16
S moke S ignals
MAY 1, 2017
'Area is of extreme importance to the Tribe'
CEMETERY continued
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to move farther east into that bank.
“We’re having a geotechnical
engineer with a hydraulics back-
ground look at it. They specialize
in soil stability issues in and along
rivers and river systems, so I think
they are the right people for the
job.”
White said the report that will re-
sult from the engineer’s visit of the
Tribal Cemetery will be something
the Tribe can use to potentially
stabilize the riverbank in the future
if needed.
“Since it’s the cemetery, we need
to be proactive,” White said of the
project’s importance.
Tribal General Manager David
Fullerton said the area is of ex-
treme importance to the Tribe and
that nothing happens at the cem-
etery without full Tribal Council
support and approval.
“To my knowledge I don’t think
there has ever been any action
taken down at the cemetery to re-
duce that erosion,” Fullerton said.
“Anytime we are dealing with the
cemetery that is a real sensitive
area. We don’t want people down
there and I would stress that as a
“The Tribal Historic Preservation
Office has been monitoring that steep
bank at least for the past five years
out of consideration for the erosion
because it is one of the most
significant spaces owned today.”
~ Tribal Historic Preservation Manager
Briece Edwards
staff and as a council we are being
proactive and trying to address
any issues at the bank and getting
ahead of it.”
Tribal Historic Preservation
Manager Briece Edwards said Cul-
tural Resources Department staff
members have been on top of the
situation and keeping an eye on it
for years.
“The Tribal Historic Preservation
Office has been monitoring that
steep bank at least for the past five
years out of consideration for the
erosion because it is one of the most
significant spaces owned today,”
Edwards said. “For me, I approach
everything I do with reverence, but
if there is a greater reverence it’s
there.”
Tribe sponsoring Native
American Heritage Day
CORVALLIS – The Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde and Spirit Mountain Casino are
sponsoring a Native American Heritage Day on
Saturday, May 6, as the Oregon State softball
team plays the University of Utah Utes.
“We would like to invite families out to the
game as well as get a limited number of free
T-shirts,” Spirit Mountain Casino Sponsorship
Administrator Jocelyn Huffman said.
Junior outfielder Lovie Lopez is a member of
the Wintu Tribe in California and has visited
Lovie Lopez
the Tribal campus to help teach youth how to
become better softball players.
Lopez is majoring in sociology at Oregon State and was named to
the third team of the all Pac-12 softball team in her sophomore year
after batting .309, hitting four home runs and accounting for 33 RBIs.
“We believe she is a great role model for our Native youth, so we
wanted to support her with sponsoring the Native American Heritage
Day,” Huffman said.
The game vs. Utah begins at 1 p.m. at the Oregon State Softball
Complex, 114 Gill Coliseum.
Youth Prevention will be providing bus transportation to the
game for the first 35 people who would like to attend. Parents are
responsible to accompany and supervise young children. In addition,
Youth Prevention will chaperone 10 middle school/high school youth.
Contact Shannon Stanton at 503-879-1489 or shannon.stanton@
grandronde.org for permission forms or to sign up for the bus, which
will leave the Community Center at 10 a.m. and return about 5 p.m. 
WALK-IN DENTAL APPOI NTMENTS FOR KIDS <6
NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY FOR DENTAL CHECK-UPS FOR KIDS 5 AND
UNDER WHO ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE SEEN AT THE TRIBAL CLINIC.
JUST COME ON IN!
We will check your child’s teeth during any of our clinic hours without an ap-
pointment. Dental check-ups are recommended beginning with the first
tooth!
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Dental Clinic
Phone 503-879-2020
Hours: Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri 8:00—5:00; Thur 9:30-5:30
Edwards said a strong desire
to minimize any impact on the
sensitive area requires using one
of the department’s new pieces of
equipment – its DJI Phantom 4
Quadcopter drone.
“One of our problems is how do we
actually see the problem because
our vantage point is limited from
above,” Edwards said. “We can only
do so much by looking at the aerial
photography and looking at how
much erosion has happened over
time. We’re in hopes that by using
the drone we may be able to confirm
that it actually is stable or have
enough advance warning that we
need to do something. We’re using
it as a tool.”
The first real-world application of
the drone will be at the cemetery,
said GIS Coordinator Volker Mell,
who selected Tribal member and
GIS Analyst Alex Drake to be the
drone pilot.
“We can use the drone to get
a real nice 3-D view,” Mell said.
“That’s the first thing we are going
to do. We are going to fly that bank
and map it over time.”
Mell said that staff will fly the
drone over the bank every year and
keep that information to compare
and assess the bank’s stability in
the future.
Edwards said the use of the drone
helps accomplish the main goal of
not disturbing the land.
“We’re trying to be as least intru-
sive as possible with this technique
so we’re not having to add more
disturbance to the bank,” Edwards
said. “The idea is to be as hands-
off as possible and we can get a lot
more information more quickly this
way. All of that information allows
us to make a better determination
and a better evaluation so that we
can come up with the most appro-
priate solution if it needs one.”
Tribal Lands Manager Jan Look-
ing Wolf Reibach said the im-
portance of the Tribe’s only truly
sacred land cannot be emphasized
enough.
“Following Termination, the 2.5-
acre cemetery was the only Tribal
land that the BIA could not sell,”
Reibach said. “It remained in the
care of our members during Ter-
mination era. In addition to sacred
burial grounds, many strategies
and plans were formed there during
meetings regarding efforts to re-
store the Tribe.”
Fullerton said Tribal leadership
has been aware of the issue at the
cemetery for years and that they
are asking for people to stay clear
of the area in general, but especially
now while the situation is assessed.
“Respect the area,” Fullerton
said. “Respect what it is. Because
that is such a sensitive area nothing
happens without council’s approv-
al.” 