Tribal Council approves grant application for suicide prevention efforts

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved a grant application for suicide prevention that, if approved, will be used to help Tribal members with a culturally grounded prevention system focused on Elders and veterans.

The $1.6 million Adult Suicide Prevention grant application through the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was approved at the Wednesday, July 1, council meeting.

“If awarded, this grant will be used by the Health & Wellness Department to establish a sustainable, culturally grounded, community-wide suicide prevention program that strengthens upstream prevention, enhances early identification of suicide risks, expands cross-sector capacity, promotes voluntary lethal means safety and improves transitions of care for adults and particularly Elders and veterans,” Tribal Grants Program Manager Wendy Sparks said during a Tuesday, June 30, Legislative Action Committee meeting.

Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy said she appreciated everyone doing the work to secure the grant.

“When I was first employed by the Tribe, doing the needs assessment…our area of effect of substance use and abuse, suicide was 40% of the Tribal population,” she said. “I don’t think those statistics have changed. We were a Tribe that was terminated, which affects the soul of every Tribal member because you were cast aside as a people, you were no longer recognized as being who you were, you’re no longer Indian. You don’t know what you’re going to do. All of those things cast doubt on your ability to move forward with your life and so any funds that we get in this area, it’s well-needed.”  

Tribal Council member Tonya Gleason-Shepek noted that while there is a growing acceptance regarding speaking openly about struggles with addiction, mental health issues are still often considered taboo.

“There’s still a big stigma that goes with them and also the suicide ideology and even developmental delays, those kinds of things are still very isolating if you or someone you know is living with those,” she said. “I agree 100% that anything that we can do to reach out to our community members and just talk openly…is the first step toward healing.” 

In other news, Tribal Council:

• Approved two applications to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant in the Tribal and national categories for a total of up to $40 million, which would be used for communications systems, mobile logistics and resilience center construction for use during emergency events;
• Approved a credit card authorization for Natural Resources Department Construction Supervisor Logan Kneeland for up to $2,000;
• Approved two credit card authorizations for the NRD wildland firefighter crews for up to $5,000 each;
• Approved entering into an intergovernmental agreement with the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board so that the Tribe can receive money from the Tribal Nations Natural Resources Program;
• Approved adopting the updated campus master plan, which “provides a framework for identifying and prioritizing current and future facility needs, evaluating potential solutions and locations for building use, expansion and modification, and assessing land readiness for development;”
• Approved four limited waivers of sovereign immunity for various software programs, including SolarWinds, RealityScan, TwinMotion and Vector Solutions;
• Approved a professional services agreement with CIDA Architects & Engineers of Portland for design work to expand and renovate Tribal Housing Department offices;
• Approved an application to the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs Unleashing Tribal Energy grant for up to $750,000 to use toward Tribal energy sovereignty, affordability and future development to reduce future Tribal reliance on private and public utility power providers;
• And approved enrolling 21 infants, 11 non-infants and one non-infant reenrollment into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance. Total enrollment counts in 2026 include 70 infants, nine non-infant emergency enrollments and 95 non-infants.

To watch the entire meeting, visit www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.