S moke S ignals
JANUARY 1, 2017
Elders’ Christmas
11
Tribal artists receive creative grants
Grand Ronde Tribal artists Dara Dickinson and Brian Krehbiel are
recipients of the Native Creative Development grant program that is
given out annually by the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center at
The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.
The grants are awarded on a competitive basis by local and regional
experts in the field of traditional and contemporary Native American art
forms. Since its inception, the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center
has awarded more than $600,000 in support of Native American artists.
Applicants must be American Indian, Alaska Native or Native Hawai-
ian residing in Washington or Oregon. Grant applications for all forms
of visual, performance-based arts, media and literary arts from $2,500
to $5,000 are accepted.
In addition, Greg Robinson (Chinook) was among this year’s grant
recipients. 
St. Michael’s offers brunch
St. Michael’s Catholic Church offers an open house brunch every
Sunday following Mass. The brunch is free to the community. Brunch
begins at about 11:30 a.m. following the 10:30 a.m. Mass. Mass atten-
dance is not required for brunch attendance. For more information,
contact Janelle Justen at 503-550-0923. 
Photo by Brent Merrill
Tribal Elder Marcia Stake, who recently purchased a home in Grand
Meadows with her husband, places a tray of cold cuts and utensils on
a table filled with food for the Elders Christmas Party held on Friday,
Dec. 16, at the Elders Activity Center in Grand Ronde. Stake, who is
the daughter of Rosetta Manangan and the granddaughter of Esther
LaBonte, was one of 77 Tribal Elders who braved the cold and icy
conditions to hold the annual party and gift exchange after a hearty
holiday meal. In the background is Charlotte Whittlinger, one of the
close family friends who cared for Richard “Mushy” Ray before he
walked on earlier in 2016.
LIHEAP program
open in service area
The Tribal Social Service’s LIHEAP – Low Income Home Energy As-
sistance Program – is open to eligible Tribal members in the six-county
service area and Clackamas County.
This is a first-come, first-served program and income criteria applies.
LIHEAP is federally funded through the Department of Health and
Human Services and is designed to help low-income households with
home heating costs.
For more information, contact Social Services at 503-879-2034. 
Fiber optic lines would cost about $1.5 million
TELECOM continued
from front page
cable television and which compa-
nies their providers were. Infor-
mation Services wanted to know
if people bundled their current
services and asked if Grand Ronde
were to start its own company
would people be interested in be-
coming customers.
Information Services Operations
Manager Bill Kephart said the
Tribe is currently re-selling Wave
Broadband and CenturyLink In-
ternet services to Tribal members
living in Grand Ronde.
Kephart said the Tribe is looking
to create a company by acquiring all
the needed certificates and licenses.
The Tribe has options, Kephart
said, including doing nothing and
continuing to re-sell the product to
Tribal members at a flat fee or it
can become a phone company.
“The second option is to become
a phone company. And nothing
changes,” said Kephart. “We all
just keep doing the jobs we’re doing
and create a company and get the
certificates that are required.”
There are monthly, quarterly and
annual reports that need to be filed
with the Oregon Public Utilities
Commission and fees to pay, but
those fees would be minimal, he
said.
Kephart said that the Tribe could
then sell Internet and phone ser-
vices to Spirit Mountain Casino.
Kephart said the final option is
creating a full business plan that
would create a phone/Internet com-
pany that would be a separate entity
with its own employees. He said that
would involve building the infra-
structure to support a business in
the entire Grand Ronde community.
“This community meeting is im-
portant because we’re trying to draw
both the Tribal and nonTribal com-
munity members in here to get their
input,” said Kephart. “So the biggest
part is to get the community input,
get the survey results and answer
any questions people might have.”
Kephart said it could cost as much
as $1.5 million to lay the fiber-optic
cables throughout Grand Ronde if
Tribal Council ever decided to go
with the full business model. He
said he believes he could possibly
get grants to complete that work.
Kephart said he hopes to compile
all the information they have gath-
ered, meet with his Telecommuni-
cations Planning Committee, an
interdepartmental group that has
been meeting since April with rep-
resentatives of Portland-based con-
sultant Converge Communications,
and submit a report in January for
consideration by Tribal Council.
Mercier asked for a show of hands
at the meeting of everyone who
used the Internet on a daily basis.
Everyone raised their hands.
“The reality is that Internet
service and cell phone use – just
telecommunications in general –
are a part of our daily lives,” said
Mercier. “I use it every day.”
Mercier said that some Tribes
have already gotten into the tele-
communications business to im-
prove service for their people on
their Reservations.
Mercier used Tribes in Oregon,
California and Arizona as examples
of Tribes that have already formed
businesses.
The Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation in east-
ern Oregon operates Warm Springs
Telecom and it became the ninth
Tribally owned telecommunications
business in the United States when
it opened for business on Oct. 1,
2013.
After years of planning, the Warm
Springs Tribe received an Amer-
ican Recovery and Reinvestment
Act grant in the summer of 2010 to
begin a telecommunications compa-
ny. The money from the grant was
used to build an office that houses
the customer service center, the
administration offices and a central
equipment office.
The Warm Springs Tribe then
placed a fiber/fixed wireless net-
work connecting the Reservation
and the Tribe expects to have the
entire Reservation covered by 2019.
Because the Warm Springs op-
eration has the necessary federal
certifications it can offer its Tribal
members the Lifeline telephone
program that was established
under the Clinton administration
to provide telephone services to
members on the Reservation for $1
and the costs of service fees.
Mercier said that the Fort Mojave
Tribe in Needles, Calif., established
its Fort Mojave Telecommunica-
tions Inc. business as far back as
1988. The Tribe created 18 jobs on
its Reservation and the Tribe now
earns about $3 million annually
from the business.
Mercier said that the Mescale-
ro Apache Tribe in New Mexico
bought the existing phone lines
from Qwest for $3 million and then
started providing service to its own
people through their own economic
enterprise.
Mescalero Apache Telecom Inc.
offers its customers broadband
Internet access as well as e-mail
hosting, web/domain hosting and
dedicated servers. The Tribal busi-
ness teaches Elders how to set up
and use e-mail.
“Now they serve over 3,700 homes
on their Reservation and they cre-
ated 45 new jobs,” said Mercier.
“You can see the potential.”
Mercier polled audience members
and asked how much people were
paying for their Internet services
currently and most were between
$79 and $150 a month depending
on the speeds and options offered
by either CenturyLink or Wave
Broadband.
Grand Ronde residents can re-
ceive voice mail and Internet ser-
vices through the Tribe currently
for $57 a month.
“So we want something that is
going to fit the needs of the commu-
nity,” said Mercier. “We also want
to improve the educational oppor-
tunities here. We want to improve
economic development. You can
give your money to Wave Broad-
band or CenturyLink or you can
give your money to Grand Ronde
Telecom. It’s up to you. It’s about
keeping your economy local.” 