EDITOR NOTE: I never heard of ArtBack before I read Some Signals. Indian Country has always been a place to CREATE, and make BEAUTY!
By Kamiah Koch
Social media/digital journalist
Ruth-Ann Thorn hosts a series on the Native-based channel, First Nations Experience (FNX) called, “This Is Indian Country.” It shares modern Native American culture and in her latest episode of the show, she visits Grand Ronde and other Oregon Tribes.
Her visit includes a segment with Grand Ronde Tribal member and carver Bobby Mercier.
Mercier, an artist and culture keeper, shares the restoration of Grand Ronde and his efforts at reclaiming culture through art.
“Carving, I didn’t get into until later in life, just because of the fact that for the longest time nobody would do it,” Mercier says. “At one time it was banned, it was shunned upon.”
Mercier gives a brief history lesson on the Grand Ronde treaties signed in the 1850s, which eventually led to those treaties being broken when the Grand Ronde Tribe was terminated in 1954.
“I always say that if my grandfathers knew that, they would have never signed (the treaties) if they knew they were going to do that to their grandchildren,” Mercier said.
Mercier speaks about the Tribe’s Restoration in 1983 and how his artwork and carvings are working to bring back the traditions lost during that time.
While standing over a wood carving Mercier is working on, Thorn discusses the similarities she sees between the “Land Back” movement and Mercier’s own “Art Back” movement.
“A lot of that culture, like you were saying, it was burned and lost,” Thorn said. “But the memory of it, the story telling, the DNA, skillset and ability to create something as beautiful as this never went away.”
The video shows several clips from inside the Chachalu Tribal Museum & Cultural Center where other Grand Ronde Tribal members’ artwork and Tribal artifacts are on display.
Thorn’s visit also includes Native flutist James Edmund Greeley, cradle board maker Maria Godines, basket weaver Kelli Palmer and rapper (stage name “Blue Flamez”) Scott Kalama and Sakari Farms farmer Spring Alaska Schreiner.
Smoke Signals has a full interview with Mercier in the June 1, 2025, edition.
You can watch the FNX interview with Mercier and other cultural figures from Oregon’s Indian Country at https://fnx.lightcast.com/player/57453/731384.
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