4 MAY 15, 2007
Smoke Signals
Grand Ronde Community Rallies To Raise Money For Tribal Member
By Angie Sears
A group of Grand Ronde community members have rallied together to
raise money for Tribal member Jackie Whisler, who is suffering from a
life threatening illness.
Whisler, a long-time resident of Lincoln City, OR, has been battling
cancer for more than a year. She has been an active member of the Grand
Ronde community most of her life; in fact, she played a key role in the res
toration of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Last July, her illness
forced her to leave her position as a language specialist with the Tribe.
A group of her friends, family, co-workers, and community members
have come together to hold a series of fundraisers to help with the cost of
treatment and travel expenses. She is currently undergoing rigorous che
motherapy treatments in Lincoln City, but there is a chance the family will
be considering alternative treatment at a facility in Washington state.
On Saturday, June 30, at 3:00 p.m. the group will be holding a silent
auction, with a benefit concert and BBQ dinner at the tribal gym. The con
cert will feature performances from Native American Flutist Jan Michael
Looking Wolf Reibach and Native American FlutistGuitarist Tim Yett.
The doors will open at 3:00 p.m. and bidding will begin at 3:30 p.m., with
dinner and concert to follow at 4:30 p.m. There is a minimum donation
of $10.00 per person. Tickets go on sale Monday, May 14 at 8:00 a.m. To
purchase tickets please contact Angela Sears at 503-879-1961 or inquire
via e-mail at angela.searsgrandronde.org
For anyone who can not attend the silent auction benefit concert, but
would like to make a donation you can do so at any Bank of America branch.
An account has been set up under the "Jackie Whisler Medical Fund."
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for more information contact
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503 879 1961
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Where are they now: A Glimpse At The Success Of The 2002-2003 Hatfield Fellow
By Angie Sears
Kevin Simmons, 2002-2003 Hat
field Fellow and Grand Ronde Trib
al member, went to work on Capitol
Hill in Congressman David Wu's of
fice, but soon decided that learning
the ropes in a congressional office
was not exactly what he was look
ing for in his fellowship experience.
He wanted to gain a more direct
experience with American Indians
in the legislative process.
Simmons, believing there was
no better place to gain this experi
ence than the National Congress
of American Indians (NCAI), ap
proached a NCAI representative
and asked if there was room for
him to serve the remainder of his
fellowship learning from them.
"As the community fund direc
tor, I had the pleasure of directly
overseeing Kevin's fellowship in
Washington, DC. He came to the
program with his own set of expec
tations and left with a better grasp
of the legislative process and of
his own career goals. Kevin did an
excellent job representing Oregon
and teaching staff members about
the unique nature of the Tribes
of Oregon," said Angie Blackwell,
Tribal Council Vice Chair. "People
that are not directly associated
with a Tribe often lump us all into
one category, assuming our needs
and concerns are all the same, but
Kevin helped staff members realize
that this is not the case."
"Because of the great deal of
support I received from people
like Angie Blackwell, I was able
to make a smooth transition from
Congressman Wu's office to NCAI,"
said Simmons. "Angie was a key
support person for me when I was
in D.C. She really helped me a lot
throughout my fellowship."
Simmons, who has a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Native American
Studies from Humboldt State Uni
versity and is currently working
toward a Masters degree in Educa
tion, thought it was only natural
that he go on to learn about Ameri-
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can Indian law. In fact, he believes
it is fate that sent him to work at
NCAI during his fellowship.
"It really did work out for the
best... My Hatfield Fellowship
experience was probably about the
best experience that any Fellow
could have when it comes to dealing
with Tribal is
sues," he said.
"NCAI deals
with all of the
big Tribal is
sues." During his
Fellowship
with NCAI,
Simmons
worked with
trust reform
issues, and
researched
groups.
He was re
sponsible for
working with
Tribal lead
ers to identify
these groups and determine what
their focus was, where they were
located, and which Tribes should
be concerned about them.
One of the projects he felt for
tunate to work on was a Supreme
Court case between Inyo County
and the Bishop Paiute Tribe. He
was responsible for collecting in
formation about cooperative law
agreements from Tribes across the
country to prove to the courts that
these types of cooperative agree
ments were common.
Simmons felt that his Hatfield
experience was different from the
experiences of the other Fellows. He
commented that he was impressed
with the accomplishments of many
of the previous Fellows, and said
that they had clearly utilized their
fellowship as a spring board for
their careers. He felt that he had
used his experiences as a spring
board as well, but not in the same
direction.
"I really do consider my experi
ence as being uniquely Indian," said
Simmons. "One of the most impor
tant experiences for me was walk
ing into the general assembly of
the NCAI Legislative Summit and
seeing a huge diversity of American
Indians working at various levels.
Tribal member Kevin Simmons
It was amazing to see. There were
Indian professionals like Alyssa
Macy, who is really tied to Indian
Country but not necessarily in the
Tribal sector, and there were Tribal
leaders who are directly tied to it.
There were journalists and other
professionals who work in Indian
Country... Seeing that vast array
of Tribal people really opened my
eyes to see that I don't necessarily
have to work in the Tribal sector. I
can do the work that I do, and still
give back to the community."
After the fellowship, Simmons re
turned to Humboldt County, Cali
fornia. His wife had family there,
and he had been offered a job on the
Hoopa Valley Reservation working
in the Education Department. He
accepted the position because he
saw it as an opportunity to work
next to Lyle Marshall, a great
Tribal leader who was pushing
some large trust reform issues.
Currently, he is working at Hum
boldt State University as an edu
cation of opportunities program
advisor, and is providing direct
service to both Indian and non-Indian
students.
Simmons also runs youth work
shops, and has been working on
.. developing initiatives to determine
how the California university sys
tem can better serve American
Indian students. He recently coor
dinated a Tribal Leader's Education
Summit that he hosted on campus.
The summit allowed Tribal lead
ers to meet with the president of
Humboldt State University, as well
as representatives of California
State University and University of
California.
This is more of a consultant posi
tion for Simmons and is not directly
related to his current position with
the university. He said he does this
because it helps to graduate Ameri
can Indian students.
"I also conduct a youth workshop
called Success in Both Worlds. It
teaches Native youth to walk in
two worlds. It helps them to better
understand how to be an American
Indian and maintain your Tribal
values, while incorporating your
culture, your religion, and your
spirituality into an institution of
higher learning, career, or anything
else that has potential to strip
those things away from you," said
Simmons.
He values the experience he
gained in his Fellowship and ac
knowledges that it was this experi
ence that has enabled him to do the
things he is doing today. However,
he would like to see future Fellows
get more direct experience with
Native issues and spend some
time working with NCAI or The
National Indian Gaming Associa
tion (NIGA).
"The Fellowship really was an
important experience for me; it al
lowed me to have direct access to
some of the greatest Tribal leaders
to have ever walked this land," he
said.