Ikanum is a Chinuk wawa word referring to Oral histories. It has become an operative word from the Grand Ronde tribe, the basis of their Indigenous theory of research. Ikanum underscores and provides foundation for traditional stories, for new stories, and for archaeological research practices. The Grand Ronde tribe has a long term Chinuk wawa language program with at least 4 years of immersive education and community and university classes for adult learners. Chinuk wawa has become the de-facto official indigenous language of the tribe based on the amount of work going into restoring this valuable culture. Naming recommendations and language recommendation from the tribe all center around Chinuk wawa.
There are as well numerous other languages which serve as undercurrents in tribal programming and work. Kalapuya and Molalla are at this time the most present indigenous languages that have some work done on them. There is no program at the present time which is working to restore Kalapuya (any of the three dialects) to a spoken status, or Molalla, and only a few works of academic nature. Henry Zenk and Jedd Schrock have headed up projects in some of the languages at the tribe with the aid of many tribal members.
Zenk, Henry, Jedd Schrock, and Louis Kenoyer. My Life, by Louis Kenoyer: Reminiscences of a Grand Ronde Reservation Childhood. Oregon State University Press, 2017.
Grand Ronde Tribal Preservation Office, Kəmtəks Paya Buk: Book of Fire. Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde, 2023.
Schrock, Jedd & June Olson , Tracey Moreland, David G. Lewis. Cougar Marries Water Girl and other Cougar Tales, Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde, 2024.
Howard, Eustace. Coyote Goes to the Land of the Dead and Returns. Grand Ronde Tribal Preservation Office. Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde, 2017.
Kenoyer, Louis. Hunting Mt. Hebo with Yamhill Joe. Grand Ronde Tribal Preservation Office. Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde, 2013.
The languages still needing work, are upper Umpqua, Clackamas, Southern Molalla, to name a few. The Cow Creek people, who came to Grand Ronde, spoke the Takelma language which is being worked on by the Cow Creek tribe. They have published a set of five board books themed for Animals, Plants, Colors, Numbers, Places, and available through their Takelma Roasting Company website.
The lack of work on many languages is a problem of both funding and interest. There are few people interested in restoring other languages of the tribe. There is one cluster of work with the Stutzman family who work on Santiam and Yoncalla Kalapuya languages.
I have a great interest in Santiam. My ancestors are Santiam and I grew up in the Santiam area, since Salem is a noted Santiam village location. The people of Chemeketa were Santiam. I also have Takelma and Chinook and Molalla ancestry but I think I gravitate more to Santiam. About 12 years ago I began working on understanding better the history of the tribes of the valley and Santiam is a central concern. Without much other work on the Santiam language or culture by the tribe, beyond some ethnobotany, I feel it important to push a Santiam culture and language agenda in my work. I feel this is a responsibility of us descendants as we work to decolonize and restore what we are able to. I use Santiam language, usually nouns for animals and plants, to highlight essays, and work in the Lake Labish area to understand the wetlands and the tribal culture surrounding in that area.
Saghaley Lewis Art websites
Inprnt (Second Shot)
Inprnt (Angel of Death)
Music (and reviews)
About 2 years ago, I began working with my son Saghaley on a small project, a children’s booklet, using some Santiam and Chinuk wawa words. Saghaley is a gifted artist, largely self taught, and he has published in music and poetry. But in his manga styled art he creates some truly interesting scenes.
Our project was relatively simple, to produce a series of large double sized panels with two animals and a plant represented for each scene. I would help plan each scene and research the names of the animals in the two languages, help with writing, and consult with the language experts. The process was organic and changed a bit as the project progressed. Saghaley did his work slowly and diligently and after a few tweaks per image was ended up with results. We had many breaks and so that is why we took about 2 years to complete the project. I also write a short history for the booklet.
We hope to inspire language learners to be interested in the tribal languages. I also think that the manga style is not something we see much of in native art and children today may be interested in this style since they are exposed to it so much. We also hope this project will inspire some interest in people contacting Saghaley for more projects. There are plans for more booklets like this. We are going to begin selling the Kalapuya- Chinuk Wawa Ikanum booklet as soon as we get copies from a printer. Stay tuned for more.
