Smoke signals., March 01, 2013, Page 8, Image 8

8 MARCH 1,2013
Smoke Signals
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On Friday, Feb. 22, a group
of 25 students from Willamette
University in Salem traveled
to Grand Ronde to learn about
the Tribe. The group consisted
of students from two classes,
Native American and First
Nations Film and Nine Tribes
of Oregon. They ate lunch
with the Elders at the Elders'
Activity Center, had question-and-answer
time with Tribal
Council and heard some Tribal
history from Bobby Mercier,
Tribal Culture & Language
specialist, in the plankhouse
where members of the Grand
Ronde Canoe Family also
drummed and sang. Public Af
fairs coordinated the event.
After Willamette
University
students were
given a brief
Grand Ronde
Tribal history,
members of the
Grand Ronde
Canoe Family
drum and sing
for them In the
plankhouse.
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ex
'I" I
Willamette University students gather around Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison, right, as she talks about the Tribe
and Its history during lunch at the Elders' Activity Center on Friday, Feb. 22.
Photos by Michelle Alalmo
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Tribal Council member Chris Mercier, left, hands a Willamette
University student a gift at the end of a student group's visit
to Grand Ronde on Friday, Feb. 22. Mercier invited the group
after he and Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison spoke to the class at
Willamette University.
TcrBlbaD Doadloirs ireceitoedl Mefininig
LEGISLATION continued
from front page
Tribal Council Executive Coordi
nator Stacia Martin and Assistant
Tribal Attorney Kim D'Aquila.
During a 10 a.m. meeting, Tribal
leaders received a briefing from
lobbyists representing Oregon's
nine federally recognized Tribes,
including Grand Ronde lobbyist
and member Justin Martin.
During a noon brown bag lun
cheon, Tribal Council member
Cheryle A. Kennedy joined other
Oregon Tribal leaders in addressing
about 30 state employees, explain
. ing the long and often tortured his
tory of Oregon's Native Americans,
as well as assert Tribal sovereignty
in the 21st century.
The day started at 9 a.m. when
eight of Oregon's nine Tribes set up
information tables in the Capitol's
Galleria; only the Burns Paiute
Tribe was absent.
Staffing the Grand Ronde infor
mation table was Public Affairs
Director Siobhan Taylor and Acting
Public Affairs Secretary Chelsea
Clark. They handed out Tribal
ceded lands maps, a flier about the
upcoming Veteran's Summit, a
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
brochure and the most recent copy
of Smoke Signals.
At 10 a.m., Tribal leaders con
gregated in Hearing Room 50 to
listen to Martin and other Tribal
lobbyists discuss Native issues that
may come up before the current
Legislature.
Two of the biggest issues, Martin
said, concerned education: Lobbying
for an Indian Education Specialist
position in the state Department
of Education and the continuing
controversy regarding the Depart
ment of Education recently prohib
iting Native American mascots at
Oregon public schools.
The proposal to create an Indian
Education Specialist at the state
Department of Education has been
around since 2003, but ran into a
major roadblock after the recession
hit in 2007 and getting new posi
tions included in a dwindling state
budget was impossible.
Phil Donovan, the lobbyist for
the Umatilla Tribe, said that with
state revenues once again starting
to increase, the chances of finally
getting the position included in the
state budget are looking better.
"We are working on getting a po
sition, which is not nearly enough
but is a starting point, at the De
partment of Education to focus on
implementing the Indian Educa
tion Plan," he said.
Martin said there are currently
four bills introduced to overturn the
Department of Education's Native
American mascot ban.
Martin said the Grand Ronde
Tribe favors the one submitted
by Rep. Sherrie Springer, R-Scio,
which would allow school districts
and local Tribes to work together
and if they agree on use of a Native
American mascot, it would super
sede the Department of Education's
ban.
"It gets around the Board of
Education essentially telling us
individual sovereigns what we can
and can't do when working with lo
cal school districts," Martin said.
Another important issue, Martin
said, was getting Tribes included in
the statute that requires the state's
Financial Estimates Committee
to ascertain the economic effect of
proposed ballot measures.
When Measures 82 and 83 were
on the 2012 ballot, seeking approval
of private casinos in Oregon and one
specifically in Wood Village, the dev
astating financial effect those would
have had on Oregon Tribal govern
ments was not taken into account;
just the economic effect on state,
county and local governments.
"Just yesterday, Senate Bill 18
passed out of committee unani
mously," Martin said. "Hopefully
now we're going to be included
when the state looks at economic
impacts during ballot measures.
We all know that we just fought a
big fight there and Oregonians did
not get the true picture of what was
going on."
At noon, Kennedy joined six
other Tribal leaders to discuss Na
tive American history in Oregon
and sovereignty before about 30
employees from the Department
of Corrections, Department of
Revenue, Oregon State Library,
Department of State Lands, Oregon
Youth Authority, Department of
Environmental Quality and De
partment of Employment during a
brown bag session.
"We are sovereign nations," Ken
nedy said about the nine federally
recognized Tribes in Oregon. "We
have a different standing than
other minority groups. We have a
legal and political standing because
of our sovereignty and recognition
from the United States government
that we are the peoples of the land;
that we were here before anyone
else was."
Most of the Tribal leaders stressed
the large amounts of land that
their individual Tribe ceded to the,
federal government and the obliga
tions that came along with those
treaties.
Martin ultimately summed up
the importance of the day during
his presentation.
"If we're not at the table for these
discussions that affect the state
level, we're actually lessening our
influence," Martin said. "It's very
important for us to work on pres
ence and how can we effectively
work to maintain that presence."
The day was sponsored by the
Legislative Commission on Indian
Services. D