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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2001)
Smoke Signals 3 Hatfield Visit Highlights March General Council Meeting Casino, Policy and Planning staff give program updates. MARCH 15, 2001 By Brent Merrill The March Gen eral Council Meet ing was held on Sunday, March 4 at the Tribe's Commu nity Center in Grand Ronde. Here are the highlights: 1954 is one of those years in history that we would like to forget about, but we cant We must remember. Senator Mark 0. Hatfield on termination. D Senator Speaks to Members Former Oregon Governor, Secre tary of State and Senator Mark 0. Hatfield visited and talked about how far the Tribe has come since he first started working with the people of Grand Ronde nearly 20 years ago. "Senator Mark Hatfield and his wife Antoinette are truly a part of us," said Tribal Chair Kathryn Har rison as she introduced Hatfield to the membership. Hatfield shared stories of his youth growing up in Dallas and beginning his career in Salem. He said he roamed the mountains and foothills of Grand Ronde as a kid. He remem bered his family members who worked in the timber mills in the area and he remembered what it was like to work with the Tribal leaders to wards Restoration of the Grand Ronde Tribe to federal recognition. He also remembered the era of ter mination in 1954 four years before he became the Governor of Oregon. He said it gave him great personal pleasure to be part of the turnaround and the establishment of a Tribal suc cess story here in Grand Ronde. "I want to say that it is a great honor and privilege to be here and to recognize again the broad base of this confederated Tribal Council rep resenting the Umpqua, Molalla, Rogue River, Kalapuya and Chasta," said Hatfield in his opening remarks. "I am more than pleased to be able to join you." Coming to the area was a chance to remember days gone by for the state's most powerful political figure ever. "These are wonderful days of memories," said Hatfield. "I'm try ing to strengthen our understanding of the past because I know that there are many people here today that are younger than my generation. I be lieve that is a great responsibility we have to pass on those memories of that heritage that we all enjoy today." The era of termination was a pain ful memory for Hatfield. One he shared with the membership. "Let me just briefly say that after 1954, which was one of the most troublesome years of our Indian American political history, when there was an expectation that the Native Americans would meld with all the other cultures, that we would expect them to disappear so to speak," said Hatfield. "That was at a time when they (members of the Grand Ronde Tribe) were stripped of their lands, stripped of many of their re sources that they depended on. And, 1954 is one of those years in history that we would like to forget about, but we can't. We must remember. Because it was not until 1983 that the Grand Ronde Tribe was one of the first groups to gain federal rec ognition and be restored to their Na tionhood to their status as truly a people of great heritage and great importance to this whole country. "We were trying to keep the hu man face of the Grand Rondes people who lived here, people who were related to this Reservation and we had a great deal of help," said Hatfield of the efforts by local politi cal figures who helped the Tribe in the fight for Restoration. "I must take a moment to say that no group of people (members of the Tribe), I think, were ever represented by a more dynamic, committed group of leaders than Kathryn Harrison and former chairman Mark Mercier and Margaret Provost and of course my colleagues Congressman Les Aucoin and (Congresswoman) Elizabeth Furse. We had the unprecedented combination of Tribal leaders and community leaders and public offi cials. Therefore we were able to over come those political hurdles we had at the House and Senate. What you have achieved here, you are begin ning to disseminate to other parts (of Indian Country)." Following Hatfield's talk to the I si p. C PA V 3-' 1 i in , 3 1 membership, Tribal Council presented the Hatfield's with a Pendleton blan ket and the Senator's wife, Antoinette, with Grand Ronde bas ketry designed by Tribal basket mas ters Sam Henny and Connie Graves. D Casino Presentation Spirit Mountain Casino's Chief Fi nancial Officer Ty Huff talked to the general membership about the cur rent leveling off in casino profits. Huff said that the gaming revenues for the Tribe's casino have leveled off in recent months and steps are be ing taken to mitigate the drop off in dollars. Huff said the casino admin istration is reducing expenses in an attempt to enhance profits. Huff said one of the ways to limit the impacts is to reduce staff through attrition and only essential person nel will be hired for a period of time. The good news is that net income for the casino is on budget and running even with last year at this time. Huff detailed the casino adminis tration's new marketing theme and what those plans entail. Huff said 200 new slot machines would be added to the floor and that advertis ing would be placed in local newspa pers promoting the new machines. The new machines will replace older, outdated machines currently in use. Huff said several new promotions would also be taking place at the ca sino in the next few months. D Policy and Planning The Tribe's Policy and Planning de partment made a presentation to the general membership about the re sults of the Social and Economic As sessment survey, which was recently sent out to Tribal households in the state and throughout the nation. Do I get to keep it? Retired Senator Mark Hatfield (center) and his wife Antoinette were guests at the Tribe's March General Council meeting. The Hatfield's were given gifts by the Tribal Council and Tribal members - in cluding a Pendleton blanket and some Grand Ronde basketry. Hatfield said he was honored by the gifts and by his association with the Tribe. Dr. Gretchen Greene from North west Economic Associates, the firm that is handling the survey on behalf of the Tribe, said the survey was an attempt to assess where the Tribal community is now so a future path for Tribal op erations can be determined. Dr. Greene said the survey was mailed out to 2,337 Tribal members over the age of 18. She said 47 per cent of the Tribal members who re ceived a survey responded. Dr. Greene also said 415 surveys were sent out to non-Tribal member households and that 52 percent of those surveys were returned. B Door Prizes Nancy Coleman, Albert Peters and Dr. Bob McKusick (the President and CEO of Northwest Economic Associ ates) each won $50 and McKusick donated his winnings to the Royalty girls. Jessie Brann won the $100 drawing and Tonya Reibach won two tickets to a Doernbecher Hospi tal children's event at the casino. Next General Meeting The next General Council meeting will be held on Sunday, April 1 at 11:30 a.m. at the Community Cen ter. Presenters include Education and Culture departments. Daylight savings time is that morning please remember to turn your clocks ahead Sunday morning. Ladies and Gentlemen: Let's Get Ready to Rumble.... By Justin Phillips and Willie Mercier The earth is moving. On February 28, 10:54 a.m. the Tribal offices felt something underneath it. Is this the Big One? "My chair started moving back and forth," said Sheila Herber, Small Business Develop Specialist. "Then I thought my books were going to fall out of the book case." Though it did no damage to the buildings, it did do something. It reminded people that you can never be too ready for a natural disaster. The magnitude 6.8 earthquake, centered 40 miles southwest of Seattle between Tacoma and Olympia. The epicenter was 202 miles from Grand Ronde. The quake was the second strongest in Northwest history. Damages throughout the Northwest could reach above $2 billion, and the hardest hit areas were near Seattle, Washington. The quake was felt as far ted "J thought I took too many aspirin. " Nathan Rolston, Shipping and 'Receiving "J thought my leg was shaking on its own. " "Valerie McKnight, Patient Registration "I thought I was having some dizzy spells. " Egypt Powley Wellness Secretary "The building swayed like we were on a ship. " "Kim Mueller, Production Coordinator away as Salt Lake City, Utah. Experts said its depth was in a fault 31 miles underground. Since it happened in land, there was no worry about a Tsunami warning. At least one person was confirmed dead and more than 250 people injured, mostly in the Seattle area. U.S. Highway 101 buckled in areas north of Olympia and delayed flights plagued Seattle International Airport. State inspectors declared 21 buildings in downtown Seattle were uninhabitable and six counties were declared disaster zones. Puget Sound Energy reported more than 200,000 custom ers in Western Washington were without power for hours. Experts say the earthquake that we felt is a reminder the Northwest is headed for a major disaster unless preparation is given more attention. Editor's Note: This story hit Smoke Signals website the day after it hap pened. We are online.
