S moke S ignals
JULY 15, 2017
13
d here with a World War II veteran'
right, waves after Veterans Special Event Board
d, honored him with the with a two-night’s stay at
he Marcellus
day, July 8.
Photos by
Michelle Alaimo
tilla) and Linda Meanus (Warm
Springs) were head dancers.
Bobb delivered the invocation
and Leno gave a welcoming speech.
George then presented Leno, a
Vietnam veteran who served in the
Marine Corps, with a necklace to
thank him for his military service
and 21 years on Tribal Council.
“He had asked me to make a neck-
lace actually for somebody else,”
George said. “But when I was doing
that, I thought of him, too. This gen-
tleman has been a leader here of this
Tribe for 21 years. He has decided to
kind of retire from us here, but he’s
not going away as he tells us. … To-
day, I would like to honor him though
with a Vietnam veteran’s necklace
that he so richly deserves.”
Approximately 30 veterans lined
up to introduce themselves be-
Newly crowned 2017-18 Junior Veterans Queen Tasina Bluehorse, left, and 2017-18 Senior Veterans Queen Hailey
Lewis-Little, right, take their honor dance after being crowned at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Friday, July 7, just
before the first grand entry of the Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow.
fore powwow dancing started to
the Native songs pounded out by
Bad Soul, Turquoise Pride, Joho-
naaii Singers, Big Eagle Singers
and Awakening Thunder. Friday
night’s dancing continued until 10
p.m., Sixkiller said.
Saturday afternoon popular
Saturday afternoon’s Grand En-
try more than doubled the number
of veterans who lined up to be
honored by a much larger crowd
and included Eugene-area Tribal
Elder Monty Parazoo, who served
in the Navy from 1960-66.
Russell received a special med-
al of valor, as did veteran Andy
Gomez, who lost two legs and an
arm in Vietnam. Gomez received a
Purple Heart pen to go along with
his Purple Heart.
All veterans received a medal
of valor distributed by the Tribe’s
Veterans Special Event Board and
the Yakama Warriors distributed
“welcome home” pins and a Viet-
nam War veteran eagle pen. The
Medal of Valor read “awarded for
valorous service to a grateful na-
tion” on one side and featured a
bald eagle head and U.S. flag on
the other side.
Tribal Elder and former Tribal
Council member Wink Soderberg, a
Navy veteran from the Korean War
era, was honored by the Veterans
Special Event Board with a two-
night’s stay at the Inn at Spanish
Head in Lincoln City.
The Veterans Powwow, which
recently has been held in torrid
heat or rainy, cool conditions, ex-
perienced temperate weather with
highs only reaching the low 80s,
which was quite comfortable for
attendees under the shade of the
arbor canvas.
“This is great weather for pow-
wowing,” Leno said during his Fri-
day night welcoming speech. “This
is about as good as you can get.”
Grand entries also were held
at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 8, and
again at 1 p.m. Sunday, July
9. Other drums that performed
during the four grand entries in-
cluded Woodsman, Warm Springs
Junior, Sage Pointe, Red Nation
and Northern Blackhorse, Sixkill-
er said.
The Veterans Powwow attracted
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George, left, and Tribal Council
Chair Reyn Leno hug after George
presented Leno, a Vietnam veteran
who served in the Marine Corps,
with a necklace to thank him for his
military service.
people from far and wide. Tony Spot-
ted Elk (Oglala/Lakota) said he came
from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation
in South Dakota to honor veterans
and see the arbor for himself.
“I’ve always wanted to visit your
new arena,” Spotted Elk, 55, said on
Saturday afternoon. “We’ve seen it in
the paper and online. We’re just glad
to be here, basically. Real excited.”
“The enthusiasm was good,” Bobb
said. “The powerful impact of the
Pearl Harbor survivor and the Viet-
nam veteran amputee brought the
reality of what war does physically
to people and what those of us who
witnessed these events live with
every day.
“Veterans deserve respect and
recognition, but mankind deserves
a world surrounded by love, peace
and caring.”
In both of his welcoming speeches,
Leno honored Army veteran Marce
Norwest, who walked on in 2011,
for starting the Veterans Powwow.
“I love this powwow and we always
got to acknowledge Marce Norwest,”
Leno said on Saturday afternoon.
“I was one of them ones (who said)
‘Yeah, I’m a veteran,’ but I didn’t do
much. He was the one that actually
said, ‘No, if you’re a veteran, you need
to let people know you’re a veteran.’
So with that Marce and Steve and I
and a bunch of us got involved and we
did that beautiful memorial down at
our Governance building. … Marce
had our first Veterans Powwow. I
don’t think he ever probably thought
we’d be in this beautiful arbor doing
one, but I know he is looking down
and proud of each and every one of
our veterans.” 
Includes information from the
Albany Democrat-Herald.