S moke S ignals
june 15, 2014
Disaster drill
West Valley district
seeking Fire Explorers
The West Valley Fire District, which covers Grand Ronde, Willamina
and Sheridan, is seeking youths for its Fire Explorer Program.
Young men and women age 14 to 20 will become familiar with career
opportunities in the fire service through classroom instruction, hands-on
training and volunteer work.
The program encourages and promotes accountability, safety, com-
munication, teamwork, fitness and leadership.
Participants must attend weekly drills from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturdays,
adhere to dress and conduct codes, perform weekly physical fitness and
training specific to firefighting skills, and demonstrate a willingness to
make improvements and show self-motivation.
For more information, contact Fire Explorer Post 908 adviser Seth
Bellarts at 503-437-2046. n
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Duke Kimsey, Tribal HVAC technician, straps a “victim” to a
backboard during a full scale earthquake drill in the Governance
Center on Tuesday, June 10. The scenario involved a large aftershock
hitting after a Cascadia subduction zone earthquake that occurred
on the Oregon coast, 25 miles from Grand Ronde, on June 1. The
aftershock caused moderate to severe damage. During the drill, the
Governance Center was evacuated, a search and rescue unit entered
the building, assessed the situation, removed victims and brought
them to triage. Kimsey is a member of the search and rescue unit.
Sacred Hoop Ceremony set for June 21
The Behavioral Health Department will host a Sacred Hoop Ceremony
at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 21, in the Tribal gym.
The four gifts of the Sacred Hoop are the power to forgive the unforgive-
able, healing, hope and unity.
The Sacred Hoop will bring blessings and healing. The ceremony is open
to all people, so bring your families and friends.
The hoop brings healing for all recovering from different traumas (his-
torical, intergenerational, addiction, etc.). It also strengthens sobriety and
Wellbriety in the community.
For more information, contact Behavioral Health Director Kelly Nelson
at 503-879-2026. n
Tribe will work with Blumenauer’s office
VISIT continued
from front page
marijuana legalization.
The issue is important to the
Grand Ronde Tribe, Tribal Coun-
cil Secretary Toby McClary said,
because the Tribe follows federal
regulations. In addition, Tribal
Attorney Rob Greene said, there
are jurisdictional issues since the
Tribe has to certify for some federal
grants that Grand Ronde is a drug-
free workplace.
So, what does the Tribe do if Or-
egon makes the use of marijuana
legal while the federal government
still considers it a crime? What
does the Tribe do if an employee
is found to have lingering traces
of marijuana in their body during
a urinalysis test, but is otherwise
sober at work?
“We need to clean up the con-
flicts,” Blumenauer said, “and seek
a clarification for Indian Coun-
try.”
Blumenauer called the federal
government’s expensive war on
drugs, and marijuana specifically,
part of its “misplaced priorities”
that lead to more than 750,000 ar-
rests annually that disproportion-
ately affect young people of color.
“I would appreciate having a
representative from the Tribes,”
Blumenauer said about upcoming
meetings he will hold about the
topic. “This is going to be tricky
territory.”
Blumenauer, who has been a con-
gressman since 1996, said he sees
positives to the legalization of mari-
juana in Oregon. Illegal growers
would stop destroying vast tracts
of public and Tribal land through
pollution. A legalized and regulated
trade in marijuana would raise
tax revenue that could be spent on
addiction treatment and hopefully
reduce or end the violence of drug
cartels.
“This could save the American
people $100 billion a year between
the revenue raised and not spend-
ing money fighting something that
most people think is all right,” Blu-
menauer said. “We need to clear out
the gray areas. Tribes should not be
caught in the middle.”
McClary called the potential le-
galization of marijuana in Oregon
a “real issue” and vowed that the
Grand Ronde Tribe would work
with Blumenauer’s office about
providing Tribal input.
After being greeted to the Tribal
Governance Center with a welcome
song performed by Tribal employees
Bobby Mercier, Brian Krehbiel,
Jan Looking Wolf Reibach, Reina
Nelson, David Harrelson, Travis
Stewart and Jordan Mercier, Blu-
menauer and his aide Hilary Barber
were escorted to the Tribal Council
Conference Room for a sit-down
with McClary and Tribal Council
members Cheryle A. Kennedy, June
Sherer and Jon A. George. Act-
ing General Manager Chris Leno,
Greene and Public Affairs Director
Siobhan Taylor also attended.
He received a crash course in the
Tribe’s ceded lands from Harrelson,
the Tribe’s Cultural Protection spe-
cialist, and listened to stories from
Kennedy, Sherer and George about
living through Termination in 1954
and Restoration in 1983.
Harrelson and Tribal Council
members stressed that the 29-year
break in federal recognition created
a “gap in voice” that the Grand
Ronde Tribe is still dealing with
in not having a say in Columbia
River issues.
Kennedy vowed that the Grand
Ronde Tribe will “fight tooth and
nail” for its rights on the Columbia
River and lobbied Blumenauer for
identifying Tribal boundaries so
that one Tribe cannot infringe on
the lands of another.
Sherer, who served three years in
the Army, encouraged Blumenauer
to help veteran’s organizations and
veterans in need of health care. She
also invited him to the Veterans
Summit being held at Uyxat Pow-
wow Grounds in early July.
George also talked about the lack
of voice the Grand Ronde Tribe
experienced after Termination and
before Restoration, as well as how
some federal agencies treat all Na-
tive Tribes alike. “It’s a cookie-cut-
ter culture,” he said of some federal
bureaucracies. Kennedy added that
all Tribes are different and should
be treated as such.
Kennedy touched on her expertise
– health care – and noted that Na-
tive Americans and veterans are
both recipients of rationed health
care from the federal government.
She said that an agreement struck
between the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs and the Indian
Health Service that allows Native
veterans to be seen in Tribal health
clinics, which then receive reim-
bursement, should be amended to
allow all veterans to access care at
nearby Native health clinics.
“It’s not an entitlement,” Ken-
nedy said, adding that budget cuts
to the Indian Health Service are a
“diminishment of life.”
Blumenauer acknowledged that
the federal government has not
been a good partner with Native
Tribes and has a “sorry history” of
managing trust assets. “It’s scan-
dalous,” he said.
He said it is important to respect
and accommodate the contributions
of Native peoples in creating federal
legislation, adding that he believes
in the old baseball saying that the
tie goes to the runner. “If it is a close
call, I side with Native peoples,” he
said. “You have a right to have close
calls go your way. I appreciate how
you honor your language, traditions
and history … it makes Oregon a
richer place.”
Blumenauer also said he would
encourage others in the Oregon
congressional delegation to keep
an amendment to the Grand Ronde
Reservation Act moving forward.
Although the amendment passed
the House of Representatives on
Jan. 13, it is stalled in the Senate
while awaiting a bill regarding
the Siletz Tribe that has been met
with opposition from other Oregon
Tribes and county governments.
Greene said the bills are so dif-
ferent that they should not be in
the “same equation” and asked
Blumenauer to encourage his col-
leagues not to the link the bills.
McClary said the Grand Ronde
amendment is unopposed unlike
the Siletz proposal.
The Grand Ronde amendment
would allow the Tribe to combine
the current two-step process for tak-
ing into trust real property that is
within the boundaries of its original
reservation established in 1857.
The Siletz bill would expand that
Tribe’s ability to take land into
trust beyond Lincoln County, which
is opposed by two Oregon Tribes
and several potentially affected
counties.
“You shouldn’t be held hostage,”
Blumenauer said.
To open the conference room
discussion, McClary gifted the con-
gressman with a necklace.
“It is an honor to have you come
and sit around our table,” McClary
said. n