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
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2007-08 Tribal Council
1-800-422-0232 councilgrandronde.org
Cheryle Kennedy D Chris Merder
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ext. 2352 chrls.merciergrandronde.org
cheryle.kennedygrandronde.org n wnk $oderberg
Reyn Leno ext. 2300
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