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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2005)
Smoke Signals 7 DECEMBER 15, 2005 Travis Merrier helped dedicated a Wall of Remembrance honoring 535 settlers and Natives in May in St. Paul. Sister Margaret Mary, who taught at St. Michael Church starting in 1946, passed away this year. The casino settled on a deal with the Internal Revenue Service to withhold tip taxes from hourly casino employ ees earlier this year. The Tribal float, Taxayam! Hayash-tseqw tilixam nsayka! Hello! We are the Columbia River People!" won the Sweepstakes Award for Most Outstanding Float in this year's Southwest Airlines Grand Floral Pa rade in Portland. In June, Grand Ronde and Siletz Tribes broke ground for a 15-acre multi use project that will be part of a larger development called, "The Gateway to Keizer." The site was originally part of the Chemawa Indian School property and in 2002, cut off from the school by highways, it was deemed surplus and returned to the two Tribes. In May, Smoke Signals was honored with the White Buffalo Award pre sented by Medicine Winds News out of Klamath Falls. The award was for setting an example of excellence in journalism. Tribal member Shelley Hanson was named Director of the Spirit Mountain Community Fund in June. Grand Ronde Royalty took the blue In August, Tribal member Klairice A. Westley helped coordinate an Indian anti-war conference in Portland. At tended by Siletz Tribal Elder Dino Butler, the conference also featured a letter introduction by jailed Indian activist Leonard Peltier. Spirit Mountain Casino Human Re sources Department continued its suc cessful career development classes encouraging casino employees to evalu ate their careers "from within." Smoke Signals won five awards at this year's Native American Journal ists Association meeting in July. Tribal members Toby McClary and Justin Phillips each took home plaques as did former Smoke Signals photog rapher Peta Tinda (Nakoda). Also in July, Tribal member Nikki Norwest, a senior at Willamina High School, visited China for 17 days in the People to People Student Ambas sador Program. In August, Grand Ronde Royalty made an appearance on AM Northwest. South Korean leaders visited the Tribe and other selected locations throughout Yamhill County in late J uly. The Zimmers, mom Penny and daughter Cheyeanne, were among a number of Tribal parent-child pairs that earned their GED's together this year. Members of the aboriginal Maori Tribe of New Zealand visited Oregon in Sep- , X u-ii tsAzdJL toil :.! X ui: ilssX 21 The Portland Winter Hawks named March 20, 2005 "Grand Ronde Night" at the Rose Garden in Portland. The Tribe sponsored the Winter Hawks for the year and hundreds of Tribal members enjoyed many home games for the team. Sponsorship is still pending for the 2005-06 season. ribbon at the West Valley 4th of July Parade. Grand Ronde Elders hosted hundreds of Tribal Elders from more than a dozen Northwest Tribes in July for this year's Elders' Honor Day. A Grand Ronde delegation again this year made the trip to New York City's Museum of Natural History in July to reunite with the meteorite Tomanowos. Grand Ronde Tribal members joined many others for "The Paddle to Elwha" canoe adventure, a 200-mile, 12-day ocean journey from Squaxin Island to Port Angeles. It was billed as a "Heal ing and Unity Journey." Tribal member and Tourism Coordi nator Elaine LaBonte organized the "Encounter at Nichaqwli" held in Au gust at Blue Lake Regional Park near Fairview. The event commemorated the meeting between Native Americans and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Joseph Stone, Ph.D., Manager of the Tribe's Behavioral Health section, tes tified before Congress in June about the role that post-colonial stress plays in Indian suicides. tember. Visitors included many tradi tional weavers whose work comprised a major art show - "Toi Maori: The Eter nal Thread" at the Hallie Ford Mu seum in Salem. The group visited Grand Ronde and Siletz Tribes, exchanging gifts and stories as they went. The Tribe elected two new Tribal Council members in August and re elected one, Reyn Leno. Kathleen Tom and Tribal Elder Wink Soderberg were elected to first terms on the council. Forty eight Tribal youth participated in this year's Summer Youth Program providing real world work experience, a pay check, and lots of fun. The Tribal Youth program also sent three high school interns to work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The Tribal Housing Authority was honored as "an exceptionally well-run program" this year by the federal Housing and Urban Development Department. In September, the Northwest Indian Housing Association nominated Grand Ronde as the Tribe of the Year for the Housing Program. Carina Kistler Ginter was nominated Executive Direc tor of the Year and Construction Coor dinator Duane I lussey was nominated as I lousing Staffer of the Year. The Tribe and Ginter ultimately won in their categories. Polk County Sheriffs Deputy Tom O'Brien, who helped institute commu nity policing in Grand Ronde, retired this year after 18 years on the force. The Spirit Mountain Community Fund passed $30 million in giving this year, and celebrated with a gala dinner and dance at Salem's new convention center. This fall, Wilma Mankiller, once principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and her husband Charlie Soap, joined the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics at the University of Oregon. Mankiller was named to the Wayne Morse Chair and Soap, a community activist who helps Mankiller get around physically, also visited local schools in the Eugene area. Later, Mankiller was joined by former AIM activist John Trudell for an evening discussion and remem brance of AIM activities where the two met some 40 years ago. Later still, Mankiller visited Grand Ronde, where she renewed contact with Grand Ronde Tribal Elder Berle Contreras, who first met Mankiller during the AIM takeover of Alcatraz Is land. Tribal Council members Chris Mercier and Jack Giffen Jr. along with then Natural Re sources Division Man ager and Tribal member Pete Wakeland and Tribal Firefighter Alex Drake took what is becoming an annual pilgrimage to the Willamette National Forest where they continue to investi gate Grand Ronde's Tribal past. This year in September, the group visited the ob sidian cliffs where members of many Northwest Tribes went for the obsidian makings of tools and weapons. In October, Tribal Council members Reyn Leno, Angie Blackwell and Jack Giffen Jr. traveled to Washington, D.C. to discuss their op position to the Warm Springs Casino proposal for an off-reservation casino in the Columbia Gorge. Also in October, Tribal members Summer Rose Mercier, Brittny Roxanne Linton, and Shawna Diane Scott competed in the 2005 Miss Teen and Pre-Teen Portand pageant. Siobhan Taylor, long a Public Rela tions Consultant to the Spirit Moun tain Casino and the Tribe, filled the Tribe's newly created Public Affairs Director position this October. The Annual Government to Govern ment Summit in which state leaders meet with Tribal leaders to discuss pressing issues for Indian communities ended abruptly this year for Grand Ronde and other Tribes. When the Gov ernor left the conference early for other appointments, many Tribes also walked out on this so-called showcase of coopera tion between sovereign governments. The debacle took place in October. Tribal member and Tribal Tourism Coordinator Elaine LaBonte was elected to the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association's Board of Our History The Grand Ronde Restoration film gives the Grand Ronde perspective on the creation, dissolution and restoration of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde j ik I --V if " - 1 ' " ' x ' ' " -..c I Grand Ronde Restoration film is available through the Grand Ronde Public Information office. VHS$10andDVD$15. Cost includes shipping. To order your copy, please send check payable to Public Information to: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Public Information -Restoration Film 9615 Crand Ronde Rd Grand Ronde, OR 97347 Contact Public Information at 503-879-1 358 or e-mail toby. mcclaryffandronde. org for more information. The 2005 Native Voice Film Festival honored the work of Smoke Signals Editor Brent Merrill in South Dakota in May. Merrill's film Grand Ronde Restora tion also competed in the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. Directors. Tribal member Jackie Leno, long liv ing in LaGrande with her family, came back to Grand Ronde this year to head up the Tribal Education Division. Native American writer Vine Deloria, author of the iconic Custer Died for Your Sins, an Indian Mani festo, and many other books, died in November this year. Yamhill County Emergency Pre paredness Coordinator Bob Maca, vis ited this year to help the Tribe prepare for area-wide emergencies that may come up in the years ahead. At the end of October, Tribal mem ber Marty George was shot and killed by police. In November, the Yamhill County District Attorney determined that the police were justified in shoot ing George. He will be missed by the entire community. The Tribe celebrated 22 years of Res toration this year. "May you, too, hear the sound of the sacred when the storm comes to you," said Tribal member CeCe Kneeland.
