16
S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2016
Letters
Dear Smoke Signals:
Why I will be voting “no” on both issues on the upcoming constitutional
amendment.
I would like to say that I am writing this as a very concerned Tribal
member, not as a council member. Hopefully many of you have registered
to vote by now and will receive your ballot soon. I still have a lot of con-
cerns as in my opinion there was not enough information made available
to make this big of a decision for our Tribe’s future.
The idea of reducing the percentage of voters to allow more things to be
brought forward by the members is not as good as it sounds. It’s been said
it will give members more voice in what is going on, but you still have to
have two-thirds to pass it. In my opinion, it is just spending money and
time. If members are frustrated with the current constitutional amend-
ment and the mistakes happening, just imagine doing these two, three
or four times a year, which you as a member would have to register each
time for each BIA election.
What we should have done is council keep working on the language that
we have been doing as a combined council and waited until it was complete
before putting it out for a vote. This would have given the members the
authority by Constitution to have a voice in economic development and
the earned interest on the endowments. In the best interest of the Tribe
and members, I urge you to vote “no” on both issues put before you.
In looking at the enrollment piece, I have to wonder why the enrolled
members of the Tribe that do meet the current enrollment criteria are
being called greedy when they are just voicing their opinion on what is
best for their Tribe and leaving their Constitution alone as it stands. Per-
haps some could say the folks who want to change the Constitution to get
enrolled are considered greedy. Also, I have to ask what about the people
out there who have 1/32nd all Grand Ronde blood?
In closing, maybe we should remember the ones who raised us and taught
us about being Grand Ronde Natives. They were not reading it out of a
book; they lived it. There was a saying back in the day that I still feel is
true today. Either you are Grand Ronde, or you are not. That is what I
believe people are saying when they vote “no.”
Reyn Leno
Roll #453
Dear Smoke Signals:
I will be voting “no” on the proposed enrollment constitutional amend-
ment for the following reasons. Please consider all the facts and make an
informed decision.
1. The proposed language was brought forward after only one Tribal
Council work session. I believe this is uninished work.
2. Neither the Enrollment staff nor the Enrollment Board were asked to
participate in developing this language.
3. The election process is compromised. The time frame was shortened
to 60 days due to the BIA not having resources to dedicate. There will
be an overlap of this election with our Tribal Council elections.
4. This proposal is bundled thus does not allow the voice of the member-
ship to vote on each issue independently.
5. There has not been enough due diligence to understand the possible
impacts.
6. There are no controls in place to limit the number of enrollments per
year.
A recent concern that Tribal members have shared with me is that our
Tribe is self-terminating and they believe this amendment will help to
solve this.
I understand the concern that many Tribal members and families are
near the end of their blood quantum. I agree that our Tribe will need to
address self-termination. This proposed amendment was never meant to
be a solution for our self-termination. This amendment clearly focuses
on Tribal membership during speciic dates. When we begin the work to
address self-termination we need to look at the entire membership.
There is a great deal of work that needs to be done to develop a strategy
and implement changes to address self-termination of our Tribe. There
needs to be an understanding of our Tribe’s growth. We need to look at
what other Tribes have done. What has worked for them and what has
not worked for them. We need to consider what has not been tried. There
needs to be meetings with the membership to discuss the data and options.
The path that we take needs to be comprehensive and well-planned. Our
membership needs to be fully informed and guide the path that we choose
to take.
Tonya Gleason-Shepek
Roll #1282
ATTENTION CTGR TELEPHONE SERVICE
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Dear Smoke Signals:
I will make this short and sweet. Please vote “yes” on the upcoming
constitutional amendments. Both will make a positive difference in the
lives of your fellow Tribal members.
Enrollment requirements: Many Tribal families remain tormented by the
1999 amendment. The proposed amendment addresses those “unintended
consequences,” like split families, blood lines ending prematurely and the
general inconsistencies that have created a class system in Grand Ronde. I
don’t believe some families somehow hold a higher status than others, or are
more deserving. It should not matter whether your ancestors left the Reserva-
tion, by necessity or by choice, to improve their lives or whether they stayed.
Historically our Tribe had numerous rolls and records that keep track of their
members. Why should we take just one and say that is the “one true roll” and
the descendants the “true Grand Ronde”? There is a word for that: Elitism.
Initiative, Referendum, and Calling of Special Meetings: I'll be honest.
This amendment truly excites me. We are inally giving our members a
realistic way to exercise rights that have been in the Constitution since
our Tribe was restored. In my short time as a Tribal Council member and
before then even, Tribal members have always wanted a voice, and that
has been dangled before them like a carrot during elections, but very rarely
ever made good on. This is a legitimate change for the good. The initiative
allows members to advance their own issues.
Referendum allows them to rescind a decision we make as Tribal Council.
That could mean a decision I make gets overturned. But if I am that out
of touch with the membership, then, yes, Tribal members should have a
means to undo a decision.
Thank you for your time.
Brenda Tuomi
Roll #1438
Dear Smoke Signals:
I was barely a teenager when our Tribe was restored. My grandmother,
Margaret Provost, and my mother, Jackie Many Hides, spent countless hours
working on Restoration, and while I understand how it important the work
they were doing at the time, every year since then has reminded me how for-
tunate our Tribe is, and how lucky we are to be Grand Ronde Tribal members.
I attended college, earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and not
burdened with as much debt as many of my non-Tribal classmates. Those
who really know me can vouch for how vital the Tribal health plan was to
me years ago. More importantly, I grew up around the rich cultural history
and traditions of our ancestors, much of this knowledge passed down to
me by my mom, Jackie Many Hides, while growing up. This Tribe is as
much a part of me as I am of it. More so, in fact since I spent much time
in Grand Ronde while growing up and until recently choose to spend my
adult years living there.
The question I am asking myself is: If a person had ancestral connec-
tions to this Tribe, why wouldn’t they want to be a member? And, more
importantly, why would we deny these people? I read through the letters
last issue telling me to vote “no” on these constitutional amendments. As
somebody who lived in the Grand Ronde area for many years, I couldn’t
help but notice some letters were from people who deinitely were not in-
volved with this Tribe in the 1980s, back when we had so very little. The
beneits are nice, as I have already mentioned, but is the fear of having
to share those worth keeping people out who really should be members?
I don’t think so. In fact, I remember there was a time that there was a
desperate search for Tribal members to inform them of the Restoration
efforts and promises of a better day once the Tribe was restored, a path
to self-suficiency.
As a Tribal parent I would be ighting for justice too if my son had been
unable to enroll, particularly if his parents are both Tribal members and
his blood quantum should be suficient. I am fortunate to be a part of that
post-1999 amendment elite class. But I don’t want elite classes in this
Tribe, because that is not the Grand Ronde I grew up in. I am voting “yes.”
Regarding the other amendment, the Initiative, Referendum & Calling of
Special meetings, I can’t help but vote “yes” because none of the “vote no”
reasons were at all persuasive. There are other parts of this Constitution
that could be worked on that I agree with. However, over the years I’ve
watched the Tribal Council grow more powerful, but haven’t seen a similar
growth in authority for the Tribal members.
These powers were put in the Constitution for a reason, because our
Tribe was meant to be a democracy, one that is not always dependent on
the nine elected members of Tribal Council. I’ve seen Tribal Council go
through power struggles, and at their best they are an effective body of
leaders who get things done, and at their worst a council who ights with
one another and looks after their own while neglecting what is best for
the greater good of the whole Tribe. We, the general membership, when
organized, should have the right to advance our own issues or reconsider
those of our governing body. As the Constitution is presently written, I’d
say our hands are tied too tightly. This amendment is the opportunity to
ix that. For those reasons, I am voting “yes.”
Just for the record, this is the irst time I’ve voiced my opinion politically
through the Smoke Signals publication. But I feel strongly that these are
positive changes for this Tribe that future generations will be grateful for.
Camille Mercier
Roll #1982