Powwow Socializing

Saturday’s are usually those days I sleep in. Not today, though. I woke up early because of an unexplainable obligation. Five years ago two Tribal members made the long trek from Table Rock to Grand Ronde, re-tracing the Trail of Tears. Our version at least. Scores of different people joined in for the last legs, and personally entered it for the last quarter-mile, basically from Grand Ronde Elementary School to the Governance Center. This day a Tribal member was finishing his own Trail of Tears hike, this journey considerably less publicized.
An email had gone out weeks ago at work notifying us of this. The final leg was to coincide with Grand Entry at our Veterans’ Powwow. About a dozen of us, including one other Council member, met at the elementary school to finish out the leg. Because I had done it five years ago, there was almost a sense of duty to repeat. So I did. It was fun. The veterans were short a flagbearer, and I ended up carrying the U.S. Navy Flag, despite not having served myself in any branch of the military. I felt honored.
To explain why I am sharing all this, Veterans’ Powwow is one of those times a person can look forward to in Grand Ronde. The weekend doesn’t quite have the same intensity and sense of busy-ness as the Annual Powwow, but there is still a feeling of camaraderie. It’s kind of like Thanksgiving: not quite as big as the following holiday, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
But Veterans’ Powwow seems to be growing. That was evidenced by the abnormally large crowd of onlookers today for grand entry, and the seemingly endless line of veterans who joined the line to garner their well-deserved medals. Some of the same vendors who normally show up for the Annual Powwow were present.
Friday I strolled through the powwow to peruse goods. Nearly every powwow I purchase a few necklaces and other items. As a rule of thumb, I rarely walk away from any powwow without being at least $150 lighter. The vendors don’t seem to mind.
While catching up with a distant cousin, a man stops by and introduces himself to me. He is a Yakama, but one of his children is an enrolled Grand Ronde member. The man knows me from my articles in Tilixam Wawa. A remark is made to me about how busy our Tribe seems, and invariably we discuss enrollment. I’m not going to share that part of the conversation, but I am reminded of how diverse our Tribal membership is.
Today was eventful. I was brought into two separate incidents. Both involved people arguing, one involved different veterans, the other two vendors. Evidently as chair I am viewed at some type of referee. Both incidents blow over, but I can’t help but chuckle to myself. I never considered that the role of powwow mediator was one of our myriad responsibilities. But like any Council member, I suppose, I like peaceful powwows.
I run into Wink Soderberg later in the afternoon, who shares an interesting anecdote. While perusing a booth, one of the workers says “Here you go Wink.”, and slides a card into his hand. The card is a campaign card, with the yellow and purple logo, and the slate of three candidates who I’m sure everybody will hear about. It doesn’t take much to figure out that this gesture was meant to be insulting. What can you do?
Spending the entire day here, I meet and chat with dozens of people, some Tribal, some not. This is one of those things I really enjoy, because every Tribal member has a unique story. I learn something from every person I speak with.
One in particular is the Vice-Chair of a Tribal Council for a tribe in Washington State. I always relish speaking with other Tribal leaders because it reminds me that the communities and politics of tribes often overlap. Also, I am reminded of how fortunate the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is, in general. The Vice-Chair I speak with hails from a non-gaming tribe in fact they lease their machine rights to another Tribe, getting a small cut of the profits. And boy do I mean small. Interestingly enough, this tribe disperses small per capita amounts, much of it, in her eyes, squandered by members with numerous social problems. Their big focus right now is economic development, which makes me envious.
I am not sure who I’ll meet and talk with tomorrow. There will be plenty of others, no doubt. But I don’t mind, it’s kind of like work, but in some ways, kind of not. I feel lucky, and not just because the date is 7/7/7.