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Employees honored for
years of service — pg. 11
OCTOBER 1, 2018
Coffee, culture & acorns
Medford event
commemorates
treaty signing; Tribal
encampment highlights
traditional activities
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
M
EDFORD — As Grand
Ronde Tribal Council
Chairwoman Cheryle A.
Kennedy drove south on Interstate
5 toward the Table Rocks area
north of Medford, she thought
about her grandmother.
“Her father was a treaty signer
here,” she said. “As I was coming
here, I was thinking of the chang-
es (to the landscape) since that
time and am thankful we have an
agreement in place.”
Kennedy’s remarks kicked off
the seventh annual Coffee &
Conversation event held in southern Oregon
on Friday, Sept. 21, to commemorate the
1853 treaty signing at Table Rocks and the
September 2011 signing of a memorandum
of understanding with the Bureau of Land
Management and The Nature Conservancy
to manage the Table Rocks area north of
Medford.
“I hope our joint efforts are helping turn
the dial to a better place,” Kennedy said in
a conference room of the Courtyard Marriott
Hotel adjacent to Medford’s airport. “From
the smallest insects to the birds and wildlife
See COFFEE
continued on page 8
Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy addresses the annual Coffee & Conversation
meeting held in Medford, Ore., on Friday, Sept. 21. The event celebrates the anniversary of the
signing of the 1853 treaty at Table
Rocks, as well as the memorandum
of understanding with the Bureau of
Land Management and The Nature
Conservancy.
Acorns are collected for acorn soup
during cultural activities held at
TouVelle State
Recreation
Site in Central
Point on Friday
Sept. 21.
Photos by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Comfort animals not allowed
at Health & Wellness Center
Tribal members now a majority of
employees at Governance Center
By Dean Rhodes
By Danielle Frost
Smoke Signals staff writer
G
rand Ronde campus build-
ings have long had a “no
pets” policy. However,
with the recent increase in use of
companion and comfort animals
by people, the Tribal Health &
Wellness Center is clarifying with
patients what kind of animals are
allowed.
“The clinic has had quite a few
people come in with their dogs
because it was hot outside or
because the animals provided
comfort during
a medical pro-
cedure,” Health
Services Exec-
utive Director
Kelly Rowe says.
“One time we
had a dog sitting
Kelly Rowe
on the couch in
the waiting area whose owner
said it was a comfort animal. Due
to the extensive cleaning required
See ANIMALS
continued on page 9
Smoke Signals editor
I
f you’re talking to an employ-
ee of the Grand Ronde Tribal
government, your odds for the
first time in 10 years are better
than 50-50 that the employee also
is a Tribal member.
General Manager David Fuller-
ton released employment statis-
tics during the Wednesday, Aug.
22, Tribal Council meeting that
revealed that Tribal members are
now the majority of governmental
employees.
Of the 470 employees as of June
14, 254 were Tribal members and
216 were not for a 54 percent to 46
percent split.
In 2013, 46 percent of the Tribal
government’s 316 employees were
Tribal members and in 2008 only
45 percent of the 328 employees
were Tribal members.
The reasons for the almost dou-
ble-digit increase over the last five
years in Tribal member employees
are numerous, including Tribal
members getting more education
See EMPLOYEES
continued on page 6