Smoke Signals wins general excellence award from NAJA

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde’s bimonthly newsletter, Smoke Signals, won seven awards in the 2015 Native American Journalists Association Media Awards Contest, including the prestigious General Excellence Award for Native publications with a circulation between 4,000 and 8,000 copies.

“The General Excellence award is, for me, the most cherished because it honors the Tribe and the entire Publications staff for a consistent, all-around effort in putting out a professional publication twice a month for the membership,” said Publications Coordinator Dean Rhodes. “You never know from which months contest submissions will have to be submitted, so every issue has to be top-notch.

“Without the support and cooperation of our colleagues in almost every department throughout the Tribal government and at Spirit Mountain Casino, we could not accomplish such an honor for the Grand Ronde Tribe.”

Page Designer Justin Phillips, who is a Grand Ronde Tribal member, also won first place in the Professional Division for layout of Smoke Signals.

In the Associate category for nonTribal members who work for Native publications, photographer Michelle Alaimo won three awards – first place in Best Feature Photo for her photograph of the Tribal SMART Program, and second places in Best Sports Photo (Spirit Mountain Stampede) and Best News Photo (Tilikum Crossing).

Also in the Associate category, Rhodes won second place for Best Coverage of Native Americans for his story “Native students face many hurdles.”

Former Smoke Signals staff writer Ron Karten won third place in Best News Story for “Portland bridge receives Native name.”

This year’s entries were judged by the University of Omaha-Nebraska, the Society of Professional Journalists, Society of Environmental Journalists, The Circle, The Oklahoman, the University of Idaho, Western Kentucky University and the University of Oklahoma Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Awards will be handed out during the association’s annual awards banquet on Saturday, July 11, in Washington, D.C.