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FEBRUARY 15, 2019
S moke S ignals
Smoke Signals debuts new website
Smoke Signals staff
In its continuing evolution as an
independent Tribal newspaper,
Smoke Signals unveiled its own
website on Monday, Feb. 4, at www.
smokesignals.org.
The newspaper website is now
independent of, but still linked to,
the main Tribal website at www.
grandronde.org.
The Grand Ronde Editorial Board
and Smoke Signals staff have been
working with the Portland firm
Subtext to create the new website
since the summer of 2018. All
Smoke Signals stories since 2011
appear on the new website and the
site is still linked to the governmen-
tal website, as well as the archives
that store PDFs of Smoke Signals
dating back to the 1980s.
“I think Smoke Signals readers
will find the new website design
cleaner, easier to navigate and
much more visually pleasing than
the Smoke Signals section on the
governmental website,” said Edi-
tor Dean Rhodes. “Plus, there are
now easy links to our podcasts on
Spreaker, as well as to our social
media accounts on Twitter, Face-
book, YouTube and Instagram.”
The Editorial Board authorized
purchasing the smokesignals.org
url for 10 years last summer and
the new Smoke Signals website,
although hosted on Tribal servers,
creates an added layer of indepen-
dence between the Tribal newspa-
per and Tribal elected officials.
Smoke Signals became an in-
To hear Editor Dean
Rhodes discuss the new
Smoke Signals website,
visit www.spreaker.com
and search for “Smoke
Signals podcasts.”
dependent Tribal newspaper in
January 2017 after passage of the
Independent Tribal Press Ordinance
in December 2016. The ordinance
established a free and independent
press to ensure the Tribal publica-
tion has the independence to report
objectively on Grand Ronde news
without interference from Tribal
administration or elected officials.
“I also think that readers will
like the use of Chinuk Wawa on
the website,” Rhodes said. “The
name of the newspaper there is
smok signflz. The one drawback,
however, is that people interested
in independently reported news
on the Tribe will now have to go
to the new website and not www.
grandronde.org. We will no longer
be posting our material to that
website.” 
Milestones in Smoke Signals’ history
Early 1979: Grand Ronde Tribe starts publishing Smoke Signals as
an 8½-by-11-inch mimeographed newsletter.
April 1987: Smoke Signals is printed on newsprint for the first time.
February 1995: Smoke Signals starts publishing twice a month.
February 2001: Smoke Signals joins the World Wide Web at www.
grandronde.org.
January 2017: Smoke Signals officially becomes an independent
Tribal press following the December 2016 passage of the Independent
Tribal Press Ordinance.
June 2017: The five-member Grand Ronde Editorial Board meets
for the first time and lifts the unwritten prohibition against running paid
political ads.
December 2017: Smoke Signals posts its first podcast on Spreaker.
com.
May 2018: Smoke Signals starts its own Facebook page.
December 2018: Smoke Signals starts social media accounts on
Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
Feb. 4, 2019: Smokesignals.org launches, creating an independent
news site for Grand Ronde members to visit.
Ad created by George Valdez