S moke S ignals
MAY 1, 2015
9
Casino hosts quarterly Health Board meeting
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Thirty-one delegates to the
Northwest Portland Area Indian
Health Board participated in the
organization’s quarterly meeting
held at Spirit Mountain Casino
from Tuesday, April 21, through
Thursday, April 23.
The Northwest Portland Area In-
dian Health Board was established
in 1972 and includes delegates from
the 43 federally recognized Tribes
in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
Health Board delegates meet
quarterly to create and update a
strategic plan, which covers four
main areas: health promotion and
disease prevention, legislative and
policy analysis, training and tech-
nical assistance, and surveillance
and research.
Grand Ronde Tribal Council
member Cheryle A. Kennedy is
the Tribe’s longtime delegate to
the Health Board and currently
serves as its vice chairwoman.
Before becoming a Tribal Council
member, Kennedy was at the helm
of the Tribe’s burgeoning health
programs in the 1980s.
The meeting opened Tuesday,
April 21, with Health Board Chair-
man Andy Joseph (Colville) calling
the meeting to order. Grand Ronde
Tribal Council member Jon A.
George gave the invocation and he
then joined Land and Culture em-
ployees Jan Looking Wolf Reibach,
Brian Krehbiel and Jordan Mercier
in drumming as the Grand Ronde
Honor Guard posted the colors.
The Honor Guard included Grand
Ronde Elders Alton Butler carry-
ing the eagle staff, Steve Bobb Sr.
with the U.S. flag, Jerry George
with the Tribal flag, Ronda Metcalf
(Sauk-Suiattle) carrying the POW/
MIA flag and Al Miller carrying the
Oregon flag.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno welcomed the delegates to
Grand Ronde and Spirit Mountain
Casino.
“It’s great to see all of our Tribes
together,” Leno said. “I wish we
could come together more to work
on common goals. I’ve been on
Tribal Council for about 20 years
and health care has always been
one of the primary things in Indian
Country.”
Leno recounted how he was 4
years old when the Grand Ronde
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Hal Mitchell, a doctor at the Grand Ronde Health and Wellness Center, right,
talks about the medical clinic to a group of Northwest Portland Area Indian
Health Board quarterly board meeting attendees as they tour the clinic
with Tribal Council member Cheryle A. Kennedy, left, on Tuesday, April 21.
Kennedy is the vice chairwoman on the Health Board.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno gives a welcome speech at
the beginning of the Northwest
Portland Area Indian Health Board
quarterly board meeting held at
Spirit Mountain Casino on Tuesday,
April 21. The meeting ran through
Thursday, April 23.
Tribe was terminated in 1954 and
there was no health care for Tribal
members for almost 30 years.
“During Restoration, one of the
first things, one of the most import-
ant things for our people was health
care because we really didn’t have
anything of that nature,” he said.
“When we got restored and started
getting health care, that was so
amazing for our people because we
had nothing else.”
Leno also honored Kennedy, who
has served on the Health Board
as the Grand Ronde delegate for
many years.
He also urged other Tribes to
work with the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs to establish
memorandums of understanding so
that their Tribal clinics can provide
health care to veterans – Native
and nonNative – and also receive
reimbursements.
“But, especially, I want to ac-
knowledge all of you people for
getting every dollar we can. You
know, it was promised to us in our
treaties. I would say they probably
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Dates: April 13 th thru June 15 th (each Monday evening)
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have not met that goal. But it’s you
people who make the difference in
trying to make sure that we do get
those dollars and make sure we put
them in the right place.”
Following the welcoming, dele-
gates got down to work.
Indian Health Service Portland
Area Director Dean Seyler (Warm
Springs) and Indian Health Board
Executive Director Jon Finkbon-
ner (Lummi) gave their respective
reports.
Seyler announced that a listening
session with Indian Health Service
Acting Director Robert McSwain,
originally scheduled to be held
during the Grand Ronde meeting,
was rescheduled to July 23.
During Finkbonner’s report, he
recognized Leslie Wosnig (Suqua-
mish) as the Health Board’s Del-
egate of the Year and Stephanie
Craig-Rushing, director of the
Red Talon Project, as the Health
Board’s Employee of the Year.
The Red Talon Project helps
member Tribes combat the spread
of sexually transmitted diseases,
AIDS and HIV.
Throughout the two-day meeting,
delegates were briefed on numer-
ous health issues affecting Native
Americans.
On Tuesday morning, delegates
discussed re-authorization of the
Special Diabetes Programs for
Indians and then held a working
lunch where they heard from the
Health Board’s myriad committees:
Elders, Veterans, Public Health,
Behavioral Health, Personnel and
Legislative/Resolution.
In the afternoon, Karen Quigley, ex-
ecutive director of the Oregon Legisla-
tive Commission on Indian Services,
addressed the delegates. There also
was a presentation on social media
and cyberbullying by Craig-Rushing,
who was accompanied Nikita Mid-
amba and Jesse Gritton of Seattle
Children’s Hospital.
Later on Tuesday, delegates
toured the Grand Ronde Health
and Wellness Center,
the Tribal campus and
achaf-hammi, the Tribal
plankhouse. That eve-
ning, a Tribal dinner
sponsored by the Grand
Ronde Tribe was served
at Spirit Mountain Ca-
sino.
Wednesday proved
just as busy a day. Af-
ter Kennedy called the
meeting to order, del-
egates received a leg-
islative update, heard
about oral health disparities among
American Indian and Alaska Na-
tive youth, were briefed on the
Health Board’s Sexual Assault
Prevention Program and partici-
pated in an all-Tribes discussion
regarding the federal government’s
fiscal year 2016 budget.
The meeting wrapped up on
Thursday morning with Joseph giv-
ing his Chairman’s Report and with
committee reports and handling
of Health Board business, such as
approval of minutes.
In addition to Leno, Kennedy and
George, Tribal Council Vice Chair
Jack Giffen Jr., Secretary Toby Mc-
Clary and Tribal Council members
Denise Harvey, Ed Pearsall and
Tonya Gleason-Shepek attended
the Tuesday morning session to
welcome delegates.
Health Committee members
Gladys Hobbs, Alan Ham and Ber-
nadine Shriver also attended, as
well as Health Services Executive
Director Jeff Lorenz, General Man-
ager Dawn Doar, Tribal Council
Chief of Staff Stacia Martin and
Tribal Planner Rick George. n
Oregon State slates
salmon bake, powwow
The 17th annual salmon bake will be held from noon to 3 p.m.
Friday, May 15, at the Native American longhouse Eena Haws at
Oregon State University in Corvallis.
On Saturday, May 16, the powwow will be held with grand entries
at 1 and 7 p.m.
For more information, contact the longhouse at 541-737-2738 or
via e-mail at nativeamericanlonghouse@oregonstate.edu. n