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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2017)
4 S moke S ignals JULY 1, 2017 Tribal Council approves four grant applications By Dean Rhodes 2012 – Tribal voters approved a primary election amendment to the Tribal Constitution, but it fell 13 votes shy of the required two-thirds approval to institute the measure that would have created a primary election whenever 10 or more Tribal members are running for Tribal Council. The approval rate of 64.7 percent was 2 percentage points below the constitutional requirement of 66.7 percent for any proposed amendment to take effect. 2007 – Tribal members flew to New York City for the annual visit to Toma- nowos, the Willamette mete- orite, which is housed in the American Museum of Natu- ral History. Tribal Council member Jack Giffen Jr. led a contingent that includ- ed Elders Monty Parazoo, File photo Gladys Hobbs, Sharon Han- 2007 son, Louise Medeiros, Violet Folden, Anna Hannah and Kathryn Harrison. 2002 – More than 200 riders competed for more than $14,000 in prize money at the Spirit Mountain Stampede. It was the second time that the event was held on the Tribe’s permanent rodeo grounds. 1997 – The Grand Ronde Tribe and Spirit Mountain Casino an- nounced a $100,000 grant from Spirit Mountain Community Fund to the Portland Art Museum to underwrite a landmark exhibition of Native American art, the first stage in the museum’s plans for a permanent installation. 1992 – Tribal youth Celeste Wolf, Willie Mercier, Crystal Tonihka and Peggy Brickell attended the National UNITY Conference held in St. Paul, Minn. There were approximately 1,000 Native American youths who attended. Adviser Camille VanVleet accompanied the youth. Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year incre- ments through the pages of Smoke Signals. WIC visits Health & Wellness Center Pregnant? Breastfeeding? Does your family include a child under the age of 5? If so, you may qualify for the Women, Infants and Children program. With WIC, people can receive answers to nutritional questions and access fruits and vegetables, whole grains, eggs, milk, cheese, juice, cereal and more. A WIC representative visits the Health & Wellness Center on the third Tuesday of the month, which will be July 18. Walk-ins are welcome between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. When WIC clients arrive at the Health & Wellness Center, they should enter through the Wellness Department located at the back of the medical wing. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 503-623-8175, ext. 2297. Smoke Signals editor Tribal Council approved ap- plying for four grants during its Wednesday, June 14, meeting that, if received, would bring the Tribe more than $3 million in funding for various projects. The first grant application to the Administration for Children and Families Office of Head Start would bring the Tribe approximately $500,000 annually for five years. If received, the grant would help dou- ble the number of home-based chil- dren who could participate in the Tribe’s Early Head Start program and add a 2-year-old classroom that could accommodate eight children. The second grant application to Spirit Mountain Community Fund is seeking $150,000 to fund child and adolescent psychiatric services at the Health & Wellness Center. If received, the grant would fund a cer- tified part-time child and adolescent psychiatrist. The Tribe currently does not have an employee certified to help patients under 17 years of age. The third grant application is the Tribe’s annual $62,500 request for a state Emergency Management Performance Grant that helps cov- er the costs of Tribal Emergency Management staff and operations. The fourth grant application to the Administration for Native Americans seeks a two-year Social & Economic Development Strat- egies grant that would bring the Tribe approximately $617,000 to develop an Elder in-home care and nutrition program. Grant funds would help hire a nurse, in-home trainer and two caregivers to pro- vide direct care and train family members to be effective in-home care providers. In other action, Tribal Council: • Approved Tribal credit cards for Cultural Resources Department Manager David Harrelson to pay for business travel, training and purchase of culturally significant items, and for Social Services De- partment Manager Dana Ainam for such items as emergencies related to child protection; • Approved establishment of the Yoncalla Falls Recreation Area on the Reservation that will set aside approximately 22 acres of older growth timber as a per- manent reserve. Tribal Council member Jack Giffen Jr. thanked Timber Committee members, such as Bob Mercier and Gene LaBonte, for their vision in es- tablishing the reserve; • Approved a Bureau of Land Man- agement seed orchard agreement for 2017; • Approved establishing a new bank account in which to hold U.S. Housing & Urban Develop- ment funds. The current account does not accrue interest and the new account will allow the Tribe to purchase certificates of deposit that earn interest while keeping the funds liquid, Finance Officer Chris Leno said; • Approved using up to $2 million of the Tribe’s line of credit to fund second-phase construction current- ly occurring at the Chachalu Tribal Museum & Cultural Center; • Approved releasing an inves- tigatory report on the Spirit Mountain Community Fund program coordinator interviews to a mediator as long as all the names other than the involved parties are redacted, the media- tor returns the report at the end of mediation and neither of the parties nor the mediator releases the report or its contents outside of the mediation process; • And approved the enrollment of six infants into the Tribe because they meet the requirements out- lined in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance. Cultural Resources employees David Harrelson, Bobby Mercier and Jordan Mercier performed the cultural drumming and singing to open the meeting with Public Affairs Administrative Assistant Chelsea Clark, Youth Council member Izaiah Fisher and Tribal youth Kyoni Mercier. Also included in the June 14 Tribal Council packet were autho- rizations to proceed that directed establishment of a Tribal member listserv, approved a job title change to Economic Development manag- er and requested the recruitment process begin to fill the vacant po- sition, and changed the 10 percent dividend distribution to the Tribal Reserves to the following formula: Elders, 2 percent; Health, 3.5 per- cent, Cultural Resources, 2 per- cent, Education, 1.5 percent, and Government Operations, 1 percent. The meeting was recorded and can be viewed by visiting the Tribal web- site at www.grandronde.org, clicking on the News tab and then Video. We Want To Hear From You! That’s right, the Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center Comment Box is located at the entrance of the Health & Wellness Center, next to the drinking fountain. Share your experience, good or bad with us! We look forward to hearing what you have to say. Ad created by George Valdez
