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VtVteasss A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe 5f JT VrVrsss
www.grandronde.org
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Tribe continues
effort to amend
Reservation Act
Leno testifies before House
Subcommittee on Indian and
Alaska Native Affairs
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Tribe continued its
effort to amend the 1988
Grand Ronde Reservation Act to
streamline how the Tribe takes
former reservation land into trust
on Tuesday, July 24, when Tribal
Vice Chair Reyn Leno testified
orally and in writing before the
House Subcommittee on Indian and
Alaska Native Affairs.
In early February, Tribal Chair
woman Cheryle A. Kennedy trav
eled to Washington, D.C, to testify
before the Senate Committee on
Indian Affairs in support of Senate
Bill 356, which is the sister bill to
House Resolution 726.
The Senate bill was introduced
by Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff
Merkley and co-sponsored by fel
low Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron
Wyden.
The House resolution was in
troduced by Oregon. Rep. Kurt
Schrader and co-sponsored by
Oregon Reps. Earl Blumenauer,
Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio
and Greg Walden, as well as Okla
homa Rep. Dan Boren.
The proposed amendment would
end the current two-step process
that requires the Grand Ronde
Tribe take each piece of former
reservation land into trust with
approval from the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and then request that the
See ACT
continued on page 9
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Smote Signals file photo
Junior Miss Grand Ronde lyana Holmes performs a fancy dance during the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
2011 Contest Powwow at Uyxat Powwow Grounds in Grand Ronde in August 201 1.
Coiniftesti Powwow ft shim)
spotlight on cMdlirein)
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
The success of recent in
tertribal powwows for
children, coordinated
by longtime Royalty member
Halona Butler and Washie
Squetimkin (Colville), will show
up at this summer's Contest
Powwow as "a whole new revi
talization for our young people,"
said Dana Leno-Ainam, primary
organizer for the powwow and a
member of the Powwow Special
Event Board.
"Many will be out at powwow
for the first time," she said, be
cause "young people are under
standing powwow and wanting
to be involved with regalia and
through dance."
This year's event, set for Fri
day, Aug. 17, through Sunday,
Aug. 19, at Uyxat Powwow
See POWWOW
continued on page 4
Solan oomiDfts seen doling juke back tto tiDne gornd
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Photo by Michelle Alaimo
The solar panel installation on the rooftops of the
new Elder Housing phase is the third Tribal solar
panel project. Eight solar panels deliver 2,500
kilowatt hours of power a year, which amounts to
two to four months of electricity at current rates.
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
With the second low-income Tribal Elder
housing development scheduled for
completion and occupancy this fall,
the Tribe has embarked on its third solar panel
installation project.
The new installation serves the 20 two-bedroom,
one-bath units and the three three-bedroom,
two-bath "grandfamily" units with 10
percent to 40 percent of their electrical needs,
said Don Coon, Tribal Housing Authority Hous
ing Improvement coordinator.
Housing units facing south, best for making
the most of solar panels, each received eight solar
panels that deliver 2,500 kilowatt hours of power
a year, which amounts to two to four months of
electricity free at current rates, Coon said.
The solar energy collection is improved be
cause the units are well insulated and served by
efficient heat pumps that heat the units in the
cold months and cool them in the warm.
For housing units not facing south, the proj
ect installed as many as 32 panels on the top of
carport structures and then devoted eight panels
See SOLAR
continued on page 8