Keeping Up with the Past Cathlapotle Plankhouse Update

Jan./Feb. 2008 www.plankhouse.org

Remember to look at your 2008 Refuge calendar! Check it out or download it at .http://www.ridgefieldfriends.org/Calendar/2008%20Calendar.pdf

Special thanks to the 12 winners of the 2007 photo contest who made this possible. Friends of the Refuge will update the activities and events through the year.

It was a cold winter day. Just a reminder of why our Ancestors would choose this this time of year to pull in from the rivers and hunker down in our Great Plankhouses. The fire was lit in anticipation of the arrival of our invited guests.

Chinook Winter Gathering 2008

Top: Drums warming at the fire.

Far left: Protocol begins.

Left: Members of the Chi-nook Nation welcome their guests

Below: Howaltid (Lester Greene), Hereditary Chief from Wyaatch (Makah) leads a group of guests.

Many of the guests were beginning to arrive. These people have come from many Na-tions .They came from Grande Ronde, Coquille, Makah, Yakama, Shoalwater, Duwamish, Snoho-mish, Cowlitz, Warm Springs, Littleshell and of course Chinook. They brought with them food to share, drums, regalia, and most important they brought their songs and stories to be shared.

After the meal we then opened the floor for those who had business to conduct. Families honored their Elders for their lifetime commitment to Indian Country. Our Children shared the legend of how the waves got their sounds and how the whitecaps were formed. It was announced that we were to get a new thirty-five foot canoe. We were gifted a por-trait of the first Native Pastor in the State of Wash-ington.

It was then time to don our regalia and start proto-col. As is traditional, we started with the Tribe who has traveled the farthest. The Plankhouse began to resonate with the sounds of drums and songs. When singing the songs, it was very important for each group to identify who created the song and tell that they had permission to bring the song to us.

Coming Next Month Watch for next month’s Newsletter, when we’ll print the schedule of 2008 Plankhouse activities,

including the Artist-in-Residence programs, the Second Sunday Series, and a listing of work-shops and harvests which will take place from April through October.

Just to start: Opening day is Saturday, March 29th, with a visit, talk and walk to Wapato Portage with Capt. Meriwether Lewis, portrayed by Living History Actor Tom Laidlaw.

Our initial Second Sunday, April 13, will include a talk by Archaeologist and Historian Melissa Darby on wapato, and a walk to the wapato field off the Oaks to Wetlands Trail. Much more to

come. Keep an eye on our website at

www.plankhouse.org

Often people from outside each group were asked to join in with the singing and dancing. At times the floor was full with children and women dancing as the men kept the beat of the song on their drums. It is always good to

get so many Native People together to share what has been passed down to us from our Elders. For me it is always good to see the Plank-house come to life. I always hope that we make our Ancestors proud! Sam Robinson Vice-Chairman of the Chinook Nation

Duwamish Youth Dance Group

Members of the Chinook Nation