. Recipes including fruits, such as huckleberries, strawberries and blackberries, will be served, along with acorns, hazelnuts and pine nuts. Guests also will have the op- portunity to taste camas, tarweed and wild harvested spring greens. “This celebration is a continua- tion of our ancestral practices for giving thanks for all that Creator provides,” Ross said. The Culture Committee hopes to inspire Tribal members to learn more about traditional foods going into the new food gathering year. For more information or to bring food, contact Ross at 503-879- 2006. n ATTENTION ALL RESIDENTS WHO HAVE CTGR TELEPHONE SERVICE If you have an emergency and need to dial “911” you must first dial a “9” (9911). The only calls that do not require that you dial a 9+ are the CTGR extensions made within the CTGR campus and/or those who use CTGR Tel for their home phone service. n Hours of Operation: 6am – 9pm Monday – Friday 8am – 12pm Saturday Closed Sunday *Hours of Operation are subject to change without notice due to scheduled events. Fitness Center Access: Tribal/Community 6am – 8am & 5pm-9pm (Monday-Friday) Contact Security 8am – 5pm (Monday-Friday) Contact Recreation/YED 8am – 12pm (Saturday) Contact Security *Access is granted to Tribal/Community Members only during the hours above. Everyone who enters the gym or fitness center from 6am-8am & 5pm-9pm must sign-in. CTGR Employees Access by Employee Badge *In the event your employee badge does not grant access to the gym after hours, contact Security, show your employee badge, and the officer on duty will let you in. Age Access Policy: MUST Be 18 years or older to be in the Fitness Center Youth 13-17 may use the Fitness Center with adult supervision (over 18) Youth 8-12 may access the Fitness Center with adult supervision, but may not use equipment. Youth ages 7 and under are not permitted in the Fitness Center Contact information: Strengthening Wounded Survivors Our community healing, building on our strength. Our circle invites the community to join in healing current or past trauma. Our goals of the nine-week course involve processing and forgiving violence that has personally happened to us. Past hurts to current unhealthy or abusive relationships … we encourage all people to come and join together in healing. Following White Bison, Mending Broken Hearts curriculum, we hope to use traditional methods of healing for Native communities. We know our community carries strong values and beliefs that aid in our healing from the multigenerational trauma we have experienced up until current-day hurts. Generally, domestic violence is a pattern of behavior, including physical violence or sexual violence, by an intimate current or former partner. It is seen in male/female and same sex partner relationships. Domestic violence takes many forms and includes a range of actions intended to control: isolation, intimidation, using children, emotional abuse, economic abuse, coercion and threats, minimizing, denying and blaming, cultural abuse, ritual abuse, sexism and sexual abuse. Sexual violence takes many forms as well but all acts are intended to control the survivor without their consent or their ability to give consent. Join us and take a nine-week journey as we discuss completing relationships and completing trauma that has not been resolved. Recreation Staff Recreation Coordinator Recreation Assistant (Matt Mosley) (Kendra Steele) 503-879-1369 503-879-1921 YED Front Desk Administrative Assistant (Tiffany Mercier) 503-879-2101 Location: Grand Ronde Housing Authority, 28450 Tyee Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347 Dates: April 13 th thru June 15 th (each Monday evening) Times: 5:30-7 p.m. Ages: 18+ (male or female trauma survivors) 503-879-2183 For questions or comments, contact Anne Falla, office 503-879-1660 or 24 hours 971-832-0730 Security
