2
S moke S ignals
MARCH 1, 2016
Letters
Dear honorable General Council:
Recently the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde lead a crusade to reverse
a ruling made in 2012 by the Oregon State Board of Education to eliminate
all Native mascots used by public high schools in the state of Oregon. This
amounted to 14 of the 503 public high schools.
Native American Tribes across the nation have been ighting against the
use of these Native-imaged mascots for decades. When Congress passed the
1968 American Indian Civil Rights Act, the National Congress of American
Indians picked up the ight and have continued to champion this battle for
all these many years. The battle was based not only on eliminating the
mascots, but stopping the money exploiting machine derived by these sports
teams. The following is a quote taken from the NCAI website:
“About ‘Indian’ Sports Mascots & Harm: Born in an era when racism and
bigotry were accepted by the dominant culture, ‘Indian’ sports brands have
grown to become multi-million dollar franchises.”
In 2012, the OSBE set a precedent and became a leader in stopping schools
from promoting racism through the use of Native American-imaged mascots.
They passed a ruling removing all Native American-imaged mascots from
Oregon high schools and gave the schools until 2017 to make the change.
However, in 2013 the issue returned to the table. Discussions and meet-
ings took place and an amendment to the ruling was presented. The OSBE
decided to have a study conducted on the effects these mascots had on Native
American youth attending the high schools with Native-imaged mascots.
The indings overwhelmingly proved harmful effects to Tribal youth. In fact
the study showed a 2-to-1 dropout rate and disciplinary actions vs. those
of Native students attending schools with no Native-imaged mascots. In
early 2015, the OSBE reviewed the results of the study and voted to uphold
their 2012 ruling.
In addition, I should add the Adidas Corp. also got on board and offered
to donate money to cover the cost for all schools willing to make the change.
Now here is where things get crazy. At some point the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde Tribal Council decided to lead a crusade of their own
and fought to have the ruling made by the OSBE reversed. From recent
statements made by Tribal Council, they wanted to have a part in deciding
what mascots were considered harmful on a school-by-school basis. They
felt it was against our sovereignty for the OSBE to make a ruling to stop
racism against Tribal youth and remove the mascots. They got other Tribes
involved. However, according to various news articles, not all Oregon Tribes
agreed with CTGR’s position.
Due to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s crusade, in January of
this year the OSBE took another vote and reversed the 2012 ruling. The
new ruling states that Oregon high schools need only get one of the Oregon
Tribes’ approval to retain their mascot.
Unfortunately, our Tribal Council never brought this issue before the
membership and at February’s General Council meeting it became the
main topic of discussion. In fact at one point a vote of the membership in
attendance was requested. A show of hands was taken and the majority of
Tribal members attending voted against Tribal Council’s recent actions. I
believe of all those voting only two hands went up when asked who was in
favor of the position taken by Tribal Council.
It was also disclosed that no action to proceed or vote of any kind was ever
taken by Tribal Council on this sensitive topic. However, Chairman Reyn
Leno took it upon himself to submit an article to the Oregonian newspaper.
It was this news story that brought the issue to light for many of our Tribal
members. Prior to this story, most were unaware of our Tribal Council’s
position on this issue. Here is a portion of that news article:
“By Reyn Leno
“I am Reyn Leno, and I’m proud to be an Indian who fought for this country
as a warrior in Vietnam. I am Tribal Council chairman for the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, following in the footsteps of the chiefs that came
before me and signed treaties with the United States.
“Our people are proud to be known as Indians, Braves, Warriors and
Chiefs. The Oregon State Board of Education recently made the right de-
cision to approve a rule that reinforces the Legislature’s bill allowing for
federally recognized Tribes and neighboring school districts to enter into
agreements on culturally acceptable and respectable mascot imagery.”
If I were to say anything positive came from this, it would be that the Tribal
Council in attendance recognized how disgusted the majority of General
Council members were and the importance of including the membership in
decisions that affect our Tribe. They seem to be making an effort to share
more information. Chris Mercier even went as far as to say they needed to
put language in place that includes the General Council in making decisions
that have a major effect on our Tribe. I truly hope Councilman Mercier
follows through on that statement.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter to the editor. I realize it
is long, but I wanted to be sure I included as much detail as possible of what
actually took place. I oftentimes read news articles that don't necessarily
give the entire story, especially for those who live in other states.
Ann K. Lewis
Roll #3983
(Editor’s note: Since 2012, Smoke Signals has published nine sto-
ries about the Native mascot issue in Oregon, including a Message
From the Chair written by Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno. In
all of those stories, Tribal Council’s stand on Native mascots was
outlined: That they are not necessarily derogatory and that Oregon
Tribes should have input on deciding if they are appropriate, and
that improved education in Oregon public schools about the state’s
nine Tribes is necessary to end racism.)
General Council meeting
11 a.m. Sunday, March 6
Tribal Community Center
Smoke Signals
PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
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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
Monday, March 7 ..................... March 15
Monday, March 21 ....................... April 1
Tuesday, April 5 ........................ April 15
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 veriication 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 relect the
opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS, Tribal staff, Tribal administration or Tribal Council.
Members of: Native American Journalists Association
Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
2016 Tribal Council
1-800-422-0232 — tribalcouncil@grandronde.org
Reyn Leno
Tribal Chairman
— ext. 2399
Denise Harvey
— ext. 2353
reyn.leno@grandronde.org
Chris Mercier
— ext. 1444
Jack Giffen Jr.
Tribal Vice Chair
— ext. 2300
jack.giffen@grandronde.org
Cheryle A. Kennedy
Tribal Secretary
— ext. 2352
cheryle.kennedy@grandronde.org
denise.harvey@grandronde.org
chris.mercier@grandronde.org
Brenda Tuomi
— ext. 4555
brenda.tuomi@grandronde.org
Tonya Gleason-Shepek
— ext. 1777
tonya.gleason-shepek@grandronde.org
Ed Pearsall
— ext. 2305
Jon A. George
— ext. 2355
ed.pearsall@grandronde.org
jon.george@grandronde.org