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All because of 11 rocks in a park? What VIEWPOINTGUEST could they be talking about? Ask Lisa Ponder, the artist who engraved them. Along with Stutzman and a handful of Talking citizens and parks planners, she took names supplied by the tribe and matched them with individual basalt boulders quarried in tradi- Stones' words tional Kalapuya territory.The results are sim- ply beautiful. Ponder will attend Saturday's 10 a.m. dedi- • cation of the four Springfield stones at a park are timeless entrance south of Aspen and West D St., and Eugene's 2 p.m. gathering, southeast of the Cuthbert Amphitheater. BY DAVID SONNICHSEN Ask a Willamalane or Eugene parks plan- ner. The Whilamut Natural Area is one of the Written in stone. few urban parks anywhere whose manage The phrase suggests perma- strategy is based on natural values.Wil- nence, with perhaps an emphasis lamalane's end of the park features the high- on the past. est species diversity of any site within our ur- Sometimes, however, through a fortuitous ban growth boundary. This park is the ideal melding of art, history and public involve- venue in which to honor the land stewardship ment, the present carries the past into the practiced by the Kalapuya for many thou- future. sands of years before the arrival of This is the case with the Talking Stones of Euro-Americans. the Whilamut Natural Area of Alton Baker Most importantly, ask the Kalapuya peo- Park, which will be dedicated this Saturday ple. Once the largest tribal group in what be- by Kalapuya elder Esther Stutzman and all came Western Oregon, they now number in others who choose to lend their voice and the hundreds. Remnants of their highly spirit. evolved culture can be found from Roseburg to Kalapuya people, this area's first human Oregon City. inhabitants,say"We have always been here." They honor the past, live in the present, Their word for the river, Whilamut, means and look forward to a future where all of us (ioir "where the water ripples and runs fast," and will want to recognize them. probably mutated into what we now know as This is the message of the Talking Stones. Willamette. Last September, Alton Baker Park's 237- acre Whilamut Natural Area became the first David Sonnichsen is chair of the Citizen place in Oregon to officially adopt a Kalapuya Planning Committee for the Whilamut Natural name. Springfield's Willamalane Park and Area of Alton Baker Park. Recreation District,Eugene's Parks and Open Space division, the park's Citizen Planning Committee and city administrators worked to- gether to make it happen.In his final act in office,former Eugene City Manag- , , er Jim Johnson signed an order amending the name of Eugene's portion of the park. But the elation of the renaming and Decem- ber's installation of the Talking Stones turned into anger and frustration after four of the stones were vandalized on the first night in their new home. Two stones, one in each city, were painted with a familiar semicircular fish outline, an- other had part of its Kalapuya text chipped off, and one had its engraved surface packed with mud. A way needed to be found to speak to this G Ael gister'—C7uard ugly act without introducing the stones to the l� public as defenseless victims of haters. The response was heartening. People rallied, led Nlay Z 3v, 2003 by Eugene's Human Rights Commission and a coalition of Indian and interfaith leaders who, like the stones,would simply not stop talking. A tangible byproduct is the display "We Are Kalapuya," now on view in the Springfield and Eugene libraries, the South Eugene High School library,and Jefferson Middle School.