S moke S ignals
AUGUST 1, 2018
5
Tribal Council approves agreement
with Oregon Health Authority
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
2013 – After a decadelong effort by Oregon Tribes, the state
Department of Education was advertising for an Indian education
specialist. “This was one of our priorities for this session, getting
positions of equity for all Oregon students,” said Cindy Hunt, Gov-
ernment and Legal Affairs manager for the Department of Educa-
tion. She helped shepherd the new position through the Legislature.
2008 – Tribal member Francene
Ambrose, 28, was the recipient of
the Tribe’s 2008-09 Mark O. Hat-
field Fellowship. She was selected
to work in the Washington office
of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden from
November 2008 through July 2009.
“I’ll be there for the election and the
inauguration,” Ambrose said. “I will
have a front row seat. This is the one
thing I’ve been very excited about.”
Ambrose lived in Portland and was
finishing her master’s degree in
Public Administration, focusing on
Tribal governance, at The Evergreen
State College in Olympia, Wash. 2008
File photo
She attended the University of
Washington in Seattle as an undergraduate and earned a degree
from Portland State University.
2003 – The Tribe’s annual Elder Honor Day attracted almost
250 Elders from across the state and the West Coast to the Tribal
gymnasium. The day included the traditional array of introductions,
a prayer before lunch, an hour of bingo, a break for the hot part of
the day, and then a barbecue and dance music. The next morning,
breakfast was served at the Community Center.
1998 – Tribal member Jon A. George was hired as a vocational
rehabilitation specialist, working for the Tribe’s Health and Human
Services Division. He worked out of both the Portland and Grand
Ronde offices. George noted that since he was hired the month be-
fore, his Portland caseload had jumped from two to six clients, who
learned about him through Smoke Signals and he expected to hear
from more. “It’s shocking to realize how many people didn’t even
know the Portland outreach office existed.”
1993 – Tribal Council joined Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts in
signing Senate Bill 61 in her office at the state Capitol in Salem.
The bill ensured the protection of Tribal burial sites, remains, sacred
objects and funerary objects on state and private lands. It also gave
Tribes control over the exploration of archeological sites by allowing
them to issue permits to interested parties. The bill signing included
representatives from most Oregon Tribes. Tribal Council Vice Chair
Kathryn Harrison was given the signing pen.
1988 – The Grand Ronde and Siletz Tribes joined efforts to es-
tablish a youth alcohol residential treatment center for the region.
As a part of the project, the Tribes were reviewing the feasibility of
purchasing a facility in Keizer, which was owned by Turnaround
Treatment Center and could house 44 patients. The treatment
center would provide for Indian youth needing treatment in Ore-
gon, Washington and Idaho. Youth treatment services were being
handled by Red Willow Treatment Center in Gervais. However, its
contract with Indian Health Service was set to expire on Oct. 1.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-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.
Tribal Council approved an agree-
ment with the Oregon Health Au-
thority on Wednesday, July 25, that
will bring the Tribe a contractual
maximum of $10 million in addi-
tional health care funding.
However, Health Services Ex-
ecutive Director Kelly Rowe said
during the Tuesday, July 24, Leg-
islative Action Committee meeting
that the Tribe will more likely
receive approximately $100,000 to
$200,000 in additional funds.
The agreement affects Native
patients on the Oregon Health
Plan whose health care is managed
by the Tribe’s Health & Wellness
Center.
The additional “enhanced federal
funding” – known as the federal
medical assistance percentage – de-
rives from the federal government
paying 60 percent of costs for people
on the Oregon Health Plan, but
100 percent for Native Americans
who are enrolled in the Oregon
Health Plan and receive health care
through an Indian Health Service
or Tribal medical facility. The extra
40 percent will now be paid back to
the Grand Ronde Tribe.
“It’s a huge advantage to get that
money back into our system instead
of in the state system,” Rowe said.
The contract calls for the state to
make the reinvestment savings pay-
ments four times a year. The state
will retain 10 percent of the pay-
ments to cover administrative costs.
Rowe said the contract is a stand-
alone agreement and the other
eight federally recognized Tribes
in Oregon are working on their own
contracts with the Oregon Health
Authority.
The agreement runs through
2023.
In other action, Tribal Council
also approved the 2018 Right of
Way logging unit contract as pre-
sented by the Natural Resources
Department. The project will earn
the Tribe approximately $35,650.
Also included in the July 25 Trib-
al Council packet were approved
authorizations to proceed that
recommend the Tribe sign a consor-
tium agreement with the Universi-
ty of Oregon College of Education in
support of its application for federal
funding for the Sapsik’wala Indi-
an Teachers program, as well as
approved letters to the Oregon De-
partment of Environmental Quality
and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
regarding the Jordan Cove project
proposed in southern Oregon.
Tribal Elder Debi Anderson and
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George gave the cultural presenta-
tion, discussing the positive effects
of Canoe Journey on Tribal youth
and the three Tribal canoes that
traveled through Grand Ronde ced-
ed lands on the Columbia River on
their way to Puyallup, Wash.
The entire meeting can be viewed
by visiting the Tribal website at
www.grandronde.org and clicking
on the News tab and then Video.
Sewing class participants wanted
The sewing classes that have been held at the Elders Activity Center have
been canceled due to lack of participation. Classes could resume if at least
six people commit to attending. To commit or find out more information,
contact Elders Activity Assistant Virginia Kimsey-Roof at 503-879-2233.