6
MARCH 1, 2023
Smoke Signals
Round Dance is a ceremony
first and foremost
ROUND DANCE continued
from front page
Head staff for this year9s Round
Dance will be Tribal member and
Cultural Resource9s Cultural
Advisor Bobby Mercier as pipe-
man, Chase Sayer as stickman
and Devon Bellerose as master of
ceremonies. As many as 18 guest
singers have been invited.
The event is hosted by the Con-
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde
and its Youth Empowerment &
Prevention Program.
The orst Agency Creek Round
Dance was held in April 2003
and subsequently held annually
until the pandemic forced the
cancellation of the event in 2020,
921 and 922.
The event is an opportunity for
Tribal members to dance with
their ancestors as they join hands
and circle around drummers
throughout the evening and early
into the next morning.
The event, which also is a cele-
bration of sobriety and communi-
ty health and wellness, regularly
attracts 400 to 500 attendees.
Most importantly, organizers
want people to know the Round
Dance is a ceremony first and
foremost.
<It9s a whole ceremony in itself,
it9s not just a bunch of people com-
ing together and singing,= Mercier
said in a 2016 Smoke Signals story
about the Round Dance. <For us
here, we want to do it right. It
also ties back to other ceremonies
like the Ghost Dance; that9s how
powerful that Round Dance is.=
Mercier was responsible for
starting the Round Dance tradi-
tion in Grand Ronde because of
the healing nature of the ceremo-
ny and what it can do for a Tribal
community.
<All of Friday until midnight
and all of Saturday until mid-
night is the time that we are
dancing with our ancestors, we9re
dancing with those spirits and
it is to bring that healing and
teaching back. That9s why people
get up and dance 3 it9s a healing
dance.= Mercier said.
To hear Mercier discuss more
about Round Dance, visit www.
spreaker.com/show/smokesignal-
spodcast and search for Episode
8. þ
Tribal nonemergency text line
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department has a nonemergency text
line at 541-921-2927.
<If you have a nonemergency situation or question, feel free to contact
my ofocer via text through this line,= said Grand Ronde Tribal Police
Chief Jake McKnight. <When one of my ofocers receives the text, they
will call you back when they have time.=
McKnight said that emergency situations still require calling 911. For
more information, contact McKnight at 503-879-1474. þ
Council OKs construction of homes
for McPherson Road development
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals assistant editor/staff writer
It has taken longer than antici-
pated, but the orst phase of a new
housing development at McPherson
Road is expected to be complete by
the end of this year.
Tribal Council adopted a reso-
lution at its Wednesday, Feb. 22,
meeting to amend a construction
contract with Willamina-based
Scholten Construction to include
all work for 15 homes in phase one
of the project for a cost of $6.85
million.
A previous July 2022 agreement
with the company included an
allocation of $1.2 million to fund
site work only at the Tribe9s home
ownership development for 20
homes. Site work includes things
such as laying the foundations and
other improvements. The other ove
homes are being built by Tribal
members who purchased the sites.
<Five Tribal members are moving
ahead under their own steam to
construct those homes,= Tribal En-
gineering and Planning Manager
Ryan Webb said at a Tuesday, Feb.
21, Legislative Action Committee
meeting. <So this will build out all
20 of the homes in phase one.=
It9s been 25 years since Grand
Meadows, located on Tribal proper-
ty at McPherson and Grand Ronde
roads, opened a 36-lot manufac-
tured home subdivision to Tribal
families. Housing Department ofo-
cials have repeatedly said another
development is long overdue.
In 2020, Reece and Associates
of Albany was selected to conduct
a property development plan for
the new site. The orst phase will
have 20 single-family homes on
10,000-square-foot lots.
The Tribe9s current housing op-
tions typically have occupation
rates of 94 percent or higher, and
lack of available market-rate homes
has been a sticking point in Tribal
members moving to Grand Ronde
and working in the community.
Tribal Council also set the agenda
for the Sunday, March 5, General
Council meeting, which will feature
a presentation by the Education
Department. The 11 a.m. hybrid
meeting will be held in Tribal Coun-
cil Chambers and via Zoom.
In other action, Tribal Council:
" Approved amendments to the
Tribal building code. The last
update was done in 2010. The
amendments will renect updates
to applicable state codes, adhere
to current Tribal operations, re-
quire contractors to be licensed by
the state of Oregon and provide
penalties for ordinance violations;
" Approved an agreement with
the Department of Housing and
Urban Development that awards
$2 million to the Tribe for infra-
structure and utilities improve-
ments at its Blue Heron property,
Tumwata Village, in Oregon City;
" Approved a third amendment to
the Department of the Interior
self-governance funding agree-
ment between the Tribe and
the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Northwest Regional Ofoce. This
year, the Tribe will receive $2.96
million;
" Declared Friday, March 10, to be
the next Tribal per capita date
to cover the period between Dec.
1 and Feb. 28. The per capita
amount will not be known until
after March 1;
" Appointed Westley Shaw to serve
on the Fish & Wildlife Committee
with a term ending on March 31,
2024;
" And enrolled three infants in
the Tribe because they meet the
enrollment requirements under
the Tribal Constitution and En-
rollment Ordinance.
Also included in the Feb. 22
Tribal Council packet was an ap-
proved authorization to proceed
that increases the dental beneot
in the Tribal member health plan
by $500. The increase will require
a $2.5 million supplemental budget
for the health plan.
To watch the entire meeting, visit
the Tribal government9s website
at www.grandronde.org and click
on the Government tab and then
Videos. þ