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Candidates Forum held — pg. 5
AUGUST 1, 2016
Contest Powwow set for Aug. 19-21
If you go
Grand Ronde
Contest Powwow
Grand entries: 7 p.m. Friday,
Aug. 19; 1 and 7 p.m. Sat-
urday, Aug. 20; and 1 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 21.
Where: Uyxat Powwow
Grounds, 9600 Highway 22
Cost: Parking $1 per day or a
donation of canned food; $3 for
a weekend pass
More info: 503-879-2037
More than $35,000 in prize money up for grabs during annual event
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
M
ore than $35,000 in dance
prize money and $20,000
in drum awards will be on
the line during the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde’s annual
Contest Powwow set for Friday,
Aug. 19, through Sunday, Aug. 21,
under the arbor at Uyxat Powwow
Grounds, 9600 Highway 22.
The annual powwow – one of the
largest in the Pacific Northwest –
drew more than 230 Native dancers
in 2015. Dancers compete for prize
money ranging from $25 to $1,000
depending on age in 20 categories.
Registration begins at 5 p.m.
Friday, Aug. 19, followed by the
first grand entry at 7 p.m. Royalty
coronation also will be held Friday
evening.
On Saturday, Aug. 20, a parade
between the powwow grounds and
Fort Yamhill State Park will be
held at 10 a.m. and include cash
prizes. Parade participants will
gather in the parking lot at Fort
Yamhill and the route will travel
down the road and around the
powwow grounds, where it will
conclude.
On Saturday, grand entries will
be held at 1 and 7 p.m. with the
deadline for dancer registration set
for 2 p.m.
See POWWOW
continued on page 4
Community Fund
begins airing new
TV commercials
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
T
his year’s Summer Olympic Games is
primetime for the nation and also for the
Tribe’s Spirit Mountain Community Fund.
The Tribe’s charitable-giving organization is
being featured in a series of updated television
commercials that began airing in June and will
run through the end of the year. Many of the ads
are set to run during primetime as a backdrop
to Olympic coverage.
“One of the things I heard from the board fairly
quickly is that the vast majority of Oregonians
don’t know that Spirit Mountain Community
Fund, on behalf of the Tribe, does this very
substantial amount of charitable giving,” said
Community Fund Director Kathleen George.
“The Tribe doesn’t often talk a lot about the in-
credible charitable giving that it does. So there
was a desire on behalf of the board to get the
message out.”
Spirit Mountain Community Fund official-
ly surpassed $70 million in charitable giving
during its second quarter distribution ceremony
in June.
The Community Fund hired filmmaker David
Poulshock of Red Door Films in Portland to cre-
ate the television ads. Poulshock was familiar
to the Tribal community after working on the
“Dare to Have Fun” television ad campaign for
Spirit Mountain Casino.
Poulshock is an award-winning writer, direc-
tor and editor who works on commercials, web
videos, documentary and corporate films, and
features. He won a Telly Award for the work he
did on the Spirit Mountain Casino commercials.
Red Door Films was founded in 2001.
The four television ads feature members of the
Tribe, including late Tribal Elder Mike Larsen.
See FUND
continued on page 13
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
A young African leader takes a selfie with the salmon packer house post in the Governance Center
atrium during the delegation’s visit to Grand Ronde on Friday, July 15.
Out of Africa
Young leaders visit Grand Ronde for cultural exchange
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
T
ribal member Clifford Olson had no
idea that work on his master’s project
at Portland State University conducted
here with the Elders on the Grand Ronde Res-
ervation would be opening eyes and breaking
stereotypes in 21 African countries.
On Friday, July 15, Tribal Education De-
partment Manager Leslie Riggs and his staff
welcomed 25 young African leaders to the
See AFRICA
continued on page 12