10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL SEPTEMBER 13, 2017
Yoncalla woman's win of a lifetime
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
There is no one left who
speaks the language of the Ka-
lapuya Tribe.
Those hoping to save the lan-
guage and broader culture from
extinction rely on documents
and voice recordings from the
1950s. They gather approxi-
mately 60 children at a summer
camp and teach them drum-
ming, dancing and ecology.
They tell stories.
Ester Stutzman of Yoncalla
does it all. and for her efforts,
Governor Kate Brown award-
ed her the 2017 Governor's
Arts Award after the award was
shelved for 10 years. Stutzman
was one of two individuals and
three organizations to receive
this year's award.
"It's for longtime storytell-
ing," Stutzman said from her
home in Yoncalla.
And that's what Stutzman
is, she says, a storyteller. She
visits classrooms and confer-
ences, presents to organizations
and gives talks at museums and
meets with scholars as part of
her role as a storyteller with
Mother Earth's Children--a Na-
tive American theatre group.
While she works to tell the
stories of her tribe and preserve
and reignite passion for the cul-
ture, she says there are rules to
the story.
"I was taught the stories by
my grandmother, uncles and
aunties and they cautioned
me on how to tell the stories,"
Stutzman said. "There's rules on
how to pass them on."
Passing on the culture of the
Kalapuya Tribe is a primary fo-
cus for Stutzman who takes part
in a summer camp each year
aimed at doing just that.
Every year approximately 60
to 75 Native American children
gather to take part in drumming
and dancing. They learn about
local ecology and hear the sto-
ries passed down from earlier
generations. And they've been
doing it for 42 years.
Continued from A1
"We promote language heav-
ily," Stutzman said. "There is
quite a bit of language on the
reservations like Grand Ronde
but there aren't have speakers
left," she said of the Kalapuya
language.
"I think all of what we try
to do is share what we know
with the kids," she said. "That
it is energized and makes them
proud of their culture and gives
them a means to pass that on."
Portland artist Arvie Smith
was also honored by Governor
Kate Brown.
Square dancers hosting free dance
Group hopes to attract younger crowd, new faces
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Terry Nelson has been square dancing for
approximately 17 years after a friend got
him into it. Now, he's hoping to get others
around the community involved and maybe
wrangle some younger particpants onto the
dance fl oors.
"We haven't been able to get younger
folks to take it up," he said. "We found it
a real challenge to track people in their 20s
and 30s, even their 40s. We started in our
40s but then you have kids and things drop
off for awhile."
Nelson is hoping that with a little word of
mouth, the Emerald Empire Square Dance
Association he belongs to can stir up some
interest in a free community square dance
on Friday, September 29.
"We hope people will give it a try," he
said.
While the interest in the art of square
Tiny Houses
dancing has ticked down, Nelson said ste-
reotypes may be largely at fault. He noted
that fl annel shirts and cowboy boots are
not mandatory and that music isn't always
of the country variety.
"There was a stigma that it was always
country music but there are callers that
use all types of music," he said, rattling
off jazz, rock and, ocassionally rap, as
examples.
As for where someone might fi nd oth-
ers who also spend their free time square
dancing, Nelson said opportunity is there
for those who look for it.
He and his wife belong to the Cottage
Grove Boots and Sandals Square Dance
Club here in Cottage Grove.
"It's suffering a little bit here," he said.
"Because we don't have a lot of local call-
ers. We have to get people from Portland,
Albany and Roseburg."
A caller calls out the moves of each dance
and while they sometimes also participate
in the dance while calling, it's not standard
The money—courtesy of a
grant from the Presbyterian
Women Creative Ministries Of-
fering Committee—is a drop
in the bucket of the $800,000
needed to complete the project
but CVC said the funds would
help generate additional fund-
raising and give the project an
added perception of being a se-
rious effort. “It’s going to help
us raise more money,” he said.
“We get the funds in two pay-
ments,” Kelsh said. $50,000 is
expected in October and the
remaining amount in May of
2018. Under the terms of the
grant CVC received from Mey-
er Memorial Trust, the project
must be completed by the end
of 2018.
“We still have $600,000-odd
to raise and we’ met with the
grant writers and we’re still go-
ing after grants,” Kelsh said.
CVC is the boots on the
ground organization for Eu-
gene’s SquareOne Villages, a
non-profi t which headed Op-
portunity Village—a housing
development for homeless in-
dividuals—and is starting work
on another housing project in
Eugene aimed at low-income
residents. SquareOne received
the Meyer Memorial Fund grant
and purchased land on Madison
Ave. in Cottage Grove earlier
this year for Cottage Village.
SquareOne Executive Direc-
tor Dan Bryant said the money
would likely go to pre-devel-
opment costs. “It puts us on the
map as a national organization
that shows the legitimacy of the
vision. I think it will help us
with other fundraising,” he said.
Plans surrounding the de-
velopment of Cottage Village
have garnered mixed reactions
from community members and
have drawn ire from neighbors
worried over property values.
Initial plans for the communi-
ty centered specifi cally around
homeless individuals but a
more recent narrative has shift-
ed to focus on those in danger
of becoming homeless includ-
ing those who receive social
security as their only source of
income.
“If we could build a house to
have something to show people,
I think that would be helpful,”
Kelsh said. However, CVC has
yet to decide on a model for
Cottage Village or if the com-
munity will include houses of
various sizes and fl oorplans.
According to Bryant, the group
could utilize the large shop on
the Madison property to build
a sample house and then move
the structure onto the property
once the plans for the commu-
nity have been approved by the
city.
“We don’t have a timeline
for going to the city right now,”
Bryant said. “But the committee
might have done more work on
that and we’ll probably spend
the fall working on it.”
Cottage Village must meet
city planning requirements, in-
cluding city codes for sewer and
water services, before construc-
tion can begin.
“We’re really going to have
to get moving,” Bryant said.
“There’s a lot to be done.”
in modern square dancing.
To take part in the local square dance
scene, one does not have to break the bank.
According to Nelson, lessons are $3 per
person.
"It's not a terribly expensive hobby," he
said.
For more information on the upcoming
dance to be held in Springfi eld, visit dare-
todancesquare.info. Or call Christine at
541-520-9549 or Terry at 514-688-2958.
Are you ready?
D ISASTER P REPAREDNESS
Pet safety
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make decisions about what items to protect and how to prepare for
the inevitability of an approaching threat. When making disaster
preparedness plans, pet owners need to factor in care of their com-
panion animals.
Many people refuse to leave pets behind. However, faced with
the prospect of an impending storm or other calamity, pet owners
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inevitably stay behind after disaster evacuations have been issued
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away from hotels. This can put homeowners, pets and rescue work-
ers at risk for greater injury. Knowing how to behave during a di-
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everyone safe.
* Know your options. People who live in particularly vulnerable
areas, like those prone to wildfi res or coastal fl ooding, should map
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home will do in the event an evacuation is needed or if you need to
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ters are not pet-friendly, many are. The Red Cross has a network of
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* Keep medical records handy. Have an extra copy of pets' vet-
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South Lane Fire & Rescue • 233 Harrison Ave, Cottage Grove 541-942-4493 • 55 South 1st Street, Creswell 541-895-2506
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