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JULY 1, 2019
9
Agreement with museum marks 19th year
TOMANOWOS continued
from page 8
um every summer.
This marks the 19th year of that
agreement.
Museum breakfast
On Tuesday, June 18, museum
staff held at breakfast in the Astor
Turret for the Grand Ronde delega-
tion, serving scrambled eggs, sau-
sage, puff pastry and a fruit plate.
Museum Senior Vice President
for Communications Anne Canty
welcomed Tribal members.
“On behalf of all my colleagues
here at the museum, I want to
welcome the delegation for this
momentous 19th year,” Canty said.
“It’s wonderful to welcome back
some old friends and see so many
new faces.”
Canty said that the museum
considers its agreement with the
Grand Ronde Tribe to be a model
for a collaborative and reciprocal
relationship between Native Amer-
ican communities
and museums.
She also cited
Tribal Elder Kath-
ryn Harrison, who
was a longtime Trib-
al Council chair, for
her work to strength-
en the relationship
between the muse-
um and the Tribe.
Harrison currently
serves on the muse-
um’s board of direc-
tors and is the first
Native American to
do so.
Harvey expressed
the Tribe’s thanks to
the museum.
“Hopefully, we will always have
a long-standing relationship with
the museum,” Harvey said. “It’s an
honor and a privilege to be here.…
We thank you for your continued
support, which is fundamental to
the Tribe in maintaining our his-
torical connection to Tomanowos
and teaching our youth about the
importance of our people.”
Comeaux donated a cedar hat
made by her daughter, Carol
Colton, to the museum collection
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Above, Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez, left, Deputy Press Secretary Sara Thompson, third from left, and
Tim Hernandez, second from right, enjoy a breakfast with staff members of the American Museum of Natural History
on Tuesday, June 18, in New York City.
Tribal Elder JoAnn Colton
Comeaux and Senior Vice
President for Communication
Anne Canty look at a traditional
cedar woven hat that Comeaux
donated during a breakfast at
the American Museum of Natural
History on Tuesday, June 18.
in honor of Tribal Elder Connie
Graves, who walked on earlier this
year and left a legacy of teaching
traditional weaving.
Division of Anthropology Curator
Peter Whiteley accepted the hat for
the museum.
“What an amazing gift,” White-
ley said. “Thank you so much. It’s
wonderful to have this added to our
collection.”
Following the breakfast, Grand
Ronde Tribal members received a
behind-the-scenes tour of the mu-
seum’s extensive Native American
textile archives led by Paul Beelitz,
director of Collections and Archives
in the Division of Anthropology.
Lara was most interested in
seeing a feathered headband visor
used during coming-of-age cere-
monies. The museum’s, made from
blue jay feathers, dates back to the
late 19th century. It entered the
museum’s collection in 1903.
In addition to the Tomanowos
activities, Tribal members also
visited the Statue of Liberty, El-
lis Island and the 9/11 Museum
during the whirlwind three-day
visit, among other group and solo
activities.
“Attending the ceremony with
fellow Grand Ronde Tribal mem-
bers to celebrate Tomanowos was
truly special event for me and my
Tribal children,” Jennifer Weiss
said. “My family has lived in New
York City for almost 30 years and
we have seen the meteorite on
many occasions during our visits to
the museum, but at arms’ length.
We were thrilled and honored to be
allowed to attend Grand Ronde’s
meteorite ceremony for the first
time this year. It is certainly not of-
ten that we get to see fellow Tribal
members in our hometown, and it
was an amazing and special oppor-
tunity to receive total privacy at the
museum and join in ceremony with
them around our sacred meteorite.”
“Visiting New York is an awe-
some experience,” Tribal Elder
Marion Mercier said. “There is a lot
to see and a lot of history. … Plus,
visiting the meteorite just gives you
a different sense, a different feel-
ing. It kind of gives you goosebumps
when you walk into the room. There
it is and it’s like, ‘I’ve got to go down
and touch that.’ ”
Front from left, Tribal
members Marion Mercier,
Tribal Council member
Denise Harvey, Desirae
Hernandez, Dorothy Leno,
Isabelle Grout, Penny
DeLoe, JoAnn Colton
Comeaux and Tribal
Council Chief of Staff Stacia
Hernandez, and, rear from
left, Cristina Lara, Kailiyah
Krehbiel, Jennifer Weiss,
Spencer Weiss, Charlotte
Weiss, Lloyd DeLoe,
Deputy Press Secretary
Sara Thompson and Tim
Hernandez pose in front
of the American Museum
of Natural History after a
ceremony with Tomanowos
held on Monday, June 17, in
New York City.