Prelude to Portland Photos

I've been in this town [Portland, Oregon] for some 43 of my 44 years of life.

For over a year Shusli and I have been talking about moving to Coos Bay, Oregon, where we were both born, and where she lived many years of her life. A month or so after we first started discussing this possibility, I told Shusli that I had the feeling that this civilization is going to collapse. I believe I put it to her that we are on a point of no return and this civilization is going to come to an end. I felt like there was a point in time that the U.S. cannot even be saved by a Revolution. It has sealed its fate. Shusli informed me that she had been feeling the same thing.

This, in no small part, has influenced our decision to return to the place of our births, smack in between her homeland and my homeland. We know we are supposed to go home, but not sure YET what we are to do once we get there. We believe that this too, will make itself more clear as we motivate ourselves back onto our landbase to bear the weather of mass change we all know is coming. We plan on building community and doing whatever it takes to insure the survival of our peoples.

We met a couple passing through on a journey named Iokepa and Inette. Being Hawaiian, they are talking about folks taking the journey home. This does not necessarily mean that the whites will go back to Europe etc., it means we have to find the homes within our hearts and where our landbase is and secure ourselves for the bumpy ride to come.

Though I've been here for 43 years, Portland has never really seemed like my home as much as it is a place where I live. The Umpqua and Rogue Rivers are my home.

When I was one, we first moved to Raleigh Hills. Then we lived in two homes in Portland, one off of Deleware St., the other off of 8th. At the age of 7, we moved to Aloha, a suburb of Portland. Here I lived until I was 21 when my mother kicked me out for not pay $275 a month when her mortgage was only $215 at the time and this after she moved in her future husband. I told her I'd pay $100 bucks a month and nothing more. She gave me written notice to be out of her house in a month (the greedy fucking bitch).

Since, I have lived all over Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties. Looking back, never, at anytime, have I truly felt like I belonged here.

In a desire to help my people and all Indian people, I got involved in KBOO radio. I have been doing this some 12 years now, a bi-monthly native program called "Mitakuye Oyasin." Thursday the 27th of this month will be my "Good-Bye" show. I do not feel bad about this. I knew this day would come, and at times in the last 12 years, have looked forward to it. I have had a couple of friends tell me that they will no longer have a reason to listen to KBOO, but the show will still be there under the command of David Liberty. It is a good time to leave.

I have been involved in the Metro East TV program, "Native Nations," for the last 5 or 6 years. Thursday the 20th will be my last day for that show. I will not feel bad about leaving this, either, as it too is in the capable hands of David, and this show pretty much has been for a couple of years now. My favorite show of all of these was one where all of my guests cancelled on me (one calling me just 1 hour ahead of time). I just sat down in front of the camera and told folks the truth as best as I know it and encouraged all folks to do what they can to change the world.

As I release my canoe from these things and get ready to head down the river to the ocean to the South where I belong with my wonderful wife, Shusli, I decided it would be a good day to visit my Burnside Bridge one more time while I still live in this town. The following photos are from that, and a few thrown in in the beginning of the city itself and around the inner East parts of town. Enjoy!