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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2015)
2 S MOKE S IGNALS DECEMBER 15, 2015 NOTICE — Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings DATE TIME Wednesday, Dec. 23.............................................................................4 p.m. Please note that these times and dates are subject to change if needed. General Council meeting 11 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016 Letters Tribal Community Center Dear Tribal members: I wrote a letter that appeared on page 2 of the Nov. 15, 2015, issue of Smoke Signals. That letter basically urged Tribal members affected by the parent on the roll requirement to contact Tribal Council, asking them to address this enrollment issue as a separate ballot proposal from any others. Further, I urged Tribal members to view the Oct. 22, 2015, video of the special Tribal Council meeting where Chris Mercier, Cheryle A. Kennedy, Jon A. George, Denise Harvey and Brenda Tuomi stopped the removal of the parent on the roll proposal from its fi nal Tribal Council approval. Since that time, Chris Mercier continues to muddy the waters by using the following tactics in his Smoke Signals letter of Dec. 1, 2015: • Chris calls my factual, accurate letter misleading, inaccurate and having omissions when I clearly provided actual data. • Chris continues to debate if the parent on the roll is one requirement or two. It is clearly shown as one proposal, not two, on the ATP sheet that was signed by the majority of Tribal Council and handed out at the July 29, 2015, Tribal Council meeting. • Chris resorts to a letter I wrote to Smoke Signals in 2011 when our Tribe proposed the last enrollment bundle. Chris asks if I remember what I said and did I change my mind. My response is: Yes, I remem- ber, and No, I did not change my mind. Chris then puts words into my mouth saying: “She personally identifi ed these two requirements as being distinct and deserving to be separated out for different votes.” Chris, I did not say that! Anyone can look up in the archives on our Tribal website and see who is misleading and inaccurate here. I point- ed out seven changes that were in the proposed enrollment bundle of 2011. My letter was one of 20 that issue — many of them asking for no more bundles. • Chris is sorry I mentioned the Correction to the Restoration Roll Form for those who need help with not having an ancestor on the Restoration Roll. He said I was giving “false hope.” According to the videos of Tribal Council meetings, this form and process was approved by both Tribal Council and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is my understanding that at least 13 individuals have already been approved through Tribal Council resolution. Therefore, it is very discouraging that a current Tribal Council member actually openly advocates against this process. • It appears to me that Chris Mercier, Cheryle A. Kennedy, Denise Harvey, Jon A. George and Brenda Tuomi are the ones providing the false hope. They verbally state they want to help with the enrollment problems, yet their written signatures and votes are against helping those with the majority of the enrollment problems: parent on the roll. In the end, what really matters is what Tribal members say. The best chance for the families who need the parent on the roll requirement re- moved is if it is a separate ballot proposal. Remember that as a separate proposal in 2008, it failed by only 68 votes. I urge any family who needs this correction to write to tribalcouncil@ grandronde.org and ask for this and all enrollment proposals to be voted on separately – no bundles. In my opinion, any enrollment bundle will fail as it did in 2011. Members do not appreciate being forced into saying “yes” to items we do not want in order to achieve the ones we do. Let each item pass or fail on its own merit. Rosemary Jameson Roll #883 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. 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. SOCKtoberfest collects 288 pairs The annual SOCKtoberfest drive put on by the Youth Education Depart- ment collected 288 pairs of socks, 13 winter stocking caps and 11 pairs of winter gloves, according to Elementary Lead Matt Bucknell. The items were donated to the Clothes Closet on Monday, Nov. 30. “Our goal was to break our record and collect more than 250 items,” Bucknell said. “We did it!” n Correction — Veterans Special Event Board Senior Queen Cheyenne Simmons was mistakenly identifi ed as a descendant in the Dec. 1 issue of Smoke Signals. She is a Tribal member, listed as Cheyenne Gilbert in the Tribal membership log. Smoke Signals regrets the error. 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
