Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1995)
ALBERT JEFFERS Hello, I'm Albert Jeffers and I am running for one of three open posi tions on the Grand Ronde Tribal Council. I was born and raised in Eugene and attended Churchill High School MARGARET PROVOST I take pleasure and honor in ad dressing my fellow tribal members. My name is Margaret Provost and I am a nominee for Tribal Council. I am writing to you to let you know where I stand on issues which are KATHLEEN TOM t If i KATHRYN HARRISON Once again, I am asking you to vote for me for Tribal Council. As you may know, I have served on Tribal Council as an officer since 1980. I have been involved with ( - V . " .',v ; . I ri iT k ' . " ...I w in west Eugene. I am currently en rolled at Lane Community College pursuing my Associate's Degree in Forestry and scheduled to graduate in the spring of 1 996. I have spent ten years as a forester working for private industry, but I'm now em ployed by the United States Forestry Department as a Forestry Techni cian. My background in forestry includes: timber worker, timber cruiser, pre-sale layout, forest ecol ogy, fire suppression and preven tion. As a Council member for Grand Ronde Tribal Council I will want to weave tribal business and poli tics with traditional tribal values. I feel that by doing so, it will ensure that our future and our children's future will continue both culturally and economically. I believe that the facing our Tribe and to respectfully ask for your vote. To briefly give my background with the Tribe, I was the first Chair man of the Tribe who began the lead to tribal restoration. I also served on the Tribal Council from 1991 to 1994. During my role as a Tribal Council member, I made the bold move to make the motion to begin our gaming venture because I could see that we needed more revenue to provide for the dire need of hous ing, health services (for all our members), education, etc. We know what we need, the needs haven't changed, we've been repeatedly surveyed, and each time we learn and relearn that we still need the same basics. It was clear that fed eral, state, and our timber funds My name is Kathy Tom and I am running for Tribal Council. I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my personal and profes sional goals and objectives. I am the daughter of Chips Tom and Marianne Mickle, granddaughter of the late Cora Voutrin and Clinton Tom, great-granddaughter of Caroline LaBonte. I have been working at Nanitch Sahallie for six years. My contributions have also included Pow-wow Committee, and planning and coordinating monthly the Tribe since restoration, and the creation of the 9,81 1 acre reserva tion. I have experienced and seen many changes in the Tribe. With the anticipated revenues from our casino, I expect to see more changes and improvements in the quality of life for all our tribal members. I welcome these changes wholeheartedly and want to con tinue to dedicate my time and en ergy to helping our people. In the past, we have had very lim ited resources to provide benefits to tribal members. I know this has caused a lot of frustration and that many of our people have felt left out. With the development of the casino and other economic devel opment, I am confident that we will soon be able to provide meaningful foremost reason for being a mem ber of the Council is to assist the Council in representing the General Council (The People). We must give them a stronger voice on tribal issues and make a sincere effort to meet with all of them often. To gether we can make the promises of the past reality, and the decisions of the future sound ones. I am looking forward to talking to tribal members so I can under stand their concerns and try to bring their ideas to the Council, but here are a few of the issues I believe Council should address: 1 . Expand the Six County Service Area so that as many members as possible will be entitled to services and benefits if they are needed. 2. Expand our hunting and fishing rights on tribal lands. were not enough to provide as needed so it was imperative that the Tribe begin business ventures in order to meet our needs. Because of these reasons, I made the motion to begin our gaming business. I believe that the leaders of our Tribe must have an entrepreneurial spirit because we must be willing to try new things and yet use wis dom to balance decision-making. We cannot stand still while the needs of our membership grow and we lose our people to substance abuse, suicide, and poverty. We are a strong people who have survived great hardships, and we have the makings to develop into an even stronger people if we are given the chance to succeed. Some say we are looking for handouts but I know elders' luncheons. I made the deci sion to run for Tribal Council be cause I believe in the term, "WE THE PEOPLE". I deeply feel that we all need to be heard, no matter where we live or what service area, we still need a connection to get the best informa tion, to make the best decisions for all of us. During our community meetings that were held last month in the different parts of the service areas, I found that we all had pri orities, not all the same, but impor assistance and benefits to all our people. I propose that we use the revenue to provide health benefits to all of our people, regardless of where they live. I will support the creation of a retirement plan for all tribal mem bers. All of our people should re ceive the same retirement benefits. I will work to strengthen our edu cation program. We are creating many good jobs in the Tribe and its businesses, and we need to prepare our people to fill these jobs. We need to explore child care to assist students and others with children so that they can attend school and fill these jobs. We also need to explore options to provide housing assis tance to elders and others, whether they want to live in Grand Ronde 3. Recognize ALL of the bands of tribes that have been included in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, but not approved for federal recognition by our Council. 4. Readdress the Tribal Timber Management Plan to include such items as more commercial thinning and timber sales by the cubic foot. These are a few of my concerns and suggestions to enable us to bring our Tribe together, which will also make us stronger in the future. I am looking forward to meeting with all of the General Council in the next couple months. I want to hear your concerns and ideas so that I can represent you on Council and actually do what the PEOPLE want, not just what a few people on Tribal Council want. it is not handouts we want, but rather the just exchange we made when we gave up our land and re sources. That is why I fought for restoration, because of our rights as Indian people. We have proven that we can overcome the odds and yet we have a long way to go. With the help of our own tribe we can help one another succeed, as we are all family. Handouts, no; opportu nity, yes. You have my word that I will use the same determination I used when fighting for tribal restoration to help the Tribe move towards self-sufficiency and to further that goal to in clude that every tribal member also be self-sufficient. May the Great Spirit guide you and continue to watch over you and your family. tant to each individual and from ev ery economic background. it is our job to ensure that we all have a part in the decision-making for us, the "General Council." If given the opportunity, I pledge to you my personal commitment to fulfill the expected duties of the position. Health security, per capita, retirement, education assis tance, land for private homes, and endowments are some of the issues that face us all. I promise to listen. Let me work for you! or elsewhere. I believe that there will be enough revenue to provide both funding for these programs ensuring the long-term stability of the Tribe, and to provide for regu lar distributions to our people. Each tribal member should be al lowed to decide how they want their share of the revenue dispersed. It could either be paid directly as ad ditional income or deposited for their benefit into a retirement plan or other fund for their future use. 1 believe that I have demonstrated the qualifications to earn your sup port. I have developed many im portant relationships in Washington D.C. and elsewhere that will con tinue to be valuable to the Tribe. 1 hope you will cast your vote for me so that 1 may continue to serve you.
