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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2014)
4 S moke S ignals NOVEMBER 15, 2014 Seasonal shopping 2009 – A ceremony officially honoring completion of the Grand Ronde Road improvement project was held with then-Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn Leno and Tribal Council member Wink Soderberg helping to cut the ribbon. The project cost $6.4 million. 2004 – A team of volunteers helped in the construction of a new playground area in the family housing development Chxi Musam Illihi. The project took al- most four hours to complete and became a safe place for children to play. 1999 – The Grand Ronde Tribe sub- mitted a claim under the Native Ameri- can Graves Protection and Repatriation Act to the American Museum of Natural File photo History in New York City, asking for the return of Tomanowos, the Willa- mette meteorite taken from Oregon in the early 1900s. The meteorite belonged to the Native doctors of the Clackamas Tribe. 1994 – The Tribe reached an agreement with the Bureau of Land Man- agement regarding a survey error that occurred in 1871. The 84 acres near the Reservation known as the Thompson Strip was not added to the Reservation and was sold in 1907. The Tribe gave up its claim on the land in exchange for another 240 acres and Congress approved the deal. 1989 – Smoke Signals and Tribal archives do not have a copy of the November 1989 edition. 1984 – The Tribal Constitution was adopted with a 145-14 vote. The new Constitution stated that the blood quantum requirement for enroll- ment was to be lowered to 1/16th. Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year incre- ments through the pages of Smoke Signals. Fish distribution set for Nov. 17-18 Tribal fish distribution will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 17-18, at the Natural Resources Department’s Fish Lab, 47010 S.W. Hebo Road. Tribal members must show photo identification to pick up their fish. Elders will have a line established to expediently fill their requests. To ensure this, only Elders’ orders will be filled using the line. If you are picking up for others, a signed release form will be required. There will be no early or late pickups, and fish will not be mailed. For more information, contact the Natural Resources Department at 503-879-2424. n Ad created by George Valdez Photo by Michelle Alaimo Tribal Elder Cordelia Kneeland looks at a quilt for sale at fellow Elder Betty Lambert’s booth during the Elders Bazaar held at the Tribal gymnasium on Friday, Nov. 7. The bazaar also was held Saturday Nov. 8. Two more bazaars will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14-15 and Dec. 12-13, at Spirit Mountain Casino from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Tribal Council resends two proposed constitutional amendments to voters By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Tribal members should be voting on two proposed amendments to the Tribe’s Constitution between mid-February and early March now that Tribal Council has again asked the Secretary of the Inte- rior to call an election during its Wednesday, Nov. 5, meeting. The amendments, which would institute term limits on future Tribal Council service and remove the Bureau of Indian Affairs from Tribal constitutional elections, were originally scheduled to go before Tribal voters on June 6, but irregularities that occurred at the BIA’s Siletz Agency Office caused Tribal Council to ask the BIA to cancel the election on May 14. Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno said in May that the Tribe had “learned of several procedural errors … these errors were caused by the BIA Siletz Agency Office’s failure to follow federal regulations for conducting secretarial elections. Unfortunately, Tribal Council be- lieves the integrity of the election process has already been seriously compromised.” At the Tuesday, Nov. 4, Legis- lative Action Committee meeting, Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said the new election will be overseen by the BIA’s regional office in Portland and that the BIA will pay for the cost of the previous failed election. Greene added that a training session will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 25, between BIA staff and the Tribal Elections Board to en- sure the constitutional election is conducted properly. The BIA also will pay for the training session, he said. Greene estimated that with an expedited review of the proposed amendments’ wording, since they have already been approved by the Solicitor’s Office, that an election could be held in late February to early March. The first proposed amendment would remove the BIA’s oversight role regarding Tribal constitutional elections. The second proposed amendment would establish term limits of three consecutive terms on future Tribal Council service. After three con- secutive three-year terms, a Tribal Council member would have to take a year off before being eligible to run again and serve another three consecutive terms. The term limits, if approved, would not be retroac- tive and would not affect current Tribal Council members who have already served three or more con- secutive terms. To change the Tribal Constitu- tion, at least 30 percent of those registered to vote with the BIA must cast ballots and 66.7 percent – two-thirds – of those voting must approve an amendment. In other action, Tribal Council approved a per capita distribution date of Dec. 12 and the enrollment of three infants into the Tribe. Tribal Council also OK’d a set- tlement with the Indian Health Service regarding contract support cost claims from fiscal year 1996 through fiscal year 2011. The set- tlement must now wind its way through the federal government. Also included in the Nov. 5 Tribal Council packet were authorizations to proceed that: • Moved Tribal Council meetings to 4 p.m. in December, January, February and March to accom- modate the dark and inclem- ent weather during the winter months. • Moved the Dec. 7 General Council meeting up an hour to 10 a.m. to accommodate the Tribal Council Christmas Party. Tribal Council member Jon A. George, Land and Culture Depart- ment Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach, Education Department Manager Eirik Thorsgard and Cultural Youth Education Spe- cialist Travis Stewart provided the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting. The meeting can be viewed in its entirety at the Tribal website, www.grandronde.org, under the Video tab. n