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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1998)
OR. COLL. .06 f S66 Grand Ronde members vote for financial future By Oscar Johnson The fourth of five community meet ings set to solicit in put from tribal members across the state on planning the financial future of the Grand Ronde Tribe took place in Grand Ronde last month. Over 50 mem bers many em ployed at Grand Ronde's central of fices participated in the July 14 meet ing which informed members and ask ed their view on topics ranging from tribal social service programs to fi nancial savings and investments. Similar meetings were recently held in Portland, Salem, Eugene, and Bend. Before members broke into small groups to ask questions and list ideas on Grand Ronde's financial future, officials from the Tribe's executive, corporate, and intergovernmental di visions outlined their respective func tions. The three-and-one-half-hour meeting ended with members voting on specific ideas or general areas to allocate funds. "It was very positive," said Mike Larsen, Grand Ronde Facilities Man ager who was one of four facilitators that lead the small group discussions. "People had some genuine concerns." Larsen said his group touched on a variety of issues but indicated that get ting allotment funds to accrue enough interest to be self-sustaining and hold ing meetings more regularly also seemed to be important to members. "One of the main concerns in my group was to get more educated on '- ! I ' f-' H- $ i f mmwm I :j j ll Cr&.K llilMPlll f iff r''-i'irr- 'nb?IIJ ' x:"'v r'":'flr m 'III J1 : JK:V' III - - Tfi ; " dan r Education Division Manager Dean Azule facilitated a small group dis cussion at the Grand Ronde community meeting. issues such as the endowments. We should continue to have these meet ings annually, which I think we kind of fell out of doing. People had no way of finding out about these things," Larsen said. "People really felt like they are part of the process at the meet ing, which is what we wanted." What Grand Ronde area members wanted most was a healthy Elder pen sion which took the most member votes at the meeting followed by edu cation. In addition to advocating for 100 percent subsidies for Grand Ronde college students, members also favored vocational training programs while some suggested starting a local tribal school. In keeping with votes cast at ear lier community meetings, many Grand Ronde members also indicated that they would like to see a tribal credit union, while, like many Salem voters, building infrastructure such as a water utility company and a trib- ally-owned store was a high priority. Housing was also near the top of the list of member priorities. Also similar to Salem's meeting, some Grand Ronde members, such as Russ Leno, said they would like to see tra ditional housing services for low in come members extended to those in the higher bracket as well. Although the Elder has owned his own home for a while he said it is long overdue for the siding and foun dation to be repaired and he would like to see more funds with less in come restrictions for Elders' home improvements. "As far as I'm concerned seeing as I'm an Elder I'd like to see them help the Elders with Elder programs like pension and housing," Leno said. But noting the growth and im provement that has taken place in Grand Ronde over recent years, Leno added that "it's amazing to see what's going on." Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 Address Service Requested Serials Dept. - Knight Library 1299 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1299 PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM, OR PERMIT NO. 178 University of Oregon Library Received on: 08-04-98 Snoke signals Gorton's Robin Hood bill seeks to take from well-off tribes By Oscar Johnson Prosperous tribes may be robbed of $12 million in program funding to help pay for their poorer counterparts and all would have to open their books to the U.S. government if a pending bill lets Uncle Sam sidestep its long-standing obligation to pay for vast aboriginal resources acquired long ago. In an attempt to spread out $760 million of insufficient federal fund ing for 557 Indian nations, section 129 of the Fiscal Year 1999 Interior Appropriations bill (S.2237) aims to redistribute the funds on an as needed, per capita basis. Also known as the "Robin Hood" or "Robber" bill, the provision was penned by Sen.-Slade Gorton (R WA), approved last month by a Sen ate subcommittee and is expected to reach the Senate floor shortly. If passed in its current form, S.2237 would direct the Bureau of In dian Affairs (BIA) to withhold half of the moneys earmarked for the top 10 percent of the most affluent tribes and redistribute it to the bottom 20 per cent of the poorest Indian nations for the 1999 fiscal year. Tribes would also be subject to means testing, requiring them to dis close their annual incomes to the BIA in order to receive future federal funding. Although it is estimated that as few as six tribes would loose half of their BIA funding under the proposed law, many tribes, including the Confed erated Tribes of Grand Ronde, are on guard. "In the first round S.2237 probably wouldn't hit us," said Grand Ronde Acting Executive Officer, Greg Ar chuleta. But he adds that financial data currently used by the BIA dates back to 1996 before the Tribe started benefitting from Spirit Moun tain Casino revenues. "But in the future, with the growth that we've seen, if casino revenues increase it could effect us." Archuleta also expressed concern over the bill's means testing provision. "The Tribe considers its financial information internal," he said. "All the feds want to do is see how much continued on page 2
