14
S moke S ignals
NOVEMBER 1, 2017
2017 Monte "Mouse" George, horseshoe tournament held
durning the annual "Riggs-Norwest" family reunion
at the home Steve and Connie Bobb.
Winner of the singles is Gregg Leno and winners of the
doubles is Anthony "Homer" Henry and Brad Reid.
Portland Culture Classes
Grand Ronde Health & Wellness
Center Optometry
Effective July 1, 2017, Tribal spouses on the Skookum Health Assis-
tance Program will be required to pay overages above the Skookum
Health Assistance Program limitations, as well co-pays when receiving
optometry services at the Health & Wellness Center.
Regalia, Mini Cradle board and Moss bag Making Classes. Instructed by Dara Dickinson
September 30, 2017 10:00 am —2:00 pm (Regalia Making)
October 14, 2017 10:00am—2:00 pm (Mini cradleboards)
November 18, 2017 10:00 am—2:00 pm (Moss Bags)
December 2, 2017 10:00 am—2:00 pm (complete Regalia, Mini cradle board and Moss bag projects)
Beading and Moccasin Making Classes. Instructed by Joe Martineau
'Heather can now be
legally declared dead'
MISSING continued
from page 10
the claim has dementia or blame
past drug use, even if it was 20
years ago. It is really hard in this
region as well because those types
of comments live on with a person.
… So it is hard to climb out of that
and they are not seen as credible.”
Shedding light on domestic vio-
lence can be difficult even in profes-
sional settings. Despite the recent
reports that indicate that Native
American women experience more
intimate partner violence than
any other ethnic group, Falla has
noticed pushback.
“Until a few years ago, there were
no statistics,” she said. “So part of
this is raising awareness. Native
Americans get forgotten when it
comes to reporting. If you’re trying
to disclose (a crime), law enforce-
ment sometimes really doesn’t know
who to give you to. In some situa-
tions with my clients, it has taken
months for them to be able to tell an
officer, then they didn’t get a good
sense that they would get anywhere
or that…the situation was credible.”
Other issues that domestic or
sexual violence victims may face
is feeling as if they lack credibility
due to past history or unfavorable
experiences with police or the
courts.
“There is a lot of extreme fear,
embarrassment and shame,” Falla
said. “But there are people who
will believe you and ultimately
understand.”
To help combat the problem of
where to report, the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice created a Tribal
Access Program, which provides
federally recognized Tribes the abil-
ity to access and exchange informa-
tion with national crime databases
for civil and criminal offenses.
Tribal governments can access
federal crime databases with in-
formation, such as criminal back-
ground records, outstanding
warrants and domestic violence
protection orders. The only Oregon
Tribe selected to participate was
the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Priority was given to Tribes
that had a sex offender registry in
accordance with the Adam Walsh
Act and that are currently unable
to directly submit data to national
crime information databases.
The problem of missing and mur-
dered Native women has become
so prevalent that the U.S. Senate
signed a resolution designating
May 5 as the National Day of
Awareness for Missing and Mur-
dered Native Women and Girls.
The resolution states that Native
women face murder rates that are
more than 10 times the national
average and that little data exists
on the number of missing Native
women in the United States.
“Often, these disappearances or
murders are connected to crimes
of domestic violence, sexual assault
and sex trafficking,” states a press
release from the National Indig-
enous Women’s Resource Center.
As far as Cameron’s case goes,
her family is seeking resolution to a
life-altering event that has haunted
them for more than five years.
“Heather can now be legally de-
clared dead,” Gleason-Shepek said.
“So the next step for the family is to
educate ourselves on the California
legal process and determine if we
are able to navigate it ourselves or
if we will need to raise money to
hire legal assistance.”
Once Cameron is declared de-
ceased, the Tribe will release her
monies to a designated guardian
of her estate, Gleason-Shepek said.
“We know that Heather would
want her children to have this mon-
ey,” she said. “We hope to use some
of the money to increase the reward
(for information) and the remaining
money would go to her children.”
September 30, 2017 10:00 am —2:00 pm (Beading, Moccasin Making)
October 14, 2017 10:00am—2:00 pm (Beading, Moccasin Making)
November 18, 2017 10:00 am—2:00 pm (complete Beading and Moccasin projects)
Class is limited to participants 12 and older, Youth age 12- 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Supplies are limited to one pair per person, must be present to receive materials.
Mini Cradle Boards
Beaded Moccasins
To sign-up Contact : Lisa Archuleta at 503-879-1881
or lisa.archuleta@grandronde.org
for more information contact
Flicka Lucero at 503-879-2268 or
flicka.lucero@grandronde.org
Moss Bags
CTGR Portland Office
4445 SW Barbur Blvd
Portland, OR 97239
503-879-1881
Ad created by George Valdez