14
MAY 1, 2024
NATIVE
AMERICAN
WATCHLIST
SMOKE SIGNALS
Tribal nonemergency text line
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has a nonemergency text
line at 541-921-2927.
“If you have a nonemergency situation or question, feel free to contact
my officer via text through this line,” said Grand Ronde Tribal Police Chief
Jake McKnight. “When one of my officers receives the text, they will call
you back when they have time.”
McKnight said that emergency situations still require calling 911.
For more information, contact McKnight at 503-879-1474.
Watchlist: ‘The
tragic story of this
famous meteorite’
(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/Digi-
tal Journalist Kamiah Koch sifts through those 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
The culturally significant Tomanowos meteorite from the Willa-
mette Valley is currently held on display in the American Museum
of Natural History in New York City. Every year, a few Grand
Ronde Tribal members coordinate with the museum to pay a visit
to Tomanowas to smudge it, clean it with cedar branches and spend
time with it.
In 2023, a welcome brunch was hosted for the delegates from Grand
Ronde in the Gems and Minerals Hall of the museum. Connected to
the Gems and Mineral Hall is the Meteorites Hall, where a different
meteorite is held.
Like Tomanowos, the Ahnighito meteorite landed in Greenland
and was culturally important to the Indigenous Inughuit people.
Vox published a video in January 2024, sharing the history of this
meteorite, how it came to rest in the American Museum of Natural
History and the Inughuit people brought with it.
The video explains an American explorer named Robert Peary came
to Greenland in the 1800s.
“Peary was part of an era of European and American exploration
in the late 19th century obsessed with the parts of the map not yet
reached by white people,” the video narrator said.
By the time Peary contacted the Inughuit, a trade system had
been established and the Inughuit showed Peary how to survive in
the artic.
According to Vox, Peary knew he had to come home with something
to keep his backers interested, and he had heard the Inughuit had
access to a rare iron meteorite.
“In exchange for a gun to an Inughuit man who said he knew the
location of the ‘iron mountain,’ Peary was led right to it,” the narrator
said. “A lot of this history has been lost to time, but what historians
do know that Peary did not ask for permission for what he did next.”
He sailed Ahnighito to New York, along with six Inughuit people
whom he promised would return to Greenland once the meteorite
was delivered.
Unbeknownst to them, Peary had promised to bring an Inughuit
person back to the American Museum of Natural History to be
studied.
When they arrived in New York, 20,000 people paid to come aboard
the ship to see the meteorite and the indigenous Inughuit people.
And to no one’s surprise, the promises made by Peary were quickly
broken. The six Inughuit included a hunter named Nuktaq, his wife,
Atangana and their 12-year-old daughter Aviaq; a hunter name
Uisaakassak; another hunter named Qisak and his 7-year-old son
named Minik.
All but Minik and Uisaakassak died shortly after arriving in New
York.
“The museum told Minik they had buried Qisak, but that wasn’t
true,” the narrator said. “Qisak’s body was dissected and his remains
were stored inside the museum for further study.”
As Minik got older he discovered the truth and publicly pleaded
for the museum to return his father’s remains for a burial, but was
ignored. They kept the bodies of all four Inughuit until 1993, and
today still have the Ahnighito meteorite on display.
The Ahnighito display has no mention of Minik or the five other
Inughuit who were given empty promises.
You can watch the rest of the video for yourself at www.youtube.
com/watch?v=yvdtWfHpCR4.
FREE FINANCIAL FOUNDATIONS WORKSHOPS
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is collaborating
with DevNW to offer free Financial Foundations workshops.
Financial Foundations
explores the following topics:
Budget & cash flow planning, Money goal setting, Tackling
debt, Channeling savings for big goals, Financial planning
for retirement, Protecting your assets, Strengthening credit.
Financial Foundations May classes:
May Zoom:
Zoom, 5:30-7:30pm, Tuesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28
Zoom, 9am-5pm, Saturday, May 18
Register online:
www.devnw.org/go/ctgr/
Questions? Email caitlin.zimbrick@grandronde.org
To learn more about IDA’s visit https://oregonidainitiative.org/
Financial Foundations is required to sign up for an IDA (Individual Development
Account) matched savings. Limited space available, must meet eligibility requirements.
Ad by Samuel Briggs III