2&Hi)f2l3i2m v f 1 C1 knight LrBf?v pmmitno.ws
.rrcll t ..rrr. 1 1 Vi- 19 LWOEWSrry OF OREGON SALEM. OR
UOUB3l' lf",7V EUGENE OR 974O3-IZ03
gfe f-V ' iil'i'i'li'-l'"iii'"lif"''''lii"'ifl''l('i''ii'''lli
8J N Q JUNE 1,2011
, moke y 5h ignals
A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe Jf H K VXX 'fci WWW.grandronde.org
TJMPQXJA. ca IMOLALLA ca ROGUE RXVER ca KALAPUYA C3 CHASTA
'mi dial's rroccDgjimnGScs)
Tribe honors veterans during 2011 Memorial Day event
By Ron Kartell
Smoke Signals staff writer
The sun and a light rain
played tag all morning
as hundreds joined in
multiple Memorial Day obser
vances sponsored throughout
the West Valley by the Grand
Ronde Tribe this year.
Dozens showed up for each of
the four morning stops at local
cemeteries while more than 100
people were on hand for the lunch
in the Tribal Community Center
at noon and the Memorial Day
program at the West Valley Vet
erans' Memorial at 1 p.m.
"If a person could write a
book with one story from every
veteran," said Tribal Council
Vice Chair Reyn Leno, who
was master of ceremonies for
the event, "that would be some
book. But it wouldn't be what
you'd expect. It would be sto
ries of the families and stories
of the buddies. You form a real
brotherhood over there."
Many of those stories were
recalled if not actually told
this Memorial Day as visi
tors and veterans alike milled
around the memorial, looking
for names.
Vietnam vet Arthur DeHart of
McMinnville posed for a photo
with his grandsons, Jesse and
See MEMORIAL DAY
continued on page 9
,if y -m
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council member Steve Bobb Sr. speaks during the Memorial Day
observance at the West Valley Veterans' Memorial on the Tribal campus
on Monday, May 30. Tribal Vice Chair Reyn Leno was the master of
ceremonies and Tribal Council members Jack Giffen Jr., Chris Mercier and
Wink Soderberg also spoke at the event.
Tribe buying
school
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde has agreed to
buy the soon-to-be vacated
middle school facility on the east
side of Grand Ronde Road from the
Willamina School District.
The cash-strapped school district
is in the process of consolidating its
student population at the Oaken Hill
facility in Willamina and put the
middle school facility up for sale.
At its May 17 meeting, the Wil
lamina School Board approved its
2011-12 budget, which includes
$1.2 million from the anticipated
sales of two properties, including
the Grand Ronde site.
The Tribe is buying the middle
school property, which was part
of the Tribe's original reservation
given to it in President Franklin
Pierce's 1857 Presidential Order,
for $675,000.
Before construction of current
Tribal facilities, the Grand Ronde
Tribe held many powwows and
other events in the middle school's
gym following 1983's Restoration.
The Grand Ronde Tribal Council
voted to approve a purchase and
sale agreement for the middle school
property at its May 25 meeting.
Tribal member Jan Reibach,
Tribal Lands manager, said the
agreement follows weeks of inter
nal strategic meetings and evalua
tions, as well as negotiations with
the Willamina School District.
The main structure on the eight
See MIDDLE SCHOOL
continued on page 9
Batotia WDnDftecDoudl retires afftieir 21 yeaors
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
After almost 22 years of employment
with the Tribe and standing as the sixth
longest serving employee, Tribal Elder
Dakota Whitecloud is heading out for the good
life.
, She's not going all that far only across the
street to her home in Grand Meadows, where she
intends to putter in the yard and continue with
her many crafts, but not everybody who knows
her thinks she is gone for good.
"I have to say, I laugh when they say Dakota's
retiring, going away," said Tribal Council Vice
Chair Reyn Leno. "She's got my home phone and
my cell number, so she ain't going nowhere."
Her tenure with the Tribe and her positions
assisting the Tribe's executive staff over all those
years make her an invalu-
able source of the Tribe's
recent history.
She remembers when
the Tribe moved its head
quarters from the Manor
Building, where she start
ed on Grand Ronde Road,
up to a new shed built on
what is now the Tribal
government campus when
ground also was broken
for the Community Center
nearby.
"There wasn't nothing out there then," she
said. Well, nothing but that big oak tree that still
sits in the middle of the old powwow grounds.
"(Former Tribal Elder) Merle Holmes remem-
A
vO
Dakota Whitecloud
bered that tree from when he was a boy," she
said, "and he asked Tribal Council to never take
it down.
"In the morning when we first came up here,
I'd make coffee and stand on the deck and watch
coyotes, elk, deer and some of the most beautiful
sunrises and sunsets that you've ever seen."
And she continued that tradition in one form
or another throughout her career.
"We'd always have our little talks in the morn
ing," said Tribal Council member Steve Bobb
Sr. "I always get in early, and Dakota is there,
and we'd pour ourselves some coffee. I'll miss
them little chats. She pretty much knew about
every department. She's worked in almost every
See DAKOTA
continued on page 7