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MARCH 1, 2024
7
Tribal community support helps locate missing person
By Kamiah Koch
Social media/digital journalist
After an outpouring of support
from the Grand Ronde community,
Tribal member and missing person
Tenatia Jackson-Crain was found
on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Jackson-Crain, 33, was first
reported as a potential missing
person in July 2023 after a meeting
between the Tribe’s Social Services
Department and Tribal Police.
A fl yer created by Tribal member
Amanda Freeman and the Tribal
Police’s missing person fl yer were
circulated online the second week of
February, igniting the community’s
efforts to fi nd Jackson-Crain.
“It’s a work in progress but as long
as the community works together
toward the same goal, we can fi x a
lot of things,” Freeman said.
According to Freeman, the fl yers
reached northern California where
locals reached out with leads to
locations where she had been seen.
Jackson-Crain’s step-sister, Trib-
al member Amber Eastman, felt
they could not wait to take action.
Freeman and Eastman decided
to create a raffl e to raise the funds
Tenatia Jackson-Crain
for Eastman to go search for Jack-
son-Crain.
Again, the community stepped
up.
Freeman donated a certifi cate for a
photo shoot to the raffl e, while other
Tribal members donated ribbon
skirts, dentalium earrings, necklaces
and beading supplies. Tribal Council
member Matthew Haller donated
a certifi cate for a breakfast for two
at the Wildwood Inn restaurant in
Willamina, which he owns.
The Tribal community bid on
these items and together raised
$225.
“My husband and I loaded up
the Subaru with the gas money
we could gather and drove down,”
Eastman said.
For her safety and at the request
of the family, Smoke Signals is not
detailing Jackson-Crain’s location.
They stopped at two locations Jack-
son-Crain was reportedly at, and she
was found on their second stop.
“We left yesterday morning (Feb.
14) and found her within an hour of
being there,” Eastman said.
According to Eastman, Jack-
son-Crain was surprised to see her.
“She had not realized how much
time had gone by and didn’t mean to
make people worry,” Eastman said.
They gave Jackson-Crain a phone
to call her grandmother.
“I told her, ‘send a smoke sig-
nal and we will come,’” Eastman
said. “I brought her grandmother’s
prayers and reminded her she is
loved. We all go through things and
we’re never not deserving of love,
compassion and kindness. I hope
she felt the love I brought down
to her.”
Jackson-Crain did not return to
Grand Ronde with the Eastman
family.
Freeman, who has been raising
awareness within the Grand Ronde
community concerning Missing
and Murdered Indigenous People
issues, said they are, “meeting her
where she is at.”
“The first goal is to make sure
she is okay and not in danger, and
bring her home when she is ready,”
Freeman said.
The area Jackson-Crain was
found was the same stretch of
California where Tribal member
Heather Cameron-Haller went
missing in 2012.
“Driving home all we could do
was pray for the Haller family,”
Eastman said. “It resurfaced a lot
of empathy for their pain.”
According to Tribal Police Chief
Jake McKnight, Jackson-Crain
remained a missing person in the
Law Enforcement Data System
until police made contact with her.
Tribal Police announced it had
made contact with Jackson-Crain
on Monday, Feb. 26, via its Face-
book page
“Update! Found safe!” it said.
“Thank you Detective Tehama and
Corporal Brown for driving down to
California in order to fi nd Tenatia
Jackson-Crain.” n
Tribe has been considering new third-party administrator since 2022
SHASTA continued
from front page
According to its website, Forest
County Potawatomi specializes in
benefi ts administration services for
Tribal nations, focusing on utiliz-
ing federal resources available to
Tribes and thus minimizing Tribal
dollars spent. The benefi ts admin-
istration includes claim processing
for medical, dental, vision, optical
and prescription plans.
When asked if employees and
Tribal members could expect timely
claims processing with the new ad-
ministrator, Executive Director of
Health Services Kelly Rowe said yes.
‘They have very high rates of
claims processing and are good
at what they do,” she said. “We’re
hoping the transition will be as
seamless as possible.”
Tribal Finance Officer Chris
Leno, who serves as a trustee of
the employee health plan, said the
Tribe has been considering a differ-
ent third-party administrator since
late 2022.
“We want good customer service
on the employee side and the Tribal
member side, and effi cient, timely
claims processing,” he said.
Harvey added that with 7,000
people covered on both the employ-
ee and Tribal member plans, the
Tribe will remain involved with
Shasta during the transition.
“The Tribe is interested in the
successful administration of claims
under our plans and will be in-
volved until we have transitioned
to a new TPA,” she said. “They
(Shasta) have caught up on claims
for the most part and most of their
software issues have been resolved.
However, the company has lost
clients and is in fi nancial hardship.
They have largely relied on loans
from (Tribally-owned business) Up-
qwena to fund operational expenses
it cannot cover.”
***
On the business side, the
Tribe still owns 51% of Shasta,
purchased in November 2012 with
Hawaii-Western Management
Group, which owns 49%. The pur-
chase price was not disclosed.
Then-Tribal Economic Develop-
ment Director Titu Asghar said the
purchase made sense in the Tribe’s
pursuit of diversifying its non-gam-
ing businesses because the company
was already processing claims for
the Tribe’s self-funded health plans.
“Since that time, Shasta has
achieved steady growth and main-
tained our reputation of integrity,
quality, value and service at a com-
petitive price,” the company states
on its website.
The Tribe has made several loans
to Shasta through Upqwena since
2022 to help the company with
ongoing operational expenses and
alleviating backlogged claims. To
date, it has provided nearly $1.6
million. Shasta is required to pay
back the loans in full.
In Oct. 2023, then-Tribal Eco-
nomic Development Director Bruce
Thomas said that the Tribe was
seeking to sell Shasta.
“We’re exploring that,” he said.
“It’s an industry where effi ciency and
economies of scale are critical. And
what’s happening is that industry is
consolidating with bigger and bigger
operators. It’s hard for us with the
number of clients that we have with
that organization to really generate
the profi t we were hoping for.”
Tribal Communications Director
Sara Thompson said Shasta has not
yet been sold.
“There was a prospective buyer
last fall but it withdrew after com-
pleting its due diligence,” she said.
“Others have expressed interest
in acquiring Shasta but no formal
offer has been received from them.”
Employees are asked to contact
Tribal Benefit & Risk Manager
Tammy Gould at 503-879-2031 for
more information.
Tribal members with questions
about Skookum coverage should
call Tribal Health Benefi ts Special-
ist Barbara Steere at 503-879-2487
or Tribal Business Offi ce Manager
Melody Baker at 503-879-2011.
Additionally, a Shasta update
meeting was held in executive ses-
sion for Tribal members only on
Tuesday, Feb. 20.
All questions about claims can
be directed to Shasta at 1-800-880-
5877. Updated insurance cards
will be sent out when the Tribe
completes its transition to the new
third-party administrator. n
Drop box installed
Scheduled Appointments Only
Walk-In Day
Monday
Thursday
Tuesday
To schedule an appointment:
Call (503) 879-1424 or
CTGRTribalVSO@GrandRonde.Org
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department, 9655 Grand Ronde
Road, has a medication drop box located in the front lobby.
Lobby hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The drop box is for any prescribed or over-the-counter medication.
If the containers are too large to fi t in the drop box, please repackage
them in a zip-lock plastic bag. Tribal Police employees cannot handle
the medications so the person dropping them off must repackage
them.
Needles and liquids are not allowed in the drop box.
Tribal Police suggest mixing liquid medications with cat litter or
coffee grounds and then throwing them away with the household trash.
For more information, call 503-879-1821. n