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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2007)
2 SEPTEMBER 15, 2007 Smoke Signals Attention Tribal Members 2007 GENERAL COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE Sunday, Oct. 7 Grand Ronde, 1 1 a.m. NOTICE Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings DATE TIME Wednesday, September 26 .....5 p.m. Please note that these times and dates are subject to change if needed. Please call Da kota Whitecloud, Tribal Council Kelations Coordinator, at 503-879-1309 to confirm. ATTENTION TRIBAL MEMBERS Election Board Alternate Positions Vacancy Applications may be picked up at the Governance Center. Please submit applications to Dakota Whitecloud, TCRC, 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347. For more information, contact Dakota Whitecloud at 503-879-1309 or dakota.whitecloudgrandronde.org Dear Fellow Tribal Members: We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves. We are the Grand Ronde Families for Enrollment, a group of dedicated Tribal members from all walks of life and from around the country. Many of us are part of those "split families" you may have read or heard about. Also, a number of us are parents to that large group of children who will be kicked out of the Tribe should the upcoming amendment fail. As you can tell, the constitutional amendment of 1999 had a very adverse and nega tive impact on many of our lives. Our goal is to correct that. To be completely honest, we don't disagree with the intent of 1999 constitutional amendment. Like any other Tribe, government, business, organization or commu nity, you must grow at a rate you can cope with and administer. We understand fully why the 1999 amendment was brought forth for a vote of the membership. However, like any major decision, there are always unintended consequences. In our case, the new requirements for enrollment divided our families, leaving some of our children able to enjoy life as Tribal members, and some of their siblings unable. We believe this scenario to be very unjust, and if many of you were in the same situation, you would probably feel the same way. Like many of you, we don't want to see the floodgates to our Tribal member ship opened. The new proposed amendment does not do that. It corrects the unfair situation for us and for many other Tribal families. If you attended the community meetings in the Northwest or saw the reprints of handouts in the May issue of Tilixam Wawa, you would know that should the amendment pass maybe 300 new Tribal members would be able to enroll. That is roughly a 6 percent increase in our population, with little impact on the services you receive as a Tribal member. Per capita is still likely to be at an all-time high by 2009. ( 1 r'"' The question we ask then is if something costs very little to you, but would make a world of difference in the lives of others, would open up numerous edu cational and financial opportunities for the next generation of Tribal children, what possible reasons could somebody have to not support that? We can't think of any. We would like to see the new amendment pass. It is the right thing to do. It corrects a situation without putting the Tribe at risk and has little impact on everybody else. Please join us in voting "yes" on the 2007 constitutional amendment. For those who are interested, we hold weekly meetings in Eugene. In addi tion, we have also started a Web site that puts a face to the ugly impacts of the 1999 amendment at www.grenrollment.blogspot.com. You can also call Dee Edwards at 541-206-3477. All who are interested are welcome to join us. We also can dispel a lot of the ru mors and exaggerations that are floating around regarding this amendment. Hayu Masi, Dee Edwards, Marilyn Portwood, Butch Parazoo, Diana Norton, Monty Parazoo, Marta Clifford, Dell Dickison, Stephanie Boteilho, Eli Dickison, Carrie Taylor, Becky Weston, Dwanee Modrell, Jennifer O'Neal Dear Editor: I wanted to let Grand Ronde employees know that they work with a great group of people. For three years now, I have been the captain of a team that has walked in the longest relay race in the world. All three years I have had employees mixed in with my family members and have had great teams. It is a lot of hard work and you get out of it what you put into it. Everyone has their own personal goals and I try to help them reach them. Everyone did a great job this year and we all finished the race in wonderful time. For those of you who have not heard of this race, it runs the same time as the Hood to Coast race, but we walk (as fast as we can) from Portland to the Coast (Seaside). It starts on Friday morning (we started at 7 a.m.) and ends on Saturday (we ended around 12:45 p.m.), so not only does it test your physical strength but also how well you do without any sleep. We have 12 people on the team that race in two legs of the race. There are 35 countries and 49 states that have teams. Money is raised to help find a cure for cancer. So not only is it a test for yourself, it is for a good cause. So if you see any of these great people around, tell them good job, they deserve it: Genifer Grout, Shanna Eide, Dr. Charlean White and Michelle Sweeney. Other people on my team you might know are Mark White, Crissy Weber, Matt Weber, Mary Otjen, Ernie Turnidge, Larry Pain and Danny Spaulding. I want to say thank you to all of you and it was a lot of fun. Donnette Spaulding All Tribal offices will be closed on Friday, Sept. 28, in observance of National Indian Day. PUBLICATIONS OFFICE 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347 1-80O-422-O232, FAX: 503-879-2173 www.grandronde.org y DEADLINE DATE ISSUE PATE Thursday, Sept. 20 OCT. 1 Friday, Oct. 5 OCT. 15 Friday, Oct 19 NOV. 1 Friday, Nov. 2 NOV. 1 5 SIOBHAN TAYLOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR 503-879-1920 lioWun.uytof&frandronde.Ofl JUSTIN PHILLIPS GRAPHIC DESIGNER 503-879-2190 ludn.phllllpffrjndrondt.oci GEORGE VALDEZ PRODUCTION ASSISTANT 503-879-1416 (tor(t.vildnfrindrond.arf DEAN RHODES PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR 503-879-1463 ite.rhDat0irandroiKSe.org TOBY MCCLARY PHOTOJOURNALIST 503-879-1358 loby.rrKctarytJaridronde.ort SHELLY KENT CENTRAL PHONES 503-879-5211 irKtty.luntgrjndronde.ort KRISTEN RAVIA PUBLICATIONS SECRETARY 503-879-1453 krhten.ravtagrindronde.ort RON KARTEN STAFF WRITER 503-879-4663 ron.kaiTenandronde.org IMftoofeO 133037 SMOKE SIGNALS, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Com munity of Oregon, is published twice a month. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without permission. Our editorial policy is Intended to encourage input from Tribal members and readers about stories printed In the Tribal newspaper. However, all. letters received must be signed by the author, an address must be given and a phone number or e-mail address must be included for verification purposes. Full addresses and phone numbers will not be published unless requested. SMOKE SIGNALS reserves the right to edit letters and to refuse letters that are determined to contain libelous statements or personal attacks on individuals, staff, Tribal administration or Tribal Council. Not all letters are guaranteed publication upon submission. Letters to the editor are the opinions and views of the writer. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS, Tribal staff, Tribal administration or Tribal Council. Members of: Native American Journalists Association The Associated Press 2007-08 Tribal Council 1-800-422-0232 councilgrandronde.org Cheryle Kennedy D Chris Merder Tribal Chairwoman ext. 2305 ext. 2352 chrls.merciergrandronde.org cheryle.kennedygrandronde.org n wnk $oderberg Reyn Leno ext. 2300 Tribal Vice Chair wlnk.soderberggrandronde.org ext. 2399 q Kathleen Tom reyn.lenograndronde.org ex j 777 D Jack Giffen Jr. kathleen.tomgrandronde.org Tribal Secretary D june Sell-Sherer ext. 2306 phone To Be Determined ack.glffengrandronde.org E.ma, To Be Determined Steve Bobb Sr. 0 Valorle Shelter Phone To Be Determined ext 2355 E-mail To Be Determined val.shekergrandronde.org
