Rose Cottage

  What a lovely week with lots of tsalagi sprinkles!  On Saturday, our Willamette TsaLaGi and the Mount Hood groups hosted folks from the Cherokee Nation for a feast and gathering in Salem, Oregon!  Principal Chief Chuck Hoskins Jr   Guests included Principal Chief Hoskins, Storyteller Robert Lewis, at large council members, and several others - plus 2 ASL interpreters! My friend ᎵᏒ (Li-sv) helped send food and volunteered at the Willamette TsaLaGi booth. When I met Chief Hoskins, I mentioned taking Cherokee online with Ed Fields, and he, in turn, mentioned that during his 'state of the nation' talk! I'm in Ed's first Cherokee ᏅᎩ (nv-gi /Four) class, and we're learning verb tenses. It's fun for all of us (Ed included!) to work with new sentences and 'Word pictures.' This week I also joined the hybrid language study group which meets at the Longhouse at Lane CC. This is where our language classes have been held - and is open for use by indigenous groups. ...

  This weekend marked the 15th birthday of achaf-hammi , the plankhouse at nearby Grand Ronde, which 'provides a traditional space for countless activities, events and ceremonies.'    Pre-European contact, these long plankhouses played a vital role for the indigenous people of the rainy Pacific NW, serving as winter homes, store houses, and meeting places for the large extended families, who've been here over 10,000 years. (Similar Longhouses were used in Europe and Asia)  Tribal Histories - David Lewis I am so grateful we were invited to attend this celebration, and went with 2 of my Native Voices bookgroup friends, Emily and Judy!  Our g roup members read and discuss books by indigenous authors, and we've visited  Chachalu cultural center   at Grand Ronde several times. C hachalu, which translates to 'the place of burnt timbers' the name given the area after a massive forest fire in 1856.     The reservation is home to members of mor...