6
JUNE 15, 2021
Smoke Signals
NATIVE
AMERICAN
WATCHLIST
Watchlist: ‘Stolen Children: Residential
School survivors speak out’
By Kamiah Koch
Social media/digital journalist
Black-and-white footage of
Native children in residential
schools shows the students to be
smiling and enjoying their les-
son in the classroom. However,
we now know the reality of life
in residential schools was very
different.
“CBC News: The National”
published an 18-minute video
in 2015 interviewing residen-
tial school survivors and their
children. All the survivors inter-
viewed spent between three and
12 years in residential schools
in Canada and recount their
experiences being perpetually
beaten, sexually assaulted and
mentally abused.
With the recent discovery of
215 child remains found at the
Canadian Kamloops Indian Res-
idential School, Smoke Signals
thought this video was a timely
recommendation for those unfa-
miliar with Native residential
schools’ histories.
“Indian children … in the res-
idential schools … die at a much
higher rate than in their villag-
es,” Duncan Campbell Scott, the
deputy superintendent of Indian
Affairs, said. “But this does not
justify a change in the policy of
this department, which is geared
towards a final solution of our
Indian problem.”
The survivors’ descriptions of
residential schools told in the
video is what nightmares are
made of.
Alice Littledeer survived eight
years in a residential school and
recounted a little girl around the
age of 6 dying beside her. She
stated the parents of that child
were never notified.
Mike Loft, a child of a resi-
dential school survivor, shared
his father’s story not being able
to play around the school or go
outside, so to cure the boredom
students would endlessly walk
around in circles.
Raymond Mason survived
residential school for 12 years
and shared his story of being
beaten for speaking his Native
tongue or trying to run away. He
singles out receiving one horrible
beating the time he hugged his
sister when he discovered they
had been in the same school and
were unaware they had been liv-
ing just down the hall from each
other for a long time.
The stories in the interview go
on. Unfortunately, they are not
unique to one school or person.
Treatment like this was wide-
spread in residential schools in
the United States and Canada.
And this abuse in residential
schools has left its mark on Na-
tive American life today.
Sadly, the fear Loft’s father
experienced in residential school
was passed down to him and he
admits he passed that fear to
his children. Children of sur-
vivors shared in the video how
their parents’ loss of childhood
and family and suffering years
of abuse was often replicated
and felt generations afterward.
A term well-known in Native
culture today as “historical trau-
ma.”
To watch the “Stolen Children”
video, go to www.youtube.com/
watch?v=vdR9HcmiXLA or vis-
it the Smoke Signals YouTube
channel and click on the “Watch-
list” playlist.
Local school districts
offering summer meals
WILLAMINA – The Willamina and Sheridan school districts are once
again providing free meals to children from 1 to 18 years of age during
the summer.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture annually partners with local organi-
zations to provide free meals to children when school is out for the summer.
Meals will be served Monday through Thursday at the following locations:
Willamina and Grand Ronde (June 21 to July 29): Willamina
Elementary School, 11:30 a.m. to noon; Raven Loop Park, 12:15 to 12:30
p.m.; and Tina Miller Park, 12:45 to 1 p.m.
Sheridan (June 28 to Aug. 19): Sheridan High School, 10:30 to 10:45
a.m.; Faulconer-Chapman, 11 a.m. to noon; Sheridan City Park, 12:15 to
12:45 p.m.; and Open Door Church, 12:45 to 1 p.m.
Meals will not be served on Monday, July 5.
No income requirements or registration is needed for youth to pick up
a meal.
For more information, visit SummerFoodOregon.org or call 211 or text
“food” to 877-877. More information also is available at the school districts’
websites.
Tribal Council proposes one-year
moratorium on disenrollments
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council sent a proposed
amendment to the Enrollment
Ordinance that would create a one-
year moratorium concerning loss
of membership in the Tribe out for
a first reading at its Wednesday,
June 2, meeting.
The move will require the pro-
posed amendment to be advertised
in two editions of Smoke Signals
and give Tribal members 30 days
to comment.
During the Tuesday, June 1, Leg-
islative Action Committee meeting,
Tribal Council member Kathleen
George said the proposal is the
result of the current enrollment
hearings being held by the Tribe.
In October 2019, Tribal Council
hired Carefree, Ariz., attorney
Robert Lyttle to research Tribal
enrollment issues and conduct pub-
lic meetings. The first meeting was
held virtually on Wednesday, May
26, and attracted approximately
130 Tribal members and lasted
almost three hours.
The next meetings were sched-
uled for Thursday, June 10, 17
and 24 with the June 10 and 24
meetings held in Grand Ronde with
limited in-person attendance as
well as Internet accessibility. Tribal
Council Chief of Staff Stacia Her-
nandez said the in-person meetings
will have a maximum of 50 people
in attendance.
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy said that the
purpose of the four enrollment
meetings is to gain input from
members and work toward an ad-
visory vote that at least two-thirds
of the membership would support.
The Tribal Constitution requires
any proposed changes to the Consti-
tution be approved by 66.7 percent
of those voting.
The proposed disenrollment mor-
atorium will not protect a Tribal
member who is found to be dually
enrolled in another Tribe, which is
in violation of the Tribal Consti-
tution.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved applying for two grants
from the Bureau of Indian Affairs’
Invasive Species Program. Fish &
Wildlife Program Manager Kelly
Dirksen said the $125,653 grant
for the Chankawan conservation
property in Marion County would
combat Scotch broom and the
$25,520 grant for the Rattlesnake
Butte conservation property
in Lane County would combat
Scotch broom and blackberries;
• Approved applying for a maxi-
mum $200,000 Tribal Wildlife
Grant from the U.S. Fish & Wild-
life Service that would replant 40
acres of the Chahalpam conserva-
tion property in Marion County
back to its original riparian hard-
wood/floodplain forest status;
• Approved appointing Denaee
Towner to the Housing Grievance
Board with a term expiring in
March 2024 and re-appointing
Kevin Schultz and Dennis Dins-
more to the Grand Ronde Gaming
Commission with terms expiring
in June 2024;
• And approved two timber sales
for the Natural Resources De-
partment. The Near North Sal-
vage timber sale would harvest
storm-damaged trees on approx-
imately 134 acres and bring in
a net revenue of approximately
$31,000. The Coal Creek 2021
Right-of-Way timber sale would
affect four acres and bring in a
net revenue of about $14,000.
Also included in the June 2 Tribal
Council packet were authoriza-
tions to proceed that approved a
cultural significance letter for the
Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Pro-
gram’s fiscal year 2023 proposals
and approved a services agreement
not to exceed $130,000 with the
nonprofit Willamette Partnership.
To watch the entire meeting,
sign on to the Tribal government’s
website at www.grandronde.org
and click on the Government tab
and then Videos.
Lamprey harvesting season
runs through July 31
The Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife has established the
Pacific lamprey harvesting season as June 1 through July 31 of this
year. Harvesting is allowed Fridays through Mondays from 7 a.m.
to 6 p.m. and is not allowed Tuesday through Thursday.
Harvesting is confined to the east side of Willamette Falls and does
not include the horseshoe area at the peak of the falls. Harvesters
should avoid these areas.
Gear is restricted to hand or hand-powered tools only. A permit is
required, but Tribal members are allowed to use their Tribal enroll-
ment card in lieu of a state-issued permit.
In addition, Tribal members may harvest for distribution to other
Tribal members as long as it is done free of charge. Commercial sale
of lamprey and the use of lamprey as bait in fisheries is prohibited.
A catch must be recorded on a harvest card available from the
Tribe’s Natural Resources Department or by contacting the Clack-
amas ODFW office at 17330 S.E. Evelyn St. All harvest cards must
be returned by Aug. 31.
Tribal members planning to harvest lamprey should contact
Natural Resources to arrange for a packet at 503-879-2424. Due to
COVID-19 protocols, an appointment is required to obtain onsite
services from Natural Resources.