Grand Ronde Education Summit draws nearly 200 educators

By Danielle Harrison &

Katherine Warren-Steffensmier

Smoke Signals staff members

The Grand Ronde Education Summit returned to Spirit Mountain Casino’s Event Center Wednesday, Aug. 6. Although it was held nearly a month earlier than in past years, it still saw continued strong attendance with approximately 200 educators participating.

The summit, now in its eighth year, seeks to educate educators about the history of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

The summit opened with an invocation from Tribal Council member Brenda Tuomi, followed by a welcome statement from Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier.

“I am a product of the Tribe’s Education Department,” he said. “I got in my undergrad work at the University of Oregon and I went to law school, and because of all the assistance I received from the Tribe, I actually graduated law school without any debt…I will be eternally thankful to the Tribe for that. … I hope you take this opportunity to learn about the Tribe. We’re still trying to tell our story to the general public and it’s not something that a lot of people know.”

Curriculum Specialist Cheyanne Heidt told attendees it was OK and encouraged to ask tough questions.

“We want you to ask the hard questions,” she said. “As long as you’re coming at it from educational perspective, it isn’t offensive.”

Heidt added that everyone in the room was part of a community that had dedicated their free time to learn about how to work with Native youth, how to teach Tribal history and how to decolonialize and Indigenize.  

“I’m just so thankful for this community that’s in the room with us,” she said. “We welcome you with open arms and hopefully you have a great day.”

Instead of a keynote speaker, this year’s summit featured a “grounding activity,” where participants shared their cultural/personal values, experiences and relationships that guide their work with youth and in education.

“We really want to reflect on the heart of why we are here,” Heidt said.

After the opening introductions and activity, educators were offered several groups of breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon.

Morning sessions included a Native education student panel, Chinuk Wawa 101, the Willamette Education Service District’s approach on implementing the “Tribal History, Shared History” curriculum, collaboration between the Tribe, school districts and educational institutions in Oregon, generational healing through education, Tribal educational resources for kindergarten through 12^th grade and a presentation by Tribal youth who served as interns at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  

Afternoon sessions included Tribal curriculum in a dual language classroom, an educator’s guide to culturally responsive books, traditional and modern storytelling in Grand Ronde, classrooms as sites of healing, Linfield University’s integration of Tribal resources into its teacher education program, a history of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and helping Tribal students thrive in higher education.

Scheduled Grand Ronde presenters included Heidt, Shawash Academic Teacher Adam Langley, Chinuk Wawa Outreach Teacher Zoey Holsclaw, Curriculum Coach Cassie De Turk, Education Department Manager Angela Fasana, Cultural Protection Specialist Chris Bailey, Shawash-ili?i Skul Administrator Justine Flynn, Grand Ronde youth Paisley DeLoe and Cheyenne Haller, Cultural Education Specialist Cristina Lara, Education and Career Coach Melissa Palanuk, the Tribal Education Committee and more.

During his session, Langley included several recent and current Tribal Willamina High School students for a question-and-answer session with various educators about their experiences in the educational system.

One of the questions posed was what the students wished that teachers understood about them.

“For being a Native American student in the classroom, I would say, a very general knowledge of Native American history and culture,” Gracie Mercier, 18, said. “You don’t have to know the entire index history of all the surrounding local Tribes, but just general knowledge of where we’re from, what we do and there are some kids who come from there.”

Mikayla Mercier, 18, who attended Sheridan Japanese School for several years, shared how different Tribal knowledge is there versus Willamina.

“In Sheridan, it is insane how little people know about Grand Ronde,” she said. “In Willamina, it is the exact opposite. In Sheridan, nothing is taught about Native kids…Having a community of Native kids in a place helps a lot.”

Langley followed up the youth remarks with a comment that understanding local Indigenous communities in the area makes a difference.

“Throughout the year we have big events that are so important to our communities,” he said. “These are a bit more Grand Ronde specific than a powwow. A lot of kids just got back from Canoe Journey. We have round dance and other seasonal events that are specific to our community. Knowing the events happening in these communities is helpful for teachers to understand.”

During the presentation about the American Museum of Natural History internship, DeLoe discussed some successes and frustrations.

For more than two decades, Tribal youth have been taking part in an internship program at the museum, as per an agreement between the Tribe and the museum.

DeLoe talked about her time as an intern and how each year the interns have a project they work on. This year’s project was updating the information about Tomanowos on the museum’s website. She met with the museum’s vice president of communications and pointed out issues on how Tomanowos and the internship are presented on its website.

“Our feedback was implemented the same night…This proves that if it’s that simple then why aren’t other things being fixed that quickly?” she said.

 Another request Deloe and Haller had was having a video playing on the website about the meteorite and its importance to the Tribe. “Unfortunately, we had to go home due to problems abroad,” DeLoe said. “I hope to be a part of this project in the future.”

The last presenter was Albeliza “Abby” Perez, who is in charge of managing the internship and has been in that role for the past four years.

Perez discussed about how there was no structure for the program when she first started working in the position. She said she knew that change was needed and came to Grand Ronde to meet with previous interns and attend the Education Summit. After that experience, she knew she had to do things differently moving forward.

The presentation ended with a question-and-answer session with approximately 50 people in attendance.

During the Tribal curriculum resources session, De Turk shared some of her background before coming to the Tribe. She taught in McMinnville for 18 years and has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, as well as an Oregon professional teaching license.

De Turk shared the various Tribal curriculum that’s available online for all grade levels and how it was developed. She ended the presentation by going over some available resources to check out, such as a giant map of the Reservation and a variety of books from both from local authors and Indigenous authors.

The summit wrapped up around 3 p.m. with a question-and-answer session and closing remarks from Heidt.