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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 1996)
2 iliil .1 June 17, 1996 SMOKE SIGNALS Letters to the Editor To the Editor: I am thinking seriously about retiring in a year or two. I am now covered by a Kai ser health plan. I believe for a monthly pay ment I can keep Kaiser. Would it be pos sible for the Health Plan that the Tribe is proposing to include us and keep our Kai ser coverage? Nothing has really been mentioned on just how, who, or what the Tribe has in mind. I am sure I am not the only one who would like to know and also if our spouses would be included in this plan. Are we voting on our options, or will the Council do this? Johanne Dancing Cloud McCorry Dear Editor: I would like to bring attention to an inci dent that occurred recently at the tribal offices involving my tribal member daughter. As my daughter and a friend sat outside of the tribal offices in Grand Ronde, they were cursed at by a tribal member woman who called them white kids and to get off tribal property, basically that they did not belong there. It is such a shame after all our people have been through in recent years that we still have to suffer such prejudice from our own tribal members. Personally, if certain people choose to have this much hatred in their hearts, that is their business, but when that hatred is in flicted upon my children, it becomes my business. Regardless of the color of my children's skin, I am proud to say that they are and always will be part of this tribe and of fu ture generations to come. Thank you, Dcbby Childcrs ELECTION DATE: September 7, 1996 at the Tribal Community Center. Absentee Ballots will be mailed out July 1st. If you have recently moved please make sure the Enrollment Office has your current address. You may also register to vote through the Tribal Enrollment Office. Is your mailing address correct? It is very important to us that your mail ing address is correct, even if you are re ceiving your Smoke Signals. It has been brought to our attention that there are many addresses that are incorrect with the postal service, so please verify yours. You may call Kim Mueller at 879-2264 or 1-800-422-0232 at the Smoke Signals office. To the Editor: I am a senior member of the Confeder ated Tribes of Grand Ronde. My maiden name was Norma Lafferty. I was born and raised and went to school in Grand Ronde. I am now 70 years old, definitely a tribal Elder, my husband is 76 but not a Native American. I have only asked for help one time and that was to get moved up here so I could get medical help. This was accom plished through the help of a very fine gentleman by the name of Lonnie Leno. Now I need help once again and this time I have been turned down flat. My husband has just returned home from the V.A. hos pital where he had his second full knee re placement and is housebound. I am dia betic and have had major surgery for can cer. There are certain things I need. Some are very personal, and I have to pay for them out of my own pocket. I guess the excuse is lack of funds. One man I was referred to told me to get a job, then said I should go to McMinnville to the Salvation Army and beg for help. This is an attempt to rob me of my dig nity and pride. In the face of all this, you can imagine my surprise to read in the Sa lem newspaper about how the Tribe is go ing to fund a Salem charity in the sum of almost $200,000. I say charity belongs at home. Norma L. Lee EDITOR'S NOTE: The Tribe has been talking with the Boys and Girls Club of Salem about setting up a facility for tribal youth in Grand Ronde. This would not be funding a Salem charity, but working together to provide a service to tribal members. You're Invited! All tribal members are invited to join in the grand opening celebration for Leg ends Steakhouse and Lounge, which will be held on Saturday, June 29. The ribbon-cutting will be held at 10 a.m., and the dining room will be open from 1 1 a.m. to 3 p.m., where tribal members will be able to enjoy some of the good food the restaurant will offer, before it opens to the general public. Rodeo planned We wish to announce that plans are un derway for a rodeo at Grand Ronde. The site will be the Grand Ronde Pow-wow grounds the 4th weekend in August (the weekend after our big Pow-wow). We have special volunteers but we need more. If you know of someone who is avail able and willing to serve on a committee, please call Susan Winters at 879-3704 or Ed Larsen at 879-5360 or 879-2301. We need people for ticket sales, advertising, parking, clean-up, stock pens, and some strong arms and backs to set up bleachers. This will be an 8-event rodeo including: bull riding, bareback riding, saddle bronco riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, women barrel riding, team roping, and wild horse riding. We will keep you updated through Smoke Signals. Cemetery notice Please pickup any artificial flowers or belongings that you would like to keep. It would be greatly appreciated to pickup these items by July 1. Craft class notice Class will be held on Tuesday, June 18. No class on June 25 and July 2. They will resume on schedule Tuesday, July 9. The Band-Aid Brief: Bee Stings By Dr. Glenn Gcrritz Bee stings cause more deaths in our country than snake bites. Bee stings in most people cause a little local pain and swelling. An ice pack and over-the-counter anti histimine is all that is needed. Some people have large local reactions that are not life-threatening, but may re quire a visit to the clinic for a few days of cortisone treatment. A life-threatening reaction to stings usually occur within seconds to min utes of the sting. People having life-threatening allergic reactions to bee venoms will usually experience hives, afflicted breathing, wheezing, a drop in blood pressure, and even coma. These people who are allergic, need to carry adrena line or epinephrine to inject themselves with before heading to the clinic or nearest emergency room. The bee family includes honey bees, yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets. The honey bee is the only bee that leaves its stinger in the skin. The above bee venoms can be used for allergy skin testing, and then some of these high risk people can receive a monthly al lergy shot of venom to desensitize themselves to life-threatening reac tions. Allergy shots allow the body to build up blocking antibodies which will then reduce their severe reaction to the bee venom. There is a type of killer bee coming our way from Brazil which are not more venomous, but they sting unprovoked. Casino still hiring... Ap- Although the Casino has been fSft open and operating since Oc jtj!SJl tober, the hiring process is not complete. We continue to recruit and hire large numbers of qualified individuals to fill open positions at the Casino. Positions are open as a result of our con tinued growth. In May, over 125 positions were created and filled to staff Legends, the new steakhouse and lounge. We also have about 20 new positions in various depart ments, including Video Lottery Terminals and Food & Beverage, that were created to maintain the excellent customer service we provide to every guest at Spirit Mountain Casino. Growth within the Casino has cre ated more new positions that internal can didates are filling. As internal candidates fill new positions, existing positions are being vacated, leaving more open positions to be filled. Finally, growth has resulted in higher turnover. Voluntary and involun tary terminations are resulting in more open positions. Today, we have approximately 25 new and pre-existing positions open. Although we continually have positions open, we have seen our flow of applicants slow down. We would like to encourage individuals, tribal and non-tribal, who are interested in working at the Casino to stop by the Human Resources Department, 28840 SW Salmon River Hwy, Grand Ronde, to begin the application process. THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS ACTUALLY QUITE SIMPLE: Stop by Human Resources and review the Current Job Openings list and job descriptions to determine which position to apply for. Or call our job infor mation hotline at (800) 760-7977, ext. 3744. Complete Spirit Mountain Casino Application for Employment. Meet with Human Re sources Department Team Member to discuss available po sitions and individual qualifica tions. Qualified individuals meet with department representa tives to discuss whether a match exists between what the specific department needs and what the in dividual needs. . If a match exists, the appli cant is hired. If a match does not exist, Human Resources Team Members continue to try to match the individual with an open posi tion. If you have questions or concerns about this process, or any of the open positions, please do not hesitate to contact Diana Ash at ext. 3836, or Mary Brooks at ext. 3818, the Staffing Specialists at Human Re sources, (503) 879-3730 or (800) 760-7977.
