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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2015)
2 S moke S ignals JULY 15, 2015 NOTICE — Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings DATE TIME Wednesday, July 15.............................................................................5 p.m. Wednesday, July 29.............................................................................5 p.m. Please note that these times and dates are subject to change if needed. Letters Dear Tribal members: Earlier this month I sat through the July 1 Tribal Council meeting. Naturally, the question of enrollment, or disenrollment, was brought up. I remember when this sad chapter of our Tribal history began. I don’t think it began with the enrollment audit myself. It began with how the Tribal Council dealt with the audit. One family in particular has been persecuted more than others, so much so that one year ago the Enrollment Ordinance was amended specifically to deal just with them. The question asked on July 1 during Other Business naturally was directed toward them, and asked by someone who has been very public about their wishes to see this family purged from the rolls. As I recall the timing of the Enrollment Ordinance amendment last year was strangely close to the election. What better time to eliminate votes, right? This brings me to my point. Over the past two years, and in some ways before that even as enrollment has always been a hot topic, I’ve come to realize that disenrollment and the council’s authority to keep people in the Tribe can be manipulated in such a way that it has become a form of gerrymandering. For those of you not familiar with gerrymandering, it is a process by which politicians simply change the boundaries of their voting districts to assure themselves of re-election. Historically this was often done along racial lines, e.g. splitting up a heavily African-American or Hispanic dis- trict, city even, to make it more winnable for candidates who were not in favor with that particular voting group. How is this possible within our Tribe? Easy, disenroll people who support your opponents, and change the enrollment requirements to help expand your constituency. In our Tribe, this can be done by disenrolling entire rival families, and helping politically supportive families allow more of their members in. That, in a nutshell, is Tribal gerrymandering. People may think I’m off base for saying this. But as I’ve watched our leaders put forth another series of amendments to our Enrollment Ordi- nance, one of which makes it possible to remove names from the Restoration roll, despite assurances two years ago that council would not make any changes while following up on the audit, I no longer know what to think. Or trust for that matter. My gut instinct tells me this is bad news. Angie Blackwell Roll #1089 P.S: Please read the proposed amendments to the Enrollment Ordinance. Ask Tribal Council or somebody in our Legal Department to let you see them. General Council meeting Sunday, Sept. 13 — 11 a.m. Tribal Community Center Smoke Signals PUBLICATIONS OFFICE 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347 1-800-422-0232, FAX: 503-879-2173 Website: www.grandronde.org/news E-mail: news@grandronde.org Twitter: CTGRgov Facebook: Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde CHELSEA CLARK DEAN RHODES PUBLIC AFFAIRS/ PUBLICATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR 503-879-1463 dean.rhodes@grandronde.org MICHELLE ALAIMO PHOTOJOURNALIST 503-879-1961 michelle.alaimo@grandronde.org 503-879-1418 chelsea.clark@grandronde.org GEORGE VALDEZ GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST 503-879-1416 JUSTIN PHILLIPS BRENT MERRILL 503-879-2190 503-879-4663 PAGE DESIGNER STAFF WRITER justin.phillips@grandronde.org brent.merrill@grandronde.org george.valdez@grandronde.org SCARLETT HOLTZ VALERIE COX 503-879-1447 503-879-1446 CENTRAL PHONES CENTRAL PHONES scarlett.holtz@grandronde.org valerie.cox@grandronde.org DEADLINE DATE ISSUE DATE Monday, July 20........................... Aug. 1 Wednesday, Aug. 5..................... Aug. 15 Friday, Aug. 21............................ Sept. 1 Editorial Policy SMOKE SIGNALS, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Com- munity of Oregon, is published twice a month. No portion of this publication may be reprinted without permission. Our editorial policy is intended to encourage input from Tribal members and readers about stories printed in the Tribal newspaper. However, all letters received must be signed by the author, an address must be given and a phone number or e-mail address must be included for verification purposes. Full addresses and phone numbers will not be published unless requested. SMOKE SIGNALS reserves the right to edit letters and to refuse letters that are determined to contain libelous statements or personal attacks on individuals, staff, Tribal administration or Tribal Council. Not all letters are guaranteed publication upon submission. Letters to the editor are the opinions and views of the writer. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS, Tribal staff, Tribal administration or Tribal Council. Members of: Native American Journalists Association Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association 2015 Tribal Council 1-800-422-0232 — tribalcouncil@grandronde.org Reyn Leno Tribal Chairman — ext. 2399 reyn.leno@grandronde.org Jack Giffen Jr. Tribal Vice Chair — ext. 2300 jack.giffen@grandronde.org Toby McClary Tribal Secretary — ext. 4555 Denise Harvey — ext. 2353 denise.harvey@grandronde.org Chris Mercier — ext. 1444 chris.mercier@grandronde.org Cheryle A. Kennedy — ext. 2352 cheryle.kennedy@grandronde.org Tonya Gleason-Shepek — ext. 1777 toby.mcclary@grandronde.org tonya.gleason-shepek@grandronde.org Ed Pearsall — ext. 2305 Jon A. George — ext. 2355 ed.pearsall@grandronde.org jon.george@grandronde.org
