White Oak Blessing Ceremony & Giveaway

McKenzie Reel is hosting the event to inspire the replanting of some areas of the burn scar from the Holiday Farm Wildfire in a way that honors the McKenzie’s original peoples and their landscapes.

This is one of many events planned by several McKenzie Community Nonprofits to welcome the Tribes back to the McKenzie River Corridor.

The Ceremony is by Grande Ronde Elder Dietz Peters at the Riverwalk Trailhead (which is at the Southern-most end of River Street almost under the HWY Bridge) and includes a Native Bell Song, Native Flute, as well as Native Drum.

Then, under the eaves of the former US Forest Service gas station nearby, local Archeologist Tim Fox (US Forest Service) and local cultural historian Margaret Beilharz will join us there to share maps and video, and will talk about the ancient Tribal Crossing at the Blue River Confluence with the McKenzie River.

Note: In case of rain, we will do the ceremony under the eaves of the former USFS Gas Station, accessed off of River Street.

White Oaks are sacred trees to many Oregon Indigenous People. There are stories of them being NaCve to the McKenzie River Valley Floor from Emigrants who traveled through this corridor to get to the Willamette Valley.

Even recent University of Oregon Landscape Architect students advised our friends, aPer the Wildfire, to plant White Oaks. The Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District supports this wholeheartedly.

Our McKenzie Reel organization would love to create ceremony around acknowledging them and giving space to them once more by giving several away to McKenzie persons of interest, Community Centers, and Libraries in November. By adhering to proper Indigenous Land Acknowledgement protocol, we feel this should only happen in conjunction with the First People and have planned the give-away and planning happen after being blessed in ceremony by Grande Ronde Elder Dietz Peters.