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