16
S MOKE S IGNALS
DECEMBER 1, 2015
'Thank you for letting us share our culture with you'
FLAG continued
from front page
Zimbrick said that students were
gathered for a “special” reason.
Zimbrick said the Tribal fl ag “rep-
resented a very rich history of the
area that we all call home.”
Tribal Council member Jon A.
George introduced fellow Tribal
Council members Tonya Glea-
son-Shepek and Denise Harvey
before delivering opening remarks.
“What an honor it is today to
speak before all of you,” said
George. “It is an honor what is
happening here today. A lot of the
reason that we wanted to hang our
fl ag in your school has to do with
our sovereignty. Our sovereignty
means we are a government within
a national government. We have
partnerships and friendships with
other governments.”
George, who graduated from
Willamina High School, explained
some Grand Ronde Tribal history.
“We are actually standing on and
living in the ancient homelands of
our people. This is our homelands,”
said George. “Our people have
always been in this country. That
is what the fl ag represents to the
people of the Grand Ronde Tribe.
Thank you for letting us share our
culture with you. The people that
you see here represent a long line
of history and ancestors that were
here way before anybody else came.”
George, who was joined by 25
members of the Tribe’s Canoe Fam-
ily and several drummers, said the
event was a “teaching moment.”
“It gives you an opportunity
to learn about who we are,” said
George.
Tribal member Angie Fasana
then explained that November was
a big month for the Tribe and for
Native people as a whole.
Fasana, who works for the Tribe
as the Tribal Court administrator,
said November is filled with im-
portant milestones for the Tribal
community and the hanging of the
Tribal fl ag in the school was at the
top of that list in importance.
Fasana explained the importance
of Veterans Day, the Thanksgiving
holiday, Native American Heritage
Month and Tribal Restoration Day.
“There was no Tribe when I was
in fi rst, second, third grade,” said
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Grand Ronde Canoe Family dancers perform during an assembly to celebrate
the Grand Ronde Tribal fl ag being hung in the gym at Willamina High School
on Monday, Nov. 16. In the background, the Tribal fl ag can be seen hanging
with the Oregon, United States and POW/MIA fl ags.
Fasana. “There was no citizenship.”
Fasana, who graduated from Wil-
lamina High School, asked students
to imagine a country that no longer
recognized the students as being
from Oregon.
“Imagine being told you were now
from the state of Washington or
Idaho or California,” said Fasana.
“Imagine being told you were no
longer Oregonians. That’s what
it was like for the members of the
Tribe for nearly 30 years.”
When Fasana initially request-
ed hanging the Tribal fl ag in the
school’s gymnasium in May, she
had just returned from a trip to
Pendleton, where Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation
fl ags hang in both the high school
and middle school gyms.
Fasana wanted the same thing
for Grand Ronde Tribal member
students attending Willamina
schools where Tribal members
make up about one-third of the
student population.
Willamina School Board mem-
bers initially balked at the idea,
citing that they had no policy in
place regarding flags being dis-
played in the school. Former School
Board President Craig Johnson
even fl oated the idea of charging
the Tribe $25,000 to hang the fl ag
in the gym.
After several meetings, one of
which was held in Grand Ronde
with Tribal Council, the School
Board revised its policy and voted
to allow the Tribe’s fl ag to be hung
in the gym.
After a summer of letting the
issue die down and new people be-
ing put in place, such as Zimbrick
taking over for former Willamina
School District Superintendent Gus
Forster, November was picked as
the time for the fl ag ceremony due
to it being National Native Ameri-
can Heritage Month.
Zimbrick, whose children are
Tribal members, said the school
community has evolved.
“I think our whole community has
learned a lot in the steps that have
taken place since May and getting
to here,” said Zimbrick.
“We also want to take this op-
portunity to thank the Willamina
School Board, we want to thank
the Willamina parents, we want
to thank the students here,” said
George. “We want to thank the
community. We want to thank
your principals, Tim France and
Cera Norwood, for inviting us here
today for this special cultural event.
Mostly, I want to thank your teach-
ers. I raise my hands to you.”
Middle School and High School
Principal Tim France said the event
was a positive one.
“I think it went real well,” said
France. “It was something that
defi nitely gave the recognition of
what’s going on and that is always
a good thing.”
France said that Willamina stu-
dents were part of the bigger picture.
“The vast majority of students
were like, ‘Hey I’m going to be
here, I’m going to be engaged in
what’s going on’ and ultimately I
would say that is what is going on
in our society – basically being un-
derstanding of other people,” said
France. “We have more people with
more understanding of what’s going
on in our community and all around
us. I think overall it was a great
thing for our community.”
Zimbrick said that much history,
especially that of Native Americans
in Oregon, is not presented in his-
tory books.
“I think this represents a begin-
ning and I think there are next
steps that need to take place,” said
Zimbrick. “Number one is the edu-
cation piece. It’s really embracing
the rich history we have and edu-
cating all of our students. There
is just so much that isn’t in books
and isn’t in curriculum. There is so
much more.”
Zimbrick said the growth of the
Tribe has allowed it to become “em-
bedded” in the community.
“Looking at their (the Tribe’s) pri-
orities and having their priorities
be kids, this is a great platform to
get the job done,” said Zimbrick.
“They are very visible and in a very
positive way.”
The Tribal fl ag hanging ceremo-
ny ended with an honor song and
Tribal member students came down
from the stands to join their fellow
Tribal members in the middle of the
basketball court. n
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