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Youth GONA
event photos
— pg. 7
april 15, 2024
General Council
membership briefed
on Community Fund
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals editor
S
Carter Soderberg, 4, collects eggs during the Tribal Housing Department Easter Egg Hunt held at Tribal Housing
on Saturday, March 30. Approximately 200 children showed up to the annual event to collect about 2,000
plastic eggs stuffed with candy.
On the hunt again
Tribal member Bradly Robertson holds a bag for his daughter
AvaMarie Roberson, 4, as she collects eggs during the Tribal
Housing Department Easter Egg Hunt held at Tribal Housing.
For more photos, see page 8.
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
pirit Mountain Community
Fund Executive Director An-
gela Sears briefed the mem-
bership on the fund and its various
grant awards during a Sunday,
April 7, General Council meeting
held via Zoom and at the Lane
Community College Longhouse in
Eugene.
Sears began her presentation
to the Tribal audience with an
overview of the Community Fund,
which was created as part of the
Tribe’s gaming compact with the
state of Oregon. It is supervised by
an eight-member Board of Trustees
that includes Tribal Council mem-
bers Denise Harvey, Brenda Tuomi
and Michael Cherry, who is also a
former Community Fund director.
The first grants ever awarded
were to Life Flight Network and
the Portland Art Museum in 1997.
As of the first quarter of 2024, the
Grand Ronde Tribe’s philanthropic
giving now exceeds $97 million with
3,309 grants awarded since 1997.
“I think of how far we have come
and now to being in a place to equip
communities with almost $100 mil-
lion,” Sears said. “I’m super proud
of who we are and am grateful to
Tribal leaders who had the fore-
sight to create this fund.”
Sears also introduced Commu-
nity Fund employees in atten-
dance, which included Program
Coordinator Angela Schlappie and
Administrative Assistant Pamala
Warren-Chase.
Sears said The Community Fund
receives 6 percent of proceeds
from Spirit Mountain Casino and
See MEETING
continued on page 5
Native Innovation exhibit makes first stop in Grand Ronde
By Kamiah Koch
Social media/digital journalist
G
rand Ronde community members looking
for an educational and interactive fami-
ly-friendly activity to do this month need
look no further than the Tribal Library.
On Thursday, April 4, the University of Ore-
gon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History
Education Manager Mia Jackson unpacked the
Native Innovation Museum Adventures travel-
ing exhibit at its first stop in Grand Ronde.
Jackson and Tribal Librarian Kathy Cole set
up the 10-station exhibit together throughout
the library. Each hands-on station comes in a
wooden box that unfolds into a display. Printed
on the underside of the lid is information about
science and engineering innovations Native peo-
ple have created, along with tangible examples
within the box.
The stations include topics like harvest
solutions, fish technology and transportation
innovations.
“The term ‘technology’ means anything de-
signed by a person to solve a problem,” Jackson
See EXHIBIT
continued on page 6
University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and
Cultural History Education Manager Mia Jackson
sets up a hands-on fishing station that is part of the
Native Innovation Museum Adventures traveling
exhibit at the Tribal Library on Thursday, April 4.
The exhibit will be at the library through April 30.
Photo by Michelle Alaimo