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PICADO Therese M <br /> From: WEISS Carolyn J <br /> ,ent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 11:29 AM <br /> To: GERSHOW Rebecca (SMTP); PICADO Therese M <br /> Subject: FW: press release <br /> Original Message <br /> From: lita©efn.org [mailto:lita©efn.orgj <br /> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2002 3:54 AM <br /> To: WEISS Carolyn J <br /> Subject: press release <br /> PRESS RELEASE <br /> WHAT: Naming Ceremony for the Whilamut Natural Area of Alton Baker Park. <br /> WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 7, 2002. 10 a.m. <br /> WHERE: North bank of the Willamette River, south of the intersection of <br /> Aspen and "D" streets, at the Springfield entrance to Alton Baker Park. <br /> (From Centennial Blvd. take Aspen south, continuing across"D" toward the <br /> river.) <br /> VHY: To recognize the Kalapuya people --the first human occupants of the <br /> „Villamette Valley--and their reverence for the land. Their stewardship <br /> can serve as an example for managing the Whilamut Natural Area. <br /> WHO: Kalapuya elder Esther Stutzman and other tribal members will conduct <br /> the ceremony. Members of the Citizen Planning Committee for the Whilamut <br /> Natural Area of Alton Baker Park and other elected and appointed officials <br /> will attend. The public is encouraged to participate. <br /> CONTACT: David Sonnichsen, vice-chair, Citizen Planning Committee for the <br /> WNA of ABP. (541) 344 9343 <br /> *********************** <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> East Alton Baker Park is now called the Whilamut Natural Area of Alton <br /> Baker Park. The Whilamut encompasses 237 acres of publicly-owned open space, <br /> linking the neighboring cities of Springfield and Eugene, Oregon. The park <br /> includes about three miles of frontage along the north bank of the <br /> Willamette River. The western boundary of the Whilamut Natural Area is <br /> Leisure Lane, west of the Autzen footbridge. The WNA extends eastward to <br /> Aspen Street in Springfield. <br /> The Whilamut Natural Area honors the Kalapuya people and their language. <br /> The name, (pronounced "wheel-a moot") was chosen in collaboration with the <br /> Komemma Cultural Protection Association of the Kalapuya Tribe. Whilamut <br /> deans, "Where the river ripples and runs fast." The oral history of the <br /> Kalapuya people affirms: "We have always been here."Tribal members <br /> hunted, fished and gathered camas bulbs on the land that is now the Whilamut <br /> Natural Area before being forced onto reservations outside their territory <br />