NOVEMBER 1, 2003
Smoke Signals 3
Endowments Are The Focus At General Council Meeting
Tribal members asked about the Chinuk language lessons for kindergartners and prescription drugs for non
Tribal members.
By Ron Karten
The October General Council
meeting was held on Sunday, Oc
tober 12, at the Tribal Community
Center in Grand Ronde. Here are
the highlights:
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle
Kennedy called the meeting to or
der and expressed the hope that
Tribal hunters had been success
ful in the first week of hunting sea
son. The meeting had been put
off for a week in honor of the hunt
ers. Tribal member Dakota
Whitecloud offered the invocation.
Tribal Finance Officer Larry
Kovach used charts in hard copy
and in a PowerPoint program to
summarize the Tribe's six endow
ment programs. Details about
these endowments will be avail
able in the next edition of Coun
cil News. Further information is
also available to Tribal members
through the Tribe's Finance De
partment. Tribal member Les Knight asked
whether the Tribal Clinic was pay
ing for prescription drugs for folks
who are not Tribal members. Al
though the Tribe dispenses pre
scription drugs for less than the
general public pays, and though
the Tribe supplies prescription
drugs to non-Tribal members
whose primary care physician is at
the Wellness Center, the Tribes do
not pay for these drugs. Non-Tribal
members pay for them either in
cash or through their personal
health plans, said Michael Watkins,
Director of the Health Clinic.
Tribal member Robert Nagel
asked if the Tribes could purchase
less expensive drugs from Canada,
but that is not yet possible, accord
ing to Watkins, who added that the
Indian Health Services "are look- woman of the Elders' Committee. gram and now that they are of kin-
ing at that possibility."
In other announcements:
D The 20th Anniversary of Resto-
Elections will be held at the Tribal
Council meeting on January 4. All
Elders are eligible to vote.
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Finance Presentation Tribal Finance Officer Larry Kovach discussed the Tribe's six endow
ment programs with Tribal members at the General Council meeting on Sunday, October 12. The
proprietary information from the presentation will be made available to Tribal members in Council
News, or directly through the Tribe's Finance Department.
ration will be celebrated at the ca
sino on November 22.
D The Butch LaBonte family hon
ored their daughter, Sophia Lynn,
who passed away October 14 last
year, with a giveaway this year on
October 19.
D Nominations for four officer po
sitions for the Elders Committee
will be held at the group's Decem
ber meeting, December 7, accord
ing to Louise Medeiros, Chair-
Tribal Council member Ed
Larsen reported that the council
was looking into extra runs of the
Elders' shuttle buses to make more
room on the casino shuttles.
Tribal member Betty Bly peti
tioned the Tribal Council to extend
Chinuk language lessons to kindergarten-aged
children. To date, it
has only been offered to HeadStart
children. Bly's grandchildren had
participated in the Head Start pro-
dergarten age, she worried that it
might no longer be available to
them. "If they stop speaking it, they
will lose it," she said.
Although the council
previously had approved
funding for the three Cul
tural Resources positions
responsible for teaching
the HeadStart children, it
continues to investigate
two things: first, whether
existing positions can also
serve kindergarten chil
dren; and second,
whether to fund new po
sitions, not only for kin
dergarten students, but
for students up to high
school age who will ben
efit from continued stud
ies with the language.
Congratulations to door
prize winners: $50 win
ners were Tribal members
Dennis Hicks and Bryan
Langley, who is Manager
of the Procurement De
partment, along with
Dave Fullerton, manager
of the Social Services De
partment. Fullerton and
Langley contributed their
winnings to the Amanda Jones
Schulte Fund (Smoke Signals, 9-1-03)
set up to help the family of this
18-year-old Tribal member pay for
many of the uncovered costs of a
heart-lung transplant. $100 door
prize winner was Tribal member
Shelly Bertolucci.
The next general Tribal Council
meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m.,
November 2 at the Tribal Commu
nity Center.
Lobbyist In Elite Class At Harvard
Tribal member Justin Martin joins leaders from 57
countries in the mid-career Masters program.
By Ron Karten
For 11 months, Tribal lobbyist
and Tribal member Justin Mar
tin will be the toast of Beantown,
as he pursues a Masters Degree
in Public Administration for those
in mid-career at Harvard
University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government.
He joins 229 others from
around the world including an
Israeli Defense minister and a
NASA space shuttle pilot. Statis
tics he picked up from the orien
tation session showed that stu
dents represented 57 countries
and 30 languages. They arrived
with 136 advanced degrees, and
came from such occupations as politics, journalism and such organizations
as the Peace Corps and the New York City Police Department. Martin
was the only Tribal member this year, though others have attended in the
past, he said.
"As a Tribal member and employee, I'm very proud to be in this group,"
said Martin by phone from Boston, "to have this opportunity that was
basically afforded to me by the perseverance of our Elders, and in this, the
20th Anniversary of Restoration, I really feel blessed to have this opportu
nity and proud to represent my Tribe in a class of this makeup."
The school's website describes some of what Martin is in for: "This de-
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gree of diversity generates some of the liveliest and least predictable class
room discussions at Harvard. Our Mid-Careers tend to have strong opin
ions and they also have a wealth of professional experience with which to
support those opinions. Ideas flow freely, and knowledge emerges from
unexpected quarters."
The group will be taking courses with names like 'Mobilizing Group
Resources,' 'Leadership and the Structure of Organizations,' 'Mobilizing
for Political Action' and 'Genius and Folly: How Leaders Use and Misuse
Power.'
Martin intends to fit the following goals into this rarified atmosphere: "I
would like to, one, continue the work we've been able to do (Tribal govern
ment to state and federal government relations), and to really be able to
enhance my own personal skills and come back and share with the rest of the
organization and the Tribal membership, some of the practices going on
throughout the world. To sharpen my skills on analysis, advocacy and man
agement: that's the gist of the program."
Martin began to think about the program in 2,000 when the Tribe was
honored by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development
for its successful efforts in the field of government to government relations.
In addition, Martin continues to work for the Tribe on a limited basis
while in school. "I will still be directing the government affairs function,
inter-government affairs," he said, "and still be coordinating with our team,
including Tribal Council." In addition, he came home for a week at the
end of August and will be back home again for a month in January.
The summer session, which Martin attended, taught him a little bit about
East Coast weather. "Let's just say, we got that tropical sun. The
humidity's been a little tough, and not having a car is a little different,
but you know, the Red Line's (street car) great."
When done, Martin intends "to maintain a relationship with Harvard's
Indian Economic Development Project. It does great things inside Indian
Country and outside."
"The school is obviously rich in history, and I look forward to learning
more about it, and bring back some skills, and encourage other Tribal
members to pursue their education goals as well," he said.