S MOKE S IGNALS
JANUARY 1, 2016
5
Tribal Council OKs Restoration Roll changes
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council voted to correct or
add the names of 19 current Tribal
members to the Restoration Roll
during its last meeting of 2015 held
on Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Member Services Manager Penny
DeLoe said during the Tuesday,
Dec. 22, Legislative Action Com-
mittee meeting that three were
corrected names and 16 additions.
The corrections and additions,
which went through a Tribal pro-
cess and were recommended by the
Enrollment Board, will be forward-
ed to the Secretary of the Interior
for approval.
Tribal Attorney Rob Greene said
during the Legislative Action Com-
mittee meeting that the process of
adding names to the Restoration
Roll started in 2012. At the time,
Department of the Interior staff
members were not sure they could
add names. The department’s Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs then devel-
oped a process for its approval of
corrections and additions to the
Restoration Roll, which requires
specific representations be made
by the Tribe in a Tribal Council
resolution.
“Because they were not sure they
had the authority to do this, they
had to do a lot of work with their
D.C. offi ce. Then we had to develop
a process for them to actually do
it. We worked closely with them
to develop that process. Now we
have a process in place, and so with
that process in place, these things
should run very smoothly,” Greene
said.
In response to questions during
the Tribal Council meeting, DeLoe
said that for the 16 individuals be-
ing added to the Restoration Roll
that the action will not affect a split
family situation created by passage
of the 1999 enrollment amendment.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno said being added to the Res-
toration Roll is an individual choice
made by Tribal members, but that
he would recommend Tribal mem-
bers be added if they qualify be-
cause one never knows what Tribal
enrollment requirements will be in
the future.
“I would tell anybody if you had
an opportunity to be on the Resto-
ration Roll and you’re not on the
Restoration Roll but you qualify, I
would tell anybody to go through
that process because you don’t
know what the enrollment criteria
are going to be 10 years from now,
20 years from now," Leno said. "I
would make sure that I had every
‘T’ crossed and every ‘I’ dotted for
the potential of how it might affect
your family down the line. That
would be my recommendation, but
it’s solely a person’s choice.”
Tribal Council member Chris
Mercier added that having your
name on the Restoration Roll al-
lows members to count all of their
Indian blood as Grand Ronde blood.
“If you’re someone who wants
to extend their bloodline, this is a
useful way to do it,” Mercier said.
In other action, Tribal Council
approved the 2016 Tribal budget.
Changes to the proposed budget
that was released in November
will be compiled and distributed to
the membership in an upcoming
Tilixam Wawa.
Other actions included:
• Setting the agenda for the Sun-
day, Jan. 3, General Council
meeting, which will feature a
program report from the Natural
Resources Department and El-
ders Committee election results;
• Naming Ceded Lands Coordina-
tor Brandy Humphreys as the
Tribe’s representative to the Port-
land Harbor Nature Resource
Trustee Council and Tribal Hon-
ors Attorney Holly Partridge as
the alternate;
• Signing an agreement with In-
dustrial Economics for Portland
Harbor environmental services;
• Establishing a Youth Council
and adopting bylaws for the new
council;
• Changing the Governmental
Operations Trust Fund Policy so
that “communication with our
members” is listed as an essen-
tial governmental service so that
interest earned also can be used
to fund Tribal publications;
• Approving a lease/operational
agreement with the Lighthouse
Group to use a community build-
ing being constructed on the
Risseeuw property;
• And approving the enrollment
of four adults and three infants
into the Tribe because they meet
the requirements outlined in the
Tribal Constitution and Enroll-
ment Ordinance.
Culture Department employees
Bobby Mercier, Jordan Mercier,
Brian Krehbiel and Travis Stewart
joined Tribal Council member Jon
A. George, Ceded Lands Manager
Michael Karnosh and Public Affairs
Administrative Assistant Chelsea
Clark in performing the cultural
drumming and singing to open the
meeting.
The meeting, in its entirety, can
be viewed on the Tribal website,
www.grandronde.org, by clicking
on the News tab and then Video. n
Map created by George Valdez
Tribe in planning stages
for development of site
PARK continued
from front page
Ad created by George Valdez
build a private casino at the former
racetrack.
Oregon Tribes successfully com-
batted both measures and Oregon
voters overwhelmingly rejected the
idea of private casinos in the state
during the November 2012 election.
Wood Village in eastern Mult-
nomah County is located within
the historic homelands of the
Cascade and Clackamas Chinook
Tribes, two Tribes that confeder-
ated to Grand Ronde in the 19th
century. The Tribes ceded the
area to the federal government
in the Willamette Valley Treaty
of 1855.
Multnomah Greyhound Park
closed in 2004 and still has the old
grandstand facilities in place.
“Property cleanup and demolition
of existing structures will com-
mence in early 2016,” Reibach said.
After news of the Tribe’s interest
in the property broke in mid-Octo-
ber, Tribal Council members met
with the Wood Village City Council
on Nov. 2 to discuss possible uses
for the property.
“While we cannot rule anything
out in terms of the future of gaming
in Oregon, our priority at this time
is to develop this property in a man-
ner that diversifi es our investment
holdings,” Leno said.
Reibach added that the Tribe is
in the planning stages for develop-
ment of the site.
The property joins the Portland
Area Offi ce on Southwest Barbur
Boulevard as Tribal holdings in
Multnomah County.
Reibach said that Tribal mem-
bers interested in more information
about the property should contact
him at jan.reibach@grandronde.org
or call 503-879-2394. n