Page 3
April 1992
Smoke Signals
Siletz tribe consid
ering Salem an op
tion in their search
for a casino location
By Anastasia Athon
Courtesy of Statesman Journal
Salem is on the short list of possible
locations for a $7 million casino that the
Siletz Indian Tribe hopes to build, a
spokesman for the tribe said Monday.
"Salem is obviously one of the places
we are looking at because it's suitably
zoned and adequately serviced," Pat
McCormick, of the public affairs
consulting firm Conkling Fiskum &
McCormick, said.
The tribe, which last month aban
doned plans to locate the casino near
Donald, retained the PortlandSalem
based firm to handle public relations,
McCormick said.
Although he declined to disclose the
potential sites, McCormick said the
tribe was considering two locations in
Salem for the casino, which would
employ 600 people.
A decision could be made as early as
Friday.
Other sites besides Salem also are
being considered, he said.
Plans for the site near Donald partly
were derailed because it was zoned for
farmland.
The Salem sites are zoned for com
mercial uses, McCormick said.
The Siletz had taken out an option on
20 acres of land near Interstate 5, just
north of Donald. When these plans were
scrapped, Delores Pigsley, the tribal
chairwoman, said the tribe would look
at other parcels along 1-5 between
Salem and Portland.
The tribe has requested time on next
Monday's City Council agenda to
present information to local officials,
Mayor R.G. Andersen-Wyckoff said.
Andersen-Wyckoff said that members
of the tribe informed him last Thursday
that they officially were interested in
exploring two sites in Salem.
Editor's Note: The official position of
The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde is to not pursue gaming at this
time. In fact, the Tribal Council has
decided to leave the option of gaming
open only as a last resort.
Indian Church
opens for all
Indian Church Services are now being
offered in the Grand Ronde area every
Sunday at the home of Linda Smith,
48478 Hebo Rd, Grand Ronde (next to
the Spirit Mountain Store).
The services will be held from 12:00 to
2:00 on Sunday and a potluck will
follow. Everyone is welcome and ,
encouraged to come. For more informa
tion, please call 879-5932.
lit
III VI I IM A. Tnj M m T T U i A
Community Encourager's
Report
By Michael J. Larsen
Community Encourager
I'm glad to report that everything is
coming along fine with the "Chee
Mamook" project.
The community health council has
been meeting regularly for training and
information gathering.
I would like to take this opportunity to
openly thank the community health
council. This group of people have a lot
of energy and I think we are on our way
to getting a real important project done
for our tribal community.
We will have another meeting on
April 7, 1992 at 6:30 p.m. in the tribal
council chambers. Also, we are tenta
tively planning for our tribal community
wide meeting on April 25, 1992 at the
Grand Ronde Elementary School.
There will be flyers sent out soon to
confirm this.
If one of our community health
council members contact you for help or
information, I encourage you to help in
any way that you can. Your input can '
help all of us.
ELIZABETH FURSE FOR CONGRESS
If
I'
1
I
f A- Ak
"At Oregon Legal Services for Indian treaty rights, or orga
nizing to oppose the nuclear arms race, I've fought to right
wrongs and Fve made a difference.... I will bring home those
federal dollars to restore the salmon runs and create a
prosperous salmon fishery for all This will be an investment
that will really pay dividends."
-Elizabeth Furse, candidate to represent the
people of Oregon 's First Congressional District in the United
States Congress.
Desert Storm surplus food distributed
Three months of organizing and
preparing for the big shipment of
Desert Storm leftovers finally paid off
for the Grand Ronde tribal members.
The ad hoc volunteer community
service committee, created to manage,
store and distribute the food, accom
plished their goal of helping tribal
members during these bad economic
times as the last box of food went out
to a needy tribal member on March 21.
One-half of the surplus Desert Storm
food donated to The Confederated
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Commu
nity of Oregon by the U.S. government
was then donated to the community of
Willamina and Wes Shenk of Grand
Ronde Good Neighbor, co-founder of
a charitable organization called Good
Neighbors.
The tribe received two out of the 26
truck loads of food products distributed
in the state so far, according to Kim
Thomas, a spokeswoman for the
Portland-based Oregon Food Bank.
Fruit Cocktail, bread, chili, sugar, and
margarine are only a few of the types of
food included in the donation.
Local elders and shut-ins were
delivered to before the rest of the food
was packaged for distribution among
other tribal members in the area. It was
on a first come, first serve basis. Over
all, around 150 tribal members received
food.
"The combined effort from all parties
made this whole operation run smooth,"
Wes Shenk said.
P.
' VWX' !!
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m.,y--'-
r 4i
r
Iff 11
iti a
ABOVE: David Shenk
helps unload the 40-ft trailer full
of food.
Right: (left to right) Russ
Leno, Victor Branson, Dean
Mercier, and Wes Shenk pose
for a group shot.