20
S moke S ignals
SEPTEMBER 1, 2016
30 Grand Ronde dancers participated in powwow
POWWOW continued
from page 19
reaching the mid-80s.
Powwow Special Event Board
Chair Dana Ainam said there were
171 dancers registered to compete
this year, down from the usually
more than 200 who attend. Of those
dancers, 30 were Grand Ronde
Tribal members and 10 Tribal
members were winners this year.
Tribal Elder Wink Soderberg
said it seemed like there were more
vendors than ever before.
“There is a real assortment of
stuff. It’s really good,” said Soder-
berg. “That’s probably the best I’ve
seen it.”
Tribal General Manager Dave
Fullerton said that Tribal admin-
istration and the Powwow Special
Event Board started making prepa-
rations for the heat in advance of
the powwow.
“We had two 20-by-20-foot cooling
stations set up on the grounds,”
said Fullerton. “They had air condi-
tioning pumped into them so people
could go in there and relax. The
other thing we did was we got 2,600
bottles of water from the casino.”
Fullerton said he directed crews
to set up the water bottles in shad-
ed stations throughout the powwow
grounds and he said they were
ready to open up the Elders Activity
Center as a cooling station if it had
been necessary.
“Overall, I think it was great,”
said Fullerton of the powwow week-
end. “The temperature cooperated
by Saturday evening.”
Fullerton commended the Pow-
wow Special Event Board for put-
ting on another great show and
pointed to the Education Commit-
tee’s “School Is Cool” dance special
on Friday night and the fancy dance
special held on Saturday night as
reasons to praise their efforts.
Participants in the Education
Committee dance special were
awarded school supplies by com-
mittee members.
“We do a good job of getting school
supplies to our kids in this commu-
nity, but the Education Committee
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Marcel Allen competes in the Teen Boys Grass dance category during the 2016 Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Contest Powwow held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Saturday, Aug. 20. He took ifth place in the category.
does that to beneit all the kids who
show up there,” said Fullerton. “Ev-
eryone walks away with something.
With powwow being right before
school starts, I think that’s great.”
Chris Mercier said he was hap-
py to be one of the judges for the
“School Is Cool” dance special this
year.
“It’s cool because you can see that
some of these kids are on a path
that they are going to start doing
that (dancing at powwows) on a
regular basis,” said Chris Mercier.
“You can tell that they put
a lot of heart and soul into
their regalia and every-
thing. It’s just great to see
that at such a young age
and to see them embrace
their Tribal heritage.”
Fullerton said he was
happy with the way the
Powwow Special Event
Board used extra prize
money they had from the
drum prize pool to put on
a Saturday night Men’s
and Women’s Fancy
Dance Special. The crowd
showed its appreciation
when the men’s and wom-
en’s winners then met on
the arena dance loor for a
dance-off showdown.
“They (the Powwow
SEB) found a way to do
some other things to show
appreciation to all the drummers
and dancers for coming to this com-
munity,” said Fullerton. “I think
it will become a mainstay so that
was great.”
Fire Protection Technician Logan
Kneeland said the Tribal commu-
nity and Reservation lands were
at a level three fire threat from
Wednesday, Aug. 17, through Mon-
day, Aug. 22, and then transitioned
back to a level two as cooler weath-
er took hold.
He said the Tribe’s Natural
Resources Department had two
engines on patrol Friday and Sat-
urday and that there were no inci-
dents during the powwow.
Tribal Police Chief Jake McK-
night said his department had a
slow powwow weekend and that is
just how he likes it.
McKnight, who has been coming
to the Tribal powwows since they
were held in the ield behind the
grade school when he was a boy,
said he is sometimes in awe of ev-
erything that has come about in the
See POWWOW
continued on page 21
Amelia Mooney dances in an InterTribal dance during the 2016
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Contest Powwow held at
Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Friday, Aug. 19.