S moke S ignals
MARCH 1, 2015
5
Tribal Council OKs arbor contract
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Upcoming events held at Uyxat
Powwow Grounds will be a little
more comfortable and safer now
that Tribal Council has approved
a construction contract to build an
arbor at the site during its Wednes-
day, Feb. 25, meeting.
Tribal Council approved a con-
tract not to exceed $698,476 with
Chris Scholten Construction of Wil-
lamina to build the 20,000-square-
foot arbor, which will feature a
removable shade and rain cover.
In addition, Tribal Council ap-
proved an amendment to the pre-
viously approved Jurassic Park
Logging Unit that will allow use of
the necessary amount of Douglas
fir logs from the Reservation in the
arbor’s construction.
“We’re trying to use as much
wood off the Reservation as we pos-
sibly can to build this arbor,” Tribal
Council Chairman Reyn Leno said
during the Feb. 24 Legislative Ac-
tion Committee meeting.
In addition, a new concrete slab
will surround the 100-foot diameter
powwow dance area that will be
composed of soil and natural grass,
which will be smoothed out to pre-
vent sprained ankles, said Tribal
Engineer Jesse White.
“It will be a nice, smooth surface,”
White said.
A new access road and hand-
icapped parking area also will
be constructed at the powwow
grounds.
A Powwow Arbor Design Team
has been meeting since October and
This drawing shows the design of the arbor that is being built at the Tribe’s
Uyxat Powwow Grounds. The 20,000-square-foot arbor will be constructed
out of Douglas fir logs from the Tribe’s Reservation land and will have a rain/
shade cover over it during powwows.
included staff from the Engineering
Department, General Manager’s
Office, Public Works, Facilities,
Land and Culture and Information
Services and representatives from
Tribal Council and the Veterans and
the Powwow special event boards.
The arbor is scheduled to be com-
pleted before the Marcellus Nor-
west Memorial Veterans Powwow
being held July 10-12.
In other action, Tribal Council:
•Approved a grant application to
the Administration for Native
Americans for a three-year Envi-
ronmental Regulatory Enhance-
ment grant totaling $410,767. The
grant would provide equipment
Health care scholarship
seeking applications
West Valley Hospital Foundation scholarship applications for stu-
dents in medically related fields of study became available on Feb. 1
and applications must be returned by March 27.
Applicants must have a permanent residence in Polk County or be
a current employee or family member of a current employee at West
Valley Hospital, and must have applied to a college in their field of
study before applying for this scholarship.
Visit www.salemhealth.org/scholarships and click on the West
Valley Hospital scholarship link. Call 503-831-3456 for more infor-
mation. n
and consultant and staff support
to improve the population counts
of fish and wildlife under the
Tribe’s Wildlife Management Plan
so that realistic harvest limits can
be set on the Reservation.
•Approved another application to
the Administration for Native
Americans for a three-year Es-
ther Martinez language grant
totaling $836,461 that would ex-
pand the half-day Chinuk Wawa
Immersion Program to kinder-
garten through third grade.
•Approved a resolution support-
ing Polk County’s public safety
levy that will be on the May 19
ballot and allowing the use of
the Tribe’s name and logo on levy
campaign materials.
•Approved the agenda for the
March 1 General Council meet-
ing, which will include an update
on economic development activi-
ties and an informational session
on the March 14 constitution-
al amendment election. Tribal
members are being asked to vote
on whether to eliminate Bureau
of Indian Affairs involvement in
Tribal constitutional elections
and whether to require future
Tribal Council members to take
a year off after serving three con-
secutive terms.
•Approved the enrollment of one
infant into the Tribe and cor-
rected the blood quantum of two
Tribal members.
•Approved a maximum $7.77
million loan from the Tribe’s line
of credit to fund 2015 capital
improvement projects at Spirit
Mountain Casino, including pur-
chasing 150 new slot machines
and approximately 1,800 slot
chairs, exterior painting, a park-
ing lot overlay and kitchen reno-
vations needed for safety reasons,
among other projects.
•Set March 13 as the next per
capita payment date.
Also included in the Feb. 25 Tribal
Council packet were authorizations
to proceed that give the Land and
Culture Department permission to
proceed with a historical exhibit in
collaboration with the Chehalem
Cultural Center and directed staff
to begin the approval process with
the BIA to lease a one-acre portion
of the Risseeuw property to Light-
house Recovery Services Group.
Tribal Council member Jon A.
George and Land and Culture De-
partment employees Bobby Mercier
and Brian Krehbiel and Willamina
High School senior Miguel Alvara-
do opened the meeting with cultur-
al drumming and singing.
The meeting, in its entirety, can
be viewed on the Tribal website,
www.grandronde.org, under the
News tab and then click on the
Video link. n
Dragon tales
Wisdom of the Elders seeking mentors
Wisdom of the Elders is seeking Native American high school and col-
lege youth in the Portland area to serve as peer mentors for Discovering
Yidong Xinag – “the old wisdom” in the Deg Xinag dialect of Athabascan.
This youth leadership initiative is designed to engage Native youth in
environmental and climate studies through service learning by serving as
peer mentors to middle school youth. Participants will have opportunities
to learn about their local ecosystem, explore higher education in science,
technology, engineering and math, and pursue career pathways.
Native peer mentors will receive a stipend for participating in weekend
trainings from April through June as they learn about local and regional
environmental and climate issues, GIS survey mapping, skills training in
peer mentoring and leadership, and video production and post-production
editing to produce a short video featuring their Summer Field Science
Camp group.
Youth will serve as peer mentors at Wisdom’s Summer Field Science
Camps for Native youth in June and July.
For an application or if you have questions, contact Amanda Kelley Lopez
at amanda@wisdomoftheelders.org or call 503-775-4014. Applications are
being accepted until March 31. You also can visit www.wisdomoftheelders.
org for more information. n
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Librarian Marion Mercier adds scales to the Library Dragon for
the “Get Fired Up for Reading” incentive program at the Tribal Library
on Tuesday, Feb. 24. The program involves adding a scale with a
reader’s name and the title of the book written on it to the dragon for
each book read. The program runs through March 5 and is for readers
of all ages. Mercier is hoping this year’s scales will break last year’s
record of 227.