8
S moke S ignals
APRIL 15, 2017
Harvest begins each year in mid-March
PEELING continued
from front page
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Cultural Education Coordinator Jordan Mercier peels willow at the
Cultural Resources Department on Wednesday, April 5.
through a piece of V-cut wood used
to strip off the outer layers. Those
layers are peeled off and removed,
and a thin, flexible but strong stick
emerges ready to be used in ham-
pers or baskets during a culture
class later in the year.
Mercier said it’s the same thing
with the berries they gather, too.
“The huckleberries have a two-
to three-month window,” Mercier
said. “They will be ready down here
and then continue to be ready for
the next few months all the way
up to Mt. Hood and really high
elevations.”
Mercier said that currently
there are shoots popping up from
a variety of traditional plants like
samen-ulali or salmon berries, cow
parsnip (which is also known as
Indian celery) and stinging nettles
that can be eaten and used in teas.
T’upa or cow parsnip is a type of
parsley and tipayt-tipsu or sting-
ing nettles leaves can be boiled or
steamed and can be made into a
medicinal tea.
“We just got done with (harvest-
ing) plum-tatis-stik or Ocean Spray
and hazel for bows and coming up
will be the camas and prairie flow-
ers,” Mercier said.
Cultural Resources staff will
Canoe Family Meetings
April 15th
May 13th
June 10th
July 8th
Meetings will be at
achaf-hammi, the
Plankhouse from 12 to 2
p.m., lunch provided
Canoe Journey
Recently, Mercier was joined
by Cultural Education specialists
Brian Krehbiel and Flicka Lucero,
Cultural Collections Coordinator
Veronica Montano, Interpretive
Coordinator Travis Stewart and
Senior Office Assistant Nicholas
Atanacio at Chachalu Museum &
Cultural Center to strip eenastick
or European willow (also known as
white willow) branches for a ham-
per-making class that is planned
for Tribal members.
Mercier said the European willow
is not native to the area, but that it
grows in abundance and is useful in
that it is more “forgiving” than the
traditional hazel used for baskets
by Tribal ancestors. He said it is
perfect for teaching traditional
basket-making techniques because
of its flexibility.
Mercier said staff members look
for the plant buds to know when
it’s the right time to harvest. He
said they start checking the plants
every year in mid-March.
“It fluctuates due to the weather,”
Mercier said. “The hazel starts bud-
ding. When you see the little buds
start coming out you wait until they
look like mouse ears and they are
about to open up, then that’s the
time that they are ready.”
Krehbiel said they harvest the
lower levels first and then they
move to the upper levels on and
near the Reservation.
“You got a window here and you
got a window on the upper end
of the Rez where we have spots,”
Krehbiel said. “You get a week or
two down here to gather and then
you got a week or two up there. You
kind of chase it up the hill.”
Each person on the crew took
a willow branch and dragged it
be harvesting huckleberries, wild
blackberries, Serviceberries, salal
and camas for food supplies and
cedar, t’aqwela-stik or hazel, jun-
cus, tule, bear grass and cattail
for basketry, clothing and regalia
materials.
Salal leaves and berries can be
eaten and camas is a type of aspar-
agus that grows in the wild in moist
meadows. Witch hazel sticks come
from deciduous shrubs.
Mercier said the harvesting of
traditional plants and materials is
one of the most important aspects of
what staff members do in Cultural
Resources. He said staff members
see themselves as the keepers of
these traditional activities.
“I think the land, the plants, our
places that we have that are known
to be places where our people used
to be are all vital to a sense of
culture and a sense of history and
identity,” Mercier said. “For our
program it’s all about getting peo-
ple to know those things as much
as possible. There is an infinite
amount of knowledge to be learned.
Some of it can be taught from a
classroom setting or from books,
but I think the majority of this kind
of knowledge has to be learned by
going out and being on the land.”
Mercier said staff members want
to get as many people involved in
the effort as possible.
“That’s what we are going to try
to do,” Mercier said. “We’re going
to try get people out as much as we
can and make it as accessible as we
can to people and organize as many
trips as we can.”
Mercier and Krehbiel said they
want to get people doing these ac-
tivities in a hands-on kind of way
so they can really experience what
ancestors did.
“When anybody starts doing
something their ancestors did – it
brings it alive again,” Krehbiel
said. “It brings it back alive again
in a way that is healthy. No matter
how much you read in a book about
something like this you won’t get it
until you actually put your hands
on it and start doing it.”
Mercier nodded in agreement
with Krehbiel and said there was
a connection being made between
the present and past with these
types of gathering activities and the
passing of knowledge that happens
with them.
“It improves that relationship
to our culture and for our people
now to our ancestors who did this
before,” Mercier said.
Some members of the staff found
the activity not only a connection
to their past, but it was also an
enjoyable social activity.
“It’s like therapy for yourself,”
Stewart said.
“Yes,” Montano said. “I find it
calming.”
“Who knows what this will bring
to someone in the next generation,”
Krehbiel said.
For more information about
signing up for classes through the
Cultural Resources Department or
participating in traditional gather-
ing activities this year, Tribal mem-
bers should contact the Cultural
Resources Department to RSVP
for upcoming field trips. Mercier
also encouraged Tribal members
to follow announcements on activ-
ities through Smoke Signals and
through the department’s Facebook
page. n
SAVE THE DATE
Hosted by the Oregon Indian Tribe of …
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
Other Oregon partnering Tribes include:
Coquille Indian Tribe ~ Confederated Tribe of Siletz Indians ~ The Klamath Tribes ~
Burns Paiute ~ Tribe Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs ~
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians ~ Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
April 19-20, 2017
Grand Ronde, Oregon at
Spirit Mountain Casino
Come and join other caregivers of native elders and relative caregivers of children from
Northwest Indian communities in this two-day event. You will have the opportunity to
attend valuable workshops that will enhance your caregiving skills and provide you with a
break from your daily responsibilities.
For more information, contact Darlene Aaron darlene.aaron@grandronde.org 503-879-2078
VENDORS- To register, please contact Suzy Deeds at 503-304-3429