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
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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.
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