2 JANUARY 1, 2005
Smoke Signals
Attention Tribal Members:
The Tribal Council is requesting your input for the Community Meetings
that will be held in 2005.
Please bring written items to be considered to the January 2005 General
Council meeting or call Dakota Whitecloud at 1-800-422-0232 ext. 1309, di
rect at 503-879-1309 or email at dakota.whitecloudgrandronde.org.
All items received will be reviewed by the Tribal Council. The issues
appearing to be most important to the General Membership will be dis
cussed at the Community Meetings.
Thank you for your assistance.
2005 General Council Meeting Schedule
January 9 Grand Ronde Please bring a canned food or
cash donation to benefit the Grand Ronde Community Resource
Center and Food Bank.
February 6 Portland, Oregon Address To Be Announced
March 6 Grand Ronde
April 3 Eugene, Oregon Address To Be Announced
May 1 Grand Ronde
June 26 Grand Ronde Tribal Council - Nominations
SUMMER BREAK
September 11 Grand Ronde (Second Sunday Labor Day)
October 9 Grand Ronde (Second Sunday Hunting)
November 6 Grand Ronde
December 4 Grand Ronde
Dear Tribal members,
I have heard a number of Tribal members bring up the issue of blood quantum
and the stand that some of our Tribal leadership candidates have taken. It
makes my heart sad to see such a division and disagreement on an issue that
should unite us. We are all descendents in a family tree of ever-thinning blood
lines. Many of us were lucky enough to be born into the "right" generation to be
an official member of the Tribe.
The truth is that the blood quantum requirement was originally a U.S. gov
ernment imposed regulation that was designed to thin out Indian Nations and
free the U.S. government from any treaties they may have made with the In
dian people. By limiting the numbers, they were limiting the length of their
contracts.
Few, if any of us, were born into money. The per capita, health benefits,
education scholarships and housing fund have all been amazing blessings to me
and my family year after year. However, I was a member of the Tribe long
before I ever received a single penny. My grandfather, John Pichette, never got
to see the great things the Tribe has done in recent years. He would have been
proud of the great strides we have made financially. But most of all, he would
have wanted to see that his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren
were a part of a bigger circle of culture that, for centuries, survived without per
capita.
I am saddened that many of us have lost sight of what it means to be a mem
ber of the Tribe. I will argue passionately that in our heart of hearts, all of us
have a deep, undying love for our culture over the money.
When we are considering leadership for our tribe, we need to consider how
long we can keep our heritage from disappearing into meaningless statistics of
blood quantum. When we allow our Indian brothers and sisters to be denied
entry, into some exclusive club, than the U.S. government has won.
Lets focus our efforts on opening our arms to ALL of our children, our grand
children and cousins who have a desire to carry on the legacy of a great Indian
Nation. When we begin squabbling over pennies, our Nation becomes a mirror
of the money-hungry culture that set out to diminish our numbers in the first
place.
We need to ask ourselves, in the end, what truly is important. Per capita can
only take us so far. Our future depends entirely on individuals who love, honor
and know the culture that we have all fought so hard to build up and protect.
Blessings,
Sarah Ross
Roll 1366
Still Giving
Doug Bartlett,
Yamhill Community
Assistance Pro
gram (YCAP) Di
rector (left), pre
sents former Tribal
Council member
Ed Larsen a plaque
recognizing 9 years
of service to YCAP.
Larsen served as a
board member
during the years he
served on Tribal
Council.
rn
W h -.-
i v. J ill
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