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Tribe prepares to celebrate 32 years of Restoration
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde will celebrate its 32nd anniversary of 1983’s Restoration on Saturday, Nov. 21, with events at the Atudship monument near the Tribal Cemetery and at the Tribal gymnasium.
After the Grand Ronde Tribe was terminated in 1954, Tribal Elders Merle Holmes, Margaret Provost and Marvin Kimsey started the arduous task of regaining federal recognition in the 1970s that culminated on Nov. 22, 1983, when President Ronald Reagan signed the Grand Ronde Restoration Act.
This year’s celebration will begin at 9 a.m. with a prayer service at the Atudship monument. The site, first used during 2013’s 30th Restoration celebration, is located on the Lash property immediately north of the Tribal Cemetery off Grand Ronde Road.
The Atudship rock mound is a monument honoring the plight and Restoration of the more than 27 Tribes and bands that make up the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
“Atudship” is a Tualatin-Kalapuya term meaning to heap up earth and rocks, a Native ceremony that is usually associated with the practice of obtaining power.
Rocks from the Rogue River in southern Oregon were recently collected by Tribal Council member Tonya Gleason-Shepek, Public Affairs Administrative Assistant Chelsea Clark and Tribal youth Desirae Martin to be added to the memorial.
The Canoe Family will perform a program beginning at 10 a.m. in the Tribal gym that will be followed by the official Restoration program. A meal of salmon, ceremonial stew, wild rice, mixed vegetables, salad with fixings and Shari’s pies for dessert will begin at noon. After a break at 2 p.m., a Restoration Powwow will begin at 3 p.m. and it is scheduled to conclude at 9 p.m.
The celebration is being coordinated by Tribal Elders Darlene Aaron, Betty Bly and Steve Bobb Sr. and Tribal members Francene Ambrose, Kathy Cole, Reina Nelson, Julie Brown, Shannon Simi, Stacia Martin and Clark.
Please RSVP to Public Affairs at 503-879-1418 or send an e-mail to publicaffairs@grandronde.org so that organizers can get an approximate count of the number of attendees.