S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2015
5
Tribe confers with three national forests
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Former land managers of much
of western Oregon met with cur-
rent land managers of much of
western Oregon when the Tribe
held its annual Tri-Forest memo-
randum of understanding meeting
with representatives from the Wil-
lamette, Siuslaw and Mount Hood
national forests on Monday, June
8, in the Community Center.
The three national forests en-
compass more than 3 million acres,
much of which was ceded to the
federal government by the Con-
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde
in seven treaties during the 1850s.
Tribal Ceded Lands Manager
Mike Karnosh acted as master of
ceremonies.
Tribal Council Secretary Toby
McClary and Tribal Council mem-
ber Chris Mercier attended the
morning session with McClary
providing the opening remarks
after Land and Culture Manager
Jan Looking Wolf Reibach gave the
invocation.
“These relationships and these
MOUs are very important to us,”
McClary said. “It really means a lot
to the Tribe to have these partner-
ships. I know that these are always
productive meetings.”
McClary’s opening remarks were
followed by opening remarks from
the respective forest supervisors
– Tracy Beck of the Willamette,
Jerry Ingersoll of the Siuslaw and
Lisa Northrop of the Mount Hood.
In addition, Tribal Relations Ad-
viser Waldo Walker of the Forest
Service’s Pacific Northwest region-
al office in Portland attended.
“We look forward to keeping the
positive relationship and improv-
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
David Harrelson, Tribal Cultural Protection Program manager and Tribal
Historic Preservation Officer, gives a history of the Tribe during the Tri-Forest
memorandum of understanding meeting held at the Tribal Community
Center on Monday, June 8. Representatives from the Willamette, Siuslaw and
Mount Hood national forests were in attendance.
ing on it in the future,” Beck said.
“I am honored and humbled to be
here and to share in the manage-
ment of these lands,” Ingersoll said.
“Our working relationship with the
Tribe’s amazing staff is also deeply
appreciated.”
“It is really important to us to
create relationships at the local
level because that it what matters
most,” Northrop said. “I look for-
ward to hearing more about what
is important to you.”
Walker said the Forest Service
and Tribe are bound together by
the land.
“The land is bound together not
by organizations, but by people,”
Walker said. “We all understand
that as we grow together, we move
better. We learn more. We grasp
Reibach performing
at World Beat Festival
Multiple Native American Music Award recipient Jan Looking
Wolf Reibach will perform at 7:45 p.m. Saturday, June 27, at the
Riverfront Park Amphitheatre in Salem as part of this year’s World
Beat Festival.
The festival’s focus this year is “The Drum: Rhythm of the World”
and it will include performances on Saturday and Sunday, June 27-
28, as well as workshops, demonstrations, drum jams, opportunities
to learn about the drum, discuss the drum and its cultural legacy,
and try out many different types of the instrument.
The festival operates 15 performance areas and educational cen-
ters across the 23-acre park. The Native American Cross Cultural
Association will host its third annual Social Powwow beginning at
10 a.m. Sunday.
The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free, but volunteers will ask
for a donation at the gate. Free parking is available around the
downtown Salem area.
For more information, call 503-581-2004 or visit www.WorldBeat-
Festival.org on the Internet, or visit the festival’s Facebook page. n
Looking for scholarships?
There are numerous scholarship opportunities offered for students to ap-
ply to each year. The majority of scholarships for fall term/semester are due
between January and April of each year.
The Tribal Higher Education programs are here to assist you in your appli-
cation process. If you use a scholarship search site, be sure to read the privacy
policy to ensure you are using a site that will not sell your contact information.
A recommended search site to use is www.kaarme.com. n
more knowledge as we move for-
ward. … The land is sustaining us
whether you’re a Tribal member or
not. We just have to remember that
we’re in it together and we have
to keep moving forward by sitting
down at a meeting like this and
dealing with the issues.”
Tribal Historic Preservation Offi-
cer David Harrelson gave attendees
a 20-minute crash course in Tribal
history from time immemorial
through current-day Tribal status.
He also explained the different
terminology applied to Tribal lands
– Reservation, fee, ceded and usual
and accustomed areas.
“All of you manage lands that are
our original homelands,” Harrelson
said. “They are still a part of our
identity as people.”
N.J. Erickson, acting deputy for-
est supervisor on the Willamette,
briefed the approximately 25 at-
tendees about possible land acqui-
sition of the Cascadia Caves, an
important archaeological site east
of Sweet Home currently in private
land ownership that is just a half-
mile outside of the national forest’s
boundaries. It features 9,000-year-
old rock art and petroglyphs.
Harrelson said the site is well-
known and starting to experience
more vandalism and natural deg-
radation from encroaching vege-
tation.
“We recognize this is a really
important property,” Erickson
said, adding that Forest Service
employees are analyzing whether
their federal agency would be the
best owner or if the National Parks
Service or another federal or pri-
vate agency might be a better fit.
The other consideration, Erickson
said, is whether the land can be
obtained through a land exchange,
donation or purchase.
“We’re on the hook to give it a
really good look locally. We need
the regional office to weigh in on the
quality of the property,” she said.
Even if all of the behind-the-
scenes approvals are acquired, the
Forest Service would still need to
receive approval from the Office
of Management and Budget to
purchase or trade for the property,
she added.
“The ideal home run would be
either a donation or a purchase,”
Erickson said, adding that the
Nature Conservancy might be an
option.
She added that under federal
ownership, antiquities laws kick
in regarding potential vandalism.
“It’s a little bit extra protection,”
she said. “In theory, there’s a little
bit extra punch in protecting the
site.”
During the afternoon session,
which Tribal Council Vice Chair
Jack Giffen Jr. attended, repre-
sentatives from the Mount Hood
and Siuslaw national forests
discussed huckleberry gathering
and management on their respec-
tive forests and Karnosh gave a
presentation on the Ceded Lands
Program.
“We spent much of the afternoon
discussing opportunities for the
Tribe and the three forests to work
in cooperation to accomplish com-
mon goals, such as Tribal member
huckleberry harvests,” Karnosh
said.
At the end of day, the forest
representatives and Walker pre-
sented Tribal Council with a wood-
en plaque commemorating the
Tri-Forest MOU and the meeting,
which was the first to be held under
the memorandum of understand-
ing. Giffen accepted the plaque for
Tribal Council.
Karnosh said the meeting was
intended to be the highest-level
meeting between the Tribe and
national forests.
“This is intended to be a lead-
ership-level MOU partners meet-
ing,” Karnosh said, “with topics
relevant to the overall govern-
ment-to-government relationship
and associated leadership deci-
sions. Technical-level issues or
updates identified in this meeting
may be scheduled for later, sep-
arate meetings or phone confer-
ences.”
Also attending the meeting was
Natural Resources Department
Manager Michael Wilson and lunch
was catered by the Tribe’s Nutri-
tion Program. n
Vendors to visit casino
There will be Tribal vendors at Spirit Mountain Casino during the
Veterans Summit, Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow
and Elder Honor Day, which occur from Wednesday, July 8, through
Monday, July 13.
There are 30 tables available at two tables per vendor maximum.
For more information, contact Tribal Elder Gladys Hobbs at 971-
241-8486 if interested.
This is open to all vendors on a first-come, first-served basis. n