Monthly Archives: October 2010

Kennewick Man was about 5 feet 9 inches tall, had a robust and muscular build, had survived a projectile point wound in his right hip, and was between 30 and 50 years of age at the time of his death. Illustration by Joyce Bergen, 1999, courtesy of the Burke Museum.

… The Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric Paleo-Indian man found  by a pair of spectators attending the July 28, 1996, annual hydroplane races on a bank of the Columbia River in Kenniwick, Washington.

As part of Lincoln City’s celebration of Native American Heritage Month, The Kennewick Man on Trial exhibit, (free) will be on view at the North Lincoln County Historical Museum from October 27, through December 11, 2010.

You see, public interest, debate, and controversy began when an independent archaeologist, working on contract to the Kennewick coroner, decided the bones were ancient but might not be Native American. He described them as “Caucasoid” and sent a piece of bone to a laboratory to be dated. The final date indicated an age of 9,000 years, making Kennewick Man one of the oldest and most complete skeletons found in the Americas. If it is true that these human remains are thousands of years old, and are not Native American, then who was Kennewick Man?

Aha!  You have a chance to to find your own verdict and maybe I’ll even see you there – smile.

Luv,

Sissy

The exhibit uses text, photos, maps, and historic illustrations, to explore the science as well as the ethical and legal ramifications of the 1996 discovery. No human remains are displayed

Oregon is Indian Country; photo courtesy of Lincoln City Visitor Information Center

… Another piece to Lincoln City’s  November programs  honoring Native Americans, is this free three-part display  showing November 1 – 30, at The Driftwood Public Library, Lincoln City Community Center and the Lincoln City Visitor Information Center.

The free Oregon Is Indian Country exhibit represents a groundbreaking project bringing all nine Oregon tribes together to present information never-before-assembled in one exhibit on contemporary indigenous cultures.   Oregon’s Indian traditions will be inherent from many art forms including native voices, historical artifacts, photographs and more, producing a powerful exhibition.

The exhibit is a direct result of the Oregon Tribes Project, a multi-year collaboration between the Oregon Historical Society’s Folklife Program and Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes.  Tribal members documented their contemporary traditions and worked with Society staff to plan a series of heritage resources to be used to teach about tribal histories and cultures.

Add it to your November list of things to see and do in Lincoln City.

Stay tuned for more ’cause there is more.

Luv,

Sissy

Where the Siletz Bay meets the Pacific Ocean; Photo by Jan Jackson

…November in Lincoln City is something you won’t want to miss. If you know your history of Oregon, you know that in the early days, it was
the Native Americans who inhabited the land along the Siletz River, Siletz Bay  and the Salmon River – right where Lincoln City is today.

To honor that heritage, Lincoln City is celebrating the whole month of November as Native American Heritage Month. I’ll get you the schedule as I get it, but,  you can save this date now:

Saturday, November 6th at 1:00 at The Cultural Center, Lincoln City, Oregon, Esther Stuzman, a Coos and Komemma Kalapuya Turtle Island Storyteller from Yoncalla, Oregon, will tell a story of her people ($5 adults and children free).

Stand by for more.

Luv,

Sissy

Rescuing homeless dogs and professionally training them to go back out in the world and enhance lives, is what Dogs for the Deaf is all about. In the last 33 years, these amazing folks have rescued, trained and placed more than 3,000 of them.

Headquartered in the Southern Oregon town of Central Point, Dogs for the Deaf is the largest and oldest hearing dog training center in the world.

They call them Hearing Dogs, Miracle Mutts, Harmony Hounds or Career Change dogs and now they even operate a pilot Autism Assistance Dog Program.

This ad placed in memory of Verna Kellar (1924 – 2010), who had a soft spot in her heart when it came to Dogs for the Deaf. To find out more about them or even take a tour of the center, visit www.dogsforthedeaf.org.

Not many people go out of their way to come to our tiny ranching community.

It’s a quiet place with 50 people—not houses—in the entire zip code and the closest shopping is 30 miles away. Around here, we know an exciting day when we see one.

Mike Beck, an understudy of Canada’s Ian Tyson and friend of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, was coming to town. This troubadour-style singer was putting on a show in our Grange.

What we didn’t know was he’d forgotten his microphone stand at his last performance. Returning for it meant missing our show. Mike Beck was in a bind and needed to come up with an alternative.

This former Montana cowboy did what anyone who knows the livestock industry would do—he stopped by a ranch along the way and asked for help.

The ranch happened to be mine.

After introducing himself, he explained his predicament and asked if we happened to have a microphone stand.

I said, “No,” but we could try to put something together from available material.

We began digging into a pile on our front porch and found a child’s music stand without the music holder. Three legs folded out. It made a wobbly, but workable, base for a makeshift microphone stand.

It just wasn’t tall enough.

Our next stop was on the backside of the shop in the fencing supplies. We rooted through partial rolls of barbwire, boxes of electric fence insulators and assorted fencing tools. After the dust settled, each of us held up a short piece of pipe that could be used as an extender. However, one pipe was rusty and the other freshly galvanized.

We held a quick conference in the barnyard.

We decided the clean silver of galvanizing was much more in keeping with the spirit of show business than a basic muddy rust color. The rusty pipe was tossed back into the fencing supplies.

We had our base and height. Now we needed something to attach the microphone.

Off we went to a scrap pile that was headed for the ranch dump. Deep in the center of the pile, we spotted a piece of flexible copper tubing from a long-defunct water heater. We grabbed it and the fit was perfect.

Showtime was approaching, so we loaded the pieces of his new microphone stand into the truck. I tossed him a roll of duct tape and he headed for the Grange hall.

The concert that evening was a success and delight. Everyone noticed Mike Beck’s unusual microphone stand. It looked like a stage prop from the Beverly Hillbillies or Hee Haw TV shows. But, it didn’t diminish the quality of the performance. It got the job done and that’s what matters.

After the show, my wife and I decided to donate the makeshift microphone stand to our Grange. Sure, it looks funny, but it’s what we have for now—that is until someone comes up with something better.

Bing Bingham is a writer, rancher and storyteller. He’s sure Mike Beck is keeping better track of his microphone stand these days. If you have a story to pass along, contact him at www.bingbingham.com.