Smoke Signals 9
JULY 15,2013
Adult Members' Trust and Minors'
Custodial & Rabbi Trust Funds
Investments in the Adult Members' Trust Fund and the Minors' Cus
todial and Rabbi Trust Funds are updated each business day.
If you are a trust participant andor if you are the parentguardian
of a minor member, you can access and review your balance and your
minor child's balance by visiting www.401Save.com.
To log-in, the initial User ID is your (or your child's) Social Security
number, and the initial Password is "00" followed by your (or your child's)
membership number.
Once logged in, you can customize your User ID and password for
security purposes.
If you have any trouble logging in to or using the system, contact the
401Save Call Center at 1-888-700-0808 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific
Time, Monday through Friday.
Committee seeks Elders' phone numbers
The Tribal Elders Committee is compiling a volunteer phone list of
Elders.
If you would like to submit your phone number and address to be avail
able to other Elders, send it to elders.committeegrandronde.org or leave
a message at 503-879-2231.
Yamhill County seeking
volunteer drivers
Yamhill County is seeking volunteer drivers to transport local veterans to the
Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland. Volunteers are unpaid, but a meal
is provided for their time. For more information or to volunteer, call Jim Cox at
503-472-4771.
HeaDftlh) & WeflDiniess Ododdc offffeired services
SUMMIT continued
from page 8
stress reduction and living in bal
ance in today's world.
Thursday afternoon workshops
keyed in on benefits coordination
and dealing with federal agencies,
such as the Social Security Ad
ministration, National Cemetery
Administration and Veterans Af
fairs. On Friday, the summit concluded
with a blessing provided by McDon
ald in Navajo and veterans joining
TailFeathers for a talking circle. It
was followed by a Parade of Color
Guards that was led by all the eagle
staffs followed by veterans, honor
guards and Tribal Royalty.
The Grand Ronde Tribe provided
meals each day, starting with lunch
on Tuesday and ending with lunch
on Friday. The Food Services staff
provided breakfasts and lunches
while the Social Services Depart
ment provided dinners, which in
cluded elk stew and fry bread on
Tuesday, goulash on Wednesday
and a smorgasbord of meatloaf, roast
beef and seafood on Thursday.
The Grand Ronde Canoe Fam
ily sang and danced for summit
attendees in the plankhouse on
Tuesday and Wednesday.
In addition, every day started
with a somber ceremony to honor
and remember those warriors still
held captive or missing in action.
A Veterans Honor Wall allowed
attendees to post names of relatives
and friends who served in World
War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Af
ghanistan and other conflicts.
Outside the big tent, veterans
talked with representatives of the
Oregon Department of Veterans
Affairs, which brought its mobile
veterans center to the summit. Em
ployees handed out publications to
help veterans understand and ob
tain their benefits, such as "Health
Care Benefits Overview 2012." A
banner also advertised a phone
number that could help veterans
with readjustment counseling.
Representatives of the Veterans
Stress Project attended to explain
its Emotional Freedom Techniques
to combat pain and stress.
Tribal Health & Wellness Clinic
staff offered dental exams, blood
pressure and blood sugar check
ups and chiropractic care during
the summit.
Throughout the event, the Grand
Ronde Tribe was consistently
'V - . . .-
O IS
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Students from the Chinuk Wawa Immersion Class sing a song and present a poster that reads in Chinuk Wawa,
"Thank you to the soldiers" to Navajo code talkers Peter McDonald Sr. and Bill Toledo during the "Veterans Summit:
Gathering of Warriors" at Uyxat Powwow Grounds on Thursday, July 1 1 .
VisiUheTrihek-
page to see more photos
thanked and complimented for
hosting the event as a lead-in to its
annual Marcellus Norwest Memo
rial Veterans Powwow.
Leno attended one of the first
summit planning sessions held
last November in San Diego. He
returned to Grand Ronde and re
ceived enthusiastic support from
the rest of Tribal Council to volun
teer the Tribe to host the event.
Rand Rydell, a Grand Ronde
area Army veteran w ho served in
Vietnam in 1969-70, said that the
Veterans Summit provided an "ex
cellent program."
"There have been a lot of inter
esting stories from the speakers,"
Rydell said. "It is sponsored by a na
tionwide group and it is an honor to
have it here. I hope it grows bigger
because it is a needed service."
"This is what happens when
you have an initial event," Joseph
said. "Of course, our vision was
much larger and our hopes were
much larger. We knew that one
big challenge was people having
the funds to get here because of
the calls we were receiving for fi
nancial assistance to get here. We
could not meet the need of all the
travel scholarships. We did what
we could and we know that for next
time that is an area to work on.
"But we're not disappointed be
cause when you discount the people
who are here, you're disrespecting
them. What we focus on is the peo
ple who did make it here and being
inclusive of the people who aren't
here with the MIAPOW ceremony
we do every morning and then
thinking of the people who aren't
here and what can we do to ensure
they are here next year."
"It has been a powerful event,"
said Linda Woods (Ojibwe), an Air
Force veteran who served from
1962-66 and gave a presentation
on Tuesday about instilling hope in
female warriors. "It has been very
moving. I don't think a day has gone
by that I have not cried. Something
happened, the sharing of stories, to
make me cry. I absolutely think this
should become an annual event if
the word gets out."
"The seeds are planted," said Wame,
who owns Warrior Society Develop
ment in San Diego, Calif., and worked
with the Native Wellness Institute to
plan the summit. "Now the moccasin
telegraph will take over. It's better
than e-mail. Just a year ago, we were
sitting in Jilene's kitchen, talking
about this, and now here we are. I
keep calling it 'first annual' because
I want this to continue."
The Planning Committee for the
Veterans Summit included Tribal
employees David Fullerton, Social
Services manager; Deborah Kroeker,
Housing Services coordinator; Public
Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor;
Public Affairs Administrative As
sistant Chelsea Clark; Community
Health Manager Kari Culp; Health
& Wellness Accreditation Coordina
tor Jill Hafliger and Clinical Services
Director Julie Davis; and Cultural
Education and Outreach Program
Manager Kathy Cole. Veterans Spe
cial Event Board members Wayne
Chulik, Raymond Petite, Gene La
Bonte, Wink Soderberg and Reina
Nelson and Tribal Elders Committee
member Violet Folden also served on
the Planning Committee.
In addition, Fullerton said, about
25 other Tribal members or employ
ees contributed to putting on the
Veterans Summit.
During his welcoming speech,
Leno compared the first Veterans
Summit to the Grand Ronde Tribe
and how it started after almost three
decades of Termination with only
the cemetery property to its name.
"I look at our Tribe," Leno said.
"This reservation is about 160 years
old and many know that we were
terminated for 30 years. Termina
tion was just the government saying
we weren't Indians anymore. That
wasn't the belief here at Grand
Ronde. We knew who we were. We
didn't need to have some paper tell
ing us who we were. We held on to
those ideals and we were restored.
"We started out at that little
building at the cemetery and now
we've bloomed into what we are
today. I hope for this summit we
can do the same. We can start out
small, but if we get other Tribes
and other people in other regions
to reach out ... you know, these
veterans deserve this."