In early June I had the inspiring opportunity to travel to the top of Spirit Mountain  a very sacred and significant place for our people and where the Yamhill Kalapuya lived long before our reservation was established. Growing up in Grand Ronde, I have fond memories of our grandparents who owned a house and property on Spirit Mountain. They owned horses, had a greenhouse and sparked my love of plants and horses to this day. I hadn’t been on top of the mountain for thirty years. Way too long, and I was caught off guard by the emotion it elicited. When I was younger and on the face of the mountain, my main concern was getting left behind to find my tomonowas as told to me by a tribal elder Dean Mercier who liked to tease me! And so many wonderful memories came flooding back and a wave of gratefulness to our ancestors washed over me.

There are many other sacred places to our people such as Mary's Peak west of Corvallis where we will be hiking for the first time next month and also Upper Table Rock  that we’ll hopefully visit in September. My hope is that you’ll be able to take some quality time this summer to visit one of these sacred sites with your loved ones.

Hayu Masi.