Smoke Signals 1 1
OCTOBER 1,2009
TcrnbaD ConamxsDl inrueetis wvtih MAYA orep
Discussion centers on 'self-identified' Native American population of Portland area
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Chairwoman Cheryle A.
Kennedy, during a Sept. 22 meet
ing with Native American Yo.uth
Association Executive Director
Nichole Maher, recalled sitting in
an Oregon Commission on Indian
Services meeting earlier this year
and hearing some disturbing in
formation. Oregon Rep. Tina Kotek, D-North
Portland, was discussing House Bill
2688, which would have made the
Department of Human Services
create a reimbursement formula
for compensating non-profit com
munity organizations that serve
"self-identified" American Indian
or Alaskan Native children in the
state's foster care system.
The minutes from that March 4,
2009, meeting say that Sue Shaf
fer, chairwoman of the Cow Creek
Band of Umpqua Tribe, did not feel
it was "right" for organizations to
use self-identification numbers to
reflect Native American peoples
served by their resources.
Kennedy said that Tribal govern
ments also should be recognized
as local governments when state
grants and funding are being of
fered, especially for services that
pertain to Tribal members and
their families. She noted that
Grand Ronde has a satellite office
in the Portland area that could pro
vide services to Tribal members.
Kotek's Native American popula
tion numbers in Oregon were higher
than those Kennedy and representa
tives from the other eight federally
recognized Tribes who sit on the
Commission recognized.
"It was a misclassification of
people who do not go through the
rigorous process like members
of the Grand Ronde Tribe," Ken
nedy told Maher in Tribal Council
Chambers.
"Being an Indian takes further
research. It is not just a given.
Counting people who are self-disclosed
as Native doesn't have a lot
of merit."
Maher, making her first visit
to the Grand Ronde
Tribe in more than
seven years as NAYA
executive director,
distributed material
that cited U.S. Census
Bureau statistics that
said the Portland met
ropolitan statistical
area in 2000 included
19,209 Native Ameri
cans of one race and
38,926 multi-racial
Native Americans.
"We represent vary
ing degrees of Tribal
affiliation," NAYA's
literature says. "Some
of us are Tribally en
rolled and some of us
are not, but we all
have ancestral ties to
our Tribes. Some of us
are enrolled members
of local Tribes ... but
many of us are mem
bers or descendants of
more distant Tribes."
"The number of Na
tives as self-disclosed
is almost 40,000 " Ken
nedy said. "The Census doesn't bear
these numbers out; nor does the
state of Oregon. It is faulty data."
Maher said there are two differ
ent ways of counting Native Ameri
cans in the Portland area and the
population probably ranges from
16,000 to 39,000, including almost
11,000 Alaska Natives.
"The number is probably some
where in the middle," Maher said.
"A lot of people don't self-identify
themselves as Native on the Cen
sus." Tribal Public Affairs Director
Siobhan Taylor asked how NAYA
identifies its clients as Native.
Maher said the social services
organization asks for Tribal af
filiation, roll numbers and proof
of descendancy, but if clients do
not have that, NAYA cannot deny
services since it is funded by gov
ernment grants.
"Ninety-seven percent of our cli
ents have identified with a Tribe,"
q j r
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Nichole Maher, Native American Youth Association
executive director, visited with Tribal Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy, Tribal Vice Chair Reyn Leno, Tribal
Secretary Kathleen Tom and Tribal Council members
Steve Bobb Sr. and Chris Mercier in the Tribal Council
Conference Room on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Cultural Resources socks
plankhouse giveaway items
In anticipation of an early fall opening of the Grand Ronde plank
house, the Tribe's Cultural Resources Department is seeking dona
tions of giveaway items for the planned blessing ceremony.
Giveaway items can be about almost anything, including beads
and blankets, but not alcohol or drugs.
The items are intended to recognize people from outside the Grand
Ronde community who will come for the blessing ceremony.
"By having people from outside the community, they are help
ing to strengthen our house," said Tribal member and Cultural
Resources Protection Coordinator Eirik Thorsgard.
Giveaway items can be dropped off at the Cultural Resources De
partment in Grand Ronde or at the Tribal satellite offices in Eugene
and Portland.
For more information or to check on the appropriateness of pos
sible giveaway items, call Thorsgard at 503-879-1630 or Language
& Culture Specialist Bobby Mercier at 503-879-2076.
An article on proper plankhouse protocol written by Cultural
Resources Department staff will appear in Smoke Signals closer
to the blessing ceremony. D
she said. "We have a very Native
centric environment."
The Native American Youth Asso
ciation Family Center was founded
by parent volunteers in 1974. In
1994, it became an official charitable
organization with 501c (3) status
that serves "self-identified" Native
American youth and their families
in the Portland area, which is in the
ceded homelands of the Confeder
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
The organization's Web site says
it serves more than 1,400 youth and
their families from more than 380
Tribal backgrounds annually
NAYA has offices at 5135 N.E.
Columbia Blvd. Maher said the or
ganization just purchased its build
ing and 10 acres, which includes
remnants of a former Chinook
village site.
"We support urban areas," Ken
nedy said. "Many of our members
live in Multnomah County," citing
the federal government's relocation
policies of the 1950s.
More than 500 Grand Ronde
Tribal members live in the Census
Bureau's Portland metropolitan sta
tistical area, which includes Mult
nomah, Washington and Clackamas
counties, as well as Clark County
in Washington state.
Maher, an Alaskan Native de
scendant from Ketchikan who
moved to the Siletz Reservation
when she was 11, said she wants
NAYA to work with the Grand
Ronde Tribe in supporting urban
Indians in the Portland metro area
who have social service needs.
NAYA offers employment, hous
ing, educational, domestic violence,
parenting and foster care services,
but not health, drug or alcohol
treatment.
"We are not a Tribe," Maher said.
"We behave similarly to other non
profits in the community working
in the Multnomah County and
Portland area. We provide services
that are not provided by the county
or city.
"We're not eligible for funds that
Tribes are eligible for. We do not
compete with Tribes. We're trying
to increase the amount of money in
Portland (for Native Americans)."
Maher said NAYA has about 100
employees and about 85 percent are
Native American.
"We are building a strong Native
American community in Portland,"
she said.
Maher said NAYA has served
216 enrolled Grand Ronde Tribal
members in 2009 and 86 people who
said they were associated with the
Grand Ronde Tribe.
NAYA owns 44 low-income hous
ing units in the Portland area and
three Grand Ronde Tribal members
live in the housing, she added.
Maher said she was thankful to
the Grand Ronde Tribe, through its
philanthropic arm of Spirit Moun
tain Community Fund, for two
recent grants a $25,000 grant
in 2007 that supported its techno
logical infrastructure and another
$75,000 grant in 2008 that created
an Elders program.
Kennedy, who gave Maher a
Tribal information packet that in
cluded the Tribe's ceded lands map,
said Tribal Council will schedule a
visit in the near future to NAYA's
facilities in north Portland.
Other Tribal Council members
attending the meeting were Vice
Chair Reyn Leno, Tribal Council
Secretary Kathleen Tom, Steve
Bobb Sr. and Chris Mercier.
"We'd love to have a deeper re
lationship with the Grand Ronde
Tribe," Maher said. "I hope we can
work together to accomplish a great
task. ... If any issues come up, call
me. I will not be insulted. ... We are
here as a resource for you." D
Tcifoall DamcQscapiiimg
coirottiracftoirs wanted
CSLLC is seeking proposals from licensed Landscape Contrac
tors to solicit proposals for Landscaping Services at its Chemawa
Station Property in Keizer, Ore. Contractors that are owned by or
employ Tribal members and wish to be included on this list are re
quested to call Lew Younger at 503-879-2099. Please indicate your
business name, address, telephone, fax, nnme(s) of Tribal members
employed and roll number if available. Bids are due on Tuesday,
Oct. 20, 2009.