16
S moke S ignals
AUGUST 15, 2016
Smoke Signals photo
reprint policy
See a photo you like in Smoke Signals?
Want a copy, or several copies?
Want to see if a photo that was taken but not printed in Smoke Signals
because of space limitations might be something you’d like hanging on
your living room wall? Tribal members can order 8-by-10-inch copies of
photos taken by Smoke Signals staff members regardless of if they were
published in the newspaper. Charge is $1 for each print ordered. Reprint
orders must be pre-paid with a check made out to Smoke Signals. A photo
reprint order form is available in the Publications Office of the Tribe’s
Governance Building in Grand Ronde, or can be mailed upon request.
All photos contained in Smoke Signals’ current archive are available
for purchase, but people interested in going through the archive must
make an appointment to review photos for possible purchase.
No rush orders are permitted and requestors must allow 30 days for
delivery. Requestors must be Tribal members. In addition, reprint re-
questors must agree that the reprint is for personal use only, and not
for use in an ad, or for commercial, political or promotional purposes.
Smoke Signals reserves the right to decline a reprint request. To re-
quest a reprint order form, write to Smoke Signals at 9615 Grand Ronde
Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347, or call Michelle Alaimo at 503-879-1961
or 800-422-0232.
Tribe gets $35,000 grant
to study grocery store idea
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde received a $35,000 grant to
study the feasibility of a local grocery store on Tuesday, Aug. 2, as part of
the Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development’s Native American
Business Development Institute Feasibility Study Program.
“The grants empower American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal com-
munities with the ability to make informed decisions about business
opportunities they are considering, assess complex economic options they
may be facing and strengthen their self-governance,” said Department of
the Interior Acting Assistant Secretary Lawrence Roberts.
Twenty federally recognized Tribes and one Alaska Native corporation
received business development grants totaling $947,406.
Grants were awarded on the basis of a proposal’s potential to create jobs
for Tribal members and stimulate economies in Native American commu-
nities. During the funding cycle, the Office of Indian Energy and Economic
Development received 66 proposal requests totaling $4.36 million.
Need something notarized?
Tribal Court staff is available at no charge for notaries 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday though Friday with the exception of noon to 1 p.m. Please be
sure to bring a photo ID with you. If you have any questions, contact the
court at 503-879-2303.
Curriculum consists of 17 lessons
CURRICULUM continued
from front page
er Mercedes Reeves was the lead
content writer for the eighth-grade
curriculum project and she said the
first year of the two-year-long effort
was all about creating and develop-
ing materials for the curriculum.
The second year of the project is
the pilot year when the materials
are actually used in the classroom.
“The curriculum had the same
process (as the fourth-grade curric-
ulum), but we took a different ap-
proach with it in the sense that it’s
not just social studies focused,” said
Reeves. “There is a social studies
lesson in it as well as language arts,
math, science and an art lesson. We
tried to make it cross-content so
that the information could be inte-
grated anywhere and everywhere.”
The eighth-grade curriculum
consists of 17 lessons that provide
information on the time before the
Tribe was terminated, information
on when the Tribe was restored,
information on the Tribe’s sover-
eignty, information on the Tribe’s
Trail of Tears, the assimilation of
Tribal people, the laws and treaties
of the Tribe, an explanation of the
Tribal Court system, language, bas-
ketry and the history of the Tribe’s
plankhouse and Canoe Family.
The curriculum includes a glossa-
ry, maps, teacher resources and a
list of common core standards that
are met within the curriculum.
Reeves said that five teachers
in the Willamina School District
piloted the curriculum in their
classrooms during the 2015-16
school year. Tribal staff worked
with the teachers and information
was gathered on how effective the
curriculum was for students.
“I felt like I got good feedback
from the teachers in order to make
the lessons more user friendly with-
in their classroom,” Reeves said. “I
felt like it went really well.”
Reeves said history is deep and
Tribal history adds to that depth.
“I hope the teachers use it as a
resource to start telling Oregon his-
tory from more perspectives,” said
Reeves. “There is more to Oregon
history than just Lewis and Clark
and the Oregon Trail. Our Tribal
sovereignty plays a big role in
Oregon history and in the present
day, and I think that is something
important not just for our teachers
and students to understand, but
everybody. We are a really unique
state in the sense that we have
nine federally recognized Tribes
and each one of us holds a govern-
ment-to-government relationship.
I think that is something that is
really important.”
Tribal member and former Tribal
Education Department Manager
April Campbell said the eighth-
grade curriculum is exactly what
was envisioned when the Tribe
started working on the fourth-
grade curriculum years ago.
“We recognized that there was
a real need for not only a Native
curriculum in the classroom, but
specifically an Oregon Native cur-
riculum that is accurate historically
and contemporarily,” said Camp-
bell, who currently is an adviser
on Indian Education to the State
Deputy Superintendent. “I think
it’s fabulous.”
Campbell said the curriculum was
designed to have the most impact
on students and that that was the
reason behind the timing of the
fourth-grade curriculum and now
the eighth-grade curriculum as well.
“We started with the fourth grade
because in Oregon that is when
you start learning history,” said
Campbell. “Moving to the eighth
grade, we thought that would be
a good next transition because as
you enter high school there is a lot
of opportunity to learn more about
Oregon history, but also about gov-
ernment specifically. We thought it
would be a good time to share about
Tribal government.”
Bringing knowledge to all stu-
dents is important, said Reeves,
but in particular she said having
a more accurate picture of Tribal
people will ultimately help Native
students as well.
“To me, it makes them (Native
students) more knowledgeable just
about the role that they played
in the place that they live,” said
Reeves. “The more knowledge and
the more information you have,
the more able you are to become a
critical thinker. I think it’s import-
ant for people to understand, not
just kids, but people to understand
that we are still here today and we
are still practicing our culture and
we’re still thriving as a community
and as a Tribe.”
Campbell said that Native stu-
dents will benefit from a more
accurate portrayal of their Tribal
history.
“We know our students do better
when this is incorporated into the
classroom,” said Campbell.
Tribal Council member Chris
Mercier said he remembers being
taught a broad history of Tribal
people throughout the country
when he was in the eighth grade.
“It’s something I think should
happen in every state because the
story of the Tribes in every state is
totally different,” said Mercier. “I
think this goes back to Restoration.
A fundamental part of getting
restored was having to tell our
story to the right people. And here
now we are telling our story to the
general public and making sure
that kids who grow up in Oregon
are familiar with Tribal people
here. I think it’s good that people
know about the regional differences
about the Tribes in the state.”
Tribal Council member Tonya
Gleason-Shepek said she is hoping
other Tribes will join in the effort
to educate Oregon school children
on Tribal history.
“I hope we start a trend,” said
Gleason-Shepek. “Everyone is
excited about it. I hope the other
Tribes can look at what we’ve done
and also get some of the other Or-
egon Tribes’ histories in the books
and in schools.”
Reeves earned the praise of Trib-
al Education Director Leslie Riggs
for her work on the curriculum.
“I am very proud of the hard work
and determination that was put
into this curriculum,” said Riggs.
“It is fabulous in content and the
depth and breadth of the lessons
is enormous.”
Riggs said many people were in-
volved in making the curriculum a
success and they all deserve praise
for their efforts to make things bet-
ter for Native students in Oregon
public schools.
“That it was a collaboration by
many Tribal departments also
makes me proud,” said Riggs. “I
want to say that I am especially
grateful to Mercedes Reeves who
as the lead curriculum writer did
a wonderful job. I am delighted
that the curriculum is garnering
interest from school districts and
that it is receiving rave reviews.”
Campbell pointed out the work
of former curriculum specialist
Trinity Minahan and former class-
room teacher Kathy Cole as being
outstanding support for the project.
“I really give a lot of kudos to
Trinity who started the project and
Kathy who really provided a lot of
support and content into how we
laid this out,” said Campbell. “To
be able to hand teachers something
that is classroom ready I think is re-
ally important in the whole process.”
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno said having a complete eighth-
grade curriculum in Oregon schools
has been a goal of Tribal Council for
some time.
“I think it is so important and
I think a lot of the membership
doesn’t realize how passionate
Tribal Council has been to get the
correct history, not only for Grand
Ronde, but for all nine Tribes in
Oregon,” said Leno. “It teaches
students about why we have a
government, why we are allowed
to create law, why we have our
own law enforcement and why we
have our own courts. It totally will
let them know what it’s all about
for us.”