PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 700
NOVEMBER 1, 2017
Giving of thanks
doubled this year
Tribe to celebrate 34th Restoration
anniversary on Wednesday, Nov. 22
Still seeking answers
Tribal member Heather Cameron went missing in 2012
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
By Danielle Frost
T
Smoke Signals staff writer
ribal members will have a
chance to give thanks for
two days in a row during
the fourth week in November
when the Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde’s annual celebration
of Tribal Restoration occurs on
Wednesday, Nov. 22, the day before
Thanksgiving.
The celebration will feature a
Canoe Family performance and
program, noontime meal and af-
ternoon powwow held in the Tribal
gym in Grand Ronde.
This year marks the 34th anni-
versary of Restoration to federally
recognized status following 1954’s
Termination.
After the Grand Ronde Tribe was
terminated, Tribal Elders Merle
Holmes, Margaret Provost and
Marvin Kimsey started the arduous
task of regaining federal recogni-
tion in the 1970s that culminated
See RESTORATION
continued on page 4
If you go
34th Restoration
Celebration
When: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 22. Canoe
Family and program at 10 a.m.,
meal at noon and powwow at
3 p.m.
Where: Tribal gym, 9615
Grand Ronde Road
More info: RSVP to Public
Affairs at 503-879-1418 or pub-
licaffairs@grandronde.org.
T
onya Gleason-Shepek
drove to Grand Ronde
from her home in Happy
Valley, some 57 miles away,
to address General Council on
Oct. 1, which also marked the
beginning of Domestic Violence
Awareness Month.
In her hand she clutched a
missing person flier. The wom-
an on the front is her cousin,
Heather Cameron, missing
since Aug. 18, 2012, from a
remote area of Shasta County,
Calif.
Cameron had recently cele-
brated her 28th birthday and
had four young children – three
daughters and one son. She is
a Grand Ronde Tribal member
and has family living in Oregon.
“I am asking you to remem-
ber her story,” Gleason-Shepek
said, her voice shaking. “She
was a victim of domestic vio-
lence. …We remember Heather
every day. We may never be able
to bring her home and lay her to
rest, but we will never give up.
When I look at Heather’s face, I
see the faces of all of our Tribal
members who are enduring
domestic violence, depression,
addictions and suicide.”
Gleason-Shepek said Camer-
on’s story mirrors those from
Indian Country, where 84 per-
cent of Native women have
experienced domestic violence.
“I ask you to choose mental
health as a (budget) priority,”
Gleason-Shepek said. “Mental
health is our most underfunded,
unmet need in Indian Country.
Heather’s life was precious.
She mattered. Everyone in our
Tribal family that is high risk,
they matter, too.”
When contacted later, Glea-
son-Shepek said that Cameron
was last been seen with her
ex-boyfriend, Daniel Lusby,
and that the two were heading
to Keswick Dam, a remote area
20 minutes outside of Redding,
Calif., near the Sacramento
See MISSING
continued on page 10
Reibach wins best video performance at NAMMYs
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
ribal member Jan Looking Wolf Reibach
ended his six-year award drought at the
17th annual Native American Music
Awards held on Saturday, Oct. 14, when he won
the award for best performance in a music video
for his song “Ascension.”
Reibach won over some tough competition in
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
the category, including Josh Halverson, a Md-
ewankanton Tribal member who was a finalist
on “The Voice,” and Kelly Derrickson, a First
Nations country singer from Kelowna, British
Columbia.
Reibach also was nominated for Flutist of the
See NAMMYs
continued on page 15
Jan Looking Wolf Reibach won best performance in a music video for “Ascension” at the 17th annual Native
American Music Awards held at the Seneca Niagara Events Center in Niagara Falls, N.Y., on Saturday, Oct.
14. Reibach dedicated the “Ascension” compact disc to Tribal Council member Denise Harvey’s son Ryan
Kelly Beauchamp, who walked on in April 2000. He gifted the medallion that accompanied the award
statuette to Harvey at the Tuesday, Oct. 17, Legislative Action Committee meeting.