Day 4 - Fry Bread and Invasive Plant Rage

 Today was a good day to eat frybread.

We met at the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Tribal Hall in Coos Bay, Oregon at the 9th hour of the morning on Wednesday, March 27th, 2013.

We were appreciative to our cores for Jesse and Margaret who had gathered a series of presentations for us which commenced at approximately 11AM which included the concepts of Peacegiving Court, Tribal Court, Tribal Police, and First Foods. Afterwards we took a walk around the Tribal Hall grounds and were educated on the various invasive plants encroaching Oregon coastal lands.

We were then armed to the teeth with tools -- including shovels, a single destroyer, and saws -- and aimed to release our rage on the insistent, encroaching English Ivy, Holly, and Armenian Blackberries.

After some intense hours in the brush alongside the CLUS plank house we then branched off and joined Margaret in the kitchen to make NDN tacos -- which consisted of lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, red peppers (a surprisingly tasty alternative for those who don't prefer tomatoes), and an incredulous fry bread recipe that satisfied all and many.

T'was a great time as we all watched each other's fry bread dough take on unique shapes particular to each individual.

We were joined for dinner by Tribal Elder Carolyn Slyter and Chief Warren Brainard who shared historical, Tribal history.



Afterwards the plankhouse was opened for us and a fire lit inside. We were given a Native Flute demonstration by Doc where we were encouraged to use the drum and rattle along with Doc to create some awesome jams on the three oldest instruments in the world.