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Tribal Halloween scenes
— pgs. 10-11
november 15, 2022
Membership votes to limit disenrollments
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
T
ribal voters decisively approved only the
third change to the Tribal Constitution
since 1983’s Restoration during the Nov.
2 election that will limit future disenrollments
to only cases of fraud and dual enrollment.
Of the 679 Tribal members who voted, 516
approved the amendment for a 75.99 percent
approval rate, which surpassed the Tribal Con-
stitution’s requirement of two-thirds approval.
Only 163 Tribal members voted “no.”
Of the 858 Tribal members who registered to
vote in the Bureau of Indian Affairs-run election,
679, or 79.1 percent, voted. At least 30 percent
of those who registered had to cast a ballot for
the results to count.
About 20 percent of all adult Tribal members
registered to vote in the Nov. 2 constitutional
amendment election. During the recent Septem-
ber Tribal Council election, there were approxi-
mately 4,400 adult Tribal members.
“This is a big day,” said Tribal Council Vice
Chair Chris Mercier during a special Nov. 2 Trib-
al Council meeting, adding that the result will
alleviate fear among Tribal members that they
one day might be the subject of disenrollment
See VOTERS
continued on page 9
Wahoo Yahoo!
Company taps Tribal member to design logo
By Kamiah Koch
Social media/digital journalist
T
he Internet company Yahoo rolled out a new logo on Tues-
day, Nov. 1, featuring bright colors and an artistic style
the Grand Ronde community may recognize.
Grand Ronde Tribal member and artist Steph Littlebird was
approached by Yahoo over the social media app Instagram to
re-design the logo in honor of Native American Heritage Month.
Littlebird, who grew in Oregon and currently resides in Las
Vegas, says Yahoo redesigns the logo for heritage and identity
recognition months, working with artists from that respective
community.
“It’s something that they do throughout the year and I was
really honored to be asked,” Littlebird says.
The logo Littlebird was commissioned to design uses Native
American patterns local to the Willamette Valley area, as well
as other patterns she researched, to fill up the space within the
lettering. The last “O” features a Native woman and her baby
wrapped in a blanket, which is currently Yahoo’s avatar on all
its social media platforms.
According to Littlebird, Yahoo mainly let her take creative con-
trol of the design, which made her feel appreciated as an artist.
“It’s cool when I get to do these crossover projects, where I get
to do a little bit of design but still be my artist-self,” she says.
See YAHOO
continued on page 8
Graphic by Steph Littlebird
Levine participates in Indian Child Welfare Act panel
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
S
ALEM — Grand Ronde Tribal member
Nicomi Levine said her work as an In-
dian Child Welfare Act unit supervisor
with the state of Oregon is far more than a
job to her.
“I work for the Oregon Department of Hu-
man Services, but I’m also a mom and grand-
See ICWA
continued on page 12
Nicomi Levine, a Grand Ronde Tribal member and Indian Child Welfare Act unit supervisor for
the Oregon Department of Human Services, center, is joined by Attorney Lea Ann Easton, left,
and Oregon Department of Health Services’ Office of Tribal Affairs Director Adam Becenti during
the Oregon Department of Human Services’ “Complex Conversation” event held at Willamette
University on Wednesday, Nov 2. The conversation concerned the Haaland v. Brackeen case that
Photo by Timothy J. Gonzalez is before the Supreme Court and seeks to declare the Indian Child Welfare Act unconstitutional.