14 NOVEMBER 1,2011 SmOKE SlGNALS
Dear Smoke Signals:
As we prepare to vote on a constitutional amendment to change the
enrollment criteria, I am compelled to tell the story of my family in hopes
that our Tribal membership will see how the 1999 Enrollment Amendment
played havoc on our family.
I am the great-great-granddaughter of Tillamook Bobb, Henry Ki Ki and
Antoine Metzgar, and the great-granddaughter of Catherine Ki Ki, Joseph
Thompson, Levi Bobb and Lucinda Metzgar (Wacheno). I am the grand
daughter of Annie Thompson and Wilson Bobb Sr. "Chupe" (many of you
may remember him as "Willie"). I am the daughter of 100 percent Grand
Ronde Indian woman Edna Bobb. You can find these names on over 150
years of Grand Ronde census rolls. You can go to the Grand Ronde cemetery
and find the headstones of just about each person listed herein.
All my Tribal ancestors are there, some just laid to rest in unmarked
graves. My uncles Joseph Gale Bobb and Wilson Bobb Jr. are listed on the
West Valley Veterans Memorial. The Veterans Memorial that was designed
and built by my first cousin and Tribal Councilman Steve Bobb.
With all these irrefutable ties to the Grand Ronde Tribe, my grandchil
dren were amongst those who were disenrolled due to the 1999 Enrollment
Amendment. How did this happen? It began in 1954 during Termination
when my grandfather, Wilson Bobb Sr., fought against the Termination
of the Grand Ronde Tribe. He felt that it was wrong and that the federal
government was filling them with lies, just as they had done his parents
when they placed them on this reservation. He felt that they were making
promises that they would not fulfill.
When he lost his battle, he was angry and sent a letter asking to have
his name and the names of his children removed from the Termination
rolls. He did not want one dime of the money that the federal government
was promising our people. The end result being our family is all listed on
the "1954" (and every census roll prior) proposed Termination Roll and
was stricken from the "1956" final Termination Roll. This is the reason
that my grandchildren do not meet the current criteria for enrollment.
This is the reason my 13-year-old grandson is enrolled and his 10- and
11 -year-old brothers are not.
My heritage runs deep in my veins. My mother was a proud full-blooded
Grand Ronde Indian woman and she instilled that pride in each of her
children. As a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, I know
what it is to be Indian, but not recognized as one.
We all know what Termination did to our people and 30 years later the
struggle that was fought by our Elders to undo the Termination Act and
give each of us respect and acknowledgement as Native people. I want this
for my grandchildren. They are Grand Ronde and should be recognized as
Grand Ronde Tribal members.
Ann K. Lewis
Roll 3983
Dear fellow Tribal members:
Please consider this letter a follow-up to what I wrote in the last issue of
Smoke Signals. I am voting "yes" on the proposed constitutional amend
ment and I hope that you will join me. Here are my reasons:
1. Equality: All Tribal members are created equal. If your parent is a Grand
Ronde Tribal member, and the blood quantum you derive from them is at
least l16th, then you should be enrolled in this Tribe. That should apply
to every member of this Tribe, not just people on the Restoration Roll. It
should not matter whether your parent enrolled in 1984, 1985 or 1995.
2. Controlling Growth: I understand what Tribal Council was thinking
in 1999. The Tribal population was growing at a rate that would be
nearly impossible to govern and realistically provide core services to
our membership. This newest amendment will honor their intent while
cleaning up the inconsistencies and the unintended consequences of our
current enrollment requirements.
3. Minimizing the Impacts: With the language for an enrollment cap, new
members will be phased in over time allowing our Tribal government
to plan accordingly.
4. The Right Thing to Do: Because I enrolled in the Tribe in 1983 and I
have an ancestor on the Restoration Roll, none of my family will be af
fected by this amendment. I am part of that special class. The problem
is, I don't agree with it. No Tribal family is better than another, but the
1999 amendment states otherwise. I do not believe this is how Tribes are
meant to be. We are descendants of the Indians who were marched on
the Trail of Tears to the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation in the 1850s
and we all have the right to be part of this community so that we can
build better lives for our children and grandchildren.
5. Putting it to rest: We can finally stop hearing about this issue in elec
tions, at General Council meetings, on Facebook. We can finally quiet
the debate on enrollment. If the amendment fails, we will have to keep
hearing about it, especially during Tribal Council elections because ev
ery candidate claims to support it. If every candidate meant it, wouldn't
we see evidence of the council's support?
We may not have achieved perfection in this amendment, but perfect
is a hard standard to live up to. If you are still on the fence, please ask
yourself, "What do I really have to lose?" Clearly, none of us is getting
rich on per capita; it will never make any of us independently wealthy.
Please vote "yes"!
Angie Blackwell
Roll 1089
Dear Smoke Signals:
I would like to thank Wink Soderberg for his recent letter discussing the
old, current and new proposed enrollment requirements. I know this has
been a hot button issue for many on both sides of the fence.
I have been an enrolled member since 1989 and have taken great pride
in my heritage. Although I may not live as close to the Tribe as I would
like to, I have still made it a point to come down and enjoy this wonderful
culture of ours on numerous occasions.
But this letter is not about me or my three siblings or my father. This
letter is about my nieces and nephews who share the same blood quantum
as my daughter and two of my siblings' children, but they do not receive
any of the benefits of this great Tribe because of a technicality. My oldest
sister was registered after they were born. Not only is this not fair, but
almost cruel. Four would-be Tribal members get to sit by and watch their
cousins benefit from being a member of the Tribe and they themselves
receive nothing.
My oldest nephew and I were only three years apart and grew up more
like brother and sister. He would often talk about how upsetting it was
that this Tribe that he and his siblings rightfully belonged in wouldn't
recognize him as a member.
And although he was never a member, he would attend dang near every
powwow and just soak it all in. He looked forward to it every year. He
brought his children and even some of his friends. He was so proud. Proud
of his heritage and a Tribe that wouldn't even let him in. He never let the
rejection of the Tribe stop him from enjoying what his grandfather and
great-grandfather and so on gave to him.
In case you haven't picked on the fact that I refer to my bright-eyed
nephew in the past tense yet, I do so because as of Oct. 10 2010, at the age
of 32 he left this world and all three of his children and his parents and
all the rest of us without his bright smile and love for Native ways.
The last time we were together was the powwow of 2010. While we were
sitting around at "camp" waiting for the break to be over, he told me this
horrific story. He said one night he woke up from a dead sleep and couldn't
breathe.
He tried everything, but he couldn't breathe in or out no matter how
hard he tried. He said he didn't know how to describe it other than it felt
like someone just stole his breath. Can you imagine? That must have
been freaky.
After my nephew finished telling me this story I asked him, "Did you
go to the doctor to get checked out?" I was shocked when he told me no! I
started in on the lecturing as to why he should go and why didn't he go.
That's when he looked at me and said, "I can't. I don't have health insur
ance and I cannot afford to pay out of pocket." I didn't know what to say.
We all know how much health care is.
So I'm sure you can imagine I was sick to my stomach that not even two
months after he told me this story I received a phone call saying that he
had passed. Thirty-two years young. Father of three.
I am in no way blaming the Tribe, or its council, or its voters for my
nephew's death.
There is no way to know if there would have been any different outcome
if he did have health insurance and was able to go to the doctor, but I bet
his kids would have loved the chance to find out.
Come to find out, he had a pre-existing heart condition (yes it runs in
the family; his grandmother, my mother, passed away at 58 of a heart
attack) that with proper diagnosis and treatment could have at least
prolonged his life.
I bet he would have loved to see his children grow up.
My nephew, Brian Lee Creed Jr., left behind three siblings. It was too
late for him, but it's not for them.
The past cannot be undone. We all know that. But please, for the sake of
your Tribal brothers and sisters, weigh the options before you deny them
what's rightfully theirs. The money would have been nice, but the health
care could have been lifesaving!
Leah Medina
Roll 2260
Dear Tribal members:
The last issue of Smoke Signals had many letters regarding the upcom
ing vote on the enrollment amendment. Through these letters, it was easy
to feel the pain of the denied and disenrolled Tribal families. My family
is one of them.
My son is 7 years old and was denied enrollment due to the 1999 enroll
ment amendment, despite the fact that he has several cousins who have the
exact same blood running through their veins as he does and are enrolled
Tribal members. The pain this has caused our entire family is immeasur
able. To explain this to him is impossible. What do I tell him?
One thing I noticed about the letter writers to the last issue of Smoke
Signals is that many of them don't have a family member affected by the
1999 enrollment amendment. Yet they took the time to write because to
correct the wrongs of that amendment is what is right. It is that simple.
When you vote "yes" on this enrollment amendment, you are being a
Tribal member who says that yes, we include rightful Tribal members.
And yes, we heal split families. And yes, we do the right thing when the
choice is presented to us. Please vote "yes."
Lee Ann Huffman
Roll 2933