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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1990)
Smoke Signals December 1990 page 5 Chairman's Report(Cont) Smith and Doss of Salem to assist us with the. design of our community planning efforts. , . Some members.of the Tribal Council recently attended the annual conference of the National Congress of American Indians, which is the oldest Tribal organiza tion still functioning in the country. The meetings were held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a follow-up meeting being held in Santa Fe, New Mexico after the NCAI meeting. We hope to give an oral report to the General Council at the December General Council meeting regarding the NCAI convention. Over the next several weeks the Tribal Council will be considering the comments-on the CY91 budget and begin to finalize a budget package for adoption prior to January 1, 1991. We were pleased with the turnout for the November Budget HearingGeneral Council meeting and particularly with the level of comments and suggestions from our Tribal community. It is this type , of dialogue which provides the focus for community development. As we proceed to wrap up the old year and move forward into the new year we would like to wish every one a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Produc tive New Year. . Lujan Plan(cont) tal changes are proposed," Inouye said. "But I believe you are more and more in the driver's seat. You've made it abundantly clear you don't like the way things are run." At a news conference later, Inouye, who is of Japanese descent, was asked why he is so well regarded by Tribal leaders. "When you read the history of the Indian people, unless you're totally insensitive and don't understand English, you have to conclude that Indians were not only shortchanged, they were brutalized." Inouye told the NCAI members he tries to educate his colleagues in the Senate about Indian history. Many senators believe the U.S. government has given Indians too much, he said. The senator said he tells fellow lawmakers that there were more than 10 million Indians in the United States when the first Europeans arrived. Today, there are fewer than 2 million, he said. Meanwhile, the Indians have fought courageously in the nation's wars, with a higher proportion of Indians serving the military than the population as a whole, he said. "The debt Americans owe Indians is enormous," Inouye said. "I don't think it can ever be repaid." Inouye warned the NCAI that recent Supreme Court decisions are chipping away at Tribal sovereignty. Earlier this year, the court ruled that a Tribal court doesn't have jurisdiction over members of other Indian Tribes who live on the Tribe's reservation. As an emergency measure, an Inouye-backed amendment was passed by Congress extending Tribal jurisdiction to non member Indians for a year. "If you let the powers of Tribal courts be whittled away, next they'll be challenging the authority of Tribal governments," Inouye said. Me later added, "In my view, we've got to stop this trend right now." Courtesy of the Albuquerque Journal COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY December 15, 1990 12:00 noon Grand Ronde Elementary School J n I IK li mb I M 9 I f i This scraper is working to put in the road that will lead to the new Tribal office complex on Grand Ronde Road approximately one1 mile north of the Tribes' current office in the old manor. Tribal chairman Mark Mcrcicr would like to ask for everyone's patience during the move which should be complete some time in December. Tribe Celebrates Anniversary of Restoration The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde celebrated the seventh anniversary of the Tribes' restoration to Tribal status on Saturday, November 24, 1990 at the Grand Ronde Elementary School. The Tribes' actual date of restoration was November 22, 1983. The celebration got started with the traditional holiday feast of salmon, ham salad, mashed potatoes and gravy and a large assortment of desserts. Then raffles were held for various prizes that were awarded to ticket holders and whipman Paul Whitehead got the mini Pow Wow underway about 2:30 p.m. "This is a very important day for our people. I just hope that they appreciate everything that went into the restoration effort so that all of this could happen," said council member, Kathryn Harrison. Restoration has brought many benefits to Tribal members over the last seven years from education benefits to health care services. From social services to hunting and fishing rights. "Restoration means different things to different people depending on how involved they are in Tribal affairs and how much they use the services that are provided," explained Tribal general manager Jim Willis "For the people who are making the effort to be involved in Tribal Government restora tion means the entire development of the community. From education, jobs, houses and medical care; all the things that a government provides." Willis also explained that restoration means renewing the trust relationship with the federal government. "The bottom line is that restoration brings a re-establishment of the treaty responsibilities that the United States assumed when they made treaty agreements with the Tribes in the 1850's when they took the Willamette Valley and the Rogue Valley and the Umpqua Valley. When the government took those valleys from the Tribes they made promises. Restoration is the fulfill ment of those promises." 1 Cj? m'f)l? Pi 1 1990 Junior Miss Grand Ronde Tara Lcno . IP- Frank Hostler, Smith River, was one of many drummers
