Veterans Powwow christens new arbor

The new arbor at Uyxat Powwow Grounds was the star of this year’s Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow held in Grand Ronde on Friday, July 10, through Sunday, July 12.

This year’s powwow culminated four days of honoring veterans in Grand Ronde that started on Thursday, July 9, with the third annual Native Veterans Summit.

Just before Friday’s 7 p.m. grand entry, Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno asked everyone involved with building the new arbor to come out on to the powwow grounds to be honored. Leno started with Tribal Engineering and Public Works Manager Jesse White.

“Jesse is the guy that council said, ‘Build us an arbor, have it ready by Veterans Powwow and make it your number one priority’,” said Leno, who then presented White with a framed picture of the arbor.

Leno also said Chris Scholten of Chris Scholten Construction and Scholten’s timber framer, Justin Stritzke, played key roles in the building of the arbor.

"Chris was a big part of this and Justin was the ‘math’ guy,” said Leno. “Both were really respectful of what we wanted and respected the Tribe, and they really did good. I believe all of these workers know what it meant to the Tribe. This was not just another project. It was something that was going to be great and it turned out great.”

Leno said that all of the timber used in building the arbor came from the Tribe’s Reservation lands and that each log was hand-picked for the project.

White spoke on behalf of the entire crew when he said, “We are all proud to have had the opportunity to construct this for you guys.”

White also singled out Erika Price of Akana for the design and engineering of the project.

“When you look at this structure, this represents the strength of our Tribe,” said Leno. “We were terminated for 30 years. We stayed here anyway. We were here for a long time. We are here today and we will be here forever, and to me that’s what this arbor represents.”

Tribal Council Secretary Jack Giffen Jr. and members Chris Mercier, Ed Pearsall, Jon A. George and Tonya Gleason-Shepek joined Leno in blessing the grounds inside the arbor with tobacco.

Cherokee Tribal member and master of ceremonies Nick Sixkiller said this event was something he would never forget.

“I’m very humbled and honored to be asked to be here announcing this first powwow under this new arbor,” said Sixkiller. “I will always remember this.”

Ojibwe Tribal Elder and Air Force veteran Linda Woods traveled from Michigan to Grand Ronde for the Veterans Summit and stayed for the powwow. Woods is a rare female eagle staff carrier and has been to the Reservation three times, where she said she feels at home.

“I love it here. The people are very kind and loving and very welcoming here,” said Woods of her hosts. “I love the beauty, the trees and the woods. It’s just beautiful here.”

Woods said she was as impressed with the new arbor as she has been with the people who host her annual visit to Grand Ronde.

“I saw it on Facebook,” said Woods. “It’s just magnificent. It’s hard to put into words.”

Tribal member and Veterans Special Events Board member Reina Nelson ran the show in the absence of Steve Bobb Sr., who was in Germany.

“There were a couple of times this weekend when I just looked out over the grounds and I was overwhelmed,” said Nelson, who comes from a family of veterans. “I went to my first Veterans Powwow when I was a little girl and I still remember. So, it’s an honor to be able to do something like this for our veterans and to give back to them for all they have done.”

Nelson said it was a busy weekend for everyone who worked to make the event a success.

“We all came together and worked together and this powwow went very smoothly,” said Nelson. “It was incredible to be under the new arbor and it felt good to know that we, as a Tribe, are truly blessed to have what we have. It’s an honor to be part of that.”

Polk County Commissioner Jennifer Wheeler also was honored by Tribal Council for her ongoing positive relationship with the Tribal leadership.

“I’m just so happy to be here,” said Wheeler. “Oh my gosh, the arbor is just beautiful. Somebody really knew what they were doing to engineer this. It’s more open and it’s more natural, and it’s just beautiful.”

Tribal member Jon R. George, who works at Spirit Mountain Casino as the Keno/Bingo/Playworld manager, was seeing the arbor for the first time.

“I’m taking in my culture,” said George. “This is great.”

Gleason-Shepek said she was deeply affected from being part of the inaugural grand entry under the new arbor.

“It’s overwhelmingly emotional,” said Gleason-Shepek. “This is permanent. It means we are going to be here forever. I’m very proud and very humbled to be a part of it. It’s incredible.”

Tribal member Bobby Mercier said the new arbor is modeled after a similar one in Kamloops, British Columbia.

“I had taken a lot of pictures and council said, ‘We want a log structure’ and I had pictures of it on my phone,” said Mercier. “I showed them the pictures and they said, ‘That’s exactly what we want.’ I’ve been trying to get us to have an arbor for 12, 14 years now. So this being here is kind of a dream.”

Native veteran Lindsey Watchman of Pendleton said that he had visited Grand Ronde a few times for the Veterans Summit and Veterans Powwow and that this year he was part of a group of six veterans who made the trip from the northeastern part of Oregon.

“This is beautiful,” said Watchman, who works as an educator at the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center in Pendleton. “As soon as I made that turn and saw the arbor, I thought this is amazing. This was a truly moving and spiritual experience.

Mercier said in the future there will be a built-in emcee stand and a sound booth for the public address equipment. He said there will be permanent bleachers constructed that will create more seating capacity.

“There is still a lot more work to be done here,” said Mercier.

Mercier said the new arbor also will be cost efficient and save the Tribe almost $20,000 annually by not having to rent a big tent twice a year.

“The tent was always temporary,” said Mercier. “We really wanted to build something like this so we wouldn’t have to worry about that tent anymore. So now we have a permanent structure. No more renting anything. I think it shows we are doing something for our people and for our guests so they can be comfortable.”

Tribal member Marcus Gibbons, who was part of the construction crew that built the arbor, echoed the feelings of many when he said on Sunday, July 12, “It’s beautiful to come here and see this.”

Color Guard logo

One of the most striking features of the new arbor, according to many visitors, is the carved, wooden Color Guard logo hanging from the arbor.

The circular carving features American wood and also more unusual and exotic woods to create the logo’s color. In fact, the only paint used on the wooden logo is the black background paint.

“I’m very proud to have been asked to do this,” said carver David Ho. “Steve Bobb came to me and said, ‘Are you capable?’ and I said I was. I was born and raised with wood carving.”

Ho, who is of Vietnamese descent, has been working for the Tribe by request for many years and has made much of the furniture and desks used by Tribal employees in the Governance Center and other Tribal buildings.

Ho said he used all natural woods in the design -- American red oak, American black walnut, rosewood and redwood and that he imported more exotic wood like Jackfruit to create the colors of the hand-carved logo.

Jackfruit, also known as Jack tree, is native only to parts of south and southeast Asia and originated in the southwestern rainforests of India. The fruit that grows in the Jack trees is the national fruit of Bangladesh.