4
S moke S ignals
JUNE 15, 2016
Tribal Council OKs purchase
of 217.5 acres of forestland
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
2011 – Tribal Council voted 5-4 to send a bundle of four proposed
enrollment changes to the membership for a vote. The four proposals
would reduce the relinquishment period from ive years to two years,
eliminate the parent on the Tribal roll at time of birth requirement,
redeine Grand Ronde blood and establish an annual quota of no more
than 5 percent of currently enrolled members may be accepted as new
members in a year.
2006 – About 100
people attended the
annual Memori-
al Day event at the
West Valley Veter-
ans Memorial and
Tribal Council Chair
Cheryle A. Kennedy
gave the welcoming
speech, acknowledg-
ing all veterans who
have sacrificed their
File photo
lives, as well as the
veterans serving on
the Grand Ronde Tribal Council.
2001 – Gene LaBonte joined Tribal Elder Russ Leno at the Tribal
Cemetery. LaBonte worked through the Tribe’s Cultural Resources
program and with Leno to map the cemetery and ind lost loved ones.
1996 – Spirit Mountain Casino’s irst loat in the Grand Floral Pa-
rade won the top prize. “Nature’s Spirit” won the Sweepstakes Award
for best loat. It featured a watchful mother coyote and two pups in a
setting of plants and lowers native to the Grand Ronde area.
1991 – Brent Merrill resigned as editor of Smoke Signals to take a
job with the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission in Washington
state. “I feel that I am a better person for the experience and the things
that I have learned,” he wrote.
1986 – Tribal Council authorized the start of a Social Services pro-
gram under a Bureau of Indian Affairs contract to provide counseling
and family assistance to Tribal members. The program will not provide
inancial payments, but will coordinate with state and federal pro-
grams, as well as have responsibility for the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in ive-year incre-
ments through the pages of Smoke Signals.
Tribal Council approved the pur-
chase and sale agreements for two
adjacent parcels of land near the
Reservation that will increase the
Tribe’s property holdings by 217.5
acres during its Wednesday, June
1, meeting.
The two properties – one at 177.5
acres and the other at 40 acres – are
located in Yamhill County up Coast
Creek Road and separated from the
current Reservation by a Bureau of
Land Management parcel.
On May 24, Tribal Council ap-
proved a staff directive to proceed
with closing on the two parcels
and to proceed with a timber har-
vest plan as presented by Natural
Resources Department Manager
Michael Wilson.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Re-appointed Ralph Baker and
Steve Nuttall to the Grand Ronde
Gaming Commission for three-
year terms expiring in June 2019;
• Approved applying for a $500,000
Indian Community Development
Block Grant from the U.S. De-
partment of Housing and Urban
Development for the design and
construction of a 2,700-square-
foot kindergarten through ifth-
grade immersion education
building;
• Approved applying to the Oregon
Youth Development Council for
a $60,000 Youth and Innovation
Entrepreneur and Career Readi-
ness Grant to help young people
disconnected from the education-
al system and labor market;
• Approved applying for a $105,600
Transportation and Growth Man-
agement grant from the Oregon
Department of Transportation;
• Approved the enrollment of one
infant into the Tribe because
the child meets the provisions
outlined in the Enrollment Ordi-
nance and Tribal Constitution;
• Approved a blood quantum cor-
rection, adding 5/32nds to one
Tribal member’s quantum be-
cause the person’s ancestor par-
ent was never added when the
member was enrolled;
• And approved a Restoration Roll
correction for one Tribal member
who should have been listed.
Also included in the June 1 Tribal
Council packet was a summary of
directives that, among other things,
authorized Finance Oficer Chris
Leno to transfer $20,000 from
contingency to fund the annual
amount the Tribe provides to the
Willamina School District, directed
staff to process a request for the
National Park Service to convey
Molalla Kate items to the Tribe to
be held and preserved, and outlined
rules for this year’s Willamette
Falls ceremonial ishing, including
the allocation of $5,000 for nets,
harnesses, ropes, food, fuel, travel
and other necessary safety gear and
ishing equipment.
Tribal Council member Jon A.
George joined Ceded Lands Man-
ager Michael Karnosh and Cul-
ture Department Manager Kathy
Cole 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.
Ad created by George Valdez