PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
SALEM, OR
PERMIT NO. 178
2014 Annual Contest
Powwow insert — pg. 7
september 1, 2014
Chachalu fundraising making progress
Six grants bring in more than
$573,000 for Phase II work
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Election
Day is Sept. 6
he Chachalu Tribal Museum
& Cultural Center Phase II
capital campaign recently
received a $60,000 grant from the
Collins Foundation, bringing the
number of grants received to six
and the value of those grants to
$573,484.
The Collins Foundation is an
independent, private foundation
based in Portland that was created
in 1947 by Truman W. Collins Sr.
and other members of the family
of E.S. Collins. The foundation ex-
See CHACHALU
continued on page 4
Vested canine
Nine vying for three open seats
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
ime is quickly running out on Tribal mem-
bers to vote in the 2014 Tribal Council
election.
Election Day is Saturday, Sept. 6, and ballots
will be counted at the Community Center that
day and results will be posted that evening on
the Community Center’s front doors.
Nine Tribal members, including the three
incumbents, are seeking three-year terms on
Tribal Council. Incumbents are Tribal Council
Chair Reyn Leno and current members Kathleen
Tom and June Sherer. Challengers are Chris
Mercier, Brenda Tuomi, Ann Lewis, Tonya
Gleason-Shepek, Cory Meneley and Kevin Sim-
mons.
Tribal voters can vote for up to three candi-
dates on their ballot.
As of the day of nominations for Tribal Council
in late June, 3,996 Tribal members were eligible
to vote in the election. Last year, 1,205 ballots
were cast out of 3,924 Tribal members who were
eligible to vote.
Eligible voters – those who will be 18 or older
as of Sept. 6 – must be registered to vote with
the Tribe. Tribal members can register up to
and including on Election Day. Late registrants
can bring their registration into the Community
Center on Election Day or submit it to Member
Services Manager Penny DeLoe in the Gover-
nance Center through Friday, Sept. 5.
The Tilixam Wawa with candidate statements
was mailed first class to Tribal members in
mid-July and ballots were mailed to voters with
verifi ed signatures on July 23. n
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department Offi cer Patrick McConnell puts a bulletproof vest on Tribal
K-9 Offi cer Nixwa during a gathering at the Tribal Community Center on Friday, Aug. 15. Funds
for the bulletproof vest were raised by Friends of Nixwa, a group organized by Tribal member
Veronica Gaston to raise money for the vest. Any additional funds raised will be used for training
or equipment Nixwa needs, McConnell said.
Report reviews eff orts to preserve heritage
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
A
lunchtime report presented
on Tuesday, Aug. 26, sig-
naled completion of a Spirit
Mountain Community Fund grant
and remaining funds from an ear-
lier National Endowment for the
Arts grant to help preserve the
Tribe’s cultural heritage.
Specifi cally, the project aimed at
providing tools to integrate Tribal
language with basketry tradi-
tion, said Emily West Afanador,
program manager for the Oregon
Folklife Network based at the Uni-
versity of Oregon in Eugene.
The funding allowed ongoing
work on the traditional craft of
weaving to continue to grow. Ef-
forts included:
• With earlier grants, the Tribe
published three children’s books
describing the process of weaving
cedar materials into baskets. The
Oregon Folklife Network pub-
lished the books in a run of 100
copies each, as well as presenta-
tion as e-books.
• The grant enabled different tools
to teach the practice, including the
production of videos to show the
process of traditional weaving.
See HERITAGE
continued on page 13