JULY 15, 2004
Smoke Signals 5
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Actions continued
from page 4
sure such activities are done in a manner which protects the peace, health,
safety, welfare and economic security of residents and visitors to Tribal
Lands. Discussion followed. Motion carried 4-0-0.
B GRTIIA Board Commissioners Appointments. Val Grout moved,
Valorie Robertson seconded to adopt Resolution No. 081-04 appointing
Clyde Stryker and Jack Rovics, Jr. to the Grand Ronde Tribal Housing
Authority Board of Commissioners for terms expiring March 2007. Mo
tion carried 4-0-0.
Health Committee Appointments. Valorie Sheker-Robertson moved,
Jan Reibach seconded to adopt Resolution No. 082-04 appointing Camille
Mercier and Anna Marie Hannan as members of the Health Committee.
Motion carried 4-0-0.
OTHER BUSINESS
B Education 2004 Scholarships Approvals. Val Grout moved, Ed
Larsen seconded to adopt Resolution No. 083-04 approving the recom
mended Education 2004-2005 Scholarship selections. Motion carried
4-0-0.
B A Tribal member asked the status of a reply to her letter inquiring of
the interview process regarding the Grand Ronde Gaming Commission
Board of Commissioner position. Vice-Chairman Reyn Leno advised that
this will have to be taken up when the rest of Council returns. In addi
tion, the Tribal member inquired on the status of the Culture Committee's
access to the Culture Resources Department. Cliff Adams, General Man
ager, said the issue should be resolved the next couple of weeks.
B A Tribal member wanted to know why she was asked to stay out of
Tribal language classes. Cliff Adams advised her he would attempt again
to get all parties together in a meeting to address the issue.
B A Tribal member asked if each department had Policies and Procedures
in place. Cliff Adams, General Manager, advised that the evaluations of
the Policies and Procedures is currently going on and the findings should
be done by the end of the year.
B A Tribal member inquired about terminations from the Natural Re
source Department. General Manager Cliff Adams responded. The Tribal
member voiced his opinion that the Tribe should help its members be em
ployed or trained for employment. Cliff Adams stated that the Tribe does
have a rehireretrain policy in place and that the policy is currently being
reviewed.
6:15 p.m. Jan Reibach moved, Ed Larsen seconded to adjourn the
meeting. Motion carried.
OSU Opening To Tribal Communities
lent collaborative partnership that
can be an avenue for all Tribal
people to access, which is what
we're looking for," said Campbell.
An aim is "the sharing of ideas
and information in equal basis on
projects that enrich
Tribal communi
ties," said Peters.
One of the strate
gies will use the
university's College
of Agriculture 'am
bassadors' model to
create NACI "am
bassadors" in Tribal
communities. The
Ag model names
students as ambas
sadors who in turn
visit high schools
throughout the
state to talk about
the program at OSU
and its benefits.
The Institute
hopes to foster simi
lar opportunities
through the
university's other
schools, too. In one
ongoing project,
OSU is offering
Tribes instruction in
research methods,
said Peters.
The Burns
Paiutes have asked
the Institute's help
answering the ques
tion: should the
Tribe invest in
The Coquilles have sought a cul
tural resources consulting study
from the program.
Grand Ronde will host a journal
ism institute during pow-wow this
summer. Through this program,
Indian peopu
lization of th
"NACI sets
Tribal people
intentions, t
needs and mt
' f f
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1 " ..w.'-- 1 r - g
Learning Experience Danielle Fournier served as an intern in the
Tribe's Public Information Office during her last semester at Oregon State
University before graduation. Fournier got to see the Tribal newsroom up
close and personal and said that it was a learning experience for her to see
the difference between mainstream media and the Native press. Fournier,
who accomplished a degree is Ethnic Studies , is an intregal part of the Native
American Collabrative Institute at OSU.
OSU continued
from front page
purpose which I enjoyed im
mensely. What I got to witness was
how much time was really spent
deconstructing (negative) stereo
types in the media."
When Peters arrived at OSU,
there was a feeling at the school
that because it had relationships
with one or two Tribes that "all
were being served," he said. "But
the university had never developed
a comprehensive plan for engaging
Tribes in partnership. I was hear
ing from the (Native) communities,
'No, OSU is not out in the commu
nities.'" His response to these voices was
to open up "better lines of commu
nication. I was concerned about
the way children were being re
cruited and served by Oregon State
(University)."
"I pulled together the choir," he
said, referring to like-minded indi
viduals both within and outside of
the OSU community.
The result: four years ago, OSU
hosted the first Sacred Landscapes
Conference. The program included
only Native speakers who were en
couraged "to come share their
hearts, to speak thoughtfully," said
Peters of the two-day event. Grand
Ronde Tribal Elder and former
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Kathryn Harrison was one of the
conference's first speakers.
Last year, the most recent event
drew 200 from Tribal and non
Tribal communities, with a once-a-week-for-10-weeks
format.
So far, the Institute has worked
with five of the nine Tribes and "is
looking forward to working with all
nine," said Peters.
Here in Grand Ronde, April
Campbell, Educational Specialist
for the Tribe and local liaison for
the Institute, reported that the In
stitute is working together with
Tribes to develop a cultural compe
tency program for all age groups.
"I think it's going to be an excel-
cattle?
"I can tell you that we've been
involved for the last two-and-a-half
years," said Art Tassie, Burns
Paiute General Manager. "They
have been extremely helpful with
studies on economic development.
They actually arranged to have a
team of MBA candidates working
on one of our economic develop
ment projects and the work that
they did probably would have cost
about $100,000 if done by a pri
vate company."
affiliated with the OSU Journalism
Department, high school students
will pursue their journalistic inter
ests while learning about Grand
Ronde culture.
"The federal government has no
single, comprehensive policy about
its dealing with Indian Tribes," said
Peters. "The policy has always been
one of remaking Indians in the vi
sion of what people of European
heritage heralded as civilized. The
feds have scarcely recognized that
have a full, rich civi
ir own design,
up a table at which
come with their own
leir own community
et with the resources
available at OSU
in devising ap
proaches that en
rich the Tribal com
munities by ad
dressing Tribal
needs on Tribal
terms. That's the
purpose of NACI."
When Peters first
approached OSU
president Ed Ray
about the Institute,
he recalled Ray
asking, "What can
I do?" and Peters
responded: "Don't
go out to the Tribes
with an agenda.
Go out there to be
friends. Everyone
out there has heard
the promises so
many times."
Though Tribes
and OSU people
both propose
projects, Peters said
that "OSU wants to
create partnerships
that invest the best ,
thinking on both
sides to enrich
Tribal communi
ties." In the past,
he said, too many
of the projects
"have been of our (OSU) invention."
Spinoffs from the Institute are po
tentially unlimited. One separate
but related project, for example, is
being spearheaded by OSU presi
dent Ray, and will include develop
ment of a "virtual OSU Tribal col
lege," said Peters.
"The key thing that I really enjoy
is thru Kurt, I have access to every
department there is," said Tassie.
"My feeling is that he's truly inter
ested in Native American people."