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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2004)
JANUARY 15, 2004 Smoke Signals Institute For Tribal Government Serving Across The Country Government continued from front page "It educated us in many ways," said Tribal Council member Bob Haller. "It was very use ful." Classes in Tribal governance have been de signed to be the national educa tion system for Tribal leaders. Information highlights "the un derlying legal and policy founda tions" for maintaining effective Tribal, state and federal relation ships, according to the Institute's website (www.tribalgov.pdx.edu ). The focus is on Tribal government "in the mod ern era." "Democracy is an interesting thing," said Furse from her modest office in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State Univer sity. "We are not trained for it," but with the Institute's program, "here's an opportunity to gather information for three days." The Harvard School of Government's program for American legislators served as a model, said Furse, who attended the Harvard program when she began serving in Congress in 1992. The Institute For Tribal Government program, run by board members from Tribes across the country, has grown according to the needs on reservations across the nation. "When we started," said Furse, "the board said that too many leaders are dying without their stories being told." And thus was born a program to make and preserve audio records of Tribal mem bers. To date, "the Institute has interviewed 17 great Tribal leaders," said Furse. (See sidebar) The Institute also supported the newly-opened Portland State University Indian Student and Community Center. Most recently, the Institute has been involved with some 22 trainings, including two serving 88 Tribal Council members of the Navajos, said Furse. And just before Grand Ronde's Restoration celebration in November (Smoke Signals, 121 03 issue), Furse had returned from a presenta tion to the United South and Eastern Tribes, based in Nashville, Tennessee and represent ing 24 federally recognized Tribes based along the East Coast. Funding support for the Institute comes from the U.S. Department of Education, the Spirit Mountain Foundation, The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, the Coeur I "1 y .v I fi f I U i aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaBaaaanaaaJ O- d'Alene Tribe, the Chickasaw Nation, Confed erated Tribes of the Warm Springs and the Eliza beth Furse Scholarship Fund. Who's Who In The Video Program Of Grand Ronde Tribal Elder and former Tribal Chair Kathryn Harrison Nisqually Tribal member Billy Frank, Jr. P Former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Wilma P. Mankiller Colville member S. Timothy Wapato Edward T. Begay, Speaker of the Navajo Nation Thomas Begay, Navajo Nation Tribal member Colville Tribal Council member Mel Tonasket Yupiaq Eskimo Mike Williams, now serving as Chairman of the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council and Vice Chair of the Alaska State Board of Education. Great Tribal Leaders Of Modern Times" Russell Jim, a member of the Yakama Indian Nation currently the Program Manager of the Environmental Restoration and Waste Man agement Program for the Tribe. Eddie L. Tullis, former Chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama, the only federally recognized Tribe in Alabama. John Echohawk, a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and former Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund. Ramona Bennett, a member and former Chairwoman of the Puyallup Tribe of S.W. Washington. Anthony Pico, member and former Chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians. i . a . "AH .$ML 1 I jr. 1 m?$r U , M-M-"" ' 4 t j. fumx,' ,v , ...... I -V It 1 I t
