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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2017)
S moke S ignals SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 9 Saturday’s grand entry even larger Photos by Michelle Alaimo Symphony Zimmer competes in the Girls Fancy dance category of the 2017 Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Contest Powwow held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Saturday, Aug. 19. POWWOW continued from page 8 outgoing Royalty for 2016-17 gave speeches and held appreciation giveaways. Outgoing Royalty were Senior Miss Grand Ronde Iyana Holmes, Junior Miss Grand Ronde Isabelle Grout and Little Miss Grand Ronde Kaleigha Simi. Friday grand entry The Contest Powwow attracted nine contest drums – Red Hoop, Bucwild, Chute No. 8, Bucshot, 4 Bands, Silent Hill, Buffalo Hill, Indian Nation and Signal Butte – that competed for a combined $20,000 in prizes. There also were five non-contest drums: Red River, Turquoise Pride, Red Nations, Ea- gle Lodge Singers and Wandering Boys. Bucwild took home the grand prize of $8,000. Friday night’s grand entry was led by Tribal Elder Alton Butler and Wayne Chulik (Tlingit) carry- ing in eagle staffs. Butler carried in a new eagle staff created by Tribal Elder Deitz Peters as the old eagle staff belonging to the late Marcellus Norwest was retired. As host drum Blackstone pound- ed out and sang an honor song, Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr. carried in the U.S. flag, Tribal Elder Ray- mond Petite carried in the Grand Ronde flag, Tribal spouse Richard VanAtta carried in the MIA/POW flag and Al Miller carried in the Oregon flag. They were followed by veterans, Tribal Council members, Tribal Royalty from various Tribes and Contest Powwow contestants starting with the Golden Age danc- ers 50 and older and ending with the Tiny Tot dancers 5 years of age and younger. Tribal Council members who marched in were Tribal Chair Reyn Leno, Secretary Jon A. George, The newly named 2017-18 Grand Ronde Royalty Court, from left, Grand Ronde Warrior Nacoma Liebelt, Little Miss Grand Ronde Sophia Grout, Junior Miss Grand Ronde Kaleigha Simi, Senior Miss Grand Ronde Isabelle Grout and honorary Tiny Tot Jameson Turner take their honor dance after coronation, which took place before the start of the 2017 Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Contest Powwow held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Friday, Aug. 18. Tonya Gleason-Shepek, Brenda Tuomi, Denise Harvey, Jack Giffen Jr., Chris Mercier and Kathleen George. Cultural Resources Cultural Ad- viser Bobby Mercier gave the invo- cation in Chinuk Wawa and Leno welcomed attendees who packed the bleachers and wooden seating area under the Arbor. “I’d just like to thank everyone for coming this evening,” Leno said. “As you look out here, I’d like to have a special hand for all of these fine dancers who have come a long way. When you look at this regalia, a lot of it is handmade. A lot of work goes into it. Our drummers have come a long way. They’ve come here to share our culture and our history with you.” Leno honored veterans and El- ders in attendance, as well as the young dancers. “All we ask of you as guests here is to make sure you honor our lands,” Leno said. “This is actually very sacred ground to us so I ask you to acknowledge that ground, acknowl- edge these dancers and acknowledge these drummers. … We’re here to have a great week- end and I can only imagine what the crowd will be to- morrow and to- Marcel Allen competes in the Teen Boys Grass dance category during the 2017 Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Contest Powwow held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Saturday, Aug. 19. morrow night.” Friday evening featured numer- ous InterTribal dances and was highlighted by Chinuk Language Assistant Halona Butler and her husband, Washie Squetimkin, holding a Tiny Tot special for the coming out of their 1-year-old daughter, Willow. Contest dancing begins Saturday afternoon’s attendance at the powwow was even larger and Leno mentioned it as he welcomed contestants and audience members to the 1 p.m. grand entry. Satur- day’s grand entry again took more than 20 minutes to get every dancer underneath the Arbor. “This is probably one of the big- gest powwows we have ever had here in Grand Ronde,” Leno said. “I’ve lived here all of my life and we started our powwows down at our old museum grounds. Very small. We moved to the Governance Center and then we were up here for a few years before we built this beautiful arbor.” Bobb gave the invocation and ac- knowledged the “collage of colors” on display among dancers’ regalia. During Saturday’s grand entry, veterans were acknowledged and introduced themselves. Tribal See POWWOW continued on page 10 Ethan Sabin competes in the Boys Grass dance category during the 2017 Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Con- test Powwow held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Saturday, Aug. 19.