Agnes Baker Pilgrim

Grand Entry at the Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow in Siletz

In the early 1980s, Agnes Pilgrim was invited to join the Cultural Heritage and Sacred Lands Committee of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. She worked closely with Robert Kentta, Cultural Specialist, to promote the unique cultural identity and history of her Tribe.

Agnes helped her tribe's staff work on research and preservation of their language, dances, celebrations, and basketry, as well as coordinating the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act issues. Other responsibilities included: responding to archaeological permit applications, coordinating with the State Historic Preservation Office to protect sacred sites, and managing the Tribal Cultural and Historical Archive collections, including documentation of Siletz collections in other museums.

The committee also hosted events, including the: - Annual Culture Camp, where tribal families would come to strengthen their traditions and culture in a village type atmosphere; - Annual Nesika Illahee Pow-Wow and Restoration Pow-Wow (not yet scheduled for 2022); - Annual Run to the Rogue, a relay run/walk from Siletz to the confluence of the Illinois and Rogue Rivers, commemorating the Siletz Tribal ancestors who were forcibly removed from their homeland in the Rogue River Country and marched north to Siletz in 1856.

Agnes and Grant Pilgrim worked as a team to revive the traditional Salmon Ceremony that was hosted by her ancestors for thousands of years on the Rogue River. After Grant died, Grandma Aggie enlisted family and friends to host events each June, beginning on the Applegate River and then moving to Ti'lomikh Falls on the Rogue.
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Working with David West and Brent Florendo of the Native American Studies Department at Southern Oregon University, Agnes helped found Konaway Nika Tillicum Youth Academy, to empower and prepare Native youth for higher education. "Konaway Nika Tillicum" means "All My Relations" in Chinook Trade Jargon.

The faculty began to offer 8-day residential sessions each summer to encourage self-determination and connect students to a community that values native cultures. Agnes and other elders served as a mentors during classes, lectures, and outdoor presentations.

"Konaway Academy is about working from the inside out, finding an identity that's balanced and wholesome, not from the stereotype of what happened to Native Americans in history. It makes participants feel good about themselves." - Brent Florendo

To find out more or make a donation, contact (kon****@**u.edu).

Agnes Pilgrim's teachings expanded across 6 continents once she became Founding Chair of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers in 2004. She helped steer their educational projects and speaking engagements for fifteen years.
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Sculptor Russell Beebe & Agnes Pilgrim

"We are here... 150 years after our Trails of Tears"

On September 30, 2006 in Ashland, First Nation peoples of southwest Oregon were honored in a celebration, ceremonial walk, and dedication of a new sculpture on Main Street. Over 200 people gathered to honor the 150 years of survival, recovery, and continued struggle of indigenous people, brought on by their forced removal in 1856 to two small reservations east of Oregon's north coast.

Sculptor Russell Beebe (Ojibwe) carved the 20-foot tall sculpture from a local alder tree. Funding was generously provided by Lloyd Matthew Haines of Ashland. Along with a salmon, an eagle, and other local animals, there is a figure of a native woman, modeled after Takelma elder Agnes Baker Pilgrim of Grants Pass.

Dan Wahpepah and David West lead the ceremonial walk to the sculpture dedication

The afternoon program at Briscoe School included traditional drummers, singers, dancers, story-tellers, and speakers. Afterward everyone walked down Main Street (closed to cars, thanks to the City Council) to ceremonially heal the 1856 Trails of Tears, when native people were marched hundreds of miles to the reservations.

Grandma Aggie and Sculpture by Russell Beebe

At the entrance to downtown, Grandma Aggie led the sculpture dedication ceremony. Speakers included Robert Kentta (Cultural Specialist for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz), David West (Director of the Native American Studies Department at Southern Oregon University), and Dan Wahpepah (co-founder of Red Earth Descendants).