Grand Ronde Finance Officer Chris Leno addresses some of the commonly asked COVID-19 relief payment questions we saw on Facebook.

https://www.grandronde.org/covid-19-information/

Integrating Tribal culture with the legal court system is no easy task. However, Lorena Rivera and Shane Thomas are doing just that with the Tribal court programs. Of the many programs, the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program sets up children of youth (or Wards of the Court) with an "extra set of eyes" to ensure the child's needs are met. Thomas and Rivera join the Smoke Signals podcast to encourage more Tribal members volunteer as CASAs to "support healthy relationships between the child and the Tribe.”
https://www.grandronde.org/government/tribal-court/tribal-court-programs/

Grand Ronde hired Sam Thornsberry and Stephanie King as the new COVID-19 Relief Community Health Representatives (COVID-19 CHRs). They are responsible for a wide variety of tasks, including safely assisting the other CHRs with Tribal Elders' needs, disseminating up-to-date information to Grand Ronde about COVID-19, connecting members to the appropriate medical resources and planning safe community events. In their unprecedented positions, King and Thornsberry told the Smoke Signals podcast they are "here and ready to help." You can contact King at 503-879-2016 and Thornsberry at 503-879-1693.

In this episode of the Smoke Signals podcast, Tribal Council member Kathleen George discusses the 2020 Tribal election results.

The Smoke Signals podcast met with Grand Ronde's Correct Count Committee member and Tribal member Michael Herrin to examine the bad reputation the United States Census has received and the hidden ways the census data impacts Tribal country.
Correction: The census raffle drawing will be Sept. 8, 2020. The final raffle will be held the first week of October.
Music contributed by Jan Michael Looking Wolf:
"Wind Jammer", "Gentlewolf" and "Falling Star"
Additional music: "Angel Band" by The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys