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to be able to do the vice chair position,” he said. “I appreciate the support of my co-workers.” Mercier, 45, was re-elected to Tribal Council for the sixth time on Saturday, Sept. 12, garnering 966 votes and finishing third behind fellow incumbents Lisa Leno and Michael Langley, respectively. In his previous 15 years on Tribal Council, Mercier has served as Tribal Council chair for one year, vice chair for two years and secretary for one year. In other action, Tribal Council: Approved an amendment …

Tribal Government & News Letters to the Editor -- Jan. 15, 2021 01.14.2021 Dean Rhodes Letters Dear Smoke Signals : Deb Haaland is a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe and one of two Native American women elected to Congress. If things go well, she might be the first Native American to lead a Cabinet-level agency. According to a New York Times article, she would oversee a sprawling department responsible for some 500 million acres of public lands, including national parks, oil and gas drilling …

Tribal Government & News Tribal Council approves supplemental budget to buy two properties 06.16.2021 Danielle Harrison & Dean Rhodes Tribal Council By Dean Rhodes and Danielle Harrison Smoke Signals staff members Tribal Council approved a third supplemental budget for 2021 during its Wednesday, June 16, meeting that will allow the Tribe to purchase two new properties – one in Grand Ronde and one in the east Multnomah County suburb of Wood Village. The $1.455 million budget increase will fund …

later years his mother ran a boarding house. Wayne left home when he turned 18 and joined the U.S. Air Force and served in Korea as the war was winding down. After coming home from the military, he met and married Grand Ronde Tribal member Sharon Elaine Forster. After their wedding, they relocated from Bend to Salem. Up until May 2021, Wayne lived with Sharon in the house they bought 58 years ago. Wayne and Sharon were married for 60 years in June and have two daughters, one beloved granddaughter …

candidates did not go over their allotted time. After three-minute opening statements, each candidate had two minutes to answer previously submitted questions from the membership. Questions covered a wide range of topics, including whether the Tribe can create its own utility companies to become more self-sufficient, whether the Tribe can create its own bank or work with other Tribal nations to create one, how the candidate sees themselves working with Tribal members and department heads, how …

of the podcast pieces together years of ICWA legal battles and concludes that the attacks on ICWA are a front for a bigger legal challenge against Tribal rights and sovereignty. Episode one starts by addressing the history of ICWA, explaining its origins stem from residential school assimilation practices. In summary, to stop the continued systemic removal of Native children from their families and Tribe, ICWA was put in place in 1978. “The Indian adoption project fits into this era of federal policy when …

Tribal Government & News 2022 Tribal Council race attracts smallest slate of candidates ever with four 06.26.2022 Dean Rhodes Tribal Council , Elections By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Incumbents Denise Harvey and Kathleen George and two challengers will run for three open seats during the 2022 Tribal Council election, which marks the smallest slate of candidates ever nominated since 1983’s Restoration. But one of the candidates will not be Jack Giffen Jr., one of the Tribe’s longest …

, supporters of measures 82 and 83 threw in the towel. Organizers stopped airing TV commercials and took down a social media page. The two measures would have amended the state Constitution to allow private casinos, including one in Wood Village. Before giving up, proponents had spent more than $6 million on collecting signatures to place the two measures on the ballot and touting them statewide. 2007 – Tribal Elder Ruth Rickard, 77, was featured in an article that described her colorful life …

chosen that present minimum risk after Tribal employees filtered through recommendations provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Thurston County Board of Health and a software program. Rumthun added other alternatives like agricultural vinegar are not recommended because they can damage aquatic environments and salts can build up in the soil. Fullerton said there are two spray policies in use at the Tribe: one for the Natural Resources management plan approved in 2021 by Tribal Council …

another one this past summer that ended the 70X Grand Ronde Express to Salem. That leaves just one public transit bus route to and from Grand Ronde. Yamhill County’s bus from Grand Ronde to McMinnville runs eight times a day, Monday through Friday. Tribal Public Works Coordinator John Mercier said he is working with the Oregon Department of Transportation and Native American-owned consultants Akana on an immediate fix, with a new transportation plan to be negotiated in January. “We are going …