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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2012)
PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM, OR PERMIT MO. 178 i,..iii!iiii.M.ii.fii..j.fii.liHf.(.....fff.(ffm T3? P3 knight urBRrtRv 1299 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE OR r4OJ-l05 VOTE SEPTEMBER 15,2012 naie A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe www.grandronde.org "UTVTPQXJA ISOIiAIiliA ROGUE RIVER KALAPUYA a CHASTA IVIonumental, land transfer brings acres back By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer JUNCTION CITY Bonnev ille Power Administration, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Nature Conservancy and staff members from the offices of Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley joined the Grand Ronde Tribe in Junction City on Friday, Sept. 7, to mark the dona tion of almost 100 acres of prairie habitat and oak savannah at Rat tlesnake Butte to the Tribe. The 47-acre Bonneville Power donation came from two private land purchases, the last of which had been completed earlier that week. The Nature Conservancy owned and donated 50 acres, said Lawrence Schwabe, the Tribe's Hydrosystem Compliance special ist, who worked to determine the land's restoration value and cost of maintaining it. Tribal costs will include property taxes with a more detailed restora tion plan still in the works, said Michael Wilson, manager of the Tribe's Natural Resources Depart ment. "This is a great piece of prop erty to protect for the long term," Schwabe said. "The Kalapuyans maintained this area with fire and created open areas, but a lot has been lost." From the top of the property, 1,000 feet high, one can see the val ley for miles, Schwabe said. The land purchase helps fulfill See LAND continued on page 7 ' If1':, 1 1 ff . i ..iiiiiiiimuininmiJijm mint Photo by Michelle Alaimo Newly re-elected Tribal Council member Toby McClary, left, and newly elected Tribal Council member Jon A. George congratulate each other during the General Council meeting at the Tribal Community Center on Sunday, Sept. 9. Results from the election were posted on Saturday, Sept. 8. McClary received 467 votes, coming in second, and George received 397, placing third. TrDlbafl CooamiCDD wlhxoDe agaomi George joins incumbents Kennedy, McClary in winning election By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor And now there are nine. With the vacation of a Tribal Council seat ear lier this year, Tribal members knew they would have at least one new Tribal leader after re sults were tallied on Saturday, Sept. 8. And that new Tribal Council member is Jon A. George, 51, who has worked for the Tribe for 18 years, most recently as a vocational rehabilitation specialist in the Portland area office. He also has been serv ing on the Tribe's Education Committee. George, who finished third in the voting with 397 votes (11.7 percent of the vote), won in his first attempt at Tribal Council. 'The Tribe has spoken, and I See ELECTION continued on page 8 Tribe ce Deb ratios MOU wfah encsimpmeM Photo by Michelle Alaii Greg Archuleta talks with Emily Grimes about acorns and their traditional Tribal uses during the Tribal Encampment in Eagle Point on Saturday, Sept. 8. By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer MEDFORD An informal encampment brought a small but happy bunch of Tribal Elders, Tribal Council members, Tribal members and staff members to the Rogue River, which is a stone's throw from Table Rocks, on the weekend of Sept. 7-9. Then-Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy, then-Secretary Jack Giffen Jr. and Tribal Council members Steve Bobb Sr. and June Sherer, along with Public Works Department Manager John Mercier, Tribal Attorney Rob Greene, Ceded Lands Coordinator Mike Kar nosh and Elders Nancy Renfrow and Bernadine Shriver helped celebrate the occasion. The campout marked the first anniversary of a Memorandum of Understanding the Tribe signed in 2011 with the Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy that gives the Tribe a say in maintaining almost 5,000 acres of pristine land around the Tribally significant landmark. Grand Ronde Tribal ancestors were held at Table Rocks before being marched northward to Grand Ronde in the Trail of Tears of February and March 1856. The story was a little different 156 years later as Tribal children played at a stunning bend in the Rogue River, took powerboat rides with slid ing stops right out of a James Bond movie, held See ENCAMPMENT continued on page 9