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From:Jack Turner <br />To:*Eugene Mayor and City Council; <br />Naming Our New Bridge <br />Subject: <br />Friday, July 16, 2010 9:14:09 AM <br />Date: <br />Eugene Mayor Piercy and City Council Members <br />As a Springfield resident for the past ten years, and before that a Eugene <br />resident since 1969, I endorse naming the new I-5 bridge over the Willamette <br />River the "Whilamut Passage Bridge." <br />I realize that perhaps some adults will dismiss the proposed name as a foreign- <br />sounding contrivance. But I have taught elementary students for most of the <br />past 40 years, and believe that I know better. We owe much of our love and <br />respect for western Oregon's rich landscape to our Native forebearers, and it's <br />not becoming of us to erase everything the earlier people called this land -- <br />originally _their_ land. They called the river "Whilamut", and we should honor <br />that name as we create a bridge over it. <br />I'm confident that once our young people are told the story of "Whilamut" that <br />they will embrace it as authentic, and some day everyone will assert <br />that this naming was "obvious". <br />Thanks for your attention to an Important Cultural Matter. <br />Jack Turner <br />Mohawk, OR <br />90498 Sunderman Rd <br />Springfield, OR 97478 <br /> <br />