S moke S ignals
AUGUST 1, 2017
9
'I know our ancestors are proud'
CELEBRATION continued
from page 8
Assistant Shannon Simi.
Former Community Fund Di-
rectors Angie Blackwell, Cherry’s
older sister, and Shelley Sneed also
attended the event as did former
Hatfield Fellows Mary Bodine,
Shana Radford, Tribal member
Bryan Mercier, Dennis Worden and
Bodie Shaw.
The formal celebration program
started at 6 p.m. with Cherry wel-
coming attendees and the Grand
Ronde Color Guard of Steve Bobb
Sr., Daniel Helfrich, Rich VanAtta
and Dennis Kleffner bringing in the
U.S., Grand Ronde, MIA/POW and
Oregon flags while Lands Depart-
ment Manager Jan Looking Wolf
Reibach, Tribal Council Secretary
Jon A. George and
Tribal member
Greg Archuleta
performed a drum
song.
Tribal Royalty
members Iya-
na Holmes, Se-
nior Miss Grand
Ronde; Kaleigha
Simi, Little Miss
Grand Ronde; and
Little Miss Prin-
cess Sophia Grout
followed the Color
Guard in.
George gave the
invocation, citing the “20 years
of open hearts and open hands”
that the Tribe’s charitable arm
represents.
Cherry delivered opening re-
marks.
“You can’t truly appreciate where
you are if you don’t think about
where you have been,” Cherry said.
“How far you have come and how
you got here. I look around the room
tonight … and it warms my heart.
I see so many faces of the Tribal
leaders and visionaries in the room
who helped us get to where we are
today, and I know our ancestors
are proud.
“Native Americans are a very giv-
ing people. They are a proud people
and they are a resilient people. As
we celebrate our 20th anniversary
of the Spirit Mountain Community
Fund, we are not just celebrating
the $74 million in giving, we are
celebrating all of those people who
never gave up.”
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Bobb blessed the meal, which
served a family-style dinner of
wild-caught salmon filet, sweet
red peppers stuffed with rainbow
quinoa, corn cakes, Indian fry bread
with honey butter and a dessert of
lemon mousse.
While people ate, a 20-year cele-
bration video was shown on numer-
ous screens.
Reibach, a multiple Native Amer-
ican Music Awards winner, and
his Looking Wolf Band of Brothers
(violinist Mark Babson, guitarist
Neal Grandstaff and percussionist
Nathan Myers) entertained with a
three-song set that included “Live
As One,” “Twilight” and “Seminole
Wind.” Reibach dedicated “Twi-
light” to Tribal member Ryan Beau-
champ, who walked on in 2000.
Dr. Brian Druker, director of the
Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU,
was the keynote speaker and talked
about Nike co-founder Phil Knight
and his wife Penny’s challenge for
the university to raise $500 million
Spirit Mountain Community Fund
Director Mychal Cherry gives a
welcome speech during the fund’s
20th anniversary celebration held at
Oregon Health & Science University
in Portland on Saturday, July 29. At
left, Spirit Mountain Community
Fund Grants Coordinator Julia Willis
hugs Confederated Tribes of Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians
Chief Warren Brainard after the fund
gifted his Tribe $110,000 as one of
seven Oregon Tribal Grants that was
given out during the fund’s 20th
anniversary celebration.
in matching funds in less than two
years to fight cancer. OHSU suc-
ceeded in raising the money in 18
months and received an unsolicited
$100,000 donation from the Grand
Ronde Tribe without the Tribe be-
ing approached for the money.
Appropriately, a Community
Fund celebration also included
sharing the bounty as Trustees and
Community Fund staff members
each selected an organization to
grant $5,000 to for their work that
exemplifies the goals and values of
the Tribe.
Grant recipients were the Chil-
dren’s Cancer Association of Port-
land, selected by Leno; Downtown
Language of Springfield, selected
by Trustee Val Hoyle; Liberty
House of Salem, selected by Cherry;
Neighbors For Kids of Depoe Bay,
selected by Trustee Darlene Hool-
ey; Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. of
Portland, selected by Harvey; Pitch
Black of Port-
land, selected
by Trustee
Chip Lazenby;
Race Talks of
Portland, se-
lected by Dozo-
no; Tillamook
Forest Her -
itage Trust,
selected by
Giffen; Ore-
gon Children’s
Foundation’s Start Making A Read-
er Today, selected by Community
Fund Program Coordinator Angela
Sears; and the West Valley Fire
District of Willamina, selected by
Trustee Ron Reibach.
Also receiving $5,000 checks were
the two organizations that received
the first Community Fund awards
back in 1997 – Life Flight of Oregon
and Portland Art Museum.
But the giving was not over. The
Community Fund also announced
this year’s recipients of its Oregon
Tribal Grants program, which gave
$110,000 each to the Burns Paiute,
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
Indians, Coquille Indian, Grand
Ronde, Siletz, Umatilla and Warm
Springs Tribes.
Leno accepted the Grand Ronde
check, saying it will help fund a
needed adolescent psychiatrist at
the Grand Ronde Health & Well-
ness Clinic.
Leno also was honored during
the event for his 21 years of service
on Tribal Council and his many
years on the Board of Trustees. He
received a beaver hat signifying his
allegiance to Oregon State Univer-
sity, an eagle feather and Pendleton
blanket and laptop bag.
Cherry also awarded Tribal cof-
fee house gift certificates to Tribal
Youth Council members in atten-
dance, including Payton Smith,
Dominik Briant, Madelyn Volz,
Izaiah Fisher and Jason Page. She
also thanked Tribal Elder Victor
Cureton, Social Services Adminis-
trative Assistant Darla Patterson
and Public Affairs Administrative
Assistant Chelsea Clark for making
the numerous dentalium necklaces
that were given as gifts during the
event.
The 2½-hour event concluded
with Giffen delivering closing re-
marks and George, Archuleta and
Fisher drumming as the colors were
retired.
“I’d just like to take a moment
to thank each and every grantee
that we have had in the 20 years
of Spirit Mountain Community
Fund for the work you do in your
communities,” Giffen said. “But I
also have to, on behalf of the Tribal
membership, thank our ancestors
for bestowing in each and every one
of us the meaning of giving back to
your community and passing that
on from generation to generation.
The Tribal philosophy is pretty
much seven generations and a lot
of past leaders have passed on, but
they have passed on that message.
You give back not only to your
Tribe, but to your family and the
community around you.
“I want to personally say thank
you to all of those ancestors, all
those Elders that passed that mes-
sage on and you can see where it
has got us today: $74 million and
a lot of help to a lot of communi-
ties.”
Tribal Council Chairman and Spirit Mountain
Community Fund Board of Trustee Reyn Leno speaks
after being honored for his 21 years of service on Tribal
Council and his many years on the Board of Trustees
during the fund’s 20th anniversary celebration held at
Oregon Health & Science University.