S MOKE S IGNALS
JULY 15, 2018
5
Three advisory vote sessions
scheduled in July, August
ADVISORY continued
from front page
2013 – Navajo code talkers
were among those honored
at the Marcellus Norwest
Memorial Veterans Powwow
held at the Uyxat Powwow
Grounds. The Tribe wrapped
the men in traditional blan-
kets and presented them with
Native American Medals of
Valor. Navajo code is con-
sidered the most successful
military code ever invented and remained unbroken by the Japanese
throughout World War II.
2008 – Construction on Grand Ronde Road was set to begin in
August and included widening the road to add bicycle lanes and side-
walks on the east side of the Yamhill River bridge to allow for safe
pedestrian travel. Roadside ditches were to be replaced with storm
sewers to make room for the roadway widening.
The sanitary sewer and water lines also were scheduled for up-
grades. “There’s an awful lot of very serious drainage problems that
we’re trying to resolve,” Tribal Engineer Eric Scott said. “We are
proposing to discharge the storm water to historic and underutilized
drainages. We know there’s an impact and we’re doing everything
we can to mitigate it.”
2003 – The fi rst phase in a longtime Tribal plan to provide quality,
affordable housing for its members was offi cially enacted with the
dedication of a new 36-unit Tribal housing development. Its name
“Chxi Musam Illihi” means “a sleeping place” in Chinuk Wawa. “I
think that we fi nally achieved a goal that we set many years ago
about building nice housing for Tribal members,” Grand Ronde Tribal
Housing Authority Chair Tim Holmes said. More than 100 Tribal
members applied for the 36 available homes.
1998 – The Tribe hosted community meetings for urban Tribal
members in Portland, Salem and Eugene. The meetings were the
fi rst three of fi ve scheduled that summer to solicit member input on
community needs, program spending and other uses of Tribal funds.
Overall, members from Oregon’s three most populous cities showed
“broad support” for long-term fi nancial planning while favoring en-
hanced program services as the No. 1 Tribal need.
1993 – The Nanitch Sahallie employee of the month was Intake
Service Counselor Karen Schmid. She was a member of the Choc-
taw/Apache Tribe and grew up in Portland. After graduating from
Northwest Indian College in Bellingham, Wash., she also received
additional certifi cations in her fi eld. “I feel it is a privilege to work
here,” she said. “My job is worthwhile if I can see I’ve made a differ-
ence in one person’s life. I want to help make Native people stronger.”
1988 – The class of 1988 was featured and included Tribal members
Steve Bobb Jr., Jeffery J. Brickell, Mike Colton, Mychal Childers,
Darren Houck, Chris Leno, Joey Larsen, LaDonna Norwest and Gina
Valera. Childers said that her mother, Candy Robertson, helped her
realize her dream of wanting to pursue a career in interior decorat-
ing. She said her hobbies included “everything,” but she especially
enjoyed running and exercising.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in fi ve-year in-
crements through the pages of Smoke Signals.
Community Health Program
Medical Transport
Services
Medical transportation
services are available to
Tribal members within
the six-county service
area when an alternate
means of transportation
is not available. Advance
notice required.
Please call 503-879-2078
to schedule a reservation.
for Elders a reality.
Tribal voters voted “no” last year
on all three parts of an enrollment
requirements question. Removing
the requirement that an applicant
be born to a parent who was a Trib-
al member at the time of the appli-
cant’s birth was opposed 683-541;
removing the requirement that the
applicant be born to a parent who
was a Tribal member at the time
the enrollment application is fi led
was opposed 705-493; and return-
ing to the pre-1999 amendment
blood quantum requirements was
opposed 654-574.
A three-part question about the
Tribe possibly entering the mari-
juana business received a “yes” vote
twice. Tribal voters favored the
Tribe getting involved in the med-
ical marijuana business (818-445)
and hemp production (761-467), but
narrowly voted against becoming
involved in the recreational mari-
juana business (632-601).
The fi rst educational meeting to
discuss this year’s advisory votes
was held at Wednesday, July 11,
following the Tribal Council meet-
ing.
About 30 Tribal members at-
tended the meeting, which started
at about 7 p.m., and they dined on
sandwiches and watched an infor-
mational video created by Deputy
Press Secretary Sara Thompson.
The video told the story of Travis
Wilson, son of Natural Resources
Department Manager Michael Wil-
son and his wife, Denise. Travis is
not a Tribal member while his three
siblings are Tribal members. Same
parents. Same blood quantum. Dif-
ferent enrollment results because
of the 1999 amendment.
An information sheet distributed
during the meeting discussed the
three advisory vote questions.
Regarding the enrollment ques-
tion, the sheet said: “The Tribe’s
constitutional enrollment require-
ments were amended in 1999 and
2008. Since then, constitutional
amendments to enrollment require-
ments have not received suffi cient
votes to pass. Advisory votes on en-
rollment requirements continue to
be suggested at each of the commu-
nity meetings. The most common
concern raised at the community
meetings is repairing split families
where some siblings are enrolled
while other siblings are not due to
the 1999 amendment.
“One of the reasons for this
split is based on whether children
were born before or after the 1999
amendment. Children born and
enrolled before the amendment
qualified under the original re-
quirements, but their brothers and
sisters born after the 1999 amend-
ment do not qualify under the new
requirements. This split in families
may be corrected by applying the
pre-1999 amendment enrollment
To hear Tribal Council Chief of
Staff Stacia Hernandez discuss
this year’s advisory votes, go to
www.spreaker.com and search
for “Smoke Signals podcasts.”
requirements to applicants with
siblings who were enrolled prior to
the 1999 amendment. This advi-
sory vote is presented to see if the
membership would like to fi x the
split family issue by amending the
constitutional enrollment require-
ments.”
Regarding casino amenities, the
sheet said: “Over the last several
years, Tribal members have advo-
cated for additional amenities at
Spirit Mountain Casino, including,
but not limited to, a full-service
RV park, spa, pool, salon, bowling
alley, cinema and shopping center.
This advisory vote is presented to
see if the membership would like
staff to research additional ame-
nities at Spirit Mountain Casino.”
And regarding more fi nancial as-
sistance, the sheet stated: “Over the
last several years, Tribal members
have requested an expansion of
programs and services that qual-
ify for funding assistance. More
specifi cally, educational programs
and trainings that are not covered
by existing programs, including,
but not limited to, additional trade
school funding, tutoring expenses
and private school tuitions. This
advisory vote is presented to see
if the membership would like staff
to explore program and service
expansion within the Education
Department.”
Tribal members were asked for
advisory vote topics after General
Council meetings held in Portland,
Eugene and Grand Ronde earlier
this year. Tribal Council then met
to review all of the suggestions
and eventually selected those that
“seemed especially pressing and
could be dealt with in the coming
year.”
Additional advisory vote informa-
tional meetings are scheduled for:
• 6 p.m. Thursday, July 26, at
Portland State University’s Native
American Student and Community
Center, Room 170., 710 S.W. Jack-
son St.;
• 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, at the
Lane Community College Long-
house in the Great Room, 4000 E.
30th Ave., Eugene;
•
6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug.22,
at the Tribal Community Center,
9165 Grand Ronde Road, Grand
Ronde.n