12
S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 1, 2016
'You can place yourself in the landscape'
SUMMIT continued
from front page
Harrelson introduced Tribal
Council Chairman Reyn Leno.
“These are always great oppor-
tunities to let people know who
we are,” said Leno. “We believe in
education. I want to thank every-
body for coming. These are great
educational opportunities, so thank
you for being here.”
Harrelson jumped right into the
heart of the summit experience on
day one with a presentation about
Tribal history.
Local historian Henry Zenk then
presented his findings about one
of the first Tribal members to live
in Grand Ronde after the forced
relocations – Jenny Riggs.
Zenk colleague and fellow lan-
guage specialist Jed Schrock shared
information about a project he is
working on involving the Molalla
language.
Native Wellness Institute Pro-
gram Evaluator Amanda Mercier
presented on the topic of histor-
ical trauma. Her talk was titled
“Historical Trauma and Historical
Wisdom: Trauma-Informed Col-
laboration to Promote Cultural
Resiliency.”
Mercier discussed the establish-
ment of the Future Generations
Collaborative and said that the pro-
gram is about providing support to
parents aimed at helping babies be
healthy and have a healthier future.
Mercier said that the collabora-
tive project is trying to reduce sub-
stance-affected pregnancies in the
greater Portland Native community
by providing material informing par-
ents about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Disorder and the effect it has on chil-
dren, teaching people about histori-
cal and intergenerational trauma,
providing opportunities for healing
and advocating for policy changes.
“We have had an ongoing rela-
tionship with Grand Ronde,” said
Mercier. “The Future Generations
Collaborative started in 2011 after
Multnomah County Health Depart-
ment workers were seeing that there
wasn’t a lot of resources being dedicat-
ed to addressing substance-affected
pregnancies in Native communities
in the Portland area.”
Mercier said the approach for a
trauma-informed process involves
the building of communities, nur-
turing of relationships, integration
of Native culture and cultivation of
shared values.
“Nurturing relationships — that
has really been the foundation since
the beginning,” said Mercier. “Our
trauma-informed process has been
all about long-term relationship
building. I hope these conversations
can continue.”
Newly elected Nisqually Tribal
Council member Hanford McCloud
traveled to Grand Ronde to discuss
his Tribe’s hosting of the Canoe Jour-
ney this year in Washington state.
McCloud said his Tribe hosted as
many as 5,000 people per day on their
ancestral shores during the event.
Tribal member and Cultural
Adviser Bobby Mercier presented
on the Tribe’s historical and cul-
tural ties to Willamette Falls and
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
From left, Tribal GIS Coordinator Volker Mell, Tribal Senior Archaeologist Jessica Curteman and Tribal GIS Analyst
Alex Drake give a presentation on an interactive story map that the Tribe created about the Tillamook legend of the
journey of Southwind during the History and Culture Summit held in the Tribal gym on Thursday, Oct. 27.
showed a video shot this year when
the Tribe harvested salmon at the
falls for the first time in more than
100 years.
Other sessions on day one in-
cluded Tribal Senior Archaeologist
Jessica Curteman’s presentation on
the Tribe’s Historic Preservation
Office and the work that it does and
Dr. Sara Gonzales and graduate
student Ian Kretzler presented in-
formation on their ongoing low-im-
pact archaeology work through the
University of Washington.
The afternoon session on day one
concluded with presentations about
how Tribal people on the Colville
Reservation are surveying, collect-
ing, mapping and monitoring tra-
ditional plants in their usual and
accustomed areas and a presenta-
tion by Dr. Christopher Horsethief
shared information about how
trauma can be a tool for learning.
Summit attendees were treated
to a dinner of salmon and rice and
singing and dancing by the Canoe
Family at the Tribe’s tradition-
al plankhouse – achaf-hammi –
Wednesday night.
Day two of the Summit began
with a presentation by Native
filmmaker Sky Hopinka, who is a
member of the Ho-Chunk Nation
of Wisconsin.
Hopinka makes short films
through his Tribe’s Language De-
partment that target Native youth
and teach them their indigenous
language.
“Sky’s work centers around per-
sonal positions of homeland and
landscape, designs of language
and the facets of culture contained
within,” said Tribal member and
Cultural Education Coordinator
Jordan Mercier.
Hopinka said the language films
he is producing through his Tribe
come with a sense of urgency in
that there are only 70 known “im-
minent” speakers left.
“We are trying to find ways to
engage with the community and
to engage with the young learners
and provide resources for them to
draw upon and engage them with
platforms like YouTube or videos
or any sort of video media,” said
Hopinka. “These videos are also for
parents or the family members or
anyone in the community.”
Hopinka played one of his short
films that featured himself and
Jordan Mercier speaking Wawa.
Nike’s Sam McCracken, who is
from the Fort Peck Reservation in
Montana, presented on the com-
pany’s N7 program and shared
information about how the program
battles high rates of diabetes in
Indian Country through healthy ac-
tivities and he shared information
about shoes and apparel designed
for Native Americans.
Tribal member and Curriculum
Specialist Mercedes Reeves presented
information about the Grand Ronde
Tribe’s fourth- and eighth-grade
curriculums that are now being used
in schools throughout Oregon and
Education Program Manager Tim
Barry highlighted the Tribe’s Youth
Education Department.
Swinomish Tribal Elder and
Community Health Program Spe-
cialist Larry Campbell traveled to
Grand Ronde from his Reservation
located 75 miles north of Seattle.
Campbell, whose Indian name
is Wanaseah, is working on the
effects of climate change in his
community. His presentation was
titled “Climate Change Impacts on
Culturally Important Traditional
Foods and Habitats.”
He said that he became interested
in learning more about the effects
of climate change on his community
when he was serving his Tribe as
its historic preservation officer and
saw the changes firsthand that El-
ders had been talking about for 25
to 30 years prior.
“We are both saltwater and fresh-
water people,” Campbell said. “It is
the environment that dictates who we
are today as Tribal people. We need to
teach our young people who we are.”
Campbell said that his Tribe’s
10-square-mile Reservation is 90
percent bordered by water.
“Our Elders realized there were
changes in the environment,” said
Campbell, who said that his Tribe’s
Reservation in the Puget Sound had
been hit by two 100-year storms in
the last 10 years.
After the morning sessions were
completed on the second day, con-
ference attendees gathered into
smaller groups for the afternoon
breakout sessions.
Afternoon breakout sessions
included information provided by
Tribal member and Cultural Collec-
tions Supervisor Veronica Montano
on the Tribe’s handling of culturally
significant items and artifacts and
Harrelson presented on the topic of
place and the importance of place
to Tribal peoples.
Tribal Elder and Tribal Librarian
Marion Mercier presented infor-
mation on how to better research
Grand Ronde Tribal history.
GIS Coordinator Volker Mell
presented information on an inter-
active story map that the Tribe has
developed around the Tillamook
legend of the journey of Southwind.
The legend is a mythological sto-
ry about a creature that traveled
along the Oregon Coast naming
communities along the way.
Curteman said that the Tribe’s
foray into interactive maps to
share Tribal legends could contin-
ue with certain stories. She said
that because the tale of Southwind
has already been published and is
known then it is OK to share that
legend with the public.
“The point of it is to essentially
provide a new way or an alternative
way to tell a story,” said Curteman.
“This is giving audiences a way to
learn the story and to see the story
as a visual representation as well.”
Mell said that when viewers go to
the map they will direct the story
experience by what they click on.
“You can place yourself in the land-
scape,” said Mell, who explained that
viewers can zoom in and zoom out on
certain spots on the map for more
information and that there are videos
and pictures placed throughout the
story map to further enhance the
experience for the viewer.
Mell’s presentation followed the
Oregon coastline from south to
north.