S moke S ignals
JUNE 1, 2016
Lamprey gatherer
Exercise will concentrate
on training and education
EXERCISE continued
from front page
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Natural Resources Department Manager Michael Wilson talks about
his experiences gathering lamprey at Willamette Falls during a panel
discussion that took place at the “A Celebration of People and Place”
dinner put on by the Grand Ronde Tribe and Willamette Partnership
and held at the Museum of the Oregon Territory in Oregon City on
Thursday, May 12. The event featured traditional Native American
foods, such as smoked salmon, pulled venison shoulder and seabean
salad, made by chef Matt Bennett. Tribal Council members Jon A.
George, Denise Harvey and Chris Mercier attended the event. Mercier
represents the Tribe as a Willamette Partnership board member.
Clothes Closet open Monday, Friday
The Clothes Closet is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday and Fri-
day on the Tribal campus near the Elders Activity Center at the end
of Blacktail Drive. It accepts clothes, small appliances, small pieces
of furniture, electronics and household goods that are clean and in
good condition. It does not accept books, large TVs or large furniture,
but there is a community board where people can post those items.
Donations are accepted during regular business hours.
For more information or emergency clothes, contact Lori Walk-
er-Hernandez at 559-847-7565 or Daniele Powley at 503-917-8732.
Seeking your donations for 4 organizations!
G RAND R ONDE H ELPING H ANDS
I SKAM M ƎK ʰM ƎK -H AWS , T HE C LOTHES C LOSET , E MPOWERMENT O UTREACH MINISTRIES , AND
A C AUSE FOR P AWS ARE WORKING TOGETHER
You’ve got it. We want it!
Saturday, June 11th
10 am to 2 pm
Give to 4 organizations in one location!
Iskam is seeking personal care items: shampoo,
conditioner, lotion, soap, toilet paper, brushes and
combs.
The Clothes Closet is seeking school supply items: new
or gently used backpacks, messenger bags, paper,
pencils, crayons, copy paper, colored pencils, glue,
rulers, markers, tissue, and cleaning wipes.
Empowerment Outreach is seeking camping equipment,
bedding, sleeping bags (broken zipper ok) for homeless
families.
A Cause for Paws is seeking pet food, toys, and beds.
We will take books for our lending library.
Clean out your food pantry, we’ll figure out the
expiration dates!
If you are not sure, bring it or give us a call.
Iskam MǝkʰMǝk-Haws
9675 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, OR 97347
503-879-FOOD (3663)
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11
own “islands” – areas isolated by
roadways that are impassable.
The exercise will start on Tues-
day, June 7, with Tribal employees
practicing immediate reaction to an
earthquake by stopping, dropping
and holding on wherever they are.
A subduction zone earthquake is
expected to be felt all the way to the
Cascade Mountains and could last
anywhere from four to six minutes.
Tribal employees also have been
encouraged to conduct a Hazard
Hunt – looking for ofice furniture
and items that could fall and injure
them during an earthquake.
On Wednesday, June 8, the Tribe
will practice communications with
Tribal satellite phones and ham
radios being tested to see if Grand
Ronde could communicate with
the rest of the state after an earth-
quake. Grand Ronde is the western
Oregon hub of the new Oregon
Amateur Radio Tribal Network
while Warm Springs is the hub for
eastern Oregon Tribes.
The big event will occur 8 a.m. to
noon Thursday, June 9, when sites
on the Tribal campus will be set
up for mass casualty care. Tribal
Health & Wellness Center staff will
triage and care for a large number
of “injured” actors and there also
will be training in loading and un-
loading a medical helicopter that
will land, weather permitting, in
the large ield in front of the Gov-
ernance Center.
Tribal Elders will be participat-
ing, led by Gladys Hobbs, and a
video will be created for the deaf
community. Local Community
Emergency Response Team mem-
bers will be activated and Oregon
Ofice of Emergency Management
Director Andrew Phelps will attend
the exercise in Grand Ronde.
Tribal Council also will be trained
on how to do a disaster declaration
aided by Senior Staff Attorney Jen-
nifer Biesack, who received training
on the process before the exercise.
Friday, June 10, will be a wrap-up
day, during which participants will
meet and discuss what went right
and what needs to be improved.
Tribal Emergency Operations
Coordinator Jamie Baxter has been
working for several months with a
planning team consisting of Tribal
colleagues, the Oregon Office of
Emergency Management, West
Valley Fire District personnel, local
media and church representatives,
and Yamhill County staff to plan
the exercise.
Baxter said the exercise is a “no
fault” event that will concentrate on
training and educating participants
about what to do in the event of a
large disaster.
She added that the Tribe has
been working consistently over
the last two years to improve its
emergency response capabilities,
holding Community Emergency
Response Team classes, a ham
radio course, a class in trauma life
support and a inal course in basic
disaster life support for the Health
& Wellness Center staff and local
CERT members.
Planning Department Director
Rick George also attended train-
ing at the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s Emergency
Management Institute in Maryland
to prepare for his role as planning
section chief during the exercise.
“This is the irst time all Oregon
Tribes have worked as a team on an
exercise,” Baxter said. “The theme
is ‘Be Prepared Not Scared.’ Exer-
cises such as this help us become
resilient as a community and as
a Tribal Nation, ensuring our re-
covery from this event and others
like it.”
Bike helmets available
The Tribe’s Social Services Department has bicycle helmets
available for distribution. Those needing a helmet need to visit the
department and sign a helmet application, as well as get itted.
For more information, contact Social Services at 503-879-2034.