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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2013)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM. OR PERMIT NO. 178 '.-riCDY'1 ' (fHfiFSHlCHSgiB P-l PI 12 KNIGHT LIBRAQV 1299 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE OR 97403-1205 ,llllil,,l..l..l.llll.ll,ll,.,l Smoke JANUARY 1,2013 A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe www.grandronde.org XJOVEPQTJA MOLALLA B EOGUE FLrVTEPL KALAPUYA CHAST-A. Foffttlh) Foirst Natfioinis Powwow sett for J a mi. 26 By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer SALEM Four of western Oregon's five federally recognized Tribes will come to gether once again to host the fifth annual Gathering of Oregon's First Nations Powwow on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Salem Pavilion on the Oregon State Fairgrounds. The theme will be health, said Siobhan Taylor, Public Affairs director for the Grand Ronde Tribe, who is organizing the event. "Diabetes, exercise, healthy eating will all be on the agenda." The four sponsoring western Tribes are the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, Coquille Indian Tribe, Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians decided not to participate in this year's powwow. The four eastern Oregon Tribes Confeder ated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reserva- See POWWOW continued on page 4 Grand Ronde Royalty Princess Elizabeth Watson Croy performs a traditional dance during the fourth annual Gathering of Oregon's First Nations Powwow at the Oregon State Fair & Expo Center Pavilion in Salem in January 201 2. rS1 Smoke Signals file photo Tr 111 S) CHARGING f U V' 11 -V I Ji L" k Photo by Michelle Alaimo The new electric car charging station at Grand Ronde Station is now open for use. (J(l(o DUD New electric car charging station opens at Grand Ronde Station By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer The Grand Ronde Tribe has joined the West Coast Electric Highway. On April 18, the Grand Ronde Tribal Council set the stage for two electric charging stations to be installed at the Tribal convenience store along heavily traveled Highway 18. On Nov. 27, the two charging stations came online and in the month since the stations have been serving daily customers, said store manager Opal Hale. The Tribe is planning a grand openingribbon cutting ceremony at the store for late February or early March, said Jilene Mercier, Senior Administrative Assistant in the Economic Development Department and the Tribe's point person on the project. "This project brings economic diversification to the Tribe with no upfront costs since it was funded by an ODOT TIGER grant," said Tribal Economic Development Director Titu Asghar. "The Tribe is very excited about the recent opening of the electrical vehicle charging station at the C-store and be ing part of this green initiative See ELECTRIC continued on page 7 Spirit Mountain Community Fund surpasses $58 million in giving Tribe awards $640,656.40 to 33 nonprofits on Dec. 12 By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer As part of the Grand Ronde Tribe's latest effort to im prove the quality of life in Oregon consistent with its values, Spirit Mountain Community Fund distributed more than $640,000 to 33 Oregon nonprofits on Wednes day, Dec. 12. Since its inception in 1997, the Community Fund has donated more than $58.3 million to nonprof its in an 11 -county area in western Oregon and to Oregon's nine feder ally recognized Tribes as part of its gaming compact with the state. The grants fund projects in the areas of education, health, arts and culture, environment, historic preservation and public safety. This quarter's recipients included Dallas-based Farmers Ending Hun ger, a 7-year-old nonprofit that so licits food or in-kind donations that go to the Oregon Food Bank and the Polk-Marion Food Share, said Executive Director John Burt. He said that he hopes the $15,000 Community Fund grant will enable the group to increase donations by $1 million from the $1.8 million to $2 million the group has collected in recent years. This was the second Community Fund grant awarded to the group. See FUND continued on page 8
