2 1 ,: 7 1 January 6, 1997
I HUU(DQ6 I SMOKE SIGNALS
To our Editor,
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Rondc
are supportive of those who need help with
food, clothing, shelter. We have a General
Assistance program which is dedicated to
helping those in need. It does require in
take information and determination of need
before funds are paid. There is a vocational
rehabilitation program to assist tribal mem
bers who need help getting a job due to dis
abilities. There are job programs and edu
cational programs to assist tribal members
in obtaining job skills or updating job skills
to enable tribal members to become employ
able. There is a small business development
program to assist tribal members who wish
to become business owners. There is an
education department to assist tribal mem
bers with educational pursuits including
obtaining college degrees, diplomas, or cer
tificates. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
care for tribal members and their families
with health care, dental care, alcohol and
drug recovery programs, and child protec
tion. We have a tribal court, natural re
sources, hunting tags, salmon distribution,
and gathering of plant materials.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
extend welcome to elders and their spouses
for free meals at the Community Center on
Tuesday tnrough Thursday each week. All
other people who wish to eat are welcome
to come, but it will cost $3 for the meal. On
special occasions the Tribe has dinners for
the tribal members to come together to en
joy the food, visiting, and honoring. The
Tribe sponsors pow-wows, which are a wel
come part of our community. The Tribe
sponsors the Spiritual Encampment annually
and meals are served. At no time are these
meals considered a hand out. They are given
in the spirit of the Tribe and we participate
to renew our strength and bonding.The
Spirit Mountain Casino employs many tribal
members, most of whom are not in "cushy"
jobs, but work as anyone employed at the
casino works. The meals are part of the
employment at the casino and not a hand
out. All casino employees get one free meal
per shift, not just tribal members working
at the casino. Many restaurants give em
ployees meals as part of the workday. This
is not an unusual employees' job incentive.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
and Spirit Mountain Casino have given
money to many charities as has been noted
in issues of Smoke Signals. Not only tribal
members benefit from our business, since
charities are for people of all walks of life.
The Tribal Council holds open weekly
meetings and monthly General Council
meetings, where all people are invited to
speak, listen, participate. We are proud of
our ability to help ourselves. We also have
programs to assist everyone's identified
needs.
Sincerely,
Claudctte Parazoo
Grand Rondc Tillicum 2923
To the Editor:
The Smoke Signals publication means a
lot to me. That is what I am anxious to see
in my mailbox. As I looked through the
Smoke Signals of December 2, 1996, 1 was
amused to see the picture captioned "Yes,
Kids Grow Up." I grabbed the paper and
ran to co-workers to share that picture. So,
I have enjoyed sharing, and will, with many
associates I know such as our Yaqui rela
tives, dialysis workers, and others.
The progress our Tribe is making on all
sides is impressive. That is what I'm proud
to talk about wherever I go.
Thank you for all your prayers toward
the health of David and what I've been
through. I still maintain a full life being a
first grade teacher, working on student of
the month, honor roll, and awards assem
blies. Co-workers, community people, and
others continue to offer us emotional sup
port. Again, I say, thank you.
Connie (Mercier) Lopez
Roll 532
A big thank you...
Our program has had a very productive
year and for this reason, the Adult Educa
tion Program would like to thank the fol
lowing for their advice and support: the
Education Committee, the Cultural and
Heritage Committee, TFAP, Tribal Voca
tional Rehabilitation, JOBS, Wellness,
Small Business, and Human Resources. All
of these programs have taken positive steps
toward the implementation, support and re
ferral of clients into our current programs.
While I am on the subject, I must also thank
the Smoke Signals, Accounting, and the
Policy and Planning staff for their support
and patience. I am also grateful to work
with the Education Department staff as I
believe they are committed to developing
programs which serve the educational needs
of tribal members.
I would also like to thank the people that
1 serve in my programs. As a GED instruc
tor, I have been privileged to work with
some incredible people who continually
show me what courage and persistence is.
One of the highs of my job is to see people
reach their goals. As an Adult Education
Coordinator, I enjoy talking with people on
the phones and meeting them in person.
As our program expands to include more
tribal community classes, I look forward to
meeting and serving more of our tribal
members in a wider variety of ways. I en
courage people to contact our program and
let us know how we can better serve you.
Finally, I would like to express my ap
preciation to Tribal Council without which
most of these services would not be avail
able. It is their vision, support, and faith
that has allowed our programs to expand
and succeed.
Thank You,
Gayla Tulcnsru
Adult Education Coordinator
Dear Friends,
What a joy it is to see pictures and read
articles about the Merciers, the Lenos and
many of the students I had while teaching
in Grand Ronde. I am especially happy to
read about any of the children or grandchil
dren going on to college. That has always
been so very important to me.
I have so many wonderful memories of
"my children" while I was teaching in Grand
Ronde. You were all very special to me
and I am happy to read articles about any
of you. I would like to hear news of any of
my group the Hudsons, the Riggs, and
many more.
Best wishes, your long ago teacher,
MissSchaad
(now Mrs. L.J. Hightower)
Box 95
EatonvilIe,WA 98328
Shop with a Sheriff
The children chosen from Grand Ronde
Elementary School to participate in the
"Shop with a Sheriff' event would like to
extend a very special thank you to the fol
lowing people and organizations:
Dallas Wal-Mart for allowing this spe
cial shopping event to take place in their
store, and for giving each child a gift .
McDonald's in Dallas for breakfast.
Grand Ronde Tribe for supplying the
transportation.
Polk County Sheriffs Office which in
cluded volunteers from the State Police,
SALT, Sheriffs Posse, and Deputies for
Christmas Shopping one-on-one with the
selected children.
Service Integration Team for coming up
with this idea and planning such a success
ful event.
Also, thank you to all the other volun
teers not mentioned that were involved with
the shopping, transportation, and wrapping.
Thanks to Grand
Ronde Elementary
On December 1 1, the Tribal Pre-School,
"Twah Sunchako," encountered problems
with sewage back up. Because of the emer
gency, children had to be removed from the
premises in a very timely manner.
Education staff contacted Ms. Kathy
Sumners, Principal at Grand Ronde El
ementary School, and our children were
able to use a Kindergarten classroom for
the remainder of the day.
To Ms. Sumners and school staff, our
THANKS for all your help!
Spirit of Christmas
For the past two months I have seen the
true meaning of Christmas. Employees of
the Human Service Division, Support Ser
vices, have been spending lunch hours and
after work hours to coordinate the food
boxes and the Tree of Giving. They have
sold raffle tickets, contacted staff for dona
tions of money and gifts as well as collect
ing the names of families in need. Many of
the Tribal staff are involved as well through
their donations of gifts for children. I would
like to thank Tracy Biery, Peggy Biery, Keri
Jones, Julie Little, Penny DeLoe, Mary
Brickell, Vivian DeMary, and Teri
Holsclaw for all of their dedication and
work in this event.
The "Tiny Tot Visit With Santa" and the
Tribal Christmas Party were a great success
this year. The "Tiny Tot Visit With Santa"
is sponsored by the Human Service Divi
sion, and the Tribal Christmas Party is spon
sored by Tribal Council. There were ap
proximately 650 participants at these events,
with 175 being children.
The "Tiny Tot Visit With Santa" activity
held on Friday, December 13 included dis
plays by the Tribal Family Action Program,
Contract Health Services, Tribal Natural Re
sources, Tribal Education Department,
Tribal Dental Department, Tribal Housing
Department, Wellness and Prevention Pro
gram, Medical Clinic with Marcie Garret
from Chemawa filling in at the table, Gerry
Rainingbird from the Northwest Portland
Indian Health Board, Mike Rush and Cin
der from the Marion County Fire Depart
ment, and special Tribal Elder volunteer
Dorothy Lawe.
In addition, Saturday's volunteers in
cluded Mike Little, Candy Little, Wayne
Garrison, Daniel Garrison, Grand Ronde
Royalty: Emma Leno, Diana Robertson,
Brandi Little, and Nikki Norwest.
A special "Thank You" to all of you who
make this a wonderful time of the year.
Bonnie Tom, Wellness Coordinator
EDITOR'S NOTE:
In the December 1 6 issue of Smoke
Signals we ran a feature story on
tribal member CANDY ROBERTSON
and her position within the Player
Services department of the Casino.
In that story we mistakenly referred
to her position as Bus Coordinator
as a part of the Guest Services de
partment. Guest Services and
Player Services are two separate de
partments within the organizational
structure of Spirit Mountain Casino.
We regret the error.
Editorial Policy: All letters must be received at the newspaper office with author's
signature in order to be considered for publication. Smoke Signals reserves the right to
edit any letter for clarity and length, and to refuse publication of any letter or any part of
a letter that may contain libelous statements or personal attacks. Not all letters are
guaranteed publication upon submission. Published letters do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of Smoke Signals, tribal employees, or Tribal Council.