PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 700
Employees honored
for years of service
— pg. 8
may 1, 2021
13 active
COVID-19
cases closed
government
Table Rocks reflections
Tribal member
Joseph Ham
honored for poem
By Danielle Harrison
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals staff writer
Smoke Signals staff writer
s a child, Tribal
member Joseph Ham
recalls hearing his
mother tell a tragic family
story that had been passed
down through the genera-
tions: A 6-year-old uncle of
his great-grandmother, Ila
Dowd, was lynched in Jack-
sonville, Ore., at the onset of
the final Rogue River War in
the fall of 1855.
At the time, Ham, 29,
thought it was family lore
and not quite believable. But
time and perspective often have
a way of imparting lessons.
“When I was researching the
Lupton massacre I found an old
article of the event depicting
what she had told my mom and
I kept thinking about how he has
been eternally 6 years old this
whole time,” Ham says. “And I
was mad at myself for not want-
ing to believe that story growing
up, like a part of me only put
stock into it after I read it in a
book. I think that must be part
of the decolonization process.”
He put his thoughts into song
and performed it in 2020 to ac-
company a photography exhibit
called “The Land Remembers”
by Rich Bergeman. The exhibit
was a series of black-and-white
photographs depicting the Rogue
River War battle sites.
Ham wrote the song after rep-
resentatives from the Chehalem
Cultural Center asked Tribal
T
hirteen active COVID-19
cases, likely brought on by
spring break activities and
Easter family gatherings, closed
the Tribal governmental campus
for three weeks through at least
Friday, May 7.
“There’s been an uptick in pos-
itive cases recently,” Health Ser-
vices Executive Director Kelly
Rowe said during a Wednesday,
April 21, Facebook Live event. “We
were at zero for a period of time.
These cases have come after spring
break and Easter. It becomes a
game of telephone where it gets
wider and wider. We are here to
help treat you, but we absolutely
support vaccination.”
The Facebook Live event was
the 17th held since the Tribal
government shut down in March
2020 because of the pandemic. Ap-
proximately 120 people logged on
to watch the event, which included
Rowe, Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy and Spirit
Mountain Casino General Man-
ager Stan Dillon. Tribal Council
Secretary Jon A. George and Tribal
Council member Steve Bobb Sr.
also attended.
The Tribe was not the only entity
affected by increasing COVID-19
cases in the West Valley. The Wil-
lamina School District returned to
a virtual learning platform after
four students tested positive for
See COVID-19
continued on page 11
A
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Tribal member Joseph Ham’s poem was selected by The Nature
Conservancy for display on the hiking trails at Table Rocks in southern
Oregon near Medford.
Cultural Resources Department
Manager David Harrelson if he
knew of a descendant of the war
who could add an element of Indig-
enous representation to the photo
exhibit.
Harrelson contacted Ham again
when he learned of a poetry contest,
Signs of Spring at Table Rocks,
sponsored by The Nature Conser-
vancy and Bureau of Land Man-
agement. Winning entries would
be displayed along the Table Rocks
hiking trail in southern Oregon,
in conjuction with information on
geology, wildflowers, pollinators
and other subjects associated with
the area.
The subject of the contest, “What
do the Table Rocks mean to you?”
See TABLE ROCKS
continued on page 10
Contributed photo by Tabitha Olson,
BLM recreation specialist
An unidentified hiker stops to
read Grand Ronde Tribal member
Joseph Ham’s poetry at Table
Rocks.
Grand Ronde Restoration figure Elizabeth Furse walks on
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
E
lizabeth Furse, who played an important
role in helping the Grand Ronde Tribe
accomplish Restoration in 1983 and the
return of land in 1988, walked on Sunday, April
18, at the age of 84.
Furse also represented Oregon in Congress for
three terms in the 1990s. She died peacefully at
Smoke Signals file photo
her home from complications related to a fall.
In the early 1980s, Furse joined with Don
Wharton, founding director of Oregon Legal
Service’s Native American Program, to help the
Grand Ronde Tribe regain federal recognition,
which was taken away in 1954 by the Western
See FURSE
continued on page 5
Former Oregon congresswoman Elizabeth Furse, photographed in 2008 for the Tribe’s 25th Restoration
special edition, walked on Sunday, April 18, at the age of 84. In the early 1980s, she was instrumental in
helping the Grand Ronde Tribe regain federal recognition.