10
S moke S ignals
OCTOBER 15, 2017
Tribe concerned about administration's
apparent changes regarding harbor
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
An apparent change of course
by the Trump administration re-
garding cleaning up toxic pollution
along the Willamette River in
Portland is of concern to the Grand
Ronde Tribe as well.
Tribal Council member Kathleen
George, who has a history of work-
ing on environmental conservation
issues and sits on the state Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality
Commission, raised the issue at
the Tuesday, Oct. 10, Legislative
Action Committee meeting.
Trump’s Environmental Protec-
tion Agency has been negotiating
part of the plan with some of the
companies responsible for cleanup,
according to Richard Whitman,
director of Oregon DEQ.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown made
Whitman’s letter public on Monday,
Oct. 9, and urged the EPA “to honor
its commitment to work collabo-
ratively and transparently with
the state, city and all responsible
parties.”
“Apparently, the state Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality
was not included and certainly the
Tribes who have been working on
this site for 20 years, years before
the listing, were not included at
all,” George said. “While all the
details appear not clear yet, it cer-
tainly seems to undercut the work
that’s been done and the agree-
ments that have been made, and, in
many cases, seems to take the work
of cleaning up Portland Harbor …
seems to want to set that back.”
On Jan. 6, two weeks before Pres-
ident Barack Obama left the White
House, the EPA announced a final
$1.05 billion cleanup plan for a 10-
mile stretch of the Willamette that
became polluted from a century of
industrial use.
Whitman said a draft agreement
between the EPA and some com-
panies responsible for the cleanup
calls for more sediment samples to
be taken and for fish consumption
rates to be updated. He said such
tactics appear intended to call
into question the underpinnings
of the cleanup plan announced in
January.
Furthermore, Whitman wrote
that the EPA’s failure to coordinate
and consult violates a memoran-
dum of understanding between
federal, state and Tribal entities.
In an e-mail to Michelle Pirzadeh,
acting regional EPA administrator
in Seattle, Portland Mayor Ted
Wheeler and Commissioner Nick
Fish said they are deeply troubled
that state, Tribal and local stake-
holders have been excluded from
an opportunity to review changes.
If true, it would not be the first
time the Trump administration
has rescinded an Obama-era envi-
ronmental policy, having already
pulled out of the Paris Climate
Accord and starting to roll back
the Clean Power Plan, which is
designed to curb U.S. output of
carbon pollution.
George said she is worried that
decades of work by Tribal em-
ployees on helping to clean up the
Portland Harbor superfund site
will go for naught and asked that
Tribal Council hold a work session
on the issue.
“This was a very disappointing
piece of news,” she said. 
Former Tribal Council member
Wesley West walks on at 75
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Former Tribal Council mem-
ber Wesley “Buddy” West walked
on Saturday, Oct. 7, at the age
of 75.
He was born on Oct. 1, 1942,
and grew up in the eastern Or-
egon community of Odell. He
graduated from Wy’East High
School in 1960.
West was elected to Tribal
Council in 2004 in his fourth
attempt along with Angie Black-
well and Chris Mercier on a
platform that there needed to be
new voices in Tribal leadership.
“I believe I can make a posi-
tive difference for you on Tribal
Council because I’m not a ca-
reer politician,” he wrote in his
2004 Tribal Council Candidate
Statement. “I won’t make empty
promises or give special favors to
certain families. … I will spend
the next three years with all of
us in mind, guiding me in my
daily actions.”
West said he was descended
from Chief Joseph Sangretta
through his grandmother, Ade-
line Menard-Haller. His parents
were Wesley West and Marion
Haller-Davidson.
After graduating from high
school, West served more than 20
years in the U.S. Army and was
a member of the 101st Airborne
Division. He served three tours
of duty in
Vietnam,
w h e r e
he was
wounded.
He received
numerous
medals,
including
two Bronze
Wesley West
S t a r s ,
which are awarded for heroic
achievement, heroic service,
meritorious achievement or mer-
itorious service in a combat zone.
He ran for re-election in 2007
and finished seventh in the
voting. He also ran for Tribal
Council five other times with
his last campaign occurring in
2011.
West also ran for a seat in the
Oregon Legislature representing
the 23rd District in 2008, but was
unsuccessful in the Democratic
primary. He ran on a platform of
tackling issues like crime, meth
and drug addiction, and poverty
in the district.
West attended the 20th anni-
versary celebration of the Grand
Ronde Health & Wellness Center
on Friday, Oct. 6, the day before
he walked on and was recognized
as a former Tribal Council mem-
ber during the ceremony.
A full Walking On notice ap-
pears in this issue of Smoke
Signals on page 17. 
Includes information from The
Associated Press.
Gift Making Workshop
All are welcome!!
Join us and help make giveaway gifts
for Tribal Events hosted throughout
the year.
This is a wonderful way to be a part
of our tradition of giving, creating
gifts filled with good thoughts and
blessings for our fellow Tribal Fami-
lies and guests.
Main events: Plank house Birthday
Celebration, Restoration Celebration,
Round Dance, Canoe Journey, Youth
Powwow’s, Elder’s Honor day and
Cultural Exchanges.
(the workshop is a year round event, future events will
be advertised at a later date)
Dinner provided
October 19th
October 26th
November 9th
November 30th
December 14th
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
at the Tribal
Community Center
Sponsored by the Cultural
Education and Youth Prevention
Programs
Ad created by George Valdez