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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2015)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 2013-14 school year Pullout inside MARCH 15, 2015 Feds take land into trust for Cowlitz Tribe CERT certified By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor T KHIHGHUDOJRYHUQPHQWWRRN land into trust for the Cowlitz ,QGLDQ 7ULEH RQ 0RQGD\ 0DUFKIXOÀOOLQJDSURPLVHPDGH in October that it would do so on -DQRUWKHUHDIWHU Bureau of Indian Affairs Regional 'LUHFWRU6WDQOH\6SHDNVVLJQHGWKH ÀQDOGRFXPHQWVWRLPPHGLDWHO\HV- WDEOLVKWKH&RZOLW]7ULEH·VÀUVWHY- er reservation. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe had been trying unsuccessfully since WR WDNH DSSUR[LPDWHO\ acres into trust near La Center ²DERXWPLOHVQRUWKRIWKH3RUW- land/Vancouver metropolitan area – so that is can build a mega-casino complex on the property. 0HDQZKLOHWKHFLW\RI9DQFRX- ver, nearby property owners, Citi- zens Against Reservation Shopping and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde filed appeals after U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Rothstein reaffirmed the federal government’s decision in Decem- EHUWRWDNHODQGLQWRWUXVWIRUWKH Cowlitz Tribe and dismissed law- suits against the Department of the Interior. Among other things, plaintiffs have argued that the Cowlitz Tribe’s traditional homelands are DERXWPLOHVIDUWKHUQRUWKLQWKH Toledo, Wash., area. “The Department of the Interior’s action ignores the fact that the case now pending before the Court of Ap- peals for the District of Columbia is about whether the department even See COWLITZ continued on page 17 Photo by Michelle Alaimo Members of the Tribe’s Community Emergency Response Team work together to roll Don Walkenshaw on to a tarp to carry him out of the Tribal Community Center during a mass casualty drill on Saturday, Feb. 28. Walkenshaw played an injured victim in the drill, which played out the scenario of an 8.0 earthquake that took place off the Oregon coast. 34 attend local emergency response classes By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer O n Saturday, Feb. 28, the Tribe’s Community Emer- gency Response Team participated in the eighth of nine classes from Yamhill County &(57WKHÀUVWWLPHWKHWUDLQLQJ has been held at the Tribe. Thirty-four people attended the current series of classes. Seven- W\ÀYHWRLQGLYLGXDOVWDNHWKH class every year countywide. All nine classes are held three- times-a-year, said Sue Lamb, Yam- hill County Emergency manager, and there is a shorter training monthly for volunteer trainers and community members in an ongoing effort to be prepared for potential natural or man-made See RESPONSE continued on page 5 Tribal Police K-9 forms partnership with prison By Smoke Signals staff +(5,'$1³*UDQG5RQGH3ROLFH2IÀFHU 3DWULFN0F&RQQHOODQGKLVFDQLQHSDUWQHU Nixwa demonstrated K-9 drug search techniques for the executive staff at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan on Wednes- GD\0DUFK S Photo by Michelle Alaimo Gary Martin, an investigator at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, pets Grand Ronde Tribal Police K-9 Officer Nixwa while he and Tribal Police Officer Patrick McConnell were at the prison to demonstrate drug search techniques on Wednesday, March 4. The demonstration displayed Nixwa’s talents and the process of how he locates illegal narcot- LFV0F&RQQHOOVDLG 1L[ZDD%HOJLDQ0DOLQRLVZDVDTXLFNIDYRU- ite of the prison’s staff and after the demonstra- tion concluded staff members were invited to pet and interact with Nixwa. The federal prison in Sheridan houses more WKDQLQPDWHVLQWKHFRUUHFWLRQDOLQVWLWX- tion, a minimum security satellite camp and a detention center. See PARTNERSHIP continued on page 14
