PRESORTED
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PERMIT NO. 700
Tribe hires new GIS analyst — pg. 8
MAY 15, 2016
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Cultural Outreach Coordinator Bobby Mercier carries the irst salmon after he harvested it at Willamette Falls for the Tribe’s fourth annual First
Salmon Ceremony that was held after the harvest at the McLean House in West Linn on Friday, May 6. Tribal Council Vice Chair Jack Gifen Jr., back,
Tribal Elder Greg Archuleta, right, and Andrew Freeman and Travis Stewart took part in the harvesting of two salmon for the ceremony.
Tribe honors
this year’s
irst salmon
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
W
EST LINN — Salmon are sacred to
Native people. Their arrival each
year to the home waters is a chance
to celebrate and relect on the many blessings
Creator has shared, including the irst salmon.
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
held its fourth annual First Salmon Ceremony
in the backyard of the McLean House in West
Linn on Friday, May 6.
Constitutional amendment
educational sessions slated
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
hree educational sessions
regarding two proposed
amendments to the Tribal
Constitution have been set for
May 17 through 19 in Portland,
Grand Ronde and Eugene, re-
spectively.
Tribal Council decided in identi-
cal 5-2 votes to send the proposed
Tribal Constitution amendments
to voters during its April 6 meet-
ing.
The irst amendment would, if
approved by voters, remove the
parent on the roll at time of birth
and time of application require-
ments and add language deining
“Grand Ronde blood.”
The new deinition, with new
wording in italics, would read:
“Grand Ronde blood is deined as
all Indian blood derived from a
direct ancestor whose name val-
See SESSIONS
continued on page 11
A group of Tribal members carried the
ceremonial irst salmon up the embankment
from the Willamette River access and the
ish was laid out in the yard on a plank.
Cultural Outreach Coordinator Bobby
Mercier invited the women and young girls
to come up and symbolically tap the ish on
the head with a ish club. When the women
See SALMON
continued on page 9
Casino hosting ATNI
Mid-Year Convention
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
ribal representatives from
Native governments in
Oregon, Idaho, Washing-
ton state, southeastern Alaska,
northern California and western
Montana will converge on Spirit
Mountain Casino Monday, May
23, through Thursday, May 26, for
the Afiliated Tribes of Northwest
Indians’ Mid-Year Convention.
The conventions are where
Indian Country of the Northwest
comes together to advance the
work for their communities in
developing and implementing
policy and programs for the re-
gion. The convention serves as a
platform for sharing information
on matters of interest, as well as
See ATNI
continued on page 11