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S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2015
Meeting seeks community input
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
A potential swimming pool was
the hot topic at the annual Commu-
nity Input meeting held on Wednes-
day, June 3, in the Tribal gym.
“We had 18 Tribal departments
represented here tonight,” said
Planning and Grants Develop-
ment Manager Kim Rogers. “This
event is offered as an opportunity
for members to provide comments
and suggestions that will be used
to help guide Tribal programs and
prepare grant applications.”
Tribal staff members filled the
gym at 15 information tables and
gathered input from Tribal mem-
bers. Members stopped by each
table and in exchange for filling out
comment cards they were awarded
passports, which were collected and
used to determine raffle winners.
Attendance included 41 Tribal
members and 40 people from Tribal
Council and Tribal staff.
Rogers said all the information
gathered will be summarized into
a report for Tribal Council.
“It helps inform us on possible
things we should be looking into
as possible projects,” Rogers said.
Many Tribal members have ex-
pressed an ongoing interest in
having a swimming pool built in
Grand Ronde for the membership
and community.
Tribal member Rex Haller has
been a pool proponent and he spent
time with Tribal Planner Rick
George at the meeting. George
said the project has been talked
about for a few years and that it
Photo by Brent Merrill
Tribal Elder Violet Folden fills out an information sheet for Tribal Employment
Rights Office Secretary Keri Kimsey at the annual Community Input meeting
held on Wednesday, June 3, in the Tribal gym. The Community Input meeting
is an annual gathering for Tribal membership to share their ideas on the
direction Tribal programs should take in the future. This year’s meeting
featured a dinner served by Tribal Council members.
has picked up momentum recently.
“It has been brought up repeat-
edly by Tribal members during the
last six months at General Council
meetings and Tribal Council meet-
ings,” George said. “That resulted
in Tribal Council picking that issue
up and making a decision to study
it and figure out what it would cost,
and figure out whether it’s fundable
and whether or not the Tribe would
want to make a policy decision to
construct it and operate it.”
George said Tribal Council direct-
ed the General Manager’s Office to
determine how much it would cost
and to bring the results of that
study into the budget process. How
soon the project hits the budgeting
process has to do with how long the
study will take.
“So that’s where we are,” said
George. “We’re getting ready to
do the study. We are just at the
beginning.”
George said on a scale of one to
five, the pool proposal is at one.
“We haven’t looked at the size or
the components,” said George. “Are
we looking at a water park with a
kid’s play area, a wading pool or a
therapy pool?” said George. “None of
that has been decided yet. There is
not even a threshold or boundaries
for a potential cost. It’s all in the
planning, theorative stages right
now.”
George gives the membership an
“A” for their efforts so far.
“I think the Tribal membership
is doing exactly what they are
supposed to do as members of the
Confederated Tribes that is repre-
sented by an elective government,”
said George. “What they are saying
is, ‘In this community this is a pri-
ority and this is something we think
should be studied.’ ”
George said he thinks Commu-
nity Input meetings are a good
process for gathering information
from the membership. He said a
broader survey will be sent to the
membership in July that gathers
information about members’ so-
cio-economic situations. He said the
survey is sent out to the member-
ship every five years.
George and Rogers said that lis-
tening to the community and its
hopes and dreams is important to
leadership at every level of the Tribe.
“I think community input is
fundamentally important to gov-
ernance,” said George. “It is the
linkage between the people and
the people they put into office. It’s
vitally important.”
Rogers said attendance of Tribal
leadership is very important to the
process.
“Thank you to the Tribal Coun-
cil for approving the meeting and
attending it,” said Rogers. “Thank
you to the Education Department
for sharing their meeting date with
ours and thank you to (Nutrition
Program Manager) Kristy DeLoe
for the meal.” n
All veterans encouraged to attend
SUMMIT continued
from front page
characteristics. The Department of
Veterans Affairs estimates that 22
veterans take their own lives each
day based on death records from
21 states.
Social Services Department Man-
ager Dave Fullerton said it’s those
veterans that the summit tries to
reach.
“The whole philosophy of why
we started this was really trying
to reach people that aren’t being
served,” said Fullerton. “The reality
is we needed to do something, so
we did it.”
According to Indian Health Ser-
vice statistics released in 2012,
there is a 72 percent higher rate
of suicide among Native Ameri-
cans. In addition, of the 38,000
Americans who die from suicide
each year, 90 percent suffer from a
mental disorder, a substance abuse
disorder or both.
“I think originally when we talk-
ed about doing the summit we were
definitely targeting the veteran
out there that is homeless, the one
that doesn’t reach out,” said Tribal
Council Chairman Reyn Leno. “We
can make a difference and we can
make that connection for them so
they can get the help they need
and have a right to. My real belief
is that the best way to help a vet-
eran is to get another veteran to
make the communication and the
connection that will get them to go
and get their help.”
Fullerton said the summit’s first
year in 2013 was very grass roots.
“We didn’t have a budget so we
just came up with the money, we
just did everything ourselves,” said
Fullerton. “We paid for everything.
Then the next year the council liked
what we were doing and they gave
us a budget. We are trying to reach
out to the homeless veterans. We
want to serve the people that ar-
en’t being served. We’re trying to
connect people with benefits and
at the same time honor veterans.”
Fullerton said the event aims to
be more family friendly this year
with arts and crafts, attractions
for children and a family fun walk.
“We want the veterans to bring
their families,” said Fullerton.
“The attendance has started small
and grown, and like any event will
continue to grow.”
A “Listening Session” is sched-
uled for 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, July
9, at the Tribal Community Cen-
ter to start the summit. The ses-
sion will discuss the Grand Ronde
Tribe’s memorandum of under-
standing with the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs that allows the
Health & Wellness Center to be
reimbursed for caring for veterans
– Tribal and nonTribal. The idea
is that veterans who live in rural
areas far from Veterans Affairs’
hospitals can be better served by
Tribal health clinics.
All of the summit’s workshops
and focus groups will be held under
the Tribe’s new arbor at the pow-
wow grounds starting with a recep-
tion at 6 p.m. Thursday followed by
a plankhouse ceremony at 8 p.m.
Tribal employee Nick Sixkiller
will emcee the summit on Friday.
Navajo code talker and World War
II veteran Peter MacDonald Sr.,
Eagle Staff carrier Linda Woods
(Ojibwe) and retired Staff Sgt.
Rebecca Stone will be the keynote
speakers.
MacDonald is the only four-term
chairman of the Navajo Nation and
served in the Marine Corps.
“I would call him down to earth,”
said Leno. “People really acknowl-
edge his words when he is speaking.
He is a speaker that talks a lot
about his fellow code talkers and
his people; he’s not really talking
a lot about himself.”
Woods is an Air Force veteran
from 1962-66 who received an hon-
orable discharge and is part of a
group known as the Women of Well-
briety International. She is part of
the group’s Grandmother’s Council.
Stone, who will be traveling to
Oregon from Maryland, served in
Operation Iraqi Freedom and is
a certified suicide negotiator/first
responder. She also is a recipient of
the National Association of Female
Executives’ Women of Excellence
Award.
Leno said he hopes the Veterans
Summit will assist the people who
deserve the help and need it most.
“If you get one veteran to go to
the hospital, if you get one veteran
to live a year longer than they were
going to then you call it a success,”
said Leno. “It’s about making a
difference in one person’s life.”
“We want to encourage any and
all veterans to come out,” said Ful-
lerton. n
Elders’ phone numbers wanted
The Tribal Elders Committee is compiling a volunteer phone list of
Elders. If you would like to submit your phone number and address to
be available to other Elders, send it to elders.committee@grandronde.
org or leave a message at 503-879-2231. n