S moke S ignals
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
13
'This is all very new to them'
GOVERNMENT day
continued from front page
ing our government-to-government
relationships.”
She said since the Youth Council
is new, its members haven’t previ-
ously observed Tribal interactions
with state legislators and staff.
“This is the first opportunity for
our Youth Council to attend an
event like this with a Tribal Coun-
cil member and shadow us and be
introduced to some of the repre-
sentatives,” Gleason-Shepek said.
“This is all very new to them. It’s
definitely a foundation to build on.”
Around 10 a.m., Gov. Kate Brown
met and took photos with Youth
Council members, as well as Tribal
Council members in attendance.
Brown, who for many years served
on the Spirit Mountain Commu-
nity Fund Board of Directors,
embraced several Tribal members
and laughed when Tribal Council
Chairman Reyn Leno joked, “I’m
not on the Youth Council.”
Youth Council Secretary and
Junior Miss Grand Ronde Isabelle
Grout said that meeting Brown was
the best part of the event.
Youth Council member Madalyn
Volz agreed that meeting the gov-
ernor was a highlight, along with
the knowledge she gained about
Oregon’s Tribal culture.
“I learned a lot about the different
Tribes,” Volz said. “I learned that
all of these places are from the state
of Oregon, so we could go and visit
them if we wanted to.”
In addition to learning about Or-
egon Tribes’ cultures and history,
Youth Council members learned
how Tribes work with the state to
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council member Kathleen George, left, and Tribal Youth Council
Secretary and Junior Miss Grand Ronde Isabelle Grout, middle, talk with
Oregon Rep. Julie Fahey during Tribal Government Day held at the State
Capitol building in Salem on Thursday, Feb. 9. Grout shadowed George
during the event.
get things done.
Leno said that an early education
in the governmental process is an
important tool for the Youth Coun-
cil as its members are hopefully
the future decision-makers for the
Tribe.
“It’s an educational process,” said
Leno. “You look back at the Youth
Council versus our first Tribal
Council and how they had to learn.
(Youth Council members) will be
more familiar with the government
as opposed to not having that edu-
cation.”
Leno said the event is important
for Oregon’s Tribes because it’s
an investment in the governing
LIFEBOOK
SUPPLIES WILL
BE PROVIDED
Please join us for our
upcoming workshops
Please bring your
child's/teens:
Pictures
Creating a Lifebook
Artwork
Wednesday, March 8: 5:15pm - 8:15pm
Awards
Milestones
Friday, April 7: 11:00am - 3:00pm
Meal & Childcare Provided
(must REGISTER for childcare)
Family History
Report Cards
Birth History
CTGR Community Center Building
Letters
9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR
& More!!
Feel free to attend one, or both!
What is a Lifebook? A Lifebook is a connection to a child’s past, a record
of the child’s personal history and a valuable tool for helping a child
understand the difficult transitions in their life.
To register or for more information please
call Amanda Mercier at 503-879-2039
process.
“The value of today for all nine
of the Tribes is to basically famil-
iarize yourself with what goes on
here,” Leno said, “because on a
consistent basis one Tribe or the
other will always be over here
testifying.”
Karen Quigley, executive director
of the Legislative Commission on
Indian Services, characterized the
event was a “visiting day” for the
Tribes so Tribal representatives
can have discussions in a setting
free from the typical structure of
governmental interactions.
“This is a day that they get to ask
whatever they want,” Quigley said.
Eight of the nine federally recog-
nized Oregon Tribes hosted infor-
mational tables with a variety of
displays ranging from first foods to
cultural traditions.
Grand Ronde’s table was staffed
by Public Affairs Administrative
Assistant Chelsea Clark, Tribal
Council Chief of Staff Stacia Mar-
tin, Tribal Council Administrative
Assistant Shannon Simi and Eco-
nomic Development Administrative
Assistant Meghan Zimbrick. The
display provided information about
Grand Ronde’s history as well as
chocolate, pins, pens, ceded lands
maps and copies of Smoke Signals.
Martin explained the Tribe’s
ceded lands map to State Library
employees Dave Hegeman and Eu-
gene Newbill, who are a reference
librarian and cataloguing special-
ist, respectively.
“I love maps,” Hegeman said. “I
plan on putting this in the collec-
tion.”
The five Youth Council members
at the event were Dominik Briant,
Grout, Raven Harmon, Fisher and
Volz, along with Little Miss Grand
Ronde Kaleigha Simi.
Other Tribal Council members
who attended were Vice Chair
Cheryle A. Kennedy, Secretary Jon
A. George, Jack Giffen Jr., Denise
Harvey, Chris Mercier, Kathleen
George and Brenda Tuomi.
Also in attendance were Gener-
al Manager David Fullerton and
Intergovernmental Affairs Consul-
tant Justin Martin.
At noon, Tribal representatives
met in Republican Sen. Ted Ferri-
oli’s office for a brown bag luncheon
with state employees to discuss
Tribal-state relations.