Smoke Signals
April 5, 1995
Page 2
Tribal Life " - . r -; z
Chairman's Report
By Mark Mercier
On March 1 3th, Council mem
bers Bob Haller, Leon Tom, Ed
Pearsall and I attended a hearing
conducted by the House Appro
priations Subcommittee on the
Interior and related agencies.
This is the Committee responsible
for providing program dollars un
der the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Indian'Health Service, and Admin
istration for Native Americans.
With the new Republican it is
anticipated that some social pro
grams will no doubt, be targeted
for cuts, since many of the new
members ran on the platform of
balancing the budget. Bearing this
in mind, the Tribal Council struc
tured our testimony requesting that
Congress retain funding for the
federally funded programs.
The following categories were
covered in our testimony:
Perceptions of wealth in Indian
Country
There are some members of Con
gress who have the perception that
all Indian Tribes are becoming
wealthy as a result of gaming. We
urged Congress not to make any
budget cuts due to this perception,
since there are some members of
Congress that will introduce leg
islation which if passed, will re
strict the ability of tribes to do gam
ing. Also, given the current popu
larity of gaming, this may not last
on a long term basis, since many
tribes are now getting into gam ing.
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Preserve current Indian pro
gram Indian budgets.
We asked Congress to preserve
the Indian program budgets, since
in the past BIA and IHS have not
received substantial increases while
other federal agencies received sub
stantial increases. Therefore,
across the board Cuts should not be
implemented.
We also requested Congress to
mandate the BIA to follow the re
organization recommendations
made by many tribes throughout
the nation. We were able to dem
onstrate that the BIA could reduce
many layers of bureaucracy with no
negative impacts on services to
tribes.
Our comments were well re
ceived by the members of the Com
mittee, and we can only hope that
no cuts will be made.
Easter Egg Hunt
April 15, 1 995 at the Grand
Ronde Community Center
starting at 9:30 a. m. for kids
10 and under. Come join
the fun! If you have any
questions or if you would
like more information,
please call Jill, Tracy or
Bonnie in the Wellness De
partment at 1-800-775-0095
or 879-2016. Spon
sored by the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, Hu
man Services.
Elder's Spotlight '
Pete Petite loves the land, people
Tribal elder Pete Petite was born May 7, 1 9 1 0
in Grand Ronde to Jane and Henry Petite. He
was the eleventh of twelve children. ,
Pete has lived in Oregon all of his life, except
for a period of time during his youth when he
entered the military.
He entered the military in 1942 and military
papers state that he was a hand grenade expert
and a bayonet expert. Pete served in the Alas
kan Territory and the Aleutian Islands until
1943. He was awarded the Purple Heart after
being shot in action, and honorably discharged
on Oct. 10, 1943.
Pete married Adhrine Trudell and raised three
children with her. He worked most of his life as
a logger, mostly up and down the Columbia
River and the coastal range. He remembers viv
idly the days in the old logging camps.
At nearly 85 years old, he still enjoys fishing,
hunting, working in his workshop, and reading.
Pete currently lives in Salem and likes to travel
to Grand Ronde to visit folks and have lunch
with the elders. He also loves animals, and dotes
on two beagles named Beasley and Teddy.
Pete has six grandchildren and eight great
grandchildren. .......
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Pete served in the military and fought in WWII.
Tuesday, April 4 Wednesday, April 5 Thursday, April 6
Baked Mac Dinner Roast Beef Chicken with Dumplings
Tossed Salad Mashed Potatoes & Gravy Jello Salad
Mixed Veggies Buttered Corn Fresh Veggies
Tapioca Pudding Pound Cake Sugar Cookies
Tuesday, April 1 1 Wednesday, April 12 Thursday, April 13
Sausage and Kraut Baked Cod Dinner Fries Baked Pork Chops &
Scalloped Potatoes Tossed Salad Mushroom Gravy
Spinach Apple Cake Mashed Potatoes
Carrot Salad ' Broccoli
Bread Pudding Ginger Bread
Tuesday, April 18 Wednesday, April 19 Thursday, April 20
Cubed Steak & Gravy Baked Salmon Oven Baked Chicken
Mashed Potatoes Seasoned Rice Potato Salad
Green Beans Pickled Beets Baked Beans
, Custard Apple Pie Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Tuesday, April 25 Wednesday, April 26 Thursday, April 27
Hamburger gravy Clam Chowder Baked Ham
over rice Toasted Cheese Sandwich Mashed Potatoes &
Steamed Veggies ' Tossed Salad Gravy
Jello with Bananas Cookies and Fruit Mixed Veggies
Cake & Ice Cream