S moke S ignals
MAY 1, 2015
11
Crossing set to open Sept. 12
ARTWORK continued
from front page
outer ring, referencing the Earth.
Tilikum Crossing, set to open on
Sept. 12, will carry light rail and
streetcar trains, buses, bicyclists
and pedestrians, but no private ve-
hicles. It will, according to TriMet,
improve transit in a corridor that
extends from the terminus of the
MAX Green and Yellow lines at
Portland State University in down-
town Portland to the south water-
front area, southeast Portland,
Milwaukie and the north Clacka-
mas County area.
In April 2014, the Grand Ronde
Tribe’s suggested name for the
bridge was selected from four final-
ists out of hundreds of nominations.
The gifting ceremony, held on a
beautiful, cloudless spring day, be-
gan at 10 a.m. with TriMet General
Manager Neil McFarlane inviting
Grand Ronde drummers to open the
event. Tribal Council member Jon
A. George joined Tribal members
Bobby Mercier, Jordan Mercier,
David Harrelson, Archuleta, Jan
Looking Wolf Reibach,
Shannon Simi and
Chelsea Clark, as well
as Chinook Nation
Chairman Sam Robin-
son, in drumming and
singing.
George then gave
the invocation before
several hundred peo-
ple in attendance.
“What an honor it is
to be recognized as the
people of the area,”
George said. “Our an-
cestors are looking
down upon us, saying
how proud they are.”
“We’re honored here
today to accept these
beautiful art piec-
es that speak to the
long history of Native
Americans in our re-
gion,” McFarlane said.
“Art connects us and that is one of
the reasons TriMet has always had
an art program associated with its
projects, but it doesn’t just connect
those of us who are here today. It
connects us to our past and to our
future, and it’s that speaking to the
past and future that makes these
art pieces so particularly touching.”
McFarlane said the location of the
artwork is historically appropriate
since the Willamette River has
connected everyone who has lived
in the region for thousands of years.
“Tilikum is a name that honors
the Chinookan-speaking people of
this basin who have literally lived
here since time immemorial,” Mc-
Farlane said. “Tilikum symbolizes
our coming together. So, like this
bridge, our connections as a tran-
sit rider, a pedestrian, a cyclist all
come together today, and with this
art it connects this project to an
important story and important part
of this region’s history.”
“Today, for me, is really about one
word: Respect,” said Portland May-
or Charlie Hales. “It is about re-
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council members Jon A. George, left, Denise Harvey, second from left, and Tonya Gleason-Shepek, right,
gift Chinook artist Greg A. Robinson a Tribal Pendleton blanket during the gifting ceremony for the artwork that
Robinson created to decorate Tilikum Crossing in Portland on Friday April 17.
From left, Tribal Council member
Jon A. George, Jan Looking
Wolf Reibach, Bobby Mercier,
Jordan Mercier, Chinook Nation
Chairman Sam Robinson, David
Harrelson and Greg Archuleta
drum and sing during the gifting
ceremony for the artwork “We
Have Always Lived Here” at
Tilikum Crossing in Portland on
Friday April 17.
spect for the river; it’s about respect
for history, for the Native peoples
whose land this is and was, and for
the connections between that his-
tory and all of the others who have
come to this city, now moving here
from all over the world, bringing
other cultures. And those people
need to know about this history,
about these connections and about
this place.”
Hales said that people today
can honor the river and its history
with a combination of beautiful
modern-day architecture, design
and public art. “That’s why we’re
here,” he added.
“I am thankful for this oppor-
tunity that we have, as the Con-
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde,
to be in this honorable place to
present art to the beautiful city of
Portland,” Tribal Council member
Cheryle A. Kennedy said. “We are
thankful for the partnership we
have with TriMet; thankful for the
partnership we have with the city
of Portland and Mayor Hales.
“Tilikum Crossing, for us, really
represents the bridging of peoples
who come to this land and the name
is very fitting. We’re very thankful
for that name. We know that it not
only bridges the river here, but
it bridges many of the disparities
that came with the many different
difficulties that this area was ex-
periencing. So, as we return as the
peoples of this land, we are very
grateful for this opportunity.
“Today, we honor our ancestors
with this gift,” Kennedy added.
“Today, this opportunity provides
what we hope is the beginning of
the recognition of the traditional
art forms of our ancestors.”
“This art would not exist with-
out the generous sponsorship of
the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde,” Greg Robinson said.
Robinson thanked Archuleta,
whose family tolerated the racket
and noise for about a year as the
carvings were created.
Robinson explained the symbols
in the carvings and medallion,
such as the cascading salamanders
representing the waterfalls in the
Columbia River Gorge and the five
faces at the base of the carvings
representing the Chinookan peo-
ples of the past, present and future.
“That is really the core element of
these pieces,” he said. “The contin-
uance, the survival and prospering
into the future.”
Robinson said the installation
of the artwork is about “having a
permanent testament to the sur-
vival and ongoing culture of the
Chinookan people who still live
here in the Portland metro area.
“I hope that it will help to serve
and inspire the future gener-
ations of artists and cultural
people, that Chinookans will con-
tinue to grow and thrive into the
future. … It is just a testimony
to us being here.”
After the speeches, George and
Tribal Council members Denise
Harvey and Tonya Gleason-Shepek
gifted dentalium-cedar rose neck-
laces made by George to McFarlane
and Hales, and enveloped Robinson
in a Tribal Pendleton blanket.
Grand Ronde drummers closed
the ceremony as pedestrians and
bicyclists were already stopping
at the eastside basalt carving and
medallion to admire their beauty.
Other Tribal employees and
members who attended the event
included Elders Dolores Parmenter
and Ann Lewis, Tribal Council
Chief of Staff Stacia Martin, Tribal
Planner Rick George and Tribal
Attorney Rob Greene. n