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JUNE 1, 2022
NATIVE
AMERICAN
WATCHLIST
Watchlist: ‘The Forest Grove Indian
Training School, 1880-1885’
(Editor’s note: It is estimated that there are approximately 149
billion videos on YouTube, and the number continues to grow.
Grand Ronde Tribal member and Social Media/Digital Journalist
Kamiah Koch sifts through those myriad videos twice a month to
recommend a worthwhile Indigenous video to watch. Follow her
bimonthly recommendations and enjoy!)
By Kamiah Koch
Social media/digital journalist
An article in this edition of Smoke Signals called “Indian boarding
school report includes Grand Ronde location” has a companion video
on our YouTube channel where we visit three federal Indian boarding
school sites in Oregon listed in the Department of Interior’s report.
In the video, Smoke Signals visited Chemawa Indian School, the
site of the Forest Grove Indian Training School and the Grand Ronde
Boarding School.
During the Forest Grove Indian Training School portion of that
video, a clip from a video published by Pacific University’s magazine
in 2019 is used. Pacific University is located in Forest Grove and its
Archives and Special Collections Librarian Eva Guggemos compares
a before-and-after photo of Native children who attended the Indian
boarding school.
The rest of the six-minute Forest Grove Indian Training School
video on Pacific University’s YouTube channel gives an in-depth
perspective on the history of the boarding school, explaining the
documentation of the school and the traumas that occurred there.
Guggemos narrates the video and explains that the Forest Grove
Indian Training School opened in 1880 “to intentionally break stu-
dents’ relationships with their Tribes and mix them with other stu-
dents so it would be harder for them to maintain their own languages
and customs.”
Using historical images, the video shows federal Indian boarding
schools followed the template set by Carlisle Indian School in Penn-
sylvania. Guggemos says the Forest Grove Indian Training School
was the second off-Reservation boarding school in the country after
Carlisle.
“As time went on they would go to Tribes with very young children
who might only be 7 or 8 years old and then tell the parents they
needed to send their children here,” Guggemos says in the video. “I
don’t think the parents felt they had a choice.”
According to Guggemos, a lot of the photos from Pacific University’s
special collections library used in the video were most likely staged
to demonstrate the school was “civilizing” Native students.
“We have a few scattered pieces of evidence pointing toward abuse
at the school,” she says. “One student was actually one of the most
prominent graduates of the school. He wrote a letter saying that
he remembers the second superintendent hitting and kicking the
students to keep them in line. In my opinion that probably was the
tip of the iceberg.”
If you would like to watch the full video on the Forest Grove In-
dian Training School, you can visit it at https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=f4iAk53ONpg or find it linked on the Smoke Signals “Watch-
list” playlist on the Smoke Signals YouTube channel.
21
Community Fund seeking
Hatfield Fellow applicants
Applications for the 2022-23 Hatfield Fellowship are being accepted
through June 15 by Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the philanthropic
arm of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
The Community Fund annually sponsors a Native American to serve as
the Hatfield Fellow and intern in a congressional office. Placement of the
Fellow rotates through the Oregon congressional delegation to enhance
the mutual understanding between leadership in Washington, D.C., and
Indian Country.
The Hatfield Fellow begins his or her Capitol Hill experience in No-
vember with a month-long orientation at the American Political Science
Association. It is then followed by an eight-month term in an Oregon
congressional office. The fellowship includes a monthly stipend, as well
as relocation and travel expenses.
Tribal members from the nine federally recognized Tribes of Oregon are
eligible to apply, as well as members of Tribes in the Pacific Northwest.
However, preference will be given to members of Oregon Tribes. Appli-
cants must have a bachelor’s degree or be graduating in June, and be at
least 21 years of age.
The Hatfield Fellowship was created in 1998 to honor Sen. Mark
Hatfield’s public service to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. For more
information or to apply, go to thecommunityfund.com/grants-programs/
hatfield-fellowship/ or visit youtu.be/7T0nNoFgUYS to watch an infor-
mational video.
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SKILLS BANK!
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HOW? Contact the TERO Office at 503-879-2188 or email tero@grandronde.org
WHO CAN SIGN UP? Grand Ronde Tribal members and members of other
federally recognized Tribes. Must be 18 years or older.
WHAT IS NEEDED? TERO Skills Bank application and Tribal ID
TRIBAL EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OFFICE
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