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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2015)
2 S MOKE S IGNALS DECEMBER 1, 2015 NOTICE — Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings DATE TIME Wednesday, Dec. 2...............................................................................4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16.............................................................................4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30.............................................................................4 p.m. Please note that these times and dates are subject to change if needed. General Council meeting 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 6 Earlier time to accommodate Tribal Council Christmas Party Tribal Community Center Letters Dear Tribal members: This is written to address a letter by Rosemary Jameson that appeared in the Nov. 15, 2015, issue of Smoke Signals. Her letter was misleading and included a number of inaccuracies and omissions that I plan to clarify here. Rosemary urges that Tribal members contact Tribal Council and ask for enrollment issues to be voted on separately and to not be “bundled.” She then erroneously identifi es the July 2015 proposed constitutional amend- ment removing a “parent on the roll requirement” as a single issue. The problem is that the “parent on the roll” is actually two different require- ments that were bundled together and which consisted of: 1. Parent on the roll at time of birth; 2. Parent on the roll at time of application (unless deceased). While Rosemary rails against voting on bundles, what she wanted Tribal Council to move forward with was a bundle. This is indisputable. These were listed on the sample ballot sent to BIA as two different requirements. They are also listed as two separate requirements on the checklist for membership which we on Tribal Council review when voting to enroll a member. These points were all discussed at the July 29 Tribal Council meeting and again at the Oct. 22 special Tribal Council meeting. In fact, in a letter Rosemary Jameson herself wrote to Smoke Signals on Nov. 1, 2011, which was during the last constitutional election on enrollment, she personally identifi ed these two requirements as being distinct and deserving to be separated out for different votes. But, for whatever reason, she either changed her mind or plain old forgot. Rosemary omitted those key facts from her letter. The Oct. 22, 2015, meeting which took place was not easy. But those of us who chose to delay moving forward were very clear and sincere in our desire to see enrollment justice for all of those families adversely impacted by the 1999 amendment. In my opinion, to turn our backs on some families without even trying to help them would have only made a divisive issue more so. It would have created a lot of resentment among those split fam- ilies as some would get to experience the joy of seeing their 16-year wait ended, while others would be left out in the cold, wondering why Tribal Council chose to leave them behind. Mrs. Jameson mentions the Restoration Roll correction as being an av- enue for correcting one of the problems created by the 1999 amendment. There may be some truth to that, but at this point we don’t really know. We don’t know who will apply, what their situations will be and whether they will be able meet the requirements to be added to the Restoration Roll per our Enrollment Ordinance. For her to put that forth as an alternative to a constitutional amendment, especially when we just don’t know, could be giving some people false hope. I really wish she hadn’t done that. I, too, would like to see the unintended consequences of the 1999 amend- ment resolved. But I would like to see a solution that does not entail helping some families and deliberately turning our backs on others. No family in this Tribe is better than any other. Chris Mercier Roll #1821 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 DEAN RHODES CHELSEA CLARK MICHELLE ALAIMO PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS/ PUBLICATIONS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT PHOTOJOURNALIST 503-879-1463 dean.rhodes@grandronde.org 503-879-1961 michelle.alaimo@grandronde.org 503-879-1418 chelsea.clark@grandronde.org GEORGE VALDEZ JUSTIN PHILLIPS BRENT MERRILL GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST PAGE DESIGNER STAFF WRITER 503-879-2190 503-879-4663 503-879-1416 justin.phillips@grandronde.org brent.merrill@grandronde.org george.valdez@grandronde.org SCARLETT HOLTZ VALERIE COX CENTRAL PHONES CENTRAL PHONES 503-879-1447 503-879-1446 valerie.cox@grandronde.org scarlett.holtz@grandronde.org DEADLINE DATE ISSUE DATE Friday, Dec. 4 .............................Dec. 15 Friday, Dec. 18 ....................Jan. 1, 2016 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 verifi cation 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 refl ect the opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS, Tribal staff, Tribal administration or Tribal Council. Members of: n Native American Journalists Association n Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association See page 14 for more letters. Name changes in Tribal Court Tribal Court provides both minor and adult name changes to enrolled members for a fi ling fee of only $30. If you have any questions or would like to request a packet, please contact Devin Larsen at 503-879-2303 or devin.larsen@grandronde.org. n St. Michael’s off ers brunch St. Michael’s Catholic Church offers an open house brunch every Sunday following Mass. The brunch is free to the community. Brunch begins at about 11:30 a.m. following the 10:30 a.m. Mass. Mass attendance is not required for brunch attendance. For more information, contact Janelle Justen at 503-550-0923. n Tribal Offi ce Closures Tribal offi ces will be closing on Thursday, Dec. 24, at noon and closed on Friday, Dec. 25, in observance of Christmas. Offi ces also will be closing on Thursday, Dec. 31, at noon and closed on Friday, Jan. 1, 2016, in observance of New Year's Day. 2015-16 Tribal Council 1-800-422-0232 — tribalcouncil@grandronde.org n Reyn Leno Tribal Chairman — ext. 2399 n Denise Harvey — ext. 2353 reyn.leno@grandronde.org n Chris Mercier — ext. 1444 n Jack Giffen Jr. Tribal Vice Chair — ext. 2300 jack.giffen@grandronde.org n Cheryle A. Kennedy Tribal Secretary — ext. 2352 cheryle.kennedy@grandronde.org denise.harvey@grandronde.org chris.mercier@grandronde.org n Brenda Tuomi — ext. 4555 brenda.tuomi@grandronde.org n Tonya Gleason-Shepek — ext. 1777 tonya.gleason-shepek@grandronde.org n Ed Pearsall — ext. 2305 n Jon A. George — ext. 2355 ed.pearsall@grandronde.org jon.george@grandronde.org
