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Celebrating 41 years of Restoration
By Nicole Montesano
Smoke Signals staff writer
Dancing, drumming and singing marked the Tribe’s 41st Restoration Celebration and Powwow Friday and Saturday, Nov. 22-23, at the Spirit Mountain Casino Event Center. Attendees took the opportunity to spend time with family and friends, as well as to honor the past and look forward to the future.
“It means remembrance to me,” Tribal Elder Colette Abdie said.
Her cousin, Tribal Elder Tammy Cook, agreed.
“We honor our ancestors today,” she said. “And our own moms are over 80, so we’re happy they’re still here with us. We’re also having the meteorite display here that kind of ties us into where we come from. We’re just happy to be here today. And powwow’s tomorrow, so we’re excited about that.”
The exhibit, “Tamanowas,” was located in a room off the main event center where vendors were selling jewelry, clothing, blankets and other items.
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George served as event emcee. He noted that before it began, Tribal members had gathered at the Tribal Cemetery for prayers, called atudship.
“We’ve been doing that every morning of Restoration since the 30th year,” George said. “We place our healing stones and pray for healing of our people. It is something we will do every year.”
The Grand Ronde singers and dancers opened the festivities, followed by Grand Ronde and Veterans Royalty members. The Grand Ronde Honor Guard posted the colors, and then royalty members performed “The Lord’s Prayer.”
Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier welcomed the hundreds of attendees.
“I was only 8 years old when the Tribe got restored,” Mercier said. “And the way I found out was my mom showing my brother and me one of those old Time Life photographs of Indians and explaining that was part of our heritage. Up until then, we’d only known the Anglo side of our heritage.”
Mercier noted that, “We just went through an awful election,” but told the gathering that a strong sovereign nation can be a safe home and refuge from national politics.
“We still have the ability to deliver our own destiny,” he said. “We don’t have to let the outside world affect us. Let’s continue to support each other and be the best version of ourselves.”
Tribal Elder Natalie A. “Pebbles” Jackson gave the invocation, while Tribal Elder Veronica Gaston blessed the meal.
In addition to Mercier and Jon A. George, Tribal Council members in attendance included Lisa Leno, Denise Harvey, Matthew Haller and Kathleen George.
“For me, Restoration is remembering our past, remembering our Elders and being grateful for everything they’ve done for us and being together today,” Harvey said.
Cultural Education Specialist and intern chaperone Cristina Lara and past youth interns Gracie Mercier, Mikayla Mercier and Justine Flynn spoke about their experiences visiting the meteorite in New York City.
Flynn, now the Chinuk Wawa Education Program Manager and an intern chaperone, interned in 2009, then served as a chaperone in 2017-2018 and 2023, while Gracie and Mikayla Mercier, both 17, interned more recently.
One of the things that distressed them, they said, was finding that, although the museum had “hundreds of thousands” of artifacts from Grand Ronde, it was displaying only one.
Mikayla Mercier recalled meaningful glances among the adult members of her group in response to hearing museum staff refer to the items as “these ancient things, these ancient people.”
She said that her group of interns noted that a historical plaque of the history of the meteorite was “not accurate at all,” so they presented one of the directors with a corrected account.
Lara said the museum intends to update the plaque in the next six months, to Mercier’s delighted surprise.
Flynn said that when she returned from her own internship, “I realized they did a lot of talking at me,” but that she now strives to let interns know that museum staff should be listening to them.
“Make sure you say what you want to say and they listen to you, and if you’re not being given the space to do that, let one of us know,” she said.
A few members of the Tribe spoke briefly about their memories of Restoration. Participants also enjoyed a meal of salmon, fry bread and several other selections.
Restoration concluded after the raffle drawings were held.
On Saturday, the doors opened at 10 a.m. for the powwow, with grand entries at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tribal Elder Bob Tom served as emcee and Tribal Elder Dietrich Peters served as arena director. Headman and headwoman were Tribal members Chad and Molly Leno.
The host drum was Bad Soul, with invited drum Battle Stone Singers.
Dance specials included a blanket dance for the Marcus Gibbons family, a tiny tot special by the Mark Cook family and an all-ages potato dance by Deitrich Peters, with a $100 prize for winners. Tribal Council sponsored a golden age special for Elders 60 and older, with three winners each receiving a blanket.
A dinner break was held at 5 p.m., with boxed lunches served.
There was also a sweetheart special by Molly and Chad Leno, with prizes for the first, second and third place, a cancer honor song, and a past Grand Ronde and Veterans Royalty special by current royalty members, with two winners selected.
A Youth Council special was held for teens, with prizes for first, second and third places, and a switch dance special by the Liebelt Family for all ages, with prizes for first, second and third place.
Powwow concluded at approximately 10 p.m. with the retiring of the colors.