2
S moke S ignals
JANUARY 15, 2019
General Council meeting
11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 3
Smoke Signals
Monarch Hotel & Conference Center
12566 S.E. 93rd Ave., Clackamas
PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
The Natural Resources Department will be
distributing fish. Must be present and show
Tribal ID. For more information, call 503-879-2192.
1-800-422-0232, FAX: 503-879-2173
9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347
Website: www.grandronde.org/news
E-mails: news@grandronde.org
Editorial.Board@grandronde.org
NOTICE — Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings
DATE
TIME
Wednesday, Jan. 23.............................................................................4 p.m.
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www.facebook.com/SmokeSignalsCTGR/
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Please note that these times and dates are subject to change if needed.
Constitutional amendment
election could be affected
SHUTDOWN continued
from front page
Tribal Council Chief of Staff
Stacia Hernandez noted that the
Grand Ronde Tribe runs its budget
on a calendar year, which begins
Jan. 1, while the federal govern-
ment uses the fiscal year, which
begins Oct. 1.
“We won’t see any immediate
impacts,” she said. “We are moni-
toring it closely and unless it goes
on for more than a few weeks (lon-
ger), we won’t need to worry about
anything.”
“The Tribe is able to fund many
of our services,” said Tribal Council
Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy
during the Sunday, Jan. 6, General
Council meeting.
Nationwide, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs currently has 2,455 fur-
loughed employees, approximately
one-third of its labor force.
Additionally, 54 percent of fund-
ing for the Indian Health Service,
which offers health care to more
than 2 million Native Americans
and Alaskan Natives, and is nor-
mally distributed through Tribal
governments, has been halted
during the shutdown.
Although Grand Ronde has yet to
feel the effects, what could become
an issue if the shutdown continues
is the date of the Tribe’s constitu-
tional amendment election. The
election is currently scheduled for
Feb. 25, when the membership will
vote on whether nonTribal siblings
who have brothers and sisters en-
rolled in the Tribe and have the
same parents, and who meet the
membership requirements under
the Tribal Constitution before Sept.
14, 1999, should be allowed to en-
roll to resolve the split-sibling issue
affecting some Tribal families.
If non-essential federal employ-
ees remain on furlough for an
extended period of time, then the
BIA-run election would have to be
moved to a different date.
Regional effects
Even eastern Oregon Tribes such
as the Umatilla, which was never
terminated and has more of a tra-
ditional trust relationship with
the U.S. government, only receive
23 percent of its funding from the
federal government.
This means despite the fact that
regional BIA offices have been
shuttered since Dec. 21, Tribal
operations are continuing to run
smoothly.
“We do retroactive budgeting only
with monies accounted for in the
previous year,” Communications
Director Chuck Sams said. “We will
be fine for up to 90 days until we
need to look at using other funds.”
During the last economic down-
town, when national unemploy-
ment rates peaked at 10 percent
in October 2009, Sams said no
employees were laid off, in large
part due to retroactive budgeting.
“We are very fortunate to be able
to do that,” he said.
Tribal Office Closures
Tribal offices will be closed on Monday, Jan. 21, in observance of
Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Letters welcome
Letters should be exclusive to Smoke Signals.
Letters should be 400 words or less and must include the writer’s name, address, phone
number and Tribal roll number. You will be contacted to confirm authorship.
All letters are subject to editing for space, grammar and, on occasion, factual accuracy.
Only two letters per writer are allowed during a three-month period.
Letters written in response to other letter writers should address the issue at hand
and, rather than mentioning the other writer by name, should refer to the date of the
letter published. Discourse should be civil and people should be referred to in a respectful
manner. Letters deemed in poor taste will not be printed.
Send letters via e-mail to news@grandronde.org, or submit in person at the Tribal
Governance Center in Grand Ronde, Ore., or mail to Smoke Signals, 9615 Grand Ronde
Road, Grand Ronde, OR, 97347.
DEAN RHODES
CHELSEA BARANKSI
DANIELLE FROST
PUBLICATIONS
COORDINATOR
PUBLIC AFFAIRS/PUBLICATIONS
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
STAFF WRITER
503-879-1418
danielle.frost@grandronde.org
503-879-1463
503-879-4663
chelsea.clark@grandronde.org
dean.rhodes@grandronde.org
TIMOTHY J.
GONZALEZ
GEORGE VALDEZ
JUSTIN PHILLIPS
PAGE DESIGNER
PHOTOJOURNALIST
GRAPHIC DESIGN
SPECIALIST
503-879-1961
503-879-1416
justin.phillips@grandronde.org
timothy.gonzalez@grandronde.org
george.valdez@grandronde.org
JENNIFER CLARK
SOCIAL MEDIA/
DIGITAL JOURNALIST
503-879-1461
503-879-2190
DEADLINE DATE
ISSUE DATE
Friday, Jan. 18 .............................. Feb. 1
Tuesday, Feb. 5 ........................... Feb. 15
jennifer.clark@grandronde.org
Wednesday, Feb. 20 ................... March 1
Tuesday, March 5 ..................... March 15
Wednesday, March 20 .................. April 1
Editorial Policy
SMOKE SIGNALS, a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Commu-
nity of Oregon, is published twice a month. No portion of this publication may be reprinted
without permission.
Our editorial policy is intended to encourage input from Tribal members and readers
about stories printed in the Tribal newspaper. However, all letters received must be
signed by the author, an address must be given and a phone number or e-mail address
must be included for verification purposes. Full addresses and phone numbers will not
be published unless requested. Letters must be 400 words or less.
SMOKE SIGNALS reserves the right to edit letters and to refuse letters that are determined
to contain libelous statements or personal attacks on individuals, staff, Tribal administration
or Tribal Council. Not all letters are guaranteed publication upon submission. Letters to the
editor are the opinions and views of the writer. Published letters do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of SMOKE SIGNALS.
Members of: Native American Journalists Association
Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association
2019
Tribal Council
1-800-422-0232 — tribalcouncil@grandronde.org
Cheryle A. Kennedy
Tribal Council Chairwoman
— ext. 2352
Jack Giffen Jr.
— ext. 2300
jack.giffen@grandronde.org
cheryle.kennedy@grandronde.org
Chris Mercier
Tribal Council Vice Chair
— ext. 1444
Denise Harvey
— ext. 2353
denise.harvey@grandronde.org
chris.mercier@grandronde.org
Michael Langley
— ext. 1777
Jon A. George
Tribal Council Secretary
— ext. 2355
michael.langley@grandronde.org
jon.george@grandronde.org
Lisa Leno
— ext. 1770
lisaleno@grandronde.org
Kathleen George
— ext. 2305
kathleen.george@grandronde.org
Steve Bobb Sr.
— ext. 4555
steve.bobb@grandronde.org