Chinook Tribal Chairman Gardner Reflects on Tribal Member, Slain Ambassador Chris Stevens

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His mother's first cousins - identical twins - were Catherine Herrold Troeh and Charlotte Davis, who were revered elders of the Chinook Tribe. Both are deceased.

Troeh was a well-known Indian activist in the Pacific Northwest. She became a registered nurse, but never forgot the importance of working on behalf of the Chinook Tribe. She was the only woman to be added to the Chinook Tribal Council upon being formed in 1952. For a large portion of her adulthood, Troeh wrote and distributed a monthly newsletter dealing with tribal matters.

“Both were at every council meeting. They attended all of our ceremonies. They passed on our art and storytelling,”

said Chairman Gardner of Mary Commanday's first cousins.

“We are river people. We lived on both sides of the Columbia River,”

said Chairman Gardner.

“After I found out about his death, I carved a traditional canoe paddle in his honor. We let it go. In our tradition, it will make its way to Chris.”

A memorial service is still pending for Ambassador Stevens, whose remains returned to American soil two weeks ago yesterday. His remains were greeted by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, among other US officials at a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The Chinook Tribe is planning to discuss a formal appropriate memorial service for Ambassador Stevens at its next scheduled Tribal Council meeting on October 13.

Ambassador Stevens' mother survives him and lives in Oakland, California, as does his father; his sister, Anne Stevens, who was at his swearing in ceremony at the State Department in June, and his younger brother, Thomas Stevens. His sister is a physician and a professor in Seattle, Washington. His younger brother, Thomas Stevens, is a United States attorney who specializes in white-collar crime and resides in the San Francisco Bay area.

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posted September 29, 2012 7:59 am edt