Letters to the Editor -- Aug. 1, 2011

Dear Smoke Signals:

On behalf of myself and the Veterans Powwow committee, I would like to thank everyone who participated, helped, worked and contributed to this year's successful powwow.

A huge thanks to the Norwest family, Tribal Council, all powwow committee members, Chad Leno and the whole cleanup crew, Rose and Deitz Peters, Nick Sixkiller, Tony Whitehead, all the drums who attended, Violet Folden for her hard work on the Avenue of Flags, all the vendors for their outstanding products and services as well as their donations to our raffle, and finally to all veterans for their service and sacrifice!

As chairman of the Powwow Committee, I take full responsibility for the actions of my committee members. I would like to extend a heartfelt apology to any and all vendors who may have been treated with anything less than the highest level of respect and service this year. We had some misunderstandings and unfortunately some out and outright conflicts during the set-up and placement of our vendors at this year's event. I worked to rectify any situations that were brought to my attention at the powwow and hope to hear about any other issues which occurred.

I am inviting all vendors, Elders, etc., to the powwow recap meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2011, at the Community Center at 4:30 p.m., to voice their ideas and concerns so we can address them. Please read and distribute this letter to any and all concerned parties.

Thank you again everyone for all your hard work,

Chris Tinney

Chairman

Marce Norwest Memorial Veterans Powwow Committee

Dear Grand Ronde Tribal members:

In the July 15, 2011, issue of Smoke Signals, it was stated I gave testimony on June 3, 2007, during a public hearing regarding a "Proposed Constitutional Enrollment Amendment." If you read the transcript of that public hearing you will see I did state I felt the amendments proposed at that time should be presented to the Tribal voters as one amendment.

In reviewing the information I have about the public hearing and the changes that were proposed to our Constitutional Membership Requirements, I recall there seemed to be some confusion over what was really being proposed. I believe that is because from the time the Enrollment Requirements Ad Hoc Committee presented their recommendations to Tribal Council on Oct. 17, 2006, to the date of the public hearing on June 3, 2007, the proposed definition of Grand Ronde blood had gone through several changes, yet each change was presented as the Enrollment Requirements Ad Hoc Committee's recommendations when those changes were not worded according to the committee's recommendations.

Plus, the committee had recommended one amendment and one vote, but Tribal Council decided on two amendments and two votes. This was all done under the leadership of Chris Mercier, who was Tribal Chair at that time, and Angie Blackwell, who was Vice Chair.

After giving testimony and talking with various Tribal members after the public hearing, I began to see the wisdom of having separate amendments for each proposed change to our Constitutional Membership Requirements. Thus, knowing what I know now, I would have advocated at that public hearing that each proposed change to our Constitutional Membership Requirements should be presented as separate amendments as they turned out to be in the February 2008 BIA-conducted election.

I continue to feel the 2008 BIA-conducted election was a success because Tribal voters had the "freedom of choice" to vote on each proposed amendment based on each amendment's individual merits. That is the way I believe it should be in any Tribal Constitutional election in the future. This type of an election also lets the members of Tribal Council know how the voting Tribal membership feels about each issue.

I personally think the most important testimony I gave during the June 3, 2007, public hearing was my recommendation for the definition of Grand Ronde blood, which is stated in the transcript of that public hearing, and was as follows: "Grand Ronde blood is defined as all Indian blood derived from a direct ancestor whose name validly appears on any official Tribal membership roll previous to the Restoration of November, 1983." Please pay close attention to the words "previous to the Restoration of November, 1983," as that denotes our Grand Ronde Indian blood is ancestral, meaning it comes from our ancestors before Restoration. There is a difference in what I proposed as a definition of Grand Ronde blood during the public hearing in June 2007 and what the current Tribal Council is proposing for the definition of Grand Ronde blood.

In closing, I want to emphasize that since the passage and approval of the 1999 amendment to our Tribal Constitution, my No. 1 priority has been our Constitutional Membership Requirements and working to see that Grand Ronde Indians are allowed to enroll in our Tribe, which is their Tribe, if they have the correct required blood quantum, and one or more ancestors on a roll or record of  "Grand Ronde members" from the time the Grand Ronde Reservation was officially created by Executive Order in June 1857 up through Termination.

Leroy Good

Roll #892

Dear Smoke Signals:

I am writing this letter to thank the Elders and everyone for supporting my fundraising efforts so that I was able to go to Washington, D.C., this summer. Without your help, I might not have been able to make my trip to D.C. happen.

We visited the Jefferson, Lincoln, World War II, Vietnam and Korean memorials, the Spy, Holocaust and Smithsonian Air and Space museums, Jamestown, Williamsburg, the National Archives (where we were able to see things like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which was really cool), the Capitol building and the White House (but we had to stay outside the gates of the White House; we couldn't go inside), and a lot more.

Our school was also picked to put the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. That was really cool because only two groups a day get picked to be a part of the ceremony and we were one of them.

Anyways, I had a really great time and thanks again for your help.

Jordan LaChance

(Granddaughter of Gary and Linda LaChance)