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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2018)
PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 700 Native Youth Wellness Day — pg. 12 MARCH 15, 2018 Key Restoration figure Marvin Kimsey walks on By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor M arvin Kimsey, one of three Grand Ronde Tribal members who started the Tribe on the path to Restoration in the 1970s and then testified before Congress in 1983 in support of the Tribe’s Restoration to federal recognition, walked on Sunday, March 4, at the age of 83. Kimsey was born Feb. 27, 1935, to Loren and Nora Kimsey and he is descended from Chief Bogus of the Umpqua Tribe who was killed by vigilan- tes on the 1856 Trail of Tears. He married El- eanor Kimsey on Nov. 25, 1954, and they owned a filling station together. Elea- nor walked on in 2006. Marvin Kimsey Kimsey, along with his sister, Margaret Provost, and Merle Holmes are credited with starting the arduous work that eventually led to 1983’s Restoration. Kimsey joined Holmes and Dean Mercier as three of the first original Tribal chairmen before Restoration occurred. He also served on the post-Restoration Tribal Council from September 1988 to September 1989, receiving the second highest vote total in the September 1988 Tribal Council election with 77. According to a Smoke Signals story published in December 2001, Kimsey and Holmes were convinced by Provost to attend an Association of Urban Indians meeting held in Lebanon in 1972 that sparked the Restoration effort. See KIMSEY continued on page 5 Photo by Michelle Alaimo Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr. has been an artist most of his life. He has an art studio in his Willamina home where his does his artwork. A ‘lucky’ man Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr. serves as chair of Veterans Special Event Board and continues to create artworks By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer G rand Ronde Tribal Elder and lifelong area resident Steve Bobb Sr. has held a multitude of titles in his almost 69 years of life: Husband, father, grandfather, soldier, veteran, friend, professional truck painter, sign maker, artist, rebel, cancer sur- vivor, Tribal Council member and volunteer. He is passionate about veter- an’s causes and fiercely loves his family. Most describe Bobb as someone who speaks his mind and he wouldn’t have it any other way. One of his mottos is, “Lead from the heart, speak from the heart.” See ELDERS FEATURE continued on pages 10-11 Egg-citing Easter event set for March 31 Children get candy from the Easter Bunny, aka Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr., during the Tribe’s annual Easter egg hunt held at Tribal Housing last April. Smoke Signals file photo By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer aster falls on Sunday, April 1, which means the annual Grand Ronde Easter Egg Hunt will be held Saturday, March 31, at the covered area in Tribal family housing. Hunt organizers aren’t joking when they advise being on time for the event or you’ll feel like an April fool. “The hunt begins at 10 a.m. and is usu- ally over by 10:03 a.m.,” Rental Housing & Self-Sufficiency Coordinator Deborah E Kroeker said. So, this is one Tribal event that re- quires extreme promptness on the part of parents and prospective Easter egg hunters, lest they miss out on the various candy-filled eggs. There are four hunt categories for chil- dren ages 1 to 2, 3 to 4, 5 to 8 and 9 to 12. Egg hunters are advised to bring their own Easter basket to put their bounty in. See EASTER continued on page 4