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