S moke S ignals
JULY 15, 2016
15
for future grand entries
a Mercier gets support from her parents, Amanda and Jordan Mercier, as she dances in
he Tiny Tots special during the 2016 Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow held
t Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Saturday, July 9.
performed three InterTribals before
giving way to the Grand Ronde
Royalty members who performed
a dance special for Tribal youth
Saige Selwyn, who walked on in
2015 after a tragic car accident on
Grand Ronde Road.
The idea to honor Saige with a
dance special at this year’s Veter-
ans Powwow was credited to Junior
Miss Grand Ronde Isabelle Grout
and Little Miss Grand Ronde Ka-
leigha Simi.
The dance special featured three
songs with the first song being ded-
icated to Saige’s family.
“The first dance was for the fam-
ily as an honor song for Saige,”
said Tribal Council Administra-
tive Assistant Shannon Simi,
Kaleigha’s mother, who also
helps with Royalty events.
The second dance was just
Royalty and the third dance
was a competition special open
to junior and teen category
dancers of all styles.
Royalty members (Grout,
Simi, Amaryssa Mooney and
Veterans Special Event Board
Senior Queen Makenzie
Aaron, left, and her sister,
Veterans Special Event Board
Junior Queen Madison Aaron,
take their honor dance
immediately following being
crowned the 2016-17 queens
before the start of the 2016
Marcellus Norwest Memorial
Veterans Powwow held at
Uyxat Powwow Grounds on
Friday, July 8.
Iyana Holmes) and Amelia Mooney
judged the dance special and picked
the top three dancers.
Tribal member Kailiyah Kreh-
biel, Kaylee Johnson and Jazmine
Barney were the winners and they
each received bracelets that said “In
Loving Memory of Saige” on them.
“The girls on Royalty were really
good friends with Saige and since
Saige was a fancy dancer the girls
wanted to do something special
for her,” said Simi. “Saige is from
the Norwest family. We thought
it would be an appropriate time
to honor the family and have all
Kaikanim Mercier dances in an InterTribal dance during the 2016
Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow held at Uyxat
Powwow Grounds on Saturday, July 9.
the girls dance fancy, which was
her style. It was the girls’ way of
remembering their friend and doing
something for the family.”
Leno said hearing about the
dance special for Saige made him
proud to be a member of the Tribal
family.
“I’m proud to be part of a Tribe
that steps up and they help people
and they don’t forget about them,
and they really help the family
work through these things,” said
Leno. “At the end of the day you
never want to forget somebody. You
always want to be able to remember
them and honor them the best you
can. That’s always our commit-
ment. We will never forget you.”
Isabelle Grout put that commit-
ment into action when she wore
Saige’s fancy dance shawl on to the
arena floor. She remembered so we
can all remember. 
Photos by Michelle Alaimo