Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2004)
Smoke Signals 3 MAY 1, 2004 Spirit Mountain Community Fund, Tribal Council Working Together Fund Continued from front page a member of the Fund Board since its establishment said he was also encouraged with the results of the meeting. "I have been so pleased to repre sent both Spirit Mountain Casino and my Tribe on the Spirit Moun tain Community Fund Board over the last few years," said Henny. The Fund allows us to put our best foot forward with the rest of the state. It showcases our generosity, sense of community and honors our traditions. I am convinced of the dedication of our Tribal Council and our Community Fund Board of Di rectors and staff." Tribal Council member and Fund Board member Jack Giffen, Jr. at tended the meeting and said he felt everyone shared the idea that com munication was the key to keeping the direction of the fund going in a positive way. "The general feeling I have from the meeting is very positive," said Giffen. "I think most of the ques tions the Fund Board and Tribal Council had received truthful and very positive answers. Both par ties are looking into the future of the Spirit Mountain Community Fund and everyone saw the need to keep communication lines open for the future growth of all involved." Henny said he sees the board and the Tribal leadership moving for ward in a positive direction. "We share common goals giv ing back to our community and hon oring traditions," said Henny. "I am convinced we are going to move ahead with continued professional ism, dedication and compassion." "I think we accomplished the goal that we set out to do," said Tribal Council Vice Chairman Reyn Leno. "And that was to meet the obliga tion to the membership which is first and foremost for the Tribal Council and help the trustees do their job which is to meet the obli gation to the charities they service." Leno said the meeting helped ev eryone understand their roles bet ter. "It became more clear what roles the council has and what roles the board has," said Leno. "It was a good day for everybody." The Tribe has shared $25 million in casino revenue through the Spirit Mountain Community Fund since its establishment in 1997 as a way of honoring Tribal traditions of giving back to the community. It was the Tribes' idea to give six percent of casino profits to non-In-dian, charitable organizations when the Tribe entered into initial compact negotiations with the state prior to opening Spirit Mountain Casino. The fund was seen as a way to formalize our people's tradi tion of support for surrounding com munities. As much as 65 percent of the Fund's charitable contributions have gone to non-profit organiza tions in Multnomah County and nearly $4 million has gone to needy organizations here at home in Polk County. A Helping Hand The Grand Ronde Community Pood Share Program elected Tribal Elder Merle Holmes (second from right) to the board of direc tors, joining Acting Program Director, Alisa Larson (left, holding photo of the late Michaelle Kimsey, former member of the board of directors), Tribal Elder and Vice Chair, Marvin Kimsey, board member Pam Bernard, Secretary Nancy Holmes and board member Margaret Wilds. Not present is Chair Tim Holmes and board member Jon George. Each year the food share program distributes over 1 1 0,000 pounds of food to needy families in the West Valley. The board and their 27 volunteers put in over 1 ,870 hours last year, helping 974 households with their basic food needs. The volunteers also run a senior meals service and a community garden project, with 1 7 families signed up. The program's cost is 60 percent funded by government grants with an additional 25 percent from the Grand Ronde Tribal Council. The food share program is open Mondays and Thursdays from 1 1 a.m. to 2 p.m. I b.tti fy - i L ' -TH , ' ' 1 Front Page Picture Of Native American Skull Insults Oregon Indians Skull Continued from front page sion ahead of time," said Therese Bottomly, Managing EditorNews of The Oregonian. Comparing it with photos of coffins coming back from Iraq, Bottomly said that it is "similar in the sense that every time a newspaper, as you know, has to weigh the information value versus the potential that some readers or viewers might be unhappy with that pic ture." The Oregonian was the first newspaper in the country to stop using Indian references in the names of sports team mascots, but that repu tation made this case all the more difficult to understand for many in Grand Ronde. "I was amazingly disappointed," said Merrill, "that a newspaper seen as the pre-eminant newspaper in the Northwest, particularly one seen as culturally sensitive in the past, would do something so insen sitive." "We talked about it in the after noon news meeting," said Bottomly. "One of the striking things about the story was where (the skull) was found, so our desire was to show where it was found. From my per spective, it looked fairly indistin guishable not being front and cen ter. I talked to the photo director who had spent quite a bit of time in Montana, and worked with Tribes, (and we recognized that) by the appropriate Indian Tribe, no person shall... (b) Publicly display or exhibit any Native Indian hu man remains, funerary object, sa cred object or object of cultural pat rimony." "I don't know anything about the law," said Bottomly. "I guess I'd have to say it wasn't an issue (while considering whether to publish the we shouldn't make assumptions that we know how everybody feels." "To me, it's very disrespectful," said Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn Leno. "I would think it would be disre spectful to any human being," said Tribal Council member Jack Giffen. Oregon Law appears to prohibit such displays. In ORS 97.745 (2), the law says: "Except as authorized photo)." And while Karen Quiqley, Execu tive Director of the state's Legisla tive Commission on Indian Services, noted that "There is so much of the Cultural Resource Protection law that has never been tested in court," she added that "an argument might be made that a photograph might not be a public display." Complicating the issue, she said, are the ramifications of pursuing a legal case in light of the prevalence of such images that are presented as slides in university courses and conferences of academics, and even as photographs in textbooks around the country. "This is certainly a situation where the perspective of Tribes that are offended has not been taken into account," she said. The Cultural Resources De partment of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (CTGR) was at press time arranging to have the skull picked up from the Multnomah County morgue to be held in a "secure location. . .on Tribal lands," ac cording to Quiqley, where it will stay while interested In dian parties discuss burial plans as well as continue to talk about the protocol for handling similar situations in the future. "The primary intent," said Quiqley, "is to retrieve these re mains from non-Tribal govern ments and get them on Tribal lands, and then have an inter-Tribal dis cussion about how to handle the burial." "The bottom line," said Merrill, "is that the ancestor be returned to the ground as soon as possible." B
