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Culture Chinuk Wawa being taught at Willamina High School 01.13.2012 Dean Rhodes Culture , Education At Willamina High School, Chinuk Wawa, the Northwest Native American trade language, is being taught this year alongside other foreign language staples, such as Spanish. "I took one year of Spanish and then heard about this class," said Tribal member and high school junior Braden Ebensteiner. "I switched because I want to learn about my Native American culture." "It's our culture," said Tribal …

for being in the State Capitol building. “I am here to honor what you’re doing,” she told Grand Ronde Public Affairs Administrative Assistant Chelsea Clark, Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Martin and Tribal Council Administrative Assistant Shannon Simi, who were handing out copies of Smoke Signals , the Tribe’s ceded lands map, Tribal lapel pins and the very popular chocolates shaped in the form of the Grand Ronde Tribal logo. “I heard you had chocolate,” more than one person said while …

consecutive terms. Approved the enrollment of one infant into the Tribe and corrected the blood quantum of two Tribal members. Approved a maximum $7.77 million loan from the Tribe’s line of credit to fund 2015 capital improvement projects at Spirit Mountain Casino, including purchasing 150 new slot machines and approximately 1,800 slot chairs, exterior painting, a parking lot overlay and kitchen renovations needed for safety reasons, among other projects. Set March 13 as the next per capita …

. “This has really been a vision of council that someday we would have a one-stop shop type of employment place to streamline people to get hired. More importantly for council, we are fulfilling a mission of having a Tribal member walk through that door and maybe be able to go to work and really change their life not only for them, but for their family.” The new building will be the home of the Tribe’s Human Resources, the Tribal Employment Rights Office, the 477/Vocational Rehabilitation Program …

to graduate in June and Nixwa and McConnell are due back in early May. Nixwa (Chinuk Wawa for "show me") is a 2.5-year-old Belgian Malinois and is No. 1 in his training class, LaChance said. Currently, the Grand Ronde Police Department includes LaChance, McKnight, three police officers including Nixwa, a recruit, Emergency Management Coordinator Jamie Baxter and one administrative support employee, Tribal member Mindy Lane. This fall, LaChance said, he hopes to hire two more police officers. LaChance …

for Native Americans Esther Martinez language grant used for kindergarten and first grade. The last three-year grant, averaging $250,000 a year, ends at the end of July, said Tribal Planning and Grants Development Manager Kim Rogers. The program has won this competitive grant every year but one since 2001. A new rule, however, limits Tribes to only two wins in a row, meaning that Grand Ronde cannot apply this year. Next year, said Rogers, the Tribe will seek to win another ANA Esther Martinez three-year …

early literacy and school readiness to young children and their families. Each year, medical providers distribute 6.5 million books to children, and invaluable literacy advice to parents, according to the non-profit's website. Empey, Andries and Davidson organized the program training for the clinic's health care providers during a lunch hour in May. Empey led the training. The training covered the benefits of children reading books. One benefit is helping improve child brain development. Another …

2, she is responsible for many things, from ocean planning to designating wetlands on Tribal property. She also is looking at the Tribal position on climate change to see if it needs to be updated. "To assess our vulnerability and see if there is more we can do to adapt," she says. Natural Resources Manager Michael Wilson says that one of the big things Flier has been hired to do is environmental compliance. "To help the Tribe to take control of its environmental resources," Wilson says …

Health & Education Bacteria detected in local water supply 11.13.2014 Ron Karten Health & Wellness Grand Ronde residents received a scare just before Halloween, and it didn't come from children dressed as ghosts and goblins. The Grand Ronde Community Water Association, which has more than 950 service connections in the area, alerted its customers that coliform bacteria had been detected in two of the five water samples taken in October. The drinking water standard is that no more than one …

Health & Education Tribe hires Reeves as new curriculum specialist 09.15.2014 Dean Rhodes Education , Tribal employees The Tribe hired Tribal member Mercedes Reeves, 25, as its new curriculum specialist on Aug, 7, five days after she completed her one-year Master of Education teaching degree from the University of Oregon. Reeves wasn't exactly an unknown quantity. She has long participated in Tribal programs. For three years, two during her undergraduate years at Western Oregon University …