News for March, 1998

This has been a long and dreary month. While our rainfall totals have not been as impressive as some, the thirteen inches we have had made me feel as the character in the Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury, who laid down, opened his mouth and drowned in the incessant rain of a far away planet. Then finally the weather turned cold, the snow level came down to 600 feet and toward the end of the month we actually had a couple of days of sun. So, once again we have survived winter.

There were some who did not. Of those who this past month have continued their journey along the wheel of life is Teanie Mae Miller. She was the oldest living Tribal member. Also leaving their loved ones behind was Pete Grout and Pauline Johnson. There will be a memorial for Pauline on the 14th of March at the Warm Springs Longhouse on the Warm Spring s Reservation.

As always when some leave others join us. The most recent is Kyoni Tanea Kaiya Mercier. I would also like to congratulate Genene Johnson and Ray Guillory who have joined together to walk the path of life this past month.

In other Tribal news this past month, the new Administration building is now enclosed and construction is on time for opening at the Grand Ronde Pow wow.

There is sad news to report. It seems that this time of year can be a desperate time for some and while every year the council and the tribal activists talk about establishing a tribal food bank. Another year has passed and there are still tribal members who are in need. To be sure with the success of the tribe's gaming operations there are those who have prospered, depending upon their particular clan connections.

But not all have been brought along by these good times. Of course our leaders are once again studying the problem and I'm sure much will be discussed. If history is any guide, I will next year be reporting on the unfortunate families who are doing without, while the bureaucratic tribal coffers continue to bloat. After all it seems that the tribal leaders have learned the whiteman's key: establish a bureaucracy, entrench it and feed it. Those are the methods of control and our leaders have truly become modernized.

The cold snap that we've had brought the Elk down out of the hills and they have taken up station along the roads. We've had minimal fog so far but do be careful when driving, particularly Highway 22. There are a couple of bulls that can be found right along the road at almost any time of the day. Of course, the hawks are still here and there seem to be a couple of falcons perching on the telephone lines. The coyotes have denned-up to litter.

I know that the current El Niño fad has shown itself all around the country and in fact the world. Around here it has shown itself by the beach erosion. This is best exemplified by the re-immersion of a forest that was sunk a couple of thousands of years ago by an earthquake. The forest in question sits at the mouth of the Salmon River near Cascade Head. The aforementioned quake caused the shoreline to sink and the forest was lost beneath the waters of the Pacific. The last time it was unearthed was during the El Niño of 1983, but this year the sands have been swept away and this ancient forest has again reappeared.

The only other thing that I would add is that the Fossil, Fins and Fangs exhibit at the Newport Aquarium is still available to visitors. This explores and shows in much greater detail the ancient history of Oregon than touched on in my related piece here in the Gazette.

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