S moke S ignals
MARCH 15, 2018
5
Hatfield Fellow Program
seeking applicants
By Angela Sears
Community Fund Program Coordinator
2013 – Six European Fellows visited achaf-hammi, the Tribal
plankhouse, and Spirit Mountain Casino’s buffet. Tribal Council
member Chris Mercier called the plankhouse “our crown jewel.”
Marshall Memorial Fellows from Madrid, Vienna, Ankara, Berlin
and Warsaw met Americans by visiting people living in a variety
of different circumstances. The Marshall Memorial Fellowship was
created by the United States in 1982 to introduce a new generation
of European leaders to America. All of the fellows were fluent in
English and a variety of other languages.
2008 – Grand Ronde Cultural Education Coordinator Tony Johnson
received the Indian Educator of the Year award at the Oregon Indi-
an Education Association Conference. He had been working for the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde since 1997. “It was absolutely
shocking,” Johnson said. “It was a genuine surprise. In terms of
things I’ve been awarded in the past, it is hugely significant to me.”
In addition, Grand Ronde Scholarships Coordinator Luhui Whitebear
was named Outstanding Volunteer of the Year.
2003 – Baskets from the
Grand Ronde collection
were on display at the Mis-
sion Mill Museum in Salem
and showcased the “artistry
and skill” of Willamette
Valley Natives. Tribal El-
ders Kathryn Harrison and
Merle Holmes attended the
Western Oregon Basketry
Display’s opening. The bas- 2003
File photo
kets represented different
styles, techniques and materials used in basket making. “The idea
of the exhibit was to showcase the baskets and show the continuity
between weavers,” Cultural Collections Specialist Lindy Trolan said.
1998 – Health and Human Services Division Manager Cheryle A.
Kennedy gave an update on Tribal health and wellness at a March
General Council meeting. She noted that the prior year was very
important because the programs had grown and were all housed at
the new Health & Wellness Center. “Our goal is to raise the health
of our membership by using preventive services as well at treatment
services,” Kennedy said.
1993 – Sen. Mark O. Hatfield was named as the newest member of
the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Oregon’s fifth-term
senior senator was a ranking member of the Senate Appropriations,
Energy and Natural Resources committees. “Critical issues regarding
self-determination of Native American Tribes will be debated in the
select committees in the coming years,” he said. “I look forward to
helping shape those discussions to reflect the needs of Oregon Tribes.”
1988 – Excerpts from “Just a Memorandum” by Mary Ann Michelle
in 1956 were featured in Smoke Signals. In it, the author talked
about her grandfather, Oregon City John, and his history with the
Grand Ronde Tribe. She also described early life on the Reservation
and the first land allotment, called the Thompson Allotment. “After
the Indians were settled down, then they had to get the children
started to school. They just had one big building. They had Catholic
sisters here.” She continued that, “I am writing this because … I feel
so sorry to think about all the people that signed the treaty haven’t
even got a descendent living. Oh, it’s other things that happened,
but it’s no use to talk about it.”
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year in-
crements through the pages of Smoke Signals.
When:
March 22 nd , 2018 @ 5:30 pm
Where:
Please join us for the reading
of a chinuk-wawa story written
achaf hammi (Grand Ronde
by one of our tribal elders
along with singing and
Plankhouse)
dancing. Dinner will be
provided as well as one book
for each attending family.
Please RSVP to Justine Flynn @ 503-879-2066 or Justine.flynn@grandronde.org
* Those that RSVP will receive a meal ticket to ensure their dinner. Those that do not RSVP will be served after
those with meal tickets.
The web-based application for
the 2018-19 Hatfield Fellowship
opened Friday, March 16, for mem-
bers of Oregon, Washington, Idaho
and Montana Tribes and will close
on Monday, April 30.
Each year, Spirit Mountain Com-
munity Fund sponsors a congres-
sional fellowship with a member of
the Oregon delegation to enhance
the mutual understanding between
the federal government and Indian
Country.
Past fellows have served in a
number of Senate and House con-
gressional offices, including those
of Sens. Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley
and Gordon Smith and Reps. Kurt
Schrader, Darlene Hooley, Peter
DeFazio and Greg Walden.
“The Hatfield Fellowship is a
yearly investment in strengthening
the understanding between Oregon
Tribes and our congressional rep-
resentatives,” Community Fund
Director Mychal Cherry said. “By
spending eight months as part of
a congressional office, these Tribal
members come away with an invalu-
able understanding of how things are
done in D.C. During the fellowship
experience, working relationships
are formed that will benefit the
fellow throughout their career. The
congressional staff also learn from a
colleague about the realities in Indi-
an Country and the huge potential
for our communities. This is abso-
lutely a learning exchange.”
Fellows begin their time in Wash-
ington, D.C., in November with a
monthlong orientation with the
American Political Science Asso-
ciation.
The Hatfield Fellowship was
created in 1998 to honor Sen.
Mark Hatfield’s public service to
Oregon and the Pacific North-
west. Additional information
about the program is available
at www.thecommunityfund.com/
hatfield-fellowship. 
‘Marvin worked very hard
to get this Tribe restored’
KIMSEY continued
from front page
“You know, we figured it would
take two or three years, tops,”
Kimsey said.
Eleven years later, Restoration
was achieved.
“It is … impossible, I mean im-
possible to tell you everything that
went on in Restoration, and what
it entailed,” Kimsey recalled. “It
really is. You just have to be there.
There were a lot of sacrifices made.
We weren’t always a Tribe with a
casino, or a Tribe with timber even.
… The hours were long and tedious.
And there were times I wondered if
it was worth it.”
In October 1983, Kimsey, Jackie
Whisler, Kathryn Harrison and
her children, Frank Harrison, and
Karen Askins, testified before the
House Interior and Insular Affairs
Committee in Washington, D.C.,
about Restoration of the Grand
Ronde Tribe. Little more than a
month later, President Ronald
Reagan signed the Grand Ronde
Restoration Act on Nov. 22, 1983.
“I’m glad I was part of Resto-
ration,” Kimsey said. “I don’t know
what would drive a person to do
it. But if it had to be done again,
I suppose I could muster up the
strength.”
Kimsey’s passing, which was
announced during the Sunday,
March 4, General Council meeting,
elicited honors from other Tribal
members.
“Marvin worked very hard to get
this Tribe restored,” Tribal Coun-
cil Vice Chair Chris Mercier said
while announcing the news. “He
was a very important person in this
Tribe’s history.”
Tribal Elder and former Tribal
Council member Val Grout hon-
ored Kimsey, Provost and Holmes.
“They’re the ones that worked hard
to get us where we are today,” she
said.
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy called Kim-
sey’s passing “a great loss to the
Tribe” during the Tuesday, March
6, Legislative Action Committee
meeting.
In honor of Kimsey, flags on the
Tribal campus were lowered to
half-staff.
Services for Kimsey were held on
Sunday, March 11, in the Tribal
gym with a meal that followed at
the Elders Activity Center. He was
buried in the Grand Ronde Tribal
Cemetery.
“I know that everyone was learn-
ing some new things at the service
and remembering some of the
contributions that Marvin had
made for our Tribe,” Kennedy
said during the Tuesday, March
13, Legislative Action Committee
meeting. “One of the things is he
was pretty humble about what he
did. He didn’t put up big banners
and say, ‘Look at me. Look what I
did. I’m the greatest.’ Or anything
like that. He really did his job qui-
etly, fulfilled the purpose of part of
his life was, and I’m very apprecia-
tive to that and to the family for
all of those contributions.
“I guess the message that I would
want to leave with all of our mem-
bers is to look within ourselves
and (ask) what is our contribution
to our people and our Tribe? What
can we do selflessly? And to be able
to do so in a way that is kind and
generous to all.”
A full Walking On notice appears
on page 18 of this issue of Smoke
Signals. 