Voice for the Voiceless Visits Lincoln City Schools
Siletz Tribal eleders Agness Baker Pilgrim and Coyote Marie Hunter-Ripper spoke with fourth graders to Taft fourth graders this week. (Photo by Larry Coonrod)
By Larry Coonrod
Lincoln City--Born near the headwaters of the Siletz River in 1924, Agnes Baker Pilgrim—Grandma Aggie—today travels the globe as a highly sought after speaker as chair of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.
She has met President Obama, the Pope and the Dalai Lama in her wanderings to “spread peace and love.” This week the globetrotting 89-year-old came home to speak to Taft fourth graders.
“I like talking to kids and telling them how important an education is,” she said.
At a time when most her age are into their retirement years, Agnes say the Creator called on her to be a voice for the voiceless 16 years ago.
“I was frightened, couldn’t do it. Give it to someone else I said. It came again and again, and finally I said ‘I’ll be your servant.’”
Her biggest voice is that as an advocate for clean water.
“All of us, you, me, these children, we are all water babies. We’re born in water,” she said. “We have to take care of the rivers and the streams. Without water, all life dies.”
With her traveling companions, daughter Nadine and friend Coyote Marie Hunter-Ripper, Grandma Aggie brought her message to Taft elementary students. Dressed in traditional regalia, the trio shared Native American cultural and history with the youths, who participated in an indigenous dance lesson.
“When we come here and do these kind of talks, you are blessing us with your presence,” Hunter-Ripper told Dani Fricke’s Taft Elementary fourth graders.
Restoration Pow-Wow
In 1955, the U.S. government terminated recognition of the 27 bands comprising the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
“I was devastated,” Agnes remembers. “First you belong to a tribe; then you don’t have a tribe. You are a no nation Indian. It made me feel disconnected from everything.”
The Siletz Tribe fought for 22 years before Congress restored them to full status in 1977. The annual Restoration Pow-Wow marking the event—happening this Saturday, Nov. 16 at Chinook Winds Casino—celebrates the restoration of the Siletz Tribe.
Agnes has only missed one Restoration Pow-Wow. That was last year when she was in Switzerland, but she will be there for this year’s festivities.
“To be able to dance with happy feet Saturday is a great feeling,” she said. “I feel like I’m 10 feet tall when I’m out there. I can’t dance anymore because I’m crippled, but I try to do the grand entry.”
Contact reporter Larry Coonrod by email at editor@lincolncountydispatch.com
