S moke S ignals
july 15, 2014
5
Tribal Council amends
Burial Fund Ordinance
By Dean Rhodes
2009 – Tribal Elder Steve Rife
repeated the Trail of Tears trek
from Table Rock near Medford to
Grand Ronde. It was his third com-
memorative walk honoring Tribal
ancestors who were marched 263
miles in 33 days in 1856 to what
would become the Grand Ronde
Reservation.
File photo
2004 – Tribal member Jan Mi-
chael Reibach and his wife, Rhonda, renewed their wedding vows at
the Tribal Community Center in Grand Ronde. Jan told the audience
that he wanted to renew his vows in front of his family and friends
so they could help them celebrate their life together.
1999 – Grand Ronde Tribal officials and Sherwood community
environmental activists gathered to name a recently discovered
waterfall after 19th-century Grand Ronde Chief Ki-a-kuts. The 100-
foot falls were nestled out of human sight on privately owned land
ceded to the state Forestry Department.
1994 – Tribal member Rosetta Manangan and five other Oregon
Native American women were invited by first lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton to a rally at Pioneer Courthouse Square to kick off the
president’s proposed health reforms. “It was a thrilling experience,”
she said. “I’m so glad I was invited and could participate.”
1989 – Tribal Royalty Court candidates were Jolene Poole, Stepha-
nie Mercier, Tara Leno, Molly Rimer and E’Lisha Lane. The Royalty
Pageant was set for Aug. 18 during the annual powwow.
1984 – The Grand Ronde Tribe will start receiving an allocation
from New Tribes Money funding, but the amount was still unknown.
The Tribe anticipated starting a few new programs with the fund-
ing.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year in-
crements through the pages of Smoke Signals.
Elders’ phone numbers wanted
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
available to other Elders, send it to elders.committee@grandronde.org or
leave a message at 503-879-2231. n
Smoke Signals editor
The Tribe’s assistance when a
family member walks on improved
after amendments to the Burial
Fund Ordinance were approved
by Tribal Council on Wednesday,
July 9.
Among the approved amend-
ments, the burial benefit is increas-
ing from $3,500 to $5,500 and the
reception benefit is increasing from
$150 to $300.
The amendments also clarify that
the burial benefit does not include
reimbursement for prepaid funeral
expenses before death and defines
a child as a person who is 25 years
of age or younger and a natural,
adoptive or stepchild of the Tribal
member.
The amended ordinance also de-
fines spouse as a legally married
spouse under the applicable Tribal,
state or foreign law in which the
marriage was entered, which could
include same-sex marriages.
Families also can use a portion
of the burial benefit to purchase a
Tribal blanket or a carved wooden
urn from the Tribe for the funeral
service.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved the enrollment of one
infant into the Tribe;
• Corrected two roll numbers as-
signed in error;
• Approved a supplemental bud-
get appropriation increase to the
2014 budget that will account for
the $2.7 million Employment Ser-
vices building to be constructed
next to the Tribal Community
Center;
• Appointed Tribal Council member
Kathleen Tom to the Governor’s
Regional Solutions Advisory
Committee;
• Authorized Titu Asghar, director
of Economic Development, to file
the necessary documents with
the state to form Dakta II, LLC,
for the purpose of investing in a
proposed health industry busi-
ness opportunity;
• Remanded 86 disenrollment
cases back to the Enrollment
Committee for final decision per
the rules under the Enrollment
Ordinance, which was amended
on July 2 with an emergency
clause to remove Tribal Council
review from the involuntary loss
of membership process.
Also included in the July 9 Tribal
Council packet was an authoriza-
tion to proceed that permits the
Tribe’s Fish and Wildlife Program
to go ahead with a project designed
to re-establish Pacific lamprey
above the Fall Creek reservoir.
The project will monitor for adult
survival, spawning success, and
distribution and abundance above
and below the reservoir for ap-
proximately one life span of the
lamprey.
Education Department Manager
Eirik Thorsgard, Land and Cul-
ture employees Mike Karnosh and
Jan Looking Wolf Reibach, Tribal
Council member Jon A. George
and Tribal member Eric Bernando
opened the meeting with cultural
drumming and singing.
The July 9 meeting can be viewed
on the Tribal website, www.gran-
dronde.org, under the Video tab. n
Meals were provided by the Tribe
SUMMIT continued
from page 4
of support for veterans.”
Smith said there are 320,000
veterans in Oregon and that the
summit was an important part of
“connecting our veterans to other
veterans, and their benefits.”
“If we can help one veteran,”
Bentley said, “then that’s a success
story.”
Smith awarded a framed certifi-
cate to Leno for the Grand Ronde
Tribe’s contribution to the World
War II Memorial in Salem that was
dedicated on June 6. Tribal mem-
bers also blessed the memorial.
Like the inaugural event in 2013,
all Veterans Summit meals were
provided by the Tribe and an honor
board allowed those in attendance
to write the name of a deceased
veteran on a sticky note and place
it under the conflict in which they
lost their lives.
A carved, wooden memorial of the
iconic Iwo Jima flag raising honored
Howard Brandon, who was killed in
action in March 1945. He was the
brother of Gunny Brandon.
On Thursday evening, the Grand
Ronde Canoe Family sang and
drummed in the nearby plank-
house, Achaf-hammi.
Each day started with a somber
ceremony to honor and remember
those warriors still held captive or
missing in action.
Throughout the summit during
breaks, veterans participated in
talking circles and spouses and
relatives made crafts, such as
beaded necklaces.
On Friday, attendees listened
to Linda Woods (Ojibwe), an Air
Force veteran, talk about warrior
women and her experiences serving
in the military in the 1960s. After
her speech, she gifted U.S. flag and
eagle blankets to Leno and Bobb,
respectively.
The Friday afternoon listening
session involved Krumberger and
Chris Marshall, director of the
Portland Veterans Affairs regional
office.
Krumberger said the Portland
Veterans Affairs Medical Center
is one of the fastest growing in the
country, seeing 200 to 300 new
veterans every week. She said
the 3,500 employees at the Medi-
cal Center serve more than 8,200
veterans. Forty percent of the em-
ployees are themselves veterans,
she added.
Krumberger said that since she
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Darlene Aaron, left, a health promotion specialist for the Tribe’s Community
Health Program, takes William Beaver’s blood sugar reading during the
second annual “Veterans Summit: Gathering of Warriors” at Uyxat Powwow
Grounds on Thursday, July 10.
arrived six weeks ago, the number
of veterans waiting longer than
needed for appointments has de-
creased from 1,800 to 140.
“Because of our astronomical
growth, we’ve been challenged with
access,” Krumberger said.
Marshall also reported good
news. His office is switching to
an electronic records system and
is now 95 percent paperless. This
has helped a backlog of veterans’
cases drop from 9,000 to 4,440. “By
2015, we hope to be down to zero,”
he said.
Later that afternoon, Portland
Social Security Administration
Public Affairs Specialist Alan Ed-
wards addressed the gathering.
Navy veteran Nick Sixkiller was
master of ceremonies throughout
the summit.
“We want you to leave here as
a stronger person than when you
came,” said Jillene Joseph (Gros
Ventre), executive director of the
Native Wellness Institute. “This is
an informal healing ceremony.” n