S moke S ignals
FEBRUARY 15, 2018
13
'We do not have classes of membership'
MEETING continued
from front page
At the Jan. 10 Tribal Council
meeting, Gray also criticized Trib-
al Council for placing unspecified
non-members on Tribal committees
and special event boards.
“At a number of Tribal Council
meetings, including the last meet-
ing, statements have been made
suggesting that certain Tribal
members are not ‘Grand Ronde’
and should not be appointed to
Tribal committees or boards,” the
Tribal Council statement says.
“These statements are aimed at
descendants of Chief Tumulth who
were the subject of disenrollment
proceedings. The (Tribal) Council
views these statements as inap-
propriate personal attacks. They
must stop.
“We do not have classes of mem-
bership. Grand Ronde members
– including those whose mem-
bership was restored following
disenrollment proceedings – share
equal rights, benefits and respon-
sibilities. All Tribal members are
entitled to the same level of respect.
Statements suggesting anyone is
“We did take that action to let everyone
know that we will adhere to make sure
that folks when they come to the mic
understand that we are not here to make
disparaging remarks against anyone.
We are very serious.”
~ Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy
a lesser member are offensive and
will not be tolerated.”
The only Tribal Council member
who did not sign the statement was
Jack Giffen Jr., who also voted on
Jan. 10 against the re-appointment
of two Grand Ronde Appeals Court
judges who were part of a unani-
mous three-judge ruling that ended
disenrollment proceedings against
the Chief Tumulth descendants in
August 2016.
Giffen, who was absent from the
Jan. 24 meeting because he was
representing the Tribe at the Affil-
iated Tribes of Northwest Indians’
Winter Convention in Portland,
said during the Wednesday, Feb.
7, Tribal Council meeting that he
did not sign the statement because
YouTube screenshot
Tribal Lands Manager Jan Looking Wolf Reibach performed “A
Special Place,” joined by the Oregon State Choraliers, at Oregon
State President Edward Ray’s “State of the University” address held
Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Reibach
was commissioned to write the song to commemorate the university’s
150th anniversary.
Reibach composes song for
Oregon State’s 150th anniversary
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Lands Manager and
multiple Native American Music
Awards recipient Jan Looking
Wolf Reibach wrote “A Special
Place” to commemorate the
150th anniversary of Oregon
State University.
Reibach performed the song,
joined by the Oregon State Cho-
raliers, at Oregon State Pres-
ident Edward Ray’s “State of
the University” address held
Thursday, Feb. 1, at the Oregon
Convention Center in Portland.
Approximately 800 people at-
tended the annual event and the
video of the performance can be
watched on YouTube at https://
youtu.be/3mSrxpi5LGM.
“I really tried to capture what a
beautiful place Oregon State is,”
Reibach said. “I was inspired by
the journey students take to get
here and the dedication of faculty.”
Reibach is a Native American
flute instructor at the Oregon
State College of Liberal Arts.
He said he spent more than
200 hours working on the song,
which is more time than he has
spent on any individual song on
his 22 commercial releases.
Reibach’s great-great-grandfa-
ther was Chief Joseph Sangretta
of the Santiam Kalapuya who
have lived in the mid-Willamette
Valley for more than 14,000 years.
Oregon State Vice President
of University Relations and
Marketing Steve Clark said
the university commissioned
the song to help commemo-
rate “OSU150,” the university’s
150th anniversary, which is a
15-month celebration including
a series of events and activities
through October.
“The song poignantly captures
what we are about here at Or-
egon State,” Clark said. “We
provide the chance for learning,
economic opportunity and pros-
perity for all Oregonians and our
state’s communities. We hope to
hear this song through the next
150 years of the university.”
he was not at the meeting and un-
aware of what occurred.
“When it came time to sign it,
it was the following Monday and
we were in a training down at the
casino and it was presented to me,”
Giffen said. “I knew nothing about
it. I had no background on it. Basi-
cally, I was asked to sign it without
any information on it, which is not
the way I work.”
The Tribe’s Appeals Court ruled
that the “alleged enrollment er-
rors” regarding the Chief Tumulth
descendants had occurred so long
ago that the Tribe had failed to act
within a reasonable amount of time
to correct it.
The Tribe’s Enrollment Board
voted in early October 2016 to dis-
miss its decision to disenroll the 67
descendants and they immediately
became eligible for all Tribal ser-
vices again.
Since then, Chief Tumulth de-
scendants have been appointed
to Tribal committees and special
event boards, including Tribal
Elder Debi Anderson to the Enroll-
ment Board and Russell Wilkinson
on the Tribal Employment Rights
Office Commission. In addition,
Jade Unger was appointed to the
Ceremonial Hunting Board, Mia
Prickett to the Editorial Board
and Eric Bernando to the Culture
Committee in 2017.
“Please remember, we are all
Grand Ronde,” the Tribal Council
statement concludes.
“Our family is very thankful for
the Tribal Council’s statement as it
serves to protect all Tribal members
from personal attacks,” Wilkinson
said. “We have always felt that
we belonged as full members even
during the disenrollment process.
This family remembers that ‘We
are all Grand Ronde’ as council’s
statement concludes. I am also hon-
ored to be able to serve the Tribe by
volunteering for the appointment to
the TERO Commission.”
Kennedy read the Tribal Council
statement at the Sunday, Feb. 4,
General Council meeting and re-
ceived applause.
“We did take that action to let
everyone know that we will adhere
to make sure that folks when they
come to the mic understand that we
are not here to make disparaging
remarks against anyone,” Kennedy
said. “We are very serious.”
Tribal member Bryan Mercier
asked how Tribal Council knows
that other forms of discrimination
are not occurring against Chief
Tumulth descendants.
Tribal Council Chief of Staff
Stacia Hernandez said that the
statement has been sent to the
chairs of all Tribal committees and
special event boards and it will be
discussed at the upcoming annual
board summit.
Kennedy also read the statement
at the Wednesday, Feb. 7, Tribal
Council meeting and again received
applause.
Tribal Council member Kathleen
George, speaking during a Smoke
Signals podcast posted on Spreak-
er.com on Monday, Feb. 5, said it
is time for elected and community
Tribal leaders to work on unifying
the Tribe and not fostering division.
“The case against the Chief Tu-
multh family was decided in our
court quite a while ago. It’s done,”
George said. “It’s time for our
Tribe to heal and move forward
together.”
Ironically, Tribal Council voted
to re-assume responsibility for final
decisions regarding involuntary
loss of membership cases at the
Jan. 24 meeting. In 2014 in the
midst of the controversial disenroll-
ment proceedings, Tribal Council
divested itself of that responsibility
and placed the final decision-mak-
ing authority on the Enrollment
Board.