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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2011)
Smoke Signals 3 JUNE 15,2011 Veterans Powwow sett The 2011 Marcellus Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow will be held Friday through Sunday, July 8-10, at Uyxat Powwow Grounds off Hebo Road near Fort Yamhill State Park. Grand entries will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Marce Norwest Family will hold a giveaway at 6 p.m. Friday. Gourd dancing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Master of ceremonies will be Nick Sixkiller and whip man will be Tony Whitehead. Deitz and Rose Peters will be the head man and woman. Veterans, dancers and members of the public are invited to attend. There will be arts and crafts and food vendors. Free camping and park ing will be available, but no drugs, alcohol or pets are permitted. The first 10 drums are guaranteed session pay. For more information, contact Veterans Committee member Chris Tinney at 603-883-3610 or chris.tinneygrandronde.org. 'D wmmft ft Seeking youth to sell raffle tickets The annual Contest Powwow Committee is looking for 15 middle school or high school community youth who would like to sell raffle tickets to support this year's event. Youth will sell tickets from June 20 through Aug. 16. The youth who sells the most tickets will win a 19-inch flat screen TVDVD combo. Youth will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis to sell tickets. For more information, contact Social Services Administrative Assistant Kalene Contreras at 503-879-3095 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. D Elders' garage sale seeking donations Tribal Elders are regularly seeking donations of items for their fundraising garage sales. To donate an item or items, call Tribal Elder Linda Brandon at 971-267-0918. B (Farad ENROLLMENT continued from front page org under the Videos tab, involved a back and forth about whether it was better to bundle the four amendments into one proposal or allow Tribal voters to decide on each amendment separately. Mercier said the proposal was a hodgepodge of suggested amend ments that he thought Tribal Council would support more whole heartedly than it eventually did. "My goal is to try and get some thing that we can move forward so the General Membership can vote," Mercier said. "At some point, I think we owe it to the membership to give them something they can vote on." However, other Tribal Council members objected to various pro visions, as well as the bundling approach. Leno said he thinks the amend ments are "doomed for failure" because they are being "crammed down the membership's throat." "I don't think anybody up here disagrees that something needs to go out to address some of the enroll ment issues," Leno said. "I guess what I would say is the timing on this, I don't believe, is appropriate" because of the upcoming Tribal Council election. Leno said he would prefer more time to educate Tribal member ship about enrollment issues, as well as receive input from Tribal members. Leno also opposed the bundled approach, preferring to send the issues out as separate votes. "I think sending this thing out as one thing, as opposed to divided up into four, is almost like disrespect to the membership," Leno said. "It's saying, 'I don't believe you guys can figure out four different issues, so we'll just bundle it all up and you can just vote yes or no on one issue.' " Bobb said he supports fixing enrollment problems, but wants to see it done in a way that stands a chance of passing. However, he is opposed to bringing the relinquish ment issue back up because of the 2008 vote that approved the five year waiting period. "We have a lot of issues that need to be completely ironed out here before we move forward and now we're trying to make it happen in months," Bobb said. "I cannot be on board with that. ... I want to see it fixed. I wanted to see the members who should be a member of this Tribe be members, but let's do it in a fashion that stands a chance of happening." Giffen said he was against limit ing the number of people who could possibly enroll in a year, saying it is "unethical and immoral." He also said he was concerned about having two elections occurring simultane ously since the enrollment election might overlap with the upcoming 2011 Tribal Council election. "You're going to totally confuse the membership by running two elections at one time," Giffen said. McClary said he was opposed because he would like to see the proposals voted on separately by the membership although he sup ports some of the provisions, such as eliminating the parent on the roll requirement. "This is one of the hardest votes I've made since I've been here," the first-term Tribal Council member said. "I think we can approach this in a manner that I feel would be more successful." Soderberg, however, said he thought Tribal Council had reached a consensus in its conference room discussions only to have members change their minds. "I want to get it done," Soderberg said about continued enrollment dis cussions. "I want to get it over with. I want these people to have some justice out there. I don't want them to come back and come back." Sheker said she supports reduc ing the relinquishment period from five years to two years. "As a Terminated-Restored Tribe, we should have some compassion for people who can be enrolled Grand Ronde, but we're asking them to be a non-Indian without a Tribe and Reservation for five years," Sheker said. "I think one year is too little for the membership, but five years for an Indian to be without a Tribe is an awful lot to ask." Sheker said she fully supports the election. "I think people now have com passion for the people who had to be disenrolled. I think that really woke everyone up," she said. "I also think people might have a little more compassion on the five-year relinquishment." Tribal member Penny DeLoe, who also is in charge of the Tribal Member Services Department, said she would prefer the option of vot ing on all four amendments instead of the bundled approach. 'The membership that I've talked to wants to vote on all four issues," DeLoe said. Tribal Elder and former Tribal Council member Jan Reibach Sr. said the parent on the roll issue is "unfair," but said he thinks the bundled approach will be "futile." "When you put them together, there is going to be a lot of discord in the Tribe and some of them will vote no when they agree that the parent on the roll issue should be changed," Reibach said. Tribal Elder Louise Medeiros, a member of the Tribe's Enrollment Committee, said the Tribe needs its members enrolled. She cited a recent case where an applicant was denied enrollment because her par ents were killed in an automobile accident during the Termination era and, therefore, she did not have a parent on a Tribal roll. She said a recent Enrollment Committee meeting recommended denial of nine out of 15 applicants because of the parent on the roll rule. "I want to see fairness," Medeiros said. "I want to see the people who belong in the Tribe, who have the blood and everything, to be in." Tribal Elder Dakota Whitecloud said she was concerned that there is a chance the amendment will fail because it is bundled. "Why take the chance of it fail ing by adding other things to it?" Whitecloud said about the parent on the roll issue. "Don't force people to vote no on an issue because they disagree with part of what is in this amendment. I know there are lot of people who want this parent on the roll thing to go away as bad as you do." Mercier said the parent on the roll requirement is responsible for denying more than 300 people ad mittance into the Tribe while the current definition of Grand Ronde blood was responsible for about two dozen denials. Mercier said that Tribal Council enrollment discussions, which have been occurring since early 2010, have become redundant and non productive. 'This discussion is deja vu all over again, and over again, and over again," he said. Tom said Tribal Council discus sions regarding enrollment have become repetitive and that she wanted to proceed with making a motion. Tribal Elder Betty Bly said she thinks the membership "can walk and chew gum at the same time" in regards to having two elections occurring simultaneously. "I just want the membership to vote again," Bly said. "It doesn't matter if it is bundled or not to me. In February 2008, Tribal mem bership voted on three separate enrollment proposals, but only OK"d a five-year relinquishment pe riod by enough votes two-thirds majority to amend the Tribal Constitution. A proposal to remove the parent on the roll at the time of the appli cant's birth was supported by 60.9 percent of voters and a change in the definition of Grand Ronde blood was backed by 55 percent of voters. In July 1999, Tribal membership voted to tighten enrollment criteria in a bundled package by more than the two-thirds required. In breaking the tie vote, Chair woman Kennedy said that she did not think the election timing was an issue. "If you have Grand Ronde blood, then you need to be enrolled here," she said. "You need to meet the criteria of blood quantum re quired." Kennedy said she "fully supports" the provisions, which will help all of the people who have different problems at different levels. Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said the enrollment amendment election may occur before the Sept. 10 Tribal Council election, or it could be held afterward depending on Tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs scheduling and timelines. To change the Tribal Constitu tion, at least 30 percent of qualified voters must cast ballots and the proposal must be approved by at least 66.7 percent of those voters. Tribal Council scheduled an elec tion planning meeting for Tuesday, June 7. B
