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S moke S ignals
MARCH 1, 2019
Smoke Signals
PUBLICATIONS OFFICE
9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347
1-800-422-0232, FAX: 503-879-2173
Website: www.smokesignals.org
E-mails: news@grandronde.org
Editorial.Board@grandronde.org
Healing Our Tribal Families
The 1953 Western Oregon Termination Act robbed the Grand Ronde
Tribe of its federal recognition and its status as a Tribe. In the eyes of the
government, we were left a scattered people without our social, economic
and political structure and without a recognized identity. To them, we
were no longer Native American.
Since our Restoration in 1983, the Tribe has worked diligently to rebuild
who we are as a Tribe, a government and a people. Today, we pride our-
selves on taking care of our Tribal members and our community. However,
some of our brothers and sisters remain living under the dark cloud of
Grand Ronde’s Termination — a fate that is the direct result of the 1999
constitutional amendment and not an act of Congress.
The 1999 constitutional amendment made important changes to our
enrollment requirements that were designed to slow the number of indi-
viduals enrolling in Grand Ronde. These changes resulted in a different
enrollment status among siblings who were born to the same parents. It
denied enrollment to some individuals in our Tribal families and created
split families within our Tribal community.
In their denial of enrollment comes the denial of the same services, pro-
grams and cultural identity provided to their parents and their brothers or
sisters. Services such as health care, education, employment services and
all of those other benefits that are provided to their family members are
denied to them. They have continued to live under the cloud of Termination
because in 1999 we told them that they did not belong.
The split family issue is one that all of us on Tribal Council would like to
address, but is out of our control. Therefore, we have put a constitutional
amendment before the membership that we believe will lessen the number
of split families. The constitutional amendment before the membership
will lessen the number of split families in our Tribe by allowing the en-
rollment of applicants who have enrolled brothers or sisters by the same
Tribal parent(s), and who meet the pre-1999 constitutional enrollment
requirements. This constitutional amendment will not change the defini-
tion of Grand Ronde blood.
For Tribal Council, the split family issue is about fairness and every one
of us supports passing this constitutional amendment. We recognize that
all of our enrollment issues will not be addressed by this constitutional
amendment, but history has taught us that taking on all of our enrollment
challenges at once only complicates the matter.
We believe that passing this constitutional amendment is an important
first step in closing the divide in our community. That is why we are voting
yes on this constitutional amendment — to help heal our split families.
We hope that you will do the same. It is up to the Tribal membership to
make these families whole again.
— The Grand Ronde Tribal Council
General Council meeting
11 a.m. Sunday, March 3
Tribal Community Center
NOTICE — Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings
DATE
TIME
Wednesday, March 6...........................................................................4 p.m.
Wednesday, March 20.........................................................................5 p.m.
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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
503-879-2190
DEADLINE DATE
JENNIFER CLARK
SOCIAL MEDIA/
DIGITAL JOURNALIST
503-879-1461
jennifer.clark@grandronde.org
ISSUE DATE
Tuesday, March 5 ..................... March 15
Wednesday, March 20 .................. April 1
Friday, April 5 ........................... April 15
Friday, April 19 ............................ May 1
Monday, May 6 .......................... May 15
Monday, May 20 ..........................June 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
Adult Members’ Trust and Minors’
Custodial & Rabbi Trust Funds
Investments in the Adult Members’ Trust Fund and the Minors’
Custodial and Rabbi Trust Funds are updated each business day.
If you are a trust participant and/or if you are the parent/guardian
of a minor member, you can access and review your balance and your
minor child’s balance by visiting www.401Save.com.
To log-in, the initial User ID is your (or your child’s) Social Security
number, and the initial Password is “00” followed by your (or your
child’s) membership number. Once logged in, you can customize your
User ID and password for security purposes. If you have any trouble
logging in to or using the system, contact the 401Save Call Center
at 1-888-700-0808 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time, Monday
through Friday.
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