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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2005)
4 SEPTEMBER 1, 2005 Smoke Signals Tribal Youth, Internship Program Conclude Another Successful Summer 7 p- i 4 V i: Success Story Youth Education Supervisor Marie Heimburg hands out awards to students at the Summer Youth Employee Luncheon held on Friday, Au gust 19. Left to right are, Sharona Jackson, Tanatia Jackson and Kerrina Grout. Appreciation Tribal youth Alicia Selwyn and Ashley Bedortha present Tribal Council member Angie Blackwell (Ashley Is mom) a piece of art work for Tribal Council in appreciation of their support of the internship program. Some of the Tribal Youth traveled to New York over the summer. The Water From The Tap Still Bubbling Up In Grand Meadows Two years after first reported, nothing has been done yet. By Ron Karten "Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. The doctors were puzzled by the fact that it wasn't quite jaundice. If it became jaundice they could treat it. If it didn't become jaun dice and went away they could discharge him. But this just being short of jaundice all the time confused them." B Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Here in Grand Meadows, the water bubbles out of the tap thick and cloudy. There's nothing wrong with it from a health stand point. It's perfectly clean, and one -source said that he believed it is cleaner than bottled water. But it doesn't look so healthy when it comes out of the tap. It comes from up in the hills south of Grand Ronde. The system is gravity fed so by the time it hits town the water is coming pretty fast, and as it is forced into succes sively smaller pipes, air gets caught up in the water making the bub bly, frothy mix. Like the doctors in Catch 22, Tribal Public Works Director John Mercier is a little perplexed by the problem. He says that if the wa ter were unhealthy, he'd move heaven and earth to get it fixed, but this business of the water just not looking healthy keeps him from embarking on the one pro posed solution that he can try blowing out the system's dead ends once or twice a year. According to Tribal Engineer Eric Scott, that may or may not actually fix the problem. Another option, ac cording to Scott, is to replace the 6 inch tributary pipes that travel from home to home in Grand Ronde with 8 inchers to better accommodate the water rushing down from the hills. In addition, Scott said, newer pipes in the system have air release valves but older pipes do not. And though no project has yet been assigned to make all these fixes, Scott is not at all sure that making them will solve the problem. "It's difficult to know what the water will be like after," he said. Mercier isn't alone in his assess ment. Grand Meadows resident, Tribal Elder Jerry McCarthy, said that the water is safe. In the first place, oxygen is a pu rifying agent. In Germany, he said, they use oxygen instead of chlorine to keep their water clean. McCarthy is former Chief Water Operations Engineer for the Port land Water Bureau. The Portland Water Bureau used to blow out its dead ends because dead end water is a trap for bacte ria, he said, but many sections of Portland live with water like Grand Meadows water. But for many in Grand Meadows who can go to almost any other tap in town and get good, clean, clear water, the fuhgeddaboutit solution is less than they've hoped for. "I don't drink the water," said Grand Meadows resident Michael Watkins, Director of the Tribe's Wellness Clinic. "They say that the water is perfectly safe but people get a perception when the water comes out cloudy." The Watkins family buys bottled water to drink but uses the tap for washing and just about everything else. "We've just gotten used to it," he said. "I'm just disappointed that this doesn't seem to be important and nobody's doing anything about it," said Tribal member Brent Merrill, Grand Meadows resident and Edi tor of Smoke Signals. "Two years ago, we were told that this issue was going to be addressed and it hasn't been. Why aren't we doing something about it? South Korean Leaders Visit Yamhill County, Grand Ronde Tribe Tribal Council participates in an international intergovernmental relations journey. By Chris Mercier, Tribal Council member If you were at Spirit Mountain Ca sino on July 30, that drumming and singing emanating out of Rogue Room A were not rehearsals for our contest pow-wow. Rather, they were part of the end of a 10,000-mile intergovern mental relations journey. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde hosted a group of 20 delegates from South Korea, Geumsan Prov ince to be precise, the sister county to Yamhill. The delegation stayed in Grand Ronde for two nights at Spirit Mountain Lodge, and on July 30, went out with a bang as the Tribe treated them to a farewell ban quet that featured drumming, sing ing, the Veterans' Honor Guard and a multi-course meal that boasted not only Oregon ingredients, but food stuffs indigenous to Yamhill County, like blackberries, hazelnuts and spinach. Attendance for the dinner was estimated at more than 65 people, including Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy, my self, Kathryn Harrison, Tribal Tour- SQi Aw J Ambassadors Tribal member CeeCee Moreland and daughter, Nakoosa, pose with members of the South Korean delegation visiting Grand Ronde. Artist John Hawks (left) and Yamhill County Commis sioner Mary Stern (right) greeted the group at Hawks World Gallery in McMinnville. i i i Y. $4 I mil In"' 1 1 r L - 1 J. $ ' s a if 3. ism Coordinator Elaine LaBonte and Mary Stern. Yamhill County Commissioner The Geumsan delegation's visit is part of a longstanding relationship that Yamhill County has had with the Ko reans, one intended to boost commerce and create a cultural awareness be tween the two communities. In 1996, Yamhill sent a delegation over to Geumsan that included then-Chairman Mark Mercier. The delegation arrived in Oregon on July 28, beginning a four-day whirl wind tour that took them to Yamhill's outstanding locales and events, in cluding The Hawks' World Gallery, Michelbook Country Club and the Ev ergreen Aviation Museum, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills in McMinnville as well as George Fox University and the Olde Fashioned Days Parade in Newberg. The July 30 banquet had drum ming by Travis Mercier, and a fare well song by CeeCee Kneeland and members of the Tribe's Royalty. An invitation has already been ex tended from the Geumsan delegation to host members of a Yamhill County group, with representation from Grand Ronde, next year for the 2006 World Ginseng Festival.
