PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 700
— pg. 3
MAY 1, 2015
Willamina to reconsider Tribal flag request
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
W
Smoke Signals file photo
The Willamina School Board will
reconsider a request from the Tribe
to hang its flag in the high school
gym on Tuesday, May 12.
ILLAMINA – The Wil-
lamina School Board is
scheduled to reconsider a
request to hang the Grand Ronde
7ULEDOÁDJLQWKHKLJKVFKRROJ\P
on Tuesday, May 12, after tabling
the matter at its April meeting.
Former Grand Ronde Tribal li-
aison to the school district, Tribal
Court Administrator Angela Fasa-
na, made the original request after
visiting Pendleton High School and
noticing that the U.S., Oregon and
Confederated Tribes of Umatilla
ÁDJVZHUHKDQJLQJLQWKHJ\P
´,IHOWWKHSUHVHQFHRIWKHÁDJV
sent a good message to students
and the community about the
partnership between the district
and Umatilla,” Fasana wrote in a
March 12 e-mail to outgoing Willa-
mina School District Superinten-
dent Gus Forster. “The Tribe would
be happy to provide the district
ZLWKD7ULEDOÁDJµ
The request was placed on the
April 14 School Board agenda as a
decision item, Forster said, but it
was pulled and moved to a discus-
sion item by Chair Craig Johnson.
According to the Yamhill County
News Register, Johnson proposed
charging the Grand Ronde Tribe
IRUDÀYH\HDUFRQWUDFWWR
See FLAG
continued on page 15
Bridging cultures
Tribe gifts artwork to TriMet’s Tilikum Crossing
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
P
ORTLAND – TriMet’s new bridge
across the Willamette River not only
has a Chinuk Wawa name – Tilikum
Crossing (“Bridge of the People”) – but now
has three prominent pieces of Tribal artwork
decorating it.
On Friday, April 17, the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde gifted two basalt carv-
ings and a large bronze medallion that will
help remind Portland and its residents that
Native Americans have lived and continue to
live along the shores of the river since time
immemorial.
The basalt carvings stand 6 feet tall on
the east and west side of the bridge and the
5-foot-diameter bronze medallion is hanging
on the eastern side of the bridge facing north.
Pedestrians and bicyclists southbound on the
Eastside Greenway Trail cannot help but
notice the medallion.
All three pieces, collectively called “We
Culture Committee
Vice Chair Marcus
Gibbons talks
about water and its
importance during
the First Foods
Celebration held
at Chachalu Tribal
Museum & Cultural
Center on Saturday,
April 25. The event
was hosted by the
Tribe’s Culture
Committee.
Have Always
Lived Here,”
were created
by Chinook
artist Greg A.
Robinson at
the Gresham home of Grand Ronde Tribal
member Greg Archuleta.
The basalt carvings depict Tayi, or head-
men, with their people, and the medallion
shows Morning Star and her children in the
center, which is a reference to the heavens,
and Coyote and the first humans on the
See ARTWORK
continued on page 11
“We Have Always Lived Here,” the artwork
that decorates Tilikum Crossing in Portland,
includes a large bronze medallion and two basalt
carvings. A second basalt carving is at another
location on the other side of the bridge.
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Feast fetes First Foods
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
he more than 100 attendees
at the First Foods Celebration
held on Saturday, April 25, not
only learned about the wild game and
plants that Grand Ronde ancestors
consumed since time immemorial, they
also learned about their own will power
and self-control.
As Tribal Royalty and Youth Council
members distributed the food inside
Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center,
Culture Committee Vice Chair Marcus
Gibbons reminded people not to start
eating until all of the food had been
served.
As clam chowder, deer stew, elk meat-
balls, smoked salmon, nuts and berries,
See FIRST FOODS
continued on page 8