FEBRUARY 15, 2007
Smoke Signals 3
The Portland General Council Meeting Welcomed A Full House
By Siobhan Taylor
The February 11, 2007 General
Council Meeting of The Confeder
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde was
held at the Holiday Inn, Portland
Airport Hotel. The hotel is the loca
tion of the ATNI Winter meeting. A
large crowd packed the conference
room.
The minutes from the January
7, 2007 meeting were approved
and the new business of the meet
ing got underway. Carina Kistler
Ginter, Executive Director of the
Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Au
thority gave a presentation updat
ing membership on the latest news
from her department.
Ginter explained the organiza
tion and functions of the Housing
Board of Commissioners, where
Pete Wakeland, Economic Develop
ment Director and a Grand Ronde
Tribal member is the Housing
Board Chairman. She presented
information on the current board,
their meeting schedule (monthly on
the third Tuesday at 5 p.m.) and her
Housing Authority Staff.
The Housing Authority Grant
and Service Programs were ex
plained. Programs include home
repair and medical adaptation,
property management, housing
development, HUD Administrative
services, student rental assistance
and self sufficiency initiative.
In 2005-2006 the housing division
provided 140 non-payment assis
tance grants, totaling $1,616,933 to
Tribal members. The department
served Tribal members in 1 1 states.
Ginter also explained Housing oppor
tunities for 2007. Those opportuni
ties include 146 Tribal rental housing
units for Elders and families.
The newest addition is the Raven
Loop complex which includes 72 rent
al units. To date, 27 Tribal families
have moved into the new units over
the last three months. Ginter also
highlighted weatherization projects
and medical adaptation projects for
Tribal members' homes.
Housing Authority development
activities for 06-07 include two new
sewer treatment plants, the Elder
activity center project and recre
ation facilities for Tribal families.
The design concepts drew close at
tention from members.
The question and answer session
that followed Ginter clarified that
the housing improvement grants
are available to all Tribal members
in Oregon, Washington and Califor
nia, not just those residing in the
six-county service areas.
Tribal member Bryan Mercier
thanked the Tribal Council and the
general membership for allowing
him the opportunity to be a first
time home buyer as a result of the
housing program.
Other questions involved the ad
ministration of HUD contracts and
Tribal preference. Ginter assured
the membership that Housing
scrutinizes their contracts to make
sure they are geared toward Tribal
1. -a J f) M
i y'J v
Tribal members lined up to voice comments and concerns during the
Sunday, February 1 1 General Council meeting held at the Holiday Inn,
Portland Airport Hotel. The next General Council Meeting will be held
Sunday, March 4 in Grand Ronde.
members, or Native Americans as
the HUD contracts stipulate.
A drawing was held for door
prizes. The three $50 prizes were
awarded to Darin Blackwell, Ber
nadine Shriver and Butch LaBonte,
Judy Bellini won the $100.
After a break for lunch, the "other
business" session of the meeting
got underway and Tribal members
lined up to share their comments
and concerns until well after 4
p.m. Many members expressed
their concern about the Enrollment
Constitutional Amendment and the
need for education and clarification.
Many members asked council what
the education aspect of the Ad-Hoc
Committee final report was going
to be and when it would get under
way. Others shared their stories
about families being split due to
the current Enrollment policy. The
minors' trust funds were discussed
as was the extended leases for the
Tribe's satellite offices in Eugene
and Portland.
A complete recorded transcript
of the General Council meetings is
available, for a nominal fee, from
the Tribal Council Secretary's Of
Where are they now: A Glimpse At The Success Of The 2000-2001 Hatfield Fellow
By Angie Sears, Tribal Mentee
Alyssa Macy, 2000-2001 Hatfield
Fellow, went to work on Capitol Hill
to see if it was the type of work she re
ally wanted to do. Although she felt
it was a good fit, she found that her
passion lies in working for the people
at a grass roots level. She realized
that she enjoys helping to organize
and educate people more on a com
munity level than on a D.C. level.
Macy spent her Fellowship work
ing with Congresswoman Darlene
Hooley's staff on Judicial and Na
tive American issues. She spent a
lot of her time working closely with
the Chief of Staff, Joan Mooney,
who taught her the ropes of work
ing in a congressional office.
"She really looked out for me...
she helped me to learn to read
things without projecting my per
sonal feelings and taught me the
importance of seeing both sides of
an issue," Macy said.
"Alyssa was an invaluable re
source to us and to the office. She
brought expertise on a number of
issues affecting Native Americans,
as well as on Judicial Committee
and Justice Issues. We've main
tained contact with Alyssa, who has
continued to have positions with
increasing levels of responsibility in
politics," said Joan Mooney Evans,
Chief of Staff.
Macy, 31, is an enrolled member
of the Warm Springs Tribe. She
was raised on the reservation in a
political household where her fa
ther was very vocal about politics,
talking about policies and what was
happening in D.C.
"My father went out of his way to
make sure that I understood what
politics was and then he discour
aged me to get involved," Macy said.
"My parents didn't have to do a lot
of pushing; I just kind of naturally
gravitated towards it."
"My parents and their involve
ment in politics really had a pro
found impact on me and the way
I viewed the world. I learned a lot
from my father; not necessarily
from his words, but from his actions
and the type of person that he was.
That has always been a driving
force for me, she said."
Macy encourages Native people
to become more involved in poli
tics and advocate for other Na
tive people by learning how the
political system works, learning
to build allies, and by paying at
tention to what's happening with
appropriations.
She attributes the success of
her career to the experiences and
opportunities gained during her
Fellowship, and feels that the
program provides an excellent op
portunity to educate other people
about the Native people of the
Pacific North West.
"I really felt in many senses that
not only did I represent my own
people in Warm Springs, but that
I was an ambassador for Grand
Ronde. The Tribe created this pro
gram for Native people and it was
such an amazing opportunity ... I
nh. , i i H a.
Warm Springs Tribal
member Alyssa Macy
was lucky enough to be chosen to go
and I felt an obligation to both my
community and to the Grand Ronde
community," Macy said. "I don't
think I'd be where I am today had I
not gone. It really was one of those
life changing things for me."
After completing the Fellowship,
Macy was inspired to return to
graduate school where she received
a Master's degree in Public Policy
from the University of Minnesota.
Upon completion of the master's
program, she became immersed
in a whirl-wind of grass roots or
ganizations including working for
National Voice, the largest non
partisan political mobilization ef
fort in 2004.
She was also responsible for
running the National Congress
of American Indians (NCAI) Na
tive Vote 2004 campaign, and
co-authored the Native Vote post
election report. In December of
that same year she joined the
Center for Civic Participation as
the Political Director.
Currently, Macy is working
for the Wisconsin Department of
Transportation in the office of Trib
al Affairs and has found the process
of that government-to-government
relationship an interesting learn
ing opportunity.
She is also a professional pho
tographer and is part of a collec
tive of young professionals that
have started a non-profit called
NVISION, which is an organiza
tion that works with young adults
and Native youth around media
culture and media justice issues.
The group provides trainings and
special events, and works to en
courage young people to have fun
and to remain drug and alcohol
free while doing it.
"I just have a passion for work
ing with people at a local level ...
I really am grateful that 1 went to
D.C. and I don't think I would be
whore I am right now had I not
had that experience," Macy said. "I
have a very strong commitment for
my own people and I already know
that the rest of my life I will spend
doing this type of work. That's just
a given for me; that I will work on
behalf of my own people." B