We are very honored to be hosting Wendell George and Cheryl Grunlose to be our guest speakers at our Opening Day of the Entiat Museum on Saturday, May 27 at 11:00 AM at the Entiat Park , North Shelter. Please join us for a wonderful opportunity to learn about the history of the Entiat Tribe as told in Wendell's book , Last Chief Standing. We will start the day at the shelter, with a presentation from our honored guests. Following the talks, we will offer a light lunch of appetizers and hot dogs. The museum will then be open and our new exhibit featuring the story of the Entiat tribe and Chief Chilcosahaskt will be presented. Art by Cheryl Grunlose will be displayed along with the exhibit.
Wendell George is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes and is now retired after many careers such as helping land a man on the moon as an engineer for Boeing, tribal planner, elected tribal Councilman, tribal corporation CEO, author of eight books and many articles. His great-grandfather, Chilcosahaskt, was Chief of the Entiat tribe, his grandfather, Lahompt, started the first family cattle ranch and his dad, Moses, was elected to the first Tribal Council.
Wendell was also elected to serve on the boards of Wenatchee Valley College, Omak school, and Paschal Sherman Indian school. In 2019 Wenatchee Valley College honored him by naming the Wendell George Hall on their Omak campus.
In the forward to Last Chief Standing, Governor Dan Evans summarized, " Wendell has written a fascinating history of his family and his tribe from the unique perspective of one who lived through extraordinary change and fought to retain Indian culture and traditions in a fast-paced modern world. He relates that history through seven generations of his family and the tribulations and sorrow of Indians as a flood of settlers advanced westward. Manifest Destiny was the battle cry expansion as the United States became a transcontinental nation. Indians were to be swept aside or assimilated and native culture destroyed. ... This book is a fascinating story of one family's effort to maintain and build a tribal culture that fits the modern world. It is a tale of struggle and success, poignant and occasionally hilarious but always focused on strengthening the unique sovereignty
that exists by treaty between Indian trbes and the United States. It ends with a message of spirituality that may be controversial but the future is unknown to us all. "
Wendell lives in Omak, Washington. He is convinced the future generations of his chidren, grandchildren, great grandchildren and extended family will help transform the world.
Wendell introduced us to Cheryl A. Grunlose, artist and member of the Lakes, Wenatchee, and Entiat bands of the Colville Confederated Tribes to create an art piece to complement the stories of the Entiat Tribe. Cheryl began her artistic career in 1995 and attended the prestigious Institute of American Indian arts in Santa Fe. In 2000, her ledger art took first place at the Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market & Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ledger artists, inspired by centuries-old line drawings and pictographs, work with introduced paper materials such as ledgers or journal books.
All of Cheryl’s chosen papers, books and documents are dated in the early 1900’s. She uses pictorial art to tell stories, and her drawings as a plateau style ledger artist are richly influenced by a combination of her tribal history and traditions.
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