12
S moke S ignals
JULY 15, 2017
'It’s a special honor to be involved
Tribal Elder and Navy veteran Wink Soderberg,
Chairman Steve Bobb Sr., on behalf of the board
the Inn at Spanish Head in Lincoln City during th
Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow on Saturd
Tribal Elder Marcella Selwyn donates money as the Veterans and Grand Ronde Royalty do a blanket dance during
the Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow on Saturday, July 8. The $102 that was collected will go toward
powwow expenses.
POWWOW continued
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torpedoes. He survived, but 429 of
his fellow shipmates were killed or
missing in action.
Russell’s presence was a high-
light of the Saturday afternoon
session of the powwow, which saw
64 veterans line up and state their
branch of service and years enlist-
ed. Many veterans also took time
to honor relatives or lost comrades
who also served in the military.
“It’s a special honor to be involved
here with a World War II veteran,”
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno said during his Saturday
afternoon welcoming speech. “We
really have to treat these people
special. I was just over in Hawaii
and I met a World War II veteran,
Vietnam veteran and Korean veter-
an. He is 96 years old and he fought
in all three wars. These people are
really special. It’s an honor to be
on the same powwow grounds with
this man (Russell), so give him a
big hand.”
Russell survived the Pearl Harbor
attack by scrambling via rope to the
nearby USS Missouri, staying out of
the raging oil- and gas-fueled fires in
the water. He is one of only 29 Okla-
homa shipmates still alive today.
Sixteen days after Pearl Harbor,
he was reassigned to serve on the
destroyer USS Mahan as a gunner’s
mate. Three years later to the day
on Dec. 7, 1944, he survived un-
harmed a kamikaze attack on the
Mahan that so severely damaged
the ship that another Navy destroy-
er had to sink it.
Russell eventually retired in 1960
after serving more than 20 years in
the Navy.
Veterans Royalty named
The Veterans Powwow officially
started at 6 p.m. Friday, July 7,
with the naming of 2017-18 Vet-
erans Royalty. Hailey Lewis-Little
was named Senior Veterans Queen
and Tasina Bluehorse was named
Junior Veterans Queen. They
competed in a Veterans Royalty
Pageant held on Thursday, July 6,
at the Governance Center Atrium.
Outgoing Veterans Royalty
Queens Makenzie and Madison
Aaron held a giveaway that includ-
ed honoring their family members
Veterans Junior Princess Camas
Gibbons dances during the
Marcellus Norwest Memorial
Veterans Powwow on Friday, July 7.
for supporting their year of service
as Veterans Royalty.
Friday evening’s grand entry at 7
p.m. set the protocol that the rest
of the Veterans Powwow would fol-
low. Veterans lined up behind the
Grand Ronde Honor Guard, which
led the procession into the Powwow
Grounds arbor to the pulsating
beats delivered by host drum Bad
Soul from Grand Ronde.
As Public Affairs Administrative
Assistant Chelsea Clark smudged
the powwow arena, the Honor Guard
of Grand Ronde Elder Alton Butler
and Wayne Chulik (Tlingit) holding
eagle staffs began leading veterans
into the arbor. Veterans Special
Event Board Chairman Steve Bobb
Sr. carried the U.S. flag, Al Miller
carried the Oregon flag, Daniel Hel-
frich carried the MIA/POW flag and
Tribal Elder Raymond Petite carried
the Grand Ronde flag.
Approximately 30 veterans fol-
lowed as did Leno, Polk County
Commissioner Jennifer Wheeler,
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George and fellow Tribal Council
members Denise Harvey, Brenda
Tuomi, Tonya Gleason-Shepek,
Jack Giffen Jr. and Chris Mercier.
A second honor guard, Veterans
Color Guard from Jefferson, Ore.,
also participated in the grand en-
try dressed in red, white and blue
ribbon shirts. Members included
Air Force veteran Bill Stam (La-
kota), Navy veteran Wes Weathers
(Cherokee), Air Force veteran To-
bie Davie (Cherokee), Judy Suitor
(Apache), Army veteran Wayne
Dow, Navy veteran Shane Cardwell
(Lakota), and Air Force veterans
Mike Forest (Cherokee) and Cat
Sanderson (Rosebud Lakota).
Arena director Carlos Calica
(Warm Springs) choreographed
the entrance, keeping the line or-
derly as master of ceremonies Nick
Sixkiller (Oklahoma Cherokee),
a Navy veteran, asked audience
members to honor “the protectors of
this great country” as they entered
the arena. Tony Whitehead (Uma-