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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2021)
2 JULY 15, 2021 NOTICE — Monthly Tribal Council Wednesday Meetings DATE TIME Wednesday, July 28...........................................................................10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11...........................................................................10 a.m. Smoke Signals sNok signflz Please note that these times and dates are subject to change if needed. Letter s Dear Smoke Signals: I read with much interest the ar- ticles on boarding schools for Native American children in the latest edi- tion of Smoke Signals. My grand- mother, Cecil Rose Russell Porter, was taken from her home in Tiller, Ore., in 1908 by the state of Oregon and incarcerated in Chemawa Indian School in Salem. There she was kept until 1918 when she was 19. Over the course of that time, many relatives from the Norwest family on the Grand Ronde Reservation tried in vain to get custody of her. Her mother, Rosalia Nippising Quintal Russell, died at her birth in 1899. Her older sister, Agnes, was also sent to Che- mawa and later back east. Our family was fortunate to ask for and receive a 60-page transcript of Cecil Rose Russell Porter grandmother Cecil’s entire records of her stay at Chemawa. We got these records, after much red tape, from Seattle where all Northwest Native and Alaska Native records are archived at NARA Pacific Alaska Region. The pages of the transcript are filled with letters from Native American family and family friends pleading with the state of Oregon to allow her to at the very least come to their homes for visits. She was never allowed off the Chemawa Indian School grounds. A book could get written about the toils and troubles in those letters both from grandmother and from the relatives. Several hearings were held during her incarceration about allowing her to be with her family. In every instance, the requests were turned down. I am sure her story is one of thousands that document the taking and locking up of Native children. Bradley M. Kowing Roll # 1816 Dear Smoke Signals: Our Spirit Mountain Casino is about to undergo a sudden change, which I feel is not in the best interest of the Tribe or the casino. As most have heard by now, it is being planned to shut down the buffet at the casino. What a huge mistake! We go to the casino as friends, family and commu- nity. Two weeks ago, seven of us met at the buffet for a birthday lunch for a 78-year-old man. We had fantastic meals with great service by our waitress. So enjoyed the seating and not like in a food court. There have been thousands of dollars spent in advertising alone that has stated the “drawing card” to the casino as being “the premier casino and entertainment center of Oregon with the largest buffet in the state.” We have even seen it stated on “Wheel of Fortune” on television! People can go to any of the other seven casinos in Oregon to gamble. We are not in Las Vegas, nor are we a mall where folks want a food court! Our only reason people come to our casino is to enjoy each other and to have a great meal at the buffet and then go gamble some more. You do not make money off of the food, but rather off the playing floor and what keeps folks there is being able to eat a fabulous meal and stay at the lodge. Without the big buffet and all its varied foods in one place, not a food court, people will not start coming again now that the COVID-19 is being lifted. This is the worst time to shut down the buffet! The summer traffic to the coast going and coming is something we have depended on. Please speak out as otherwise I hate to see us lose our casino. It belongs to our Tribe; that is why it even exists. We are community! I hope that the temporary CEO, Tribal Council and other officers of the casino reconsider this most drastic decision. Susie Shaw (Tribal wife and former employee of Spirit Mountain Ca- sino and Lodge) Cornelius, Ore. PUBLICATIONS OFFICE 9615 Grand Ronde Road, Grand Ronde, OR 97347 1-800-422-0232, FAX: 503-879-2173 Website: www.smokesignals.org E-mail: news@grandronde.org Editorial.Board@grandronde.org Twitter: CTGRSmokeSignal www.facebook.com/SmokeSignalsCTGR/ www.youtube.com/c/SmokeSignalsChannel DEAN RHODES PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR 503-879-1463 DANIELLE HARRISON TIMOTHY J. GONZALEZ STAFF WRITER 503-879-4663 PHOTOJOURNALIST 503-879-1961 dean.rhodes@grandronde.org danielle.frost@grandronde.org timothy.gonzalez@grandronde.org SAMUEL F. BRIGGS III JUSTIN PHILLIPS KAMIAH KOCH GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST 503-879-1416 PAGE DESIGNER 503-879-2190 SOCIAL MEDIA/ DIGITAL JOURNALIST 503-879-1461 samuel.briggs@grandronde.org justin.phillips@grandronde.org kamiah.koch@grandronde.org DEADLINE DATE monday, juLY 26 ...................aug. 1, 2021 monday, Aug. 9 ...................aug. 15, 2021 wednesday, Aug. 25 .............sept. 1, 2021 wednesday, sept. 8 .............sept. 15, 2021 Editorial Policy smok signflz , a publication of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Communi- ty 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. smok signflz 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 smok signflz . Members of: Native American Journalists Association Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association 2021 Tribal Council tribalcouncil@grandronde.org Cheryle A. Kennedy Tribal Council Chairwoman — ext. 2352 cheryle.kennedy@grandronde.org Chris Mercier Tribal Council Vice Chair — ext. 1444 chris.mercier@grandronde.org LIHEAP program open in service area The Tribal Social Service’s LIHEAP – Low Income Home Energy As- sistance Program – is open to eligible Tribal members in the six-county service area and Clackamas County. This is a first-come, first-served program and income criteria applies. LIHEAP is federally funded through the Department of Health and Hu- man Services and is designed to help low-income households with home heating costs. For more information, contact Social Services at 503-879-2034. ISSUE DATE Jon A. George Tribal Council Secretary — ext. 2355 Jack Giffen Jr. — ext. 2300 jack.giffen@grandronde.org Denise Harvey — ext. 2353 denise.harvey@grandronde.org Michael Langley — ext. 1777 michael.langley@grandronde.org Lisa Leno — ext. 1770 jon.george@grandronde.org lisaleno@grandronde.org Kathleen George Steve Bobb Sr. — ext. 2305 — ext. 4555 kathleen.george@grandronde.org steve.bobb@grandronde.org