10
Smoke Signals
OCTOBER 1,2011
Dear Tribal members:
By the time you get this issue of Smoke Signals and read this letter, the
Constitutional Election on enrollment will be under way. I hope we can
finally put to bed this divisive issue that has been fracturing our Tribe
since 1999.
Every current Council member paid lip service to enrollment in his
or her campaign, and from what I can tell, not all of them were sincere.
There has been little movement on this issue for the past three years.
Even now some Council members are passive-aggressively sabotaging the
matter by attempting to distract the membership and delay the election
even further.
On Sept. 14, immediately following the Council Swearing-in, there was
an attempt to stop the special election. Thankfully, most of Council stood
their ground and reaffirmed their decision to allow us, the membership,
to vote on this issue. Council members that tried to stop the election sug
gested the Council should issue an "advisory vote" to determine ifhow we
should be allowed to vote at all. We don't need another advisory vote that
goes nowhere, we need an election with some teeth that Council has no
choice but to implement and enforce.
If you can, Google the term "red herring" and consider if these distrac
tions have any merit or if they are merely meant to detract from the big
ger picture. We have a rare opportunity to vote on something other than
Council elections and they are bickering over the manner in which the
vote takes place? I think that we are smarter than they give us credit for.
This may be the last chance we get to resolve these enrollment inequities
for a long time. We have to make this one count.
To be realistic, the odds are against this amendment passing. Our
Constitution requires a "double majority" and a "super majority" in order
to pass an amendment. This means we need a 30 percent voter turnout
and two-thirds of those people must vote yes. If 34 of the voters op
pose it, the amendment will fail. If fewer than 30 percent cast a ballot,
it will fail.
If all of Council supported this amendment and were using their influ
ence, I think it would succeed. But some of our leaders flat out do not
support enrollment reform, probably because their families are safe and
they have nothing to gain from promoting this amendment. To be clear,
my family is not affected by this amendment and I have nothing to gain
(except for the satisfaction of knowing that we did the right thing).
Consider the package as a whole and hopefully you will see that some
provisions are intended to offset the concerns created by others, like the
possibility of "opening the flood gates." With a cap on annual enrollment
increase, there will be no flood of new members. These pieces all fit together
to create a fair and manageable enrollment policy.
Although this is a complex issue, the questions I ask myself are very
simple: Should our enrollment requirements be the same for everybody?
Should we all be able to pass on our Grand Ronde blood equally? Should
we ensure minimum financial strain on our government and avoid the
threat of Tribal overpopulation?
My answer is "yes" to all of them, which is exactly how I plan to vote
on this Constitutional Amendment. Please register and vote, it's the only
voice you have.
Angie Blackwell
Roll 1089
Dear Smoke Signals:
This is a memory of 1946 when I was 12 years old. My sister Sharon
and I attended Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Ore. She was in the
fifth grade and I was a sixth-grader. Our boarding school dormitory was
McBride Hall, which was located very close to the train tracks. The train
tracks are still there.
It is now September 2011 and I recall September 1946. The students
were called upon to pick tomatoes from the fields that were located west
of the Chemawa campus. It never fails me that when I smell the tomatoes
ripening on the plants, I recall those days at Chemawa. The odor of tomato
plants is very distinctive ... and we have some good times and some bad
times in those fields. The bad times were when kids would throw rotten
tomatoes. The good times were all the laughing and jokes we shared. I
think maybe Pigsley Stadium is now where the fields were ... maybe that is
where the orchards were since we also picked apples and plums in season.
Interstate 5 is now where there were orchards and fields.
Another memory I recall is the students' cemetery located where the tall
trees grow now on the old Chemawa campus. Most people don't know that
in the old days, the children who died at an Indian boarding school were
buried there. It is my understanding that the cemetery was bulldozed and
cleared of tombstones and crosses in the 1950s. Say a prayer for all the
souls far from their homelands.
The Grand Ronde cemetery contains graves of our unknown ancestors
and Spirit Mountain also. The Kwelth Tahlkie culture board held a "Feed
ing of the Ancestors" ceremony on Spirit Mountain with Johnny Moses
officiating. That was in the late 1990s. It is all sacred ground. I have heard
the story that a Grand Ronde Indian wants to be buried in regalia. Then,
when the Great Spirit looks down from heaven, He will see an Indian.
Mah-see Hyas Tamonowis Tyee.
Claudette Velma May Parazoo
Roll 2923
Dear Smoke Signals:
Klahowya tillixam,
There is no need to introduce myself at this moment, but when it is time
for you to know me, you will know me. But know this dear loved ones, my
heart aches and my spirit longs to be among my people helping them. My
heart's only desire.
I have been locked up in the iron haws soon to be 12 years now. My only
real joy comes in knowing I will one day soon come home to take my seat
among you, to share the knowledge my varied life and harsh lessons have
given me. All I have, and I assure you these blessings are many, will be yours.
I cry tears of joy when I think of this day. What a blessing to have such tears
coming from my heart. The fire that keeps me alive, so full of hope.
Recently, however, my heart has been touched with some bitterness,
which has turned to anger over a small thing I am trying to do that I need
"official Tribal" help with that seems to confuse and baffle people about
what it is I am asking.
You see, I have been trying to do this thing for more than three years now
without any positive results until very recently. (Thank you, Leslie!) I don't
mean to put people out there so I won't mention names, but I have written
each council member more than once over these years to relate the specifics
of my requests and what it's for. Not one has answered back; not one.
I could easily write a three-page thesis about this matter. How traditional
values and concepts apply here and are being ignored and, believe me,
I want to, but who will listen to one such as I? I will teach when I come
home, and I am coming home to Grand Ronde.
The help I've needed? So simple! All I have asked for is an official state
ment from the Tribe, in any official capacity, about the kinds of benefits
and resources I, as a Tribal citizen, have (will have) available to me as a
resident of our Tribal community. Very simple, as I said.
I don't want money or handouts - just a letter. I have even typed up
example letters of what I need doing, most of the work for those I have
asked. This statement will go into my prison file so they can see that I
have a community to go to and valuable resources available to me. This
way they can see I won't be a burden upon anyone. And, by the way, I am
blessed with many needed skills and talents too many to list. Yes, I am
very confident, too.
One way or another, my dear people, I will come home to you one day.
Creator gave me (all of us) gifts to help ourselves. I have used these to help
me. I have done, I do, my part. I reach my loving hand out to you because
now more than ever I need your help. This letter may or may not help, but
I have to try. I must do my part. It will help. Yes, it will.
I give my heart to you. I need your help, such a small thing will reap so
many rewards. I believe this, too.
Please, if any concerned citizen thinks they can help and would like
more details, extend your hand to me at the address below. I have fam
ily trying to help, but they really don't seem to understand the details of
what is needed.
One last thought: If we all do what is right, thinking only with a tradi
tional Native mind, heart and spirit, we can never go wrong.
Walter F. Simmons
Roll 2317
P-78257
MCSP C-Gym-131-L
P.O. Box 409060
lone, CA 95640
Employee recognition
AcL-A VC. (J VW
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Photo by Michelle Alalmo
Nadine Burt, Behavioral Health secretary, hugs Tribal Council member
Chris Mercier during the Employee Recognition Barbecue for the
second quarter of 201 1 in the Tribal gymnasium on Wednesday, Sept.
21 . Also congratulating employees was Tribal Council member Toby
McClary, left, and Tribal Council Secretary Jack Giffen Jr., right. Sixty
three employees marked an anniversary of employment with the
Tribe, including Burt with seven years. The event also included a lunch
provided by the Mak Mak House, bingo games and a prize giveaway to
Tribal employees.