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APRIL 1, 2020
Police Department has
non-emergency text line
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has created a non-emer-
gency text line at 541-921-2927.
“Even though this is mostly designed for children, I don’t want
adults thinking that they can’t use it as well. If you have a non-emer-
gency situation or question, feel free to contact my officer via text
through this line,” said Grand Ronde Tribal Police Chief Jake McK-
night. “When one of my officers receives the text, they will call you
back when they have time.”
McKnight said that emergency situations still require calling 911.
For more information, contact McKnight at 503-879-1474. 
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez
A maintenance worker loads up a piece of equipment outside of the
shuttered Spirit Mountain Casino on Friday, March 20. The casino closed on
Thursday, March 19, and preliminary estimates project having the casino and
its approximately 1,100 employees being idle through Thursday, April 9.
‘We pride ourselves as
being a caring community’
Tribe receives $35,500 state grant
to help fund COVID-19 response
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Oregon Health Authority an-
nounced on Sunday, March 22, that
the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde will receive $35,500 to help
fund its response to the virus.
The funds are part of $4 million
being distributed to local public
health authorities and Tribes.
The funds can be used to support
reporting, monitoring and con-
trolling of COVID-19 in commu-
nities, identifying and screening
of contacts to COVID-19 positive
patients and education, prevention
and related communications activ-
ities to share information with the
public and community partners.
“We believe that those funds will
have a significant positive impact
on our state’s capacity to perform
COVID-19 response functions at
the local level,” said Oregon Health
Authority Director Patrick Allen.
“Honoring the government-to-gov-
ernment relationship is important
in our coordinated response to
COVID-19,” said Julie Johnson,
director of Tribal Affairs at the Or-
egon Health Authority. “We are ap-
preciative of this funding to provide
support at the local level. We know
everyone is working extremely hard
to protect all of our communities
across the state.”
Other Tribes receiving the same
amount of funding are the Warm
Springs, Burns Paiute, Siletz,
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw,
Klamath, Coquille and Cow Creek.
The Umatilla Tribe, which reported
a positive coronavirus case at its
casino, will receive $40,500.
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy, however, said
the state funds will be spent rapidly
and that the federal government is
not fulfilling its trustee role with
Native American Tribes.
“I’ve participated on calls to the
White House. They are our trustee,”
Kennedy said during an interview
with KLCC radio. “There have been
appropriations identified for Tribes,
yet we have not received a dollar yet.
And I’m not saying that we won’t.
Every Tribe has a federal ID num-
ber. There’s the mechanism. Cut
the red tape, get the funds out now.”
Kennedy said the Tribal Health
Clinic has a lab that would be used
to help screen and test potential
cases among its Tribal members.
“If there’s something Native
people know all too well, it’s what
epidemics have done to us in the
past,” she said.
At this time, the Tribal govern-
ment remains operative with a
minimum of staff reporting to work
at the Governance Center in Grand
Ronde. Tribal members needing
information and assistance are en-
couraged to call or e-mail; walk-ins
are strongly discouraged. 
Health Clinic receives
help during crisis
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
CLOSURE continued
from front page
Preliminary estimates projected
having the casino and its approxi-
mately 1,100 employees being idle
beginning at midnight Thursday,
March 19, through Thursday, April
9.
The closing of Spirit Mountain
Casino followed a Monday, March
16, announcement by the Cowlitz
Tribe that it was closing its Ridge-
field, Wash., casino, Ilani, through
the end of March. The Cowlitz
announced that they would comply
with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s
order shutting down restaurants,
bars and entertainment venues.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown an-
nounced similar restaurant and
bar restrictions during a press
conference held Monday, March
16, in Portland. When asked about
the state’s Tribal casinos, she said
that she did not have the authority
to close them because they are op-
erated by sovereign nations.
“I would ask that our Tribal
leadership of our nine federally
recognized Tribes be working with
their local health authorities in
making the appropriate decisions
to protect the health and safety of
Oregonians,” Brown said.
“We pride ourselves as being a
caring community that views every
individual that walks through our
doors as a member of the Grand
Ronde family,” Dillon said. “The
casino staff has done an outstand-
ing job protecting everyone through
preventive measures, but the con-
tinued growth of COVID-19 in
Oregon has made this closure
necessary.”
“These unprecedented times call
for unprecedented measures and
we all have to do our part to stop
the spread of COVID-19,” Kennedy
said.
Spirit Mountain Casino opened
in October 1995 and has been the
primary funding source for Trib-
al governmental operations and
myriad benefits to Tribal mem-
bers, including health care, Elders’
pensions, per capita payments and
educational funding. It also was
Oregon’s No. 1 tourist destination
for a time and became one of the
largest employers in Yamhill and
Polk counties.
Tribal Council authorized an
additional 120 hours – three weeks
– of paid time off for all casino and
government employees. For casino
employees, the Tribe is paying their
standard rate with additional con-
sideration for tips.
The Siletz Tribe, which operates
Chinook Winds Casino in Lincoln
City, also closed down their gaming
facility. 
7
The Grand Ronde Health &
Wellness Center and its employ-
ees are on the frontlines in the
effort to protect the Tribe and
Grand Ronde community from
COVID-19, the novel coronavi-
rus.
And when they’ve asked for
help over the last couple of weeks,
they have received it.
Initially, Lab Manager Teresa
Larson asked Tribal employees
on Thursday, March 19, if they
had any Styrofoam coolers to do-
nate so the lab could send patient
samples to the State Health Lab.
By Tuesday, March 24, the Lab
was well-stocked and no longer in
need of more donations, she said.
Larson said 15 coolers were
donated and another 16 were or-
dered by the Tribe to fill the need.
In addition, the Yellowhawk
Tribal Health Center at the
Confederated Tribes of Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation out-
side of Pendleton donated 260
N95 masks to the Grand Ronde
Health & Wellness Center.
“Our Oregon Health Authority
liaison, Carey Palm, has been
keeping close contact with the
nine Oregon Tribes,” said Emer-
gency Operations Coordinator
Steve Warden. “When Carey
received word we were in need of
N95 masks, she reached out and
was able to arrange availability
of 260 N95s from Yellowhawk
Health Center.”
Warden picked them up on
Friday, March 20, from Umatilla
Fire Captain Tony Cooke and
delivered the masks to Grand
Ronde.
N95 masks are used to protect
the wearer from airborne parti-
cles and from liquid contaminat-
ing the face.
“Our Emergency Services Pro-
gram is part of a coalition of the
nine Oregon Tribal Emergency
Management Programs,” War-
den said. “The coalition gives one
more resource when a disaster or
emergency strikes other Tribes.
I think it’s great the way we all
work together to support our
communities.”
Warden added that the Siletz
Tribe also provided Grand Ronde
with approximately 100 N95
masks as a result of the same
outreach. 