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january 1, 2021
Tribe begins administering COVID-19 vaccine
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals staff writer
T
he Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde
started administering the highly an-
ticipated COVID-19 vaccine just before
Christmas.
Health Services Executive Director Kelly
Rowe said the Tribe’s Health & Wellness Cen-
ter received 200 doses of the recently approved
Moderna vaccine on Tuesday, Dec. 22.
“I am very happy to say we received the first
allotment of the Moderna vaccine and we are
starting to vaccinate clinic personnel, Tribal
first responders, then adult foster care workers
Tribe received
$45 million in
CARES Act
funding in ’20
and residents, so we can start getting some herd
immunity built up,” she said.
As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, approxi-
mately 20 essential health care workers at the
Tribe had received their first dose of the vaccine,
including Rowe.
“I had mine this morning and had no side
effects,” Rowe said.
She said that only 20 doses would be admin-
istered per day in case side effects resulted in
essential clinic personnel having to stay home
sick.
“We don’t want to potentially have an entire
department out,” she said. “We have identified
staff who want the vaccine as priority and work-
ing toward the ones who are ‘maybes’ and then
See VACCINE
continued on page 8
Welcome to the
Hotel Willamina
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
he Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde received more
than $45 million in Coronavi-
rus Aid, Relief and Economic Secu-
rity Act funding in 2020, according
to the federal government website
www.usaspending.gov.
The Tribe received a combined
$44 million from the Treasury De-
partment in three payments and
$1.56 million from the Department
of the Interior.
The Tribe used approximately 42
percent of that emergency funding –
$19.3 million – to fund a COVID-19
Relief Payment program that sent a
total of $4,400 to each adult Tribal
member in eight monthly payments
from April through November.
The relief payments approved
on March 18 were designed to help
Tribal members adversely affect-
ed by the nationwide economic
downturn caused by the COVID-19
pandemic and the suspension of
quarterly per capita payments in
June and September after Spirit
Mountain Casino closed for 74 days
from mid-March through May 31.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has
presented everyone with challeng-
es that we couldn’t anticipate,”
Tribal Communications Director
Sara Thompson said. “The CARES
Act funding has helped us provide
for our Tribal members, students,
community and staff during a year
See CARES ACT
continued on page 5
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez
Tribal member Matt Haller stands outside of the Wildwood Hotel and Restaurant in Willamina on Tuesday, Dec.
15. Haller and his wife, April, purchased the hotel and restaurant in October. The restaurant is currently takeout
only, but the hotel ’ s six rooms are available.
Tribal member Matt Haller purchases Wildwood and restaurant
Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals staff writer
W
ILLAMINA — After being shuttered for
almost six months due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the Wildwood Hotel and adjoin-
ing restaurant are open for business, albeit with
limited services for the time being.
The hotel and restaurant were purchased by
Grand Ronde Tribal member Matt Haller, 37, and
his wife, April, who are also lifelong West Valley
residents.
“The previous owners (Meredith and Katie Kend-
all) made it possible for us to purchase this,” Haller
See WILDWOOD
continued on page 9