S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2016
11
his day – especially this day'
bal Elder Betty Bly, left, the Tribe’s Culture Committee chair, gives
eaded necklace to Tribal Elder Cordelia Kneeland as she hands out
cklaces to the crowd during the Tribe’s 33rd Restoration Powwow held in
Tribal gym on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
hotos by Michelle Alaimo
ple it would have.
“The Creator saw fit for us to be
here today,” said Kennedy. “Had the
United States government had their
way, none of us would be here today.
So we have come through a lot. We’re
here today to celebrate and rejoice.”
Kennedy said Tribal ancestors
were strong and that they had a
vision for the future that conditions
would be better for their children
and their children’s children.
“The same thing is called upon us
today to look into the future and to
see all those ones that are coming
after us that they will be strong,”
said Kennedy. “That we leave this
world a better place for those ones
that are coming after us. That is
what this is all about.”
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George provided the invocation for
the meal and Tribal Council mem-
bers Chris Mercier, Jack Giffen
Jr. and Kathleen George, Tribal
staff members, Culture Committee
members, Youth Council members
and Tribal Royalty served a tradi-
tional meal of salmon, wild rice,
elk stew, green salad, rolls and pie.
After the meal and a short break,
master of ceremonies Fabian
Quenelle called for powwow dancers
to get ready at 3:01 p.m. and called
for the drums to begin at 3:13 p.m.
Tribal Elder and Army veteran
Raymond Petite led the Color
Guard into the Restoration Pow-
wow and held the eagle staff. Navy
veteran Al Miller carried in the
Oregon flag, Navy veteran Ron
Schlitzkus carried in the Ameri-
can flag, Marine veteran Rich Van
Atta carried in the POW/MIA flag
and Navy veteran Dennis Klefner
brought in the Tribal flag.
Tribal Council members Kennedy,
Giffen, Jon A. George and Denise
Harvey followed the Color Guard on
to the powwow dance floor.
Kennedy gave the invocation
to begin the powwow and Jon A.
Wocus Gibbons dances to the “Salmon Song” as the Grand Ronde Canoe
Family performs during the Tribe’s 33rd Restoration Celebration held in the
Tribal gym on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
Amelia Mooney, center, was among the Grand Ronde Canoe Family dancers
who danced to the “Paddle Song” as the Canoe Family opened the Tribe’s 33rd
Restoration Celebration held in the Tribal gym on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
George welcomed everyone in at-
tendance.
“Thank you for being here for our
Restoration Powwow,” said Jon A.
George. “It’s good to see all these
wonderful faces here; we welcome
the drummers. I’m so thankful for
this opportunity for all of us to come
together and to dance and sing the
songs of our Elders and celebrate.”
George said he felt honored to be
a part of the Tribe.
“As I was growing up in Grand
Ronde, I never thought I would
be standing before my people as a
Tribal leader and welcoming you,”
said George. “To see the things that
we have today, I thank our past
leaders for this. Those were the
leaders that created a foundation
of who we are today. This is who
we are – we are a people that come
together and celebrate each other,
we honor our culture, we honor
each other, we honor our children
and our veterans. Let’s get our
dance on.”
Quenelle introduced head man
Anthony Quenelle and head woman
Ramona Quenelle before inviting
Waking Thunder to perform the
first song of the powwow.
“We are not history,” said
Quenelle to the applause of the
powwow crowd.
As many as 50 people danced for
the first song and the InterTribal
songs that followed had a rhythm
of their own with dancers of all
ages, in regalia and out, dancing in
all directions instead of the usual
clockwise motion of the larger, out-
door powwows.
The dance floor was filled with
everyone from toddlers barely
taking their first steps to family
members pushing beloved Tribal
Elder Beryle Contreras around the
dance floor in her wheelchair as
Bad Soul and Red Nation drums
joined in for songs.
Also during the powwow, the
Tribe’s Culture Committee honored
Tribal Elder Margaret Provost,
one of the three principal Tribal
members credited with starting
the Tribe’s Restoration effort in the
1970s that finally culminated in the
Tribe regaining federal recognition.
“We honored Margaret because of
her work on Restoration years ago,”
said Culture Committee Chair Betty
Bly, who is also an Elder. “Marcus
(Gibbons) proposed it and the rest of
us all agreed that it would be good
to honor Margaret at the powwow.
We contacted Cheryle Kennedy to
honor Margaret for everything she
has done over the years from Res-
toration in the beginning and being
on council and being on several
committees throughout the years.”
Kennedy concluded her remarks
by asking everyone to care for the
land and water.
“That is all of our jobs here today
as we look to the future – make sure
our environment is taken care of,”
said Kennedy. “Treat it like it was
your own child. It is our responsi-
bility to listen to our old ones, our
ancient ones who tell us we can
make this better.”
Members of the 33rd Restoration
Celebration Planning Committee
included Stacia Martin, Shannon
Simi, Chelsea Clark, Gladys Hobbs,
Steve Bobb Sr., Penny DeLoe, Re-
becca Knight, Julie Brown, Kathleen
George, Jon A. George, Denise Har-
vey, Dave Fullerton, Lisa Archuleta,
Harris Reibach and Peter Grout.