Smoke Signals
Tribal Council OKs five
grant applications
Maritime Heritage Festival
6 AUGUST 1,2013
By Dean Rhodes
Smolte Sinnali nlitor
Tribal Council approved applying
for five separate grants during its
July 17 meeting.
Among the grants, Tribal Council
OK'd applying to Spirit Mountain
Community Fund's Tribal Grant
Program for $66,000 for a new
handicapped accessible school bus.
Tribal Council also approved allo
cating $33,000 in matching funds
to purchase the bus.
Other grants the Tribe will be
applying for include:
A $62,500 Oregon Emergency
Management performance grant
and approved the Tribe covering
the 50-50 cost share match;
Oregon Department of Trans
portation Special Transportation
Fund and Special Operating
Fund transit allocations;
U.S. Department of Homeland
Security for Tribal I lomeland Se
curity Grant Program funding;
And applying to the Indian Health
Service for $126,571.43 allocated
to the Tribe for the fifth year of
the Methamphetamine and Sui
cide Prevention Initiative.
In other action, Tribal Council ap
proved an environmental services
agreement with Industrial Eco
nomics Inc. for technical consulting
services related to the various Port
land Harbor remedial and natural
resources damages activities.
Tribal Council also approved the
2013-22 Natural Resources Man
agement Plan and the enrollment
of two infants into the Tribe.
Included in the July 17 Tribal
Council packet were authorizations
to proceed for Tribal staff to re
visit and revise plans to expand the
Tribal Council conference room and
to transfer $10,000 from general
contingency to the Veterans Special
Event Board Powwow budget to
fund additional costs for the recent
2013 Veterans Powwow.
Tribal Council also directed staff
to research the possibility of bring
ing the Food Bank back as a Trib
ally run program. B
Help needed identifying plots
The Facilities Department is asking for your help identifying
veteran's plots.
If your family member's or friend's plot is a veteran and we do not
have a veteran's flag present on holidays, please inform us.
We will do our best to mark all plots of veterans.
Contact Adam Leno at 503-879-5525 or adam.lenograndronde.
org. D
TY' 7
Photos by Michelle Alalmo
Jordan Merder educates Judy Keane of Portland on Indian hemp and
its uta in weaving during tha Maritime Heritage Festival in St. Helens
on Saturday, July 27. A Tribal information booth was staffed during
the three-day event by Tribal Public Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor,
Veterans Queen Savannah Ingram, Greg Archuleta, Debi Anderson,
Eric Bernando and Mercier. The Tribe sponsored the event, which ran
July 26-28.
"TO
Tribal Public Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor talks with attendees
of a dinner that the Tribe sponsored during the Maritime Heritage
Festival In St. Helens on Saturday, July 27.
PetdD CammiplbeDD tiestiiiffoedl odd sojajpip
SPECIALIST continued
from front page
along with the economy, the chanc
es of getting the position included
in the Department of Education's
2013-15 budget increased sub
stantially during the most recent
legislative session.
The position was included in the
Education Department's initial
budget request to the House Ways
and Means Committee and Tribal
representatives and Education De
partment employees helped keep it
on the radar screen of legislators as
the budget worked its way through
the Oregon House and Senate,
Hunt said.
Grand Ronde Tribal Education
Manager April Campbell testified
in support of the position on March
12.
"This position is essential to the
success of our youth and will help
Oregon become a model for other
states," Campbell told members
of the House Ways and Means
Committee. "The Indian education
specialist position will be devoted
to Indian education issues and will
collaboratively work with Oregon's
nine federally recognized Tribes
to develop initiatives that will
preserve and foster the teaching of
indigenous languages, create and
implement accurate and cultur
ally responsive curriculum and
history, and develop strategies for
the education of American Indian
and Alaska Native students."
Deputy Superintendent of Pub
lic Instruction Rob Saxton also
testified in support of creating the
position.
Gov. John Kitzhaber signed the
department's budget on July 19.
"This is a great first step," said
Grand Ronde Tribal lobbyist Justin
Martin. "We look forward to work
ing with the person' who is hired.
We're thankful to the governor,
Rob Saxton and everyone else who
worked on this.
"It's a great first step because it
is a fully funded, full-time position
that will focus on Native youth in
the K-12 school system."
"Our Native American students
and parents need more support
to achieve academic success," the
recruitment ad says. "Students are
in need of additional educational,
physical and cultural activities that
pertain to their native language,
culture and history. Additionally,
teachers, administrators and other
staff can benefit from cultural com
petency training to explore their un
derstanding of the unique cultural
attributes of the communities they
serve, including the nine federally
recognized Tribes of Oregon."
The Indian education specialist
will work with Tribes, educators
and school districts to "improve the
educational outcomes for Oregon's
Native American students."
The Grand Ronde Tribe has long
pushed for the position, mentioning
it at almost every meeting Tribal
Council held over the last five years
with former Superintendent of Pub
lic Instruction Susan Castillo.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno often lamented the fact that
his children and grandchildren had
to teach their teachers about the
history of Oregon's Tribes. More
often than not, Leno said, Oregon
children learn more about the
Sioux, Cherokee and Apache Tribes
than they do about Native peoples
who have lived in Oregon since time
immemorial.
According to the Department of
Education, graduation rates for Na
tive American students in Oregon
were 51.7 percent, 50.3 percent and
51.2 percent from 2005-06 through
2007-08, respectively.
In addition, there is a dispropor
tionately high dropout rate for Na
tive American students, who make
up 2 percent of the high school
student population in the state but
represent 4. 1 percent of dropouts.
"Discipline data for Native Amer
ican youth is also alarming," the
department said in a May 1 brief
ing paper about the need for an
Indian education specialist. "The
most recent data reveals that Na
tive American students receive a
disproportionate number of days
of suspension compared to the total
student population."
The job pays between $61,176
and $89,496. Minimum qualifica
tions include a master's degree in
education or a related field and five
years of experience in Indian edu
cation, two years of which includes
leadership positions.
The position closed Monday,
July 29. Esther Mangini of the
department's Human Resources
Office said it usually takes a couple
of weeks to cull through the appli
cations, select interview candidates
and recruit an interview panel.
David Bautista, assistant su
perintendent of the Department
of Education's Office of Education
Equity, said a Tribal representative
will be invited to sit on the inter
view panel.
"We are so excited to have this
position," Hunt added.
In appreciation of Saxton's efforts
on behalf of the position, the Grand
Ronde Tribal Council approved
sending a letter of appreciation on
July 24. B