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event held — pg. 11
August 1, 2021
Tribe holds second
Candidates Forum
via the Internet
By Dean Rhodes
F
Smoke Signals editor
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde hosted Federal Emergency Management Agency
Administrator Deanne Criswell, left, on Wednesday, July 21. Criswell was joined by Tribal Council
Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy as she left the Tribal Governance Center and walked to the
listening session that was held outside in the courtyard in front of the center.
Tribe hosts FEMA administrator
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals staff writer
mergency Management officials from
several of the state’s nine federally
recognized Tribes met with Federal
Emergency Management Agency Administra-
tor Deanne Criswell on Wednesday, July 21.
The purpose of the 90-minute meeting was
for FEMA to strengthen relationships with
Tribes in the areas of disaster preparedness
E
and emergency management. It was held in
a circle format outside on the old powwow
grounds on the Grand Ronde Tribal govern-
ment campus with the intent to encourage
open discussion between FEMA officials,
Tribal leaders and emergency managers.
“I’m very excited to be here today,” Criswell
See FEMA
continued on page 8
or the second consecutive year, the Tribe
held the annual Tribal Council Candidates
Forum using the Zoom teleconferencing
program because of the COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic that is currently being exacerbated by
the delta variant and the need to not hold large
indoor gatherings.
Starting at 6:03 p.m. Wednesday, July 28,
challengers Perri McDaniel and Michael Cherry
joined Tribal Council incumbents Cheryle A.
Kennedy, Jon A. George and Steve Bobb Sr. for
the 62-minute forum that attracted more than
45 viewers.
General Manager David Fullerton handled
moderator duties and Tribal Council Chief of
Staff Stacia Hernandez watched the clock to
ensure candidates did not go over their allotted
time.
After three-minute opening statements, each
candidate had two minutes to answer previous-
ly submitted questions from the membership.
Questions covered a wide range of topics, includ-
ing whether the Tribe can create its own utility
companies to become more self-sufficient, wheth-
er the Tribe can create its own bank or work
with other Tribal nations to create one, how the
candidate sees themselves working with Tribal
members and department heads, how the Tribe
can become food secure and if the candidate
supports services for nonTribal Elder spouses.
After answering those questions, Fullerton
asked one question submitted by a viewer and
each candidate had 60 seconds to answer the
same question, which concerned the one im-
portant issue the candidate will work on that is
affecting the Tribe.
Following the questions, each candidate was
allotted two minutes to deliver a closing state-
ment.
See FORUM
continued on page 6
Roads to Recovery: From treatment center client to CEO
By Danielle Harrison
W
Smoke Signals staff writer
hen Tribal member Chris-
topher Dickie was in high
school, he was voted by his
classmates as most likely to end
up on the TV show “Cops.” Having
been arrested 14 times in one year
and with a 0.75 GPA, this wasn’t
too much of a stretch to imagine for
the troubled youth.
Today, the 39-year-old chief ex-
ecutive officer of Natural State
Recovery Centers in Little Rock,
Ark., is 14 years sober and his com-
pany recently celebrated its third
anniversary. Dickie began with
one location in June 2018 and has
now branched out to include inpa-
tient, sober living and outpatient
See RECOVERY
continued on page 9
Tribal member
Christopher Dickie
struggled with
alcohol dependency
for years before
he successfully
achieved sobriety.
Now, he is the chief
executive officer
of Natural State
Recovery Centers in
Little Rock, Ark.
Photo contributed by
Christopher Dickie