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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2006)
Smoke Signals 3 October General Council Meeting Highlights Spirit Mountain Community Fund OCTOBER 15, 2006 By Siobhan Taylor Tribal Elder Val Grout gave the in vocation for the October 8, 2006 Gen eral Council Meeting. The minutes of the Sept. 10, 2006 meeting were approved and the new business of the day treated members to presentations from representatives of the Spirit Mountain Community Fund and the Polk County Sheriffs Department. Tribal member and Spirit Moun tain Community Fund Director, Shelley Hanson began the program with a presentation about the Fund. Hanson emphasized that the new marketing campaign of the fund is to remind Oregonians that the Fund is the giving branch of the Tribe, not the casino. The Community Fund's new logo was displayed and Hanson introduced her staff: Louis King, Program Of ficer, Kluane Baer, Administrative Assistant, and Tribal member Michele Chrestensen, Secretary. She also introduced the new Hatfield Fellow, Dennis Worden, who will be fulfill ing his fellowship in Congressman David Wu's office in Washington, DC. Hanson also explained the makeup of the Community Fund board: Tribal Council representatives Angie Black well, Jack Giffen, Jr. and Reyn Leno; an appointee from the governor's office and four community leaders and Spirit Mountain Casino Human Resources Director Camille Mercier. Ernest Block, the fund's philanthropy consultant was also on hand. Hanson reminded Tribal members that since the Tribe established the fund in 1997 it has been extremely successful. Currently the Tribe has contributed $35 million to non-profit organizations in an 11-county area of western Oregon. That number will top $36 million by the end of this month. Now, the fund's goals are market ing the fund, and in turn the Tribe, in core areas, reminding voters and viewers that the Tribe's Spirit Moun tain Community Fund does business in their area. During the question and answer session that followed, Hanson ex plained that the new logo and ad campaign costs were absorbed by the casino. Tribal member Michael Bolton asked if the fund would be more ac tive in the Grand Ronde area. Han- Goldberg's presentation high lighted the Grand Ronde service area, a breakout of police activities that included activities from patrol, to search and rescue, reserves, cadets and even dog control. He gave a brief explanation of Pub lic Law 280 which allows the Sheriffs office to have enforcement authority on Tribal land and he gave a brief I. iMi. ."!. 1 a,w MIS' Tribal Council at the October General Council Meeting held on Sunday, October 8. son responded that being more active in the local community was one of the fund's goals. Currently they are engaged in conversation around the how and why of funding. "It's a numbers game at present," said Hanson. She added that the fund is looking at a new scoring system. As a result the grant will be holding a series of pre-approval meetings to help coach organization staff to present an application that will be more competitive. The Community Fund shared its presentation time with representa tives from the Polk County Sheriffs Department that houses a satellite office in Grand Ronde on Tribal land. Sgt. Nathan Goldberg gave the presentation and introduced Lt. Jeff Van Laanen and Deputy Kevin Alexander. history of the Sheriff department's history in Grand Ronde. The Spirit Mountain Community Fund began funding enhanced law enforcement in 1997. Today the Tribe supports five full-time deputies and a sergeant, allowing for 24-hour coverage in the Grand Ronde district. Those deputies are involved in a number of Grand Ronde community activities from the Meth Task Force to service integration, Sanction Court, a court that is an alternative to prosecution for juveniles, and the Shop with the Sheriff program. Goldberg's final minutes were dedicated to ways the Sheriffs office wants to increase its community visibility and contribute to com munity activities meth awareness programs to community education on a variety of topics including identity theft. He hopes for more law enforcement group meetings, classroom presentations and a bet ter community image and presence in Grand Ronde. During the question and answer session that followed, Tribal El der Val Grout asked who she calls about an enormous dog that runs loose through the Grand Meadows neighborhood. She is concerned about the safety of some of the smaller children. Goldberg told her to call him and they'll have Animal Control respond. "Can I shoot it and then call?" Grout joked. "Wait until I'm not on duty." Gold berg responded as he laughed with the audience. A number of Tribal members spoke up and encouraged the Sheriffs department to work on their public image to interact on a better level with children and other com munity members. Goldberg assured all Tribal mem bers that the Sheriffs department is sensitive to their requests, He encouraged interested participants to join him for a ride along and he promised better communication in the future, including a column in Smoke Signals on a regular basis. Council member Angie Blackwell in troduced new employees David Lewis, Cultural Resource Manager, and April Campbell, Education Manager. All members were invited to tour the new Tribal housing. And the Health Clinic staff challenged all Tribal members to participate in Food Drive 2006. The next Tribal Council meeting will be on Sunday, November 5. Tribal Elder Warned! "Woman Off Distinction By Toby McClary With a list of accomplishments long enough to fill this page, Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison isn't fin ished yet. However, I will try to concentrate on the most recent. For the past five years, Maryl hurst University has played host to the "Women of Distinction" awards luncheon in honor of five women of Oregon who "stand out" in their individual field. The fields are service, science, faith, business and arts. This year, Harrison was chosen as the "Woman of Faith" for 2006. Harrison was chosen because of her "astounding role in influenc ing the socio, political and histori cal account of Oregon and Native Americans." On Wednesday, October 4, the luncheon was held at the Mult nomah Athletic Club in Portland. The Grand Ballroom was filled with the invited members of the related organizations and families. Due to illness, Tribal Council member Cheryle Kennedy was unable to attend and present Har rison with the award. Tribal Coun cil Chair Chris Mercier took her spot. "Kathryn carried a stoic look on her face that would melt away when she smiled," said Mercier. "She has After Mercier introduced Harri son, it was time for her to take the stage and speak about her faith and 1 - nn . ' v r - U ' flfj- I 'V- J-i; )i if 't I i st4 Viva I" 1 r r fl fcQ- -J rf i Tribal Elders Ruby Bigoni (I to r), Kathryn Harrison and Bernice Jensen socialize shortly before Harrison was named "Woman of Faith" at the Women of Distinction luncheon put on by Marylhurst University. that quality that all great leaders possess. They know who their members are and they know where their Tribe is going," he said. dedication to the Tribe. But first she teased Mercier for being "a man of little words." "Sometimes you have to be smart to keep your mouth shut," she said with a smile. Harrison spoke on the faith in her home while growing up. "There was religion and spirituality in our family," she said, "but our heritage was always the most im portant." She then remembered a certain prayer that she would pray over and over. "I would ask God to nev er let me be alone again," said Harrison. "Well guess what? I had 10 children," she said. "I was never alone again." Harrison's next subject fo cused on Grand Ronde and the importance of becoming federally recognized. "We needed to be a rec ognized Tribe again," she said, "so we could be part of all the Indian Nations. We waited a long time." Finally, Harrison offered a bit of advice to those in attendance. "Have joy when you are young," she said, "and have pride when you're mature."
