sNok signflz
SEPTEMBER 15, 2020
Tribal Council votes to add 23
names to Restoration Roll
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Grand Ronde Tribe’s effort
to ensure that all Tribal members
who should have been on the Resto-
ration Roll are eventually placed on
the historically important list con-
tinued as Tribal Council approved
adding 23 more names to it during
its Wednesday, Sept. 2, meeting.
The addition of 23 more names
brings the total for this year to 78
additions to the Restoration Roll.
In 2019, Tribal Council added 204
Tribal members to the roll.
The Restoration Roll was the first
roll compiled of Grand Ronde Tribal
members after Nov. 22, 1983. How-
ever, because the membership had
become so dispersed during the 29
years of Termination, all those who
should have been included could
not be identified at the time or were
unaware that they should have had
their names on the roll.
The current process, which re-
quires Tribal members apply for
addition to the Restoration Roll,
allows a Tribal member who was
living on Aug. 13, 1954, and born
to a member of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde to be added.
In November 2018, Tribal Coun-
cil approved a resolution that es-
tablished criteria for consistently
applying the phrase “entitled to be
on the membership roll of the Tribe
on Aug. 13, 1954” as meaning that
the person was entitled to be on the
roll if that person was alive on that
date and born to a Tribal member.
The 23 names now move forward
to the Department of the Interior
for approval.
Tribal Council also approved the
agenda for the Sunday, Sept.13,
General Council meeting that was
held remotely using Zoom. Spirit
Mountain Casino General Manager
Stan Dillon delivered his annual
report in executive session.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Approved a $209,223 contract
with Scholten Construction of
Willamina to expand the arbor at
uyxat Powwow Grounds off Hebo
Road. Tribal Council member
Kathleen George said during the
Tuesday, Sept. 1, Legislative Ac-
tion Committee hearing that the
expansion of the dancing circle is
the first phase of a larger project
to make the powwow grounds
big enough to accommodate the
crowds that participate during
the August Contest Powwow;
• Approved an emergency amend-
ment to the Tribal Housing Or-
dinance that will allow the Tribe
to use a Housing & Urban Devel-
opment program to expedite the
foreclosure process for homes in
Grand Meadows should a tenant
be in default of their lease at the
36-lot manufactured home subdi-
vision;
• Approved the Sawtooth timber
harvest as presented by the Natu-
ral Resources Department that is
projected to net the Tribe approx-
imately $302,000 after expenses
and fees;
• And approved the enrollment of
one infant into the Tribe because
he or she meets the requirements
outlined in the Tribal Constitu-
tion and Enrollment Ordinance.
Also included in the Sept. 2 Tribal
Council packet were approved au-
thorizations to proceed that:
• Allows Health Services Executive
Director Kelly Rowe to petition
the Indian Health Service to ex-
pand the Tribe’s Contract Health
Service Delivery Area to include
Clackamas County, which is
home to 170 enrolled Tribal mem-
bers;
• Allows the hiring of a temporary
position within the Grand Ronde
Tribal Police Department that
will be dedicated to patrolling
Tribal lands;
• Hires Reece and Associates of
Albany for engineering, design
and construction services on the
home ownership project;
• And approves the hiring of 11 Ed-
ucation Department staff mem-
bers and funding the positions
with CARES Act monies through
the end of the year.
To watch the entire meeting, visit
the Tribal government’s website at
www.grandronde.org and click on
the Government tab and Videos.
cultural
education
A re you missing out on what Cultural
Education has to offer? Follow us on Facebook
to get detailed class information, photos from
events, and updates.
Plus, check out the tribal calendar for a quick
glance of upcoming events and classes.
Open to Tribal and Community members.
Join us!
Search Facebook for Grand Ronde Cultrual Education
Tribal Calendar // www.grandronde.org/tribal-calendar
5
Tribal Council OKs three fall
rounds of virus relief payments
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Adult Tribal members will see
another series of three virus relief
payments totaling $1,800 from
September through November.
Because of extreme fire danger
in western Oregon that closed
the Tribal Government Center
for five consecutive days, Tribal
Council met virtually and ap-
proved a fourth supplemental
budget on Wednesday, Sept. 9,
that will allocate $7.5 million
that the Tribe received in federal
funding to pay for the virus relief
payments.
The approximately 4,500 adult
Tribal members will receive $600
each month.
The funding comes from the
Tribe’s share of Coronavirus Aid,
Relief and Economic Security Act
monies. Although the Tribe has
not disclosed exactly how much it
has received in CARES Act fund-
ing, a Harvard study estimated
the amount is approximately
$33 million based on the U.S.
Treasury’s public formula for
determining allocations to Tribes.
Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris
Mercier announced the exten-
sion of the Tribe’s COVID-19
Payment Relief Program during
the Wednesday, Aug. 19, Tribal
Council meeting. Using CARES
Act funding, the Tribe will have
dispersed $4,400 in relief funding
to adult Tribal members since
March, which is $250 less than
all of the per capita payments
distributed in 2019.
Tribal Council Chief of Staff
Stacia Hernandez said Tribal
members will have to fill out
another application to receive
the October and November pay-
ments and that the application
will be available in mid- to late
September.
The fall disbursements will
bring the total number of coro-
navirus relief payments to eight
and help Tribal members af-
fected by the pandemic and the
absence of June and September
per capita distributions because
Spirit Mountain Casino was
closed from mid-March through
May 31.
The payments are classified as
general welfare disbursements
and are not taxable.
Tribal Council approved the
first supplemental $1.8 million
budget on April 23 and $400 pay-
ments were mailed out and depos-
ited directly into Tribal members’
bank accounts on April 29.
Tribal Council approved a sec-
ond $1.9 million supplemental
budget on May 21 that sent an-
other $400 virus relief payment
to adult Tribal members.
The third $8.1 million supple-
mental budget was approved
on June 18 and allocated $600
to each adult Tribal member in
June, July and August.
General Council briefed
on Spirit Mountain Casino
in virtual executive session
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Spirit Mountain Casino Gen-
eral Manager Stan Dillon and
Spirit Mountain Casino Execu-
tive Marketing Director Shaw-
na Ridgebear gave the first
presentation of the new Gen-
eral Council meeting cycle on
Sunday, Sept. 13, via the Zoom
teleconferencing program.
The presentation before ap-
proximately 80 Tribal members
was in executive session, which
Smoke Signals was not allowed
to attend.
Spirit Mountain Casino, the
Tribe’s primary economic en-
gine, has been open since June
1 following an unprecedented
74-day closure that started in
mid-March.
September’s meeting marked
the second time that General
Council has been held virtual-
ly. The April General Council
meeting scheduled to be held
in Eugene was canceled after
the COVID-19 coronavirus pan-
demic erupted in Oregon and the
May General Council meeting
was held using Zoom.
Large indoor gatherings are
still being discouraged because
of the continuing COVID-19
coronavirus pandemic.
In other action, Election Board
Vice Chair Michael Mercier de-
livered the Tribal Council elec-
tion results from Saturday,
Sept. 12, that saw all three
incumbents – Chris Mercier,
Michael Langley and Lisa Leno
– re-elected to three-year terms.
The next General Council
meeting will be held at 11 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 4, in the Tribal
Community Center or, more
likely, using the Zoom telecon-
ferencing program.
General Council opened with
an invocation delivered by Tribal
Council Secretary Jon A. George.
The non-executive session
portion of the meeting can be
viewed by visiting the Tribal
government’s website at www.
grandronde.org and clicking on
the Government tab and then
Videos. Tribal members want-
ing to see the executive session
portion should contact Tribal
Council Chief of Staff Stacia
Hernandez at stacia.martin@
grandronde.org or by calling
503-879-2304.