S moke S ignals
MAY 15, 2017
19
'He was good to work with'
he didn’t have a sense of humor.
One thing I noticed about him – he
was very outgoing and sociable.
When I would go to NCAI (National
Congress of American Indians) or
ATNI (Affiliated Tribes of North-
west Indians) national, regional
Tribal functions they knew Wink.
“He was always out pressing the
flesh and making contact with peo-
ple. People knew who he was and
who he worked for. He was a good
representative. He was charming
in his own way.”
Courtesy photos
Tribal Elder Wink Soderberg is a U.S.
Navy veteran. He served during the
Korean War era from 1951-54.
ELDERS FEATURE
continued from page 18
to live.
Wink credits Tribal Council mem-
ber Chris Mercier and former
Tribal Council member and cur-
rent Early Childhood Education
Program Manager Angie Blackwell
for helping him get elected to Tribal
Council upon returning to Grand
Ronde.
“They had my viewpoint,” Wink
says. “They were always right there.
They helped a lot. We thought the
same.”
Wink also thanks Rebecca Crock-
er and June Olson for the time they
spent helping him get elected to
Tribal Council.
Chris Mercier says his only regret
from his time together on Tribal
Council with Wink was that he
didn’t pick his brain more and learn
more about Wink’s time on council
before Restoration.
“He was good to work with,” Chris
Mercier says. “You couldn’t ever say
A big TERO proponent
Wink says one of the things he
learned about on one of those Tribal
conference trips was Tribal employ-
ment rights ordinances. Despite
his retirement, Wink sits on the
Grand Ronde Tribe’s current TERO
Commission.
He said he happened upon a
TERO session at a conference and
decided to sit in to see what he
could learn and how it might ben-
efit Grand Ronde Tribal members.
Little did he know that what
he learned that day and what
he brought back to Grand Ronde
would become his signature accom-
plishment while serving on Tribal
Council.
“I was involved with a lot of
things,” Wink says. “I’m involved
in the TERO Commission now. I
brought it back right away.”
TERO Compliance Officer Duke
Kimsey says Wink is an important
contributor to the TERO Commis-
sion and that he is thankful for the
work Wink invested in to establish-
ing the program.
“We’ve had some great accom-
plishments,” Duke Kimsey says.
“Our goal is to get these guys on
and get them a career. I think last
year we filled 160 positions. With
Wink, he is proud of this. He defi-
nitely had something to do with it.
He inspired it.”
Duke Kimsey says that he ad-
Wink Soderberg, left, and his brother Arthur Soderberg. The brothers were
around ages 12 and 14, respectively, in this photo.
mires Wink for his willingness to
speak up and for his efforts to learn
the Tribal Employment Rights
Ordinance.
“He was the first one in my office
getting the ordinance, reading up
on it, learning it,” Duke Kimsey
says. “He doesn’t mind speaking
out and he will ask questions. He
is really on top of his game for this.
I think it’s a good spot for him.”
Longtime colleague, friend and
current Tribal Council Vice Chair
Cheryle A. Kennedy agrees that
Wink is in his element when work-
ing on TERO efforts.
“His entrepreneurial spirit still
is alive today. He is still out there
looking for opportunities,” Kennedy
says. “He still has a lot of ideas that
he thinks about. I’m very pleased
that he’s on our TERO Commission
because he always had an idea
that our people can work, they can
learn. We are bright people. We’re
industrious. We just need to get
the opportunities that may not
have been afforded us. It’s a good
fit for him.”
Kennedy says she is related to
Wink and that the two have worked
together for the betterment of the
Tribe and its people since before
1983’s Restoration. Kennedy says
that Wink was part of a small
but persevering group trying to
determine the vision of and future
direction of the Tribe.
“Wink really hasn’t changed
throughout the years,” Kennedy
says. “I think that he maintained
the same forward-looking attitude.
We were trying to establish our-
selves.”
Wink says he really hasn’t
changed much and that his core
values of family being important
and the people of the Tribe being
his priority are still the same.
“All I ever wanted to do, I didn’t
care if I had money or anything, all
I ever wanted to do in my life was
be successful at something. That
was my main goal,” Wink says. 
Tribal Elder Wink Soderberg,
right, with, from left, his wife
Kathy and their sons, Gary,
Steven and Bill, in 2010.