S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2018
9
Exploring the past
Portland sessions teach how to trace genealogy
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
PORTLAND — Family is a huge
part of Tribal life. But for some,
adoption, moving away or a simple
lack of knowledge about the past
has resulted in unfamiliarity with
individual family ties.
A workshop at the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde’s Portland
Area Office held on Tuesday, Nov.
13, helped those who were interest-
ed in learning more about Tribal
culture and its ties to their past.
The all-day event was planned
by Tribal Services Representative
Lisa Archuleta and Tribal Elder
and artisan Greg Archuleta.
Tribal genealogist Josephine
Ingraham was the guest speaker.
“We’re excited about this and to
have Josephine here,” Lisa Archule-
ta said. “We’ve never done anything
like this before and thought it
would be fun to try something new.
We’ve had Greg’s classes before
and open houses, but thought this
might be a fun way to get people in
the area to come to the office.”
Greg Archuleta thought of the
idea of a family history activity
after attending a workshop at
Clackamas Community College
last spring.
“I focused on the history of my
family at Willamette Falls and
created a video,” he said. “The
idea behind it is that we all have
these connections. I want people to
become more knowledgeable about
the Tribe’s history and culture. A
lot of members know some of it,
Photo by Danielle Frost
Tribal Services Representative Lisa Archuleta , left , and Tribal genealogist
Josephine Ingraham peruse information about creating family trees during
a workshop about Tribal family history held at the Portland Area Office on
Tuesday , Nov. 13.
but not all. I hope people become
familiar with their family trees
and the Tribal members they are
connected to.”
After a short video featuring Greg
Archuleta, Cultural Advisor Bobby
Mercier and Cultural Education
Coordinator Jordan Mercier, at-
tendees heard from Ingraham.
Genealogy has been a passion
for Ingraham since the mid-1980s
when she was hosting a garage sale
and a customer told her she knew
her family in Grand Ronde.
“I told her, ‘I don’t have any fam-
ily in Grand Ronde.’ She told me,
‘Yes, you do,’ ” Ingraham recalls.
Intrigued, Ingraham began re-
searching her family.
“I was raised white and didn’t
know my Tribal family history at
all,” she said. “My grandma and
auntie would leave quite frequent-
ly when we were growing up, but
not tell us where they were going.
Turns out they went to Grand
Ronde.”
After she learned more about her
Native heritage, Ingraham was
hooked.
“I have totes and totes full of note-
books about it,” she said. “I live it
and sleep it.”
She also explored more of her
French-Canadian roots and is hop-
ing to visit France someday.
While researching Tribal family
genealogy, Ingraham found that the
roots were widespread throughout
Washington, Oregon, Idaho and
California as Tribal members would
marry into other Tribes to avoid
intermarriage.
She also stressed that interview-
ing Elders is a crucial way to learn
new stories and know more about
family.
“Everyone will have different
stories for you,” Ingraham said.
“You really want to get the whole
family involved if possible so they
can carry it on later.”
She added that census data, espe-
cially taken before 1910, isn’t very
accurate when it comes to Native
Americans.
“When the census takers came,
a lot of times Native people would
pretend not to speak English so
they wouldn’t have to answer any
questions because that was the
era when kids were taken from
their homes so they were afraid,”
she said.
Tribal Elder Marilyn Portwood
attended with her spouse, Richard
Portwood.
“It sounded really interesting,”
she said. “When I was growing up,
people didn’t talk a lot about their
Tribal history so they could blend
in.”
Tribal Elder Debi Anderson de-
cided to attend out of curiosity.
“It sounds like a really interest-
ing and fun event,” she said. “It’s
nice to do this with families who
still live in the area.”
Ingraham also discussed creative
family tree making, how to get chil-
dren interested in the process and
dealing with potentially shocking
information.
“Be proud,” she said. “You are
who you are, no matter who or what
your parents, grandparents or you
ancestors were.”
Another workshop on family
history will be offered from 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, at the
Portland Area Office, 4445 S.W.
Barbur Blvd., Suite 101.
Food and snacks will be provided.
Attendees are asked to bring family
photos if possible. RSVP to Lisa
Archuleta at 503-879-1881.
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To sign-up or more info contact Angey Rideout @ 503-851-8406
12/14/18
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