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
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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.