Smoke signals., November 15, 2019, Page 9, Image 9

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NOVEMBER 15, 2019
9
‘We were terminated from this area and relocated’
SUMMIT continued
from front page
Archuleta, Cultural Resources
Manager David Harrelson, Tribal
Council Chief of Staff Stacia Her-
nandez and Deputy Press Secretary
Sara Thompson.
“When we look at the lay of the
land, many travesties and traumatic
events have happened,” Kennedy
said. “We were terminated from this
area and relocated. We were stripped
of our culture and sustenance. …
Today, we are here among our Tribal
people and we recognize and respect
each other. We are a spiritual people
and it’s only because of our creator
that we are here today.”
Archuleta, Jon A. George, Harrel-
son and Harvey opened the summit
with a prayer song.
“We are happy to be here today
with you,” Archuleta said. “We are
happy the city wants to meet with
us and work with us.”
Other Tribal officials in
attendance included those
from Cowlitz, Nez Perce,
Siletz, Umatilla, Warm
Springs and Yakama.
Wheeler told attendees
that last year’s summit
made good on a long over-
due promise to collabo-
rate with Tribal nations.
“This year’s summit
will deepen our commitment to
work together and give us a greater
appreciation and advocacy for Trib-
al nations,” he said. “We will meet
together, socialize, engage and hope
to sharpen our understanding of
how to best work together.”
Wheeler noted that more than
200 city employees attended the
training.
“It is also our hope that this sum-
mit will nourish the seeds we put
in last year,” he said.
Portland Commissioner Chloe
Eudaly welcomed Tribal delegates
and recalled how she was able to
paddle in a canoe to the opening
ceremony last year.
Photos by Dean Rhodes
Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier talks during a Portland City Council
meeting as a Native American Heritage Month proclamation was on the
agenda on Thursday, Nov. 7. The proclamation coincided with the city’s
second annual Tribal Nations Summit held at the Leftbank Annex near the
Moda Center in Portland. Thursday was the first day of the two-day event.
Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle
A. Kennedy addresses more than
200 Portland city employees during
the opening ceremony.
“This summit is an opportunity
for us to learn more from one an-
other,” she said.
After the opening ceremony
concluded, employees headed to
different trainings. Several dele-
gates, including Harvey and Jon
A. George, boarded a shuttle bus to
tour watershed restoration sites at
Oaks Bottom Park, Crystal Springs
Creek at Westmoreland Park and
Tryon Creek.
Crystal Springs Creek is 2.4 miles
long and offers “significant habitat”
for salmon, lamprey, birds and oth-
er wildlife. The naturally cool and
steady year-round flow in the creek
provides important rearing and
refuge areas for juvenile salmon,
according to the city. In 2017, the
creek was designated as Portland’s
first official “Salmon Sanctuary.”
Judy Bluehorse Skelton (Nez
Perce/Cherokee), a Portland State
University Indigenous Nations
Studies Program professor, herb-
alist and author, has been involved
with the efforts at Crystal Springs
since the beginning. During a
recent Salmon Ceremony held at
nearby Johnson Creek Park, Blue-
horse Skelton noted that salmon
had been seen spawning.
“It was almost as if they were just
waiting to come back,” she said.
So far, half the length of Crystal
Springs has been restored so that
salmon can find colder water, shel-
ter and food.
“This is the only unimpeded
Tribal Council member Denise Harvey and Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George listen to Portland Environmental
Services Capital Projects Manager Ronda Fast discuss the Crystal Springs Watershed Restoration Project at
Westmoreland Park in Portland.
salmon run in the city,” Bluehorse
Skelton said.
Attendees then went on a short
walking tour of the restored creek
area, which included views of a
beaver lodge, native plants and
other wildlife.
Following the tour, delegates
headed back to the annex building
where they were joined by city em-
ployees for a First Foods luncheon
of salmon, buffalo stew, green sal-
ad, cornbread, wheat berry salad
with beets, feta and pumpkin seeds,
and yellow cake with wild blueber-
ries. More than 260 people attend-
ed, double from the previous year.
“Let’s remember that these foods
are highly vulnerable to climate
change,” Wheeler said. “Some are
now at serious risk and we need to
commit to not having that happen.
We can’t allow climate change to
endanger these First Foods.”
After an invocation, delegates
from each of the Tribes spoke. Chris
Mercier told attendees who had
never experienced First Foods that
they were in for a treat.
“It’s a part of our culture that has
been revived,” he said. “There are a
lot of things you can experience now
through technology, but food is not
one of them. It’s a good thing you get
to experience this today. … Native
people being able to turn back to
their traditional foods is a real victo-
ry. It really is making a comeback.”
After lunch ended, delegates
were ferried to City Hall to attend
a council meeting during which
Wheeler formally acknowledged
the Tribal elected officials in atten-
dance and gave each an opportunity
to speak, which was televised. He
also read a Native American Heri-
tage Month proclamation.
Mercier spoke to Portland elect-
ed officials about the Tribe’s long
history in the Portland area, which
was ceded to the federal govern-
ment in the Willamette Valley
Treaty of 1855.
“It was an important trading area
and in Grand Ronde we trace our
lineage to more than 27 different
Tribes,” he said. “Outside of Grand
Ronde, our greatest concentrations
of Tribal members live in Port-
land. Seeing what’s going on today
means quite a bit to us. There are
not many other city governments
that have put in this kind of effort.
We continue to try to cultivate and
foster relationships here.”
Thursday concluded with a city,
state and federal legislative over-
view and a reception at Portland’s
Brunish Theater.
Friday included several focused
discussions between Tribal and
city leadership regarding housing,
public safety, trust responsibility,
cultural resource protection, cli-
mate action planning, First Foods,
land acknowledgements and inad-
vertent discovery.
A closing ceremony was held in
the late afternoon with remarks
from city and Tribal officials, and
a gift exchange.
For those who wanted to get some
exercise, a Native American Heri-
tage Month 5k Run and Walk was
held at Nike World Headquarters
in Beaverton on Saturday. 