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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2018)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 General Council briefed on Health & Wellness — pg. 4 JANUARY 15, 2018 Tribal Council appoints Appeals Court judges Presidential plunge By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor T ribal Council appointed Robert Miller, Patricia Paul and Patricia Davis Gibson to serve on the three-member Grand Ronde Court of Appeals during its Wednesday, Jan. 10, meeting. Miller and Paul have pre- viously served on the Tribe’s highest court while Gibson is a new appointee. Their terms will run two years and start on Feb. 1. The vote was 6-1 with Trib- al Council member Jack Giff- en Jr. dissenting and Tribal Robert Miller Council member Brenda Tuomi absent. Tribal Court Administrator Angela Fasana said at the Tuesday, Jan. 9, Legislative Action Committee meeting that 14 people applied to serve on the Appeals Court. Paul (Inupiaq) is a busi- ness and estate-planning Patricia Paul lawyer specializing in land use law and federal Indian law. She lives on the Swin- omish Reservation, where her husband serves on the Tribal Senate. She earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Antioch Univer- sity in 1993 and a law degree from Seattle University in 1998. Patricia Gibson Miller (Eastern Shawnee) graduated from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in 1991. He has worked See JUDGES continued on page 6 Photo by Michelle Alaimo Grand Ronde Tribal member Lisa Watson is the current president of City Club of Portland’s Board of Governors. She is the first Native American female leader of the club. Tribal member Lisa Watson is City Club’s first Native American female leader By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer P ORTLAND — Tribal member Lisa Watson smiles when she is asked about her quick rise from member to presi- dent of what is known to many as Portland’s most influential civic club. “It’s been a really crazy ascension to this position,” Watson, 51, says. “I was asked in late March to be president-elect, which meant taking on the role of president in 2018. I thought about it for a few weeks and said, ‘Yes.’ ” However, after the president resigned this past summer for opportunities out of the area, See LEADER continued on page 7 Native four-year graduation rates remain a concern By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer t first glance, the graduation statistics for American Indi- an/Alaska Native students at Willamina High School appear alarming, with just slightly more than half graduating within four years. But looking beyond the arbitrary four-year requirement, the num- bers show 100 percent of AI/AN students completing high school in Willamina. Tribal High School Lead Tiffany A 'Typically, all of our students do graduate, it may just not be within the four years.' ~ Tribal High School Lead Tiffany Mercier Mercier said that while the four- year statistics may sound concern- ing, the story behind the numbers is far more encouraging. “Those numbers only include stu- dents who graduate in four years, not those who take a little longer,” Mercier said. “Typically, all of our students do graduate, it may just not be within the four years.” In 2015-16, 64.1 percent of stu- dents overall and 54.5 percent of American Indian/Alaska Native students graduated on time from Willamina High, according to a statewide audit recently conducted by the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office and based on the Oregon Department of Education’s Oregon Report Card, among other research. Overall, 75 percent of Oregon students graduated on time in 2015-16, compared to 56.4 of AI/AN students. Nationally in 2015-16, See EDUCATION continued on page 8