Tent of Many Voices: 03310601TMB

good morning I am I would like to introduce you welcome you to the core Discovery 2 we are doing by land what Lewis and Clark were able to do by water which is to follow the Lewis and Clark Trail this is a commemoration of by Centennial and so true to 1806 whenever Louis and park were making a hasty return to St l Louis so are we we've got about 6 months and we'll be back in St Louis this September every town that we go to we get local presenters to come in and speak in the T of many voices where you are right now and so this morning I would like to introduce you to Patricia Allen she's a member of the culture committee for the grand Federated tribes of grand Ron and this morning she's going to talk to you about living off of the land so if you all please give Patricia a warm welcome we'll get started thank you um I'm uh great grandma grandma and aunt and I was raised customarily traditional all my life where I was um when I was very small but the title of my um talk here is living off the land and what I'm going to talk about is um how I was learned this and um I learned from my grandma who was a tribal member from Grand Brown her name is uh calling for war Johnson who is uh who lived to be 94 in comparison with my great grandfather John machino who was a clamus my grandmother was of the umaro uh descent so um I want to talk about these things because of the reasoning you know we have seasons for all the harvests that uh We Gather which now we're um we're going to be into the salmon season the root season and all the Camas and uh these Seasons before we even start doing these Seasons we have a ceremony which will be happening April 23rd uh the harvesting of these foods are the medicinal purposes of our body to survive we have a blessing ceremony thanking the Creator for our survivals uh Ena us also to find these Foods uh we than um we we ask for the safe journey because we had tra we travel a long ways for these we go to the um waters for the salmon we go into the Earth uh into the lands the flat lands for the roots the canas which will we're going to be harvesting here in um a week or two and um I want to talk about the foods uh the seasons that uh we get these foods which starts with the spring and that's a season uh where uh We Gather our fish and the Camas and the um many other uh Seafoods that we're going to served during this ceremony that we're having um we also have some um berries and meats that we serve and when we do the servings um because I'm a uh I was taught to cook in a long housee and prepare these Foods also to preserve them uh it you know it takes a great step to do these things they're each done with a lot of time time and effort um which is uh you have a mentor who is teaching you at all times guiding you through these different walks um the salmon in the first in the spring we uh we catch the salmon and then we proceed to um cut them start cutting them and then uh filling them for the feasts that we have and then we also ask if we do have have uh abundant more salmon after that then we start to uh wind dry or smoke dry them and we uh dry them with alter with when we smoke them um we also catch the steel head they have I imagine you you fishermen know that there's Wild Ones out there but there's the major now is K to put um uh I guess the Wilder to be set free um we we use also um the muscles we use clams we use oysters these are caught uh we have uh certain ones that go down there and do that all these different areas are like guided out with different groups that go to these different areas to do to gather these and each one like I've been taught each one at different times you know you can't some are going on at the the same time so you're you're going to be you know kind of deciding which one you want to is the easiest usually but um I've done all of them and uh I really enjoy what I'm doing the canas um that is prepared in a oven I mean we do that in the ground we call that an oven because that's our mother earth we use that for when we prepare them to barbecue them and we use certain leaves uh to prepare them and we put the we never put the uh the heat above it's below the so that they'll steam so um that's how the canvas is prepared for preserving the cell where we also have a cell released which happens we call it Tupa now today um it uh it's plentiful here in Brad round along the main road you can see a lot of growing well you can eat that either raw or you can cook it you know in stews and uh which we um we were terminated in uh 1954 and a lot of our heredity was lost so now we are coming back with these different ceremonies with our pank house that we are um right now in the process of uh building um next the roots that uh also when we do have other roots that we trade for with from the salmon and these roots are like in the desert areas that we know and we have uh people that go over there and like myself I live in the desert I live in Warm Springs well my grandchildren now are today out digging these roots for the ceremony that U is being prepared and uh you usually you go out early in the morning and when you go out you say a prayer when you first touch the land which will be today and uh they're um they're out there doing the ceremony of gathering because um giving thanks for this wonderful day that we are able to be here and that our children they're also taking my children my great grandchildren out there to be with them so that that they'll be observant to all the things that are on the land and uh at this time there are um three of The Roots out in the desert that are being uh gathered so they're going to be aware and they're they're little guys I mean you know they're little babies they're like the oldest is 3 years old and so um they scravel around out there and it's really fun you know for them and they have their little diggers we have a little diggers that um they you know take out and try to dig and they have dug I mean you we have a special little service for the children you know because to make them know that it's real good and well for them to be participant with the feast you know the Gathering and to be thankful in the summer seasons um we start the Gathering of the berries and the herbs in the Seafoods uh the wild tea and the WAP um the WAP today I want to talk about that because you know the because of the farmers and because of the um the fencing and everything on the land that we are um really don't have that much of the the wo as we used to have it's become more scarce and um you know a lot of the areas I guess are we haven't we have just now begun to come through our programs to try to preserve and save these uh endanger species of uh foods that we have we used and we supplemented on and survived on so now we're in that position also with the fish fish and wildlife you know the deer AR in Seasons enabling us to carry on 100 years from now so we're we're uh we're working programs to where you know we'll be able to eat this in later life also because it's a it it's a real it's a ceremony for us to um you know not everybody knows where these things are there's different areas that we just don't talk about because we have to protect it um we um also the clams muscles we go out and gather the muscles along the rocks and the clams you know in the Sands the oysters and we also ate seaweed well I myself my grandmother when I was very small she uh showed me this but I've never eaten it but I know you probably maybe some of you have today but I've never done it but I've um gathered it the crab and wild mushrooms and uh also we go and we gather the eels and uh we have are two specific areas here in um by Grand round which we go to to collect these eels and we um bring them home we clean and we prepare prepare them to dry you know I can I know how to dry them and uh to preserve which um you know is being taught here how to clean them to clean all the oil out I imagine you've seen the eels you fish with them probably sturgeon fisherman use them a lot now but um we uh that's a ceremonial food for us because it was you know we used the oil and grease for many things you know for bug bites and you know all kind of different remedies you know the the fish itself was used use for the eel um the um we in the fall we go we we go to the mountains and in the mountains because uh this is a season for the hunting and in that time we go to um gather the berries and also dry the dry the meats the different uh deer or elk whichever we might um spot that day but there's a group of people that go out to the mountain because in all this time that's carried on the fish are running so as long as the fish run the people will fish as long as the seasons different seasons run the they will they will be there Gathering doing all these different foods until you know to find them for to preserve for their women ner and when and these foods are real important because we have a lot of Ceremonies we use them in um many ceremonies and the the most sacred one is when we put away a person an elder or somebody who has passed away this food is used always we are never without it so through this period we have to preserve and gather up a lot of this I mean it is it's a group of people it's not just me it's a group of people families who gather this it's not everybody it's just different groups the medicine people they they are considered the medicine people because this uh food that they are gathering is the supplement that they use in ceremonies that we could continue on existing and being who we were brought here to be and to be proud of who we are because we are existing yet today and um we also go uh when we go to the mountains we have we go for the huckleberries elderberries or the thimbleberries these things all of these things in and preserving are dried to keep a lot of them they mix with your um um when you have the when you are drying your eelf meat or deer meat you um you take this uh dry deer meat and you grind it up and they preserve this for especially for elders because by then the elders you know they um the food is too hard for them to eat well how they preserve this is they grind it up and they grind these berries up and they mix them together which will bring the sweet and the substance the protein from the meat for them so that um you know they they don't have to work at um what eating something that would normally be okay for a younger person but when you get older your digestive system is um hard to digest a lot of foods so what you're going to do is you're going to prepare all M for your ERS because we respect high honor our elders and we take care of them and we try to you know help them all through their life you know after they've become because they were our mentors they were our teachers who taught us all these different things I'm talking today mainly from the woman's point of view because um and I imagine you had the men's point of what they do because uh the women is the one that is gathering all and working with the foods preparing the foods teaching your children the different ways of foods out there teaching them the the uh things not to bother because of the toxins are in them and uh showing them different um herbs that uh they might use um for different things the different um how to use the fs when you preserve your Foods as layers uh and the Gatherings that they do the basket trees the material you use for basket trees and to gather them in fall and to be able to bring them back you always have a older person these are the ones this is the reason why you're taking care of them they're sitting like I am waiting and showing taking them to these different areas where they can gather and do all these things that they're uh to taught to do and so um my grandmother was a great one because um she taught all of us children we were out there you know Gathering scrambling doing all these things but to us she made it fun for us because uh you know you weren't to eat the first you had to wait and uh taste everything you know when everybody else did you knew so you had to take candy along well we went for candy you know so it was it was a fun time she'd take lunches for us and and it was rather enjoyable for us to be with our grandma and spend that precious time that um she shared um the winter season we come to that and this is a season where we start preparing for the next we do our sewing in and weaving and and the the men will make Nets and the different things that the men do you know I'm not really um a person to say fully with the men you know the plannings that they do uh in in preparation like for the next year what they expect out of that year and the prayers and the scks that go along with all these different Gathering periods that are done um they prep uh they go out and get the sticks for us when we're going to dry different um foods that we have and also you know you need the sticks um because uh I don't we were always taught that we were running around you know Gathering sticks because we never knew uh I guess for your when you camp and to do different um things uh the camp to hold your Camp up or to dry in a tree or to make tripods like when you would try do your Heights you had to have have scraped sticks and prepared sticks for that so it wouldn't um you know get rid of the bumps and things that it wouldn't harm you or do Travis like or you know when you were uh preparing to carry all your stuff out of there um the materials um my grandmother and him there's different areas you go to the mountain for your berries and things you go on the flat for your roots uh the mountains that we went to was uh Mount Hood for our berries and whatever we were doing there but it you know uh as I think back you know from all the years we travel like that we would do this you know it was just something that was implanted in us that we did year after year after year after year we never tired of it we were always thankful and joyous because we were able to go out there and my grandma was a long housee cook and she took you know we thought that you know when we went to the mountains and um got huckleberries we thought we were going for maybe 5 10 gallons we didn't we went for dozens and dozens of uh you know it wasn't just small it was always you know she was a good provider for the fitting that she thought it what she gathered was never enough too because at the end of the year we would all by that time like myself I'm a gatherer and I do the cutting of fish people come to me and they ask me medicinal purposes through the year do you have this do you have this and by the time the year is up I'm I'm depleted now you know and I have two freezers I have two freezers what I I uh put like if I can dry my roots or whatever I have I have to put them in there and freeze them and it's it's still preserving you know in the freezer that I can't if we don't have sun in the summer I'm going to put it in the freezer because you know then like in gallon bags and then like uh during sometime I have 5200 in there because of as the year goes on and the ceremonies that are if I'm unable to be there then I'll automatically take it there have my kids call them up and take it there because they need to use this because this is a the medicine uh that we use is one of the medicines you know for all the people of healing and um healing healing we think is um healing your body but we're talking about spiritually because the Creator gave these uh foods to us and this is what we were taught from the very beginning of time and now a lot of the things that we do have are being um extincted you know from us like some of the trees are going and and um this the the WAP is very you know we don't have that much anymore like we used plentyful for you know the land and uh because you know we had the population but still we have to keep the teachers around that knows these things that we can instill our children who are from here in grandr the histories and to let them carry on uh to what has been happening to where we were you know when we were terminated there was a great um span there where our children were lost and a lot of them now are we have really enthusiastic people you who the children are being taught the language and everything but I'm thankful you know that we are still here able to uh bring our family and our tribe back to the true identities that they need to have to live and uh that right now is about all I can think about but uh if we have any questions out there yes now I've never read that in history I mean I've got documentation back to uh my grandfather who uh that's like uh two other Generations from me before the reservations and there I haven't heard it yeah because this is a vast trading area this is one of the biggest trading areas in in the coast we it was a my grandfather was John Vino and of the clamas they had the biggest trading area it ranged from Portland Oregon even over into washingt up into Washington clear down into California up into Canada yes yes we did yes we did we did do that because we have evident of uh the bones that were being used for uh ceremonial purposes and they had clubs and uh that were made from the whale so we used all the ocean I mentioned the uh the ocean you know the sea very uh animals and creatures that we did use yes definitely for the oils all the fried fruits and meats on this side of the Cascades from mold and mil how did you salt would be unhealthy if you used too much of it for everything well they buried them they buried them and they had cases and they used basket trees is there any more questions yes I'm going to go ahead and bring the microphone in in the movies we see the some of the Indians maybe after a war party or someone an Indian ding they would build a fire and they would they would uh pull those smoke up put in their body yeah cleanse they use that they use the cleansing system and the sweats you know we had people who lived uh that lived under the ground I mean they dead like holes and I've read that through documentation from my uh grandfather they called them they lived under the ground people I mean you know that was just the way they Liv but they would come out because you know they would come out in uh you know during the days or whatever but I mean that's where they slept underground I mean under areas like that it's just the way they were I don't know why but I mean you know the Creator what the different tribes we have right now five tribes right here I mean that are are in the the Confederate tribes in R but we are um uh we this there's 29 different coastal tribes which a lot of them are integr into our tribe I they're all our family all of them are our family does anyone else have any other questions for Patricia if not then let's all please give her a warm Round of Applause I want to thank you all for being here listening thank Youk and our next presenter is at 11 o' it's Tony