OR. COLL.
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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
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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
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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
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