10
Smoke Signals
AUGUST 1, 2019
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Grand Ronde Veterans Honor Guard member Raymond Petite posts the American flag during Grand Entry on the second day of the Marcellus Norwest
Memorial Veterans Powwow held at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Saturday, July 13.
‘They saved our traditional way of life’
POWWOW continued
from front page
(Klamath Modoc) before the Satur-
day afternoon grand entry. “It feels
good on the knees. It’s real cushi-
ony. I really like this. It’s bouncy.
It’s all even, too. With grass, you get
bumps and you can twist an ankle.
This is all level and smooth.”
Ryan Hill (Klamath Modoc/Pai-
ute), 35, echoed Gallagher’s as-
sessment. “I love it. It’s a great
experience. It’s just welcoming
and it feels good. It’s smooth and it
has got some give to it. There’s no
lumps, no holes.”
Grass dancer Aiden Warren
(Karuk), 15, had a different rea-
son than less wear and tear on the
joints for liking the new turf.
“The footwork is a little bit dif-
ferent (on artificial turf),” Warren
said. “It’s a little bit more slick, but
not too much and it feels good on
your feet. I like it because it’s kind
of bouncy, too, which kind of helps.”
Grand Ronde Tribal member Ty
George, 20, also said he likes the
new turf. “It was amazing,” he said.
“I love it. … The grass was pretty
hard on us last year because of the
mole holes and people getting hurt.
I like the artificial turf and the
Tribe did a good job on it. It’s a lot
better than the grass.”
Although the dancers raved about
the new surface, it did prompt some
concerns during the partly sunny
Saturday afternoon grand entry
when master of ceremonies Nick
Sixkiller (Cherokee) abandoned
the tradition of having the approx-
imately 60 veterans in attendance
introduce themselves individually
and state their military branch and
years of service.
Instead, to expedite getting the
elderly veterans off the turf and out
of the sun, Arena Director Anthony
Quenelle and Sixkiller announced
the separate branches of the armed
forces – Army, Marine Corps, Air
Force and Navy – and veterans
stepped out when their branch
was called and received a collective
round of applause, as well as a
Traditional dancer Marcus Gibbons (Klamath/Grand Ronde) participates in an interTribal dance on the second day of
the Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow.
souvenir baseball cap from Tribal
Royalty.
Saturday’s grand entry opened
with Public Affairs Administrative
Assistant Chelsea Baranski smudg-
ing the arena with sage. As host
drum Red Hoop started pounding
out an honor song, Tribal Elder Al-
ton Butler, Wayne Chulik (Tlingit)
and Robert White (Potawatomi)
entered the arena carrying eagle
staffs.
They were followed by Tribal
Elders Raymond Petite and Steve
Bobb Sr., Tribal spouse Richard
VanAtta and Al Miller carrying the
U.S., Grand Ronde, MIA/POW and
Oregon flags, respectively.
Next came the flags of the armed
forces, carried by Anthony Texeira
(Air Force), Allen Truesdale (Ma-
rine Corps), Louis Rober (Navy),
Ken Rober (Army) and Ron Schlitz-
kus (Coast Guard).
Tribal Council members Jon A.
George, Denise Harvey, Michael
Langley, Kathleen George and Jack
Giffen Jr. then entered and were
followed by a long line of dancers.
Bobb, who also sits on Tribal
Council, delivered the invocation
after Dirty Moccasin drum per-
formed the victory charging song
and the colors were posted.
Bobb took a moment to remember
Willamina High School classmate
Bobby Buswell, who was killed in
Vietnam in July 1969. Buswell was
a Navy corpsman attached to a Ma-
rine Corps detail who stepped on a
land mine and was killed.
Bobb asked the audience to con-
sider all that is lost when a young
man dies in war. “The things they
could have done. The things they
could have been,” Bobb said. “They
See POWWOW
continued on page 11