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and Native American organizations. Karen and Jimi adopted Arthur Kalif Simmons (Hualapai) and Jay Ghost Simmons (Oglala/Lakota) and built a home in Los Altos, Calif., always trying to get three lives out of one. Jimi worked as a journeyman operating engineer. He loved construction. Jimi volunteered to stay home with the boys while Karen went to law school. Never forgetting those behind the walls, Jimi Simmons went to California and Washington prisons to visit Indian inmates and advocated …

Health & Education Oregon Dental Association head, OHSU dean visit Grand Ronde 06.14.2017 Dean Rhodes Health & Wellness , State Government The dean of Oregon Health & Science University’s Dentistry School and the executive director of the Oregon Dental Association visited the Grand Ronde Tribe on Wednesday, June 7, starting their tour of the state’s nine federally recognized Tribes to discuss improving access to high-quality dental health care in Oregon Indian Country. Dr. Phillip Marucha …

General Council meeting, which was canceled because of a lack of quorum caused by inclement weather throughout western Oregon. “I’ve had the opportunity through firefighting and the Tribal Timber Council to visit a lot of different Reservations across the country, and we have a very beautiful Reservation that I enjoy working on every day,” Wilson said as he displayed a snow-covered picture of the Reservation taken recently by one of the department’s foresters. “Staff understands that. We …

event attracted an online audience or more than 240 people, Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez said. (Smoke Signals screen captures) For a full list of updated remote services, visit https://www.grandronde.org/services/health-wellness/covid-19-preparedness/ Tribe moving forward with online services By Danielle Frost Smoke Signals staff writer In an effort to continue serving the Tribal membership safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tribe is moving many of its services online …

until further notice. “If I had to make a guess, I would say two weeks,” General Manager Tim Jackson said about the closure. “It may be as soon as seven days. We are working with the health professionals to determine the best course of action.” After five months of keeping the coronavirus at bay, the Tribe’s Health & Wellness Center has started detecting positive COVID-19 results from individuals connected to the Grand Ronde community. The Health & Wellness Center reported its third positive …

and attendees. “I hope that next year we can do this in person,” he said. “But doing so over Zoom and having the videos is fun, too.” In addition to Mercier, Tribal Council Secretary Michael Langley attended the virtual event. “This is my first one and I’m impressed and also really proud that Chris does this,” Langley said. “It’s especially important for those of us in leadership.” To view the 87-minute video of the event in its entirety, visit https://youtu.be/bTHTSSBjHCw. Share On Facebook Share …

of American Indian/Alaska Native students participated. Oregon allows parents to opt their students out of state testing. In the tests administered in 2019, almost 100 percent of the Willamina students participated. “I am sad that our attendance rate was so low,” Zimbrick said. “We were on a great trajectory prior to COVID, improving in all key indicators for the past six years. We will get there and improve, it will just take time and effort.” For more information on scores, visit oregon.gov/ode …

that successful claims require a current medical diagnosis, an in-service event and a link between the two. “It sounds formidable, but my role is to walk veterans through this process and help them throughout this process,” she said. “I especially want to reach those who have never filed for service-connection ever. I also want to reach those who have a lower-rated disability percentage and see if they can be increased. Being service-connected brings many benefits to veterans including a monthly …

he hoped that cultural food, particularly camas, would be included. “This is really exciting to me and I know there have been studies that show that camas helps stave off diabetes in our people,” Langley said. “The more we return to those foods, the better our health outcomes will be.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Native Americans have a far greater chance of having diabetes than any other racial group, and are twice as likely as caucasians to have the health …

will be meeting with the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the first week of October. BIA administers the election as per the Tribal Constitution. Approximately 100 people logged on to the virtual event. “The process for a constitutional amendment has been going on for quite a while,” Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy said. “I want to thank those who participated in the many meetings for the amendment language. Every time we had a meeting or a survey, that language was refined…it took a lot …