The Coquille Indian Tribe invites qualified contractors to submit proposals to develop culturally relevant, place-based curriculum units about the Coquille Tribe for grades K-3, 6 and 11.
For details, click the links below:
Aug. 28, 2019
The Coos County Sheriff’s Office has a shiny new patrol rig, courtesy of the Coquille Indian Tribe.
Because the county provides patrol help on the Kilkich Reservation, the Tribe is allowed to pass along the benefits of the federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant program.
“That gives us an opportunity to give back to the neighboring community,” said Tribal Police Chief Scott LaFevre.
LaFevre explained that the Tribe applies for a COPS grant every two to three years and usually receives about $300,000. Though the Tribe’s own needs take first priority, LaFevre looks for opportunities to share. This year, the sheriff netted a four-wheel-drive Ford F-150.
“I think it helps immensely with our teamwork with the sheriff’s office,” LaFevre said.
Teamwork is important, because the Tribe’s four-person force can’t provide 24-hour, 365-day coverage on the reservation.
“That truck will be responding at Kilkich when we’re not here,” LaFevre said.
Photo by Ed Glazar, The World
Thousands converged in North Bend to enjoy the 16th annual Mill-Luck Salmon Celebration, Coos Bay’s World newspaper reports. Full story
Coos Bay World, July 20, 2019
To Coquille Indians, giving gifts feels as natural as baking salmon or weaving baskets. The potlatch tradition infuses the Coquille Tribe’s sense of itself – and its relationship with its non-tribal neighbors.
Links to news media coverage of the Coquille Tribe’s 2019 Restoration Celebration:
Bandon powwow “stirred my soul” (Medford Mail Tribune)
How to pronounce “Coquille” (KCBY)
Coming home – Coquille Tribe celebrations 30th Restoration anniversary (The Coos Bay World)
By Jillian Ward/The World
COOS BAY — The Coquille Indian Tribe has been recognized as a school sponsor for Madison Elementary.
The tribe awarded $5,000 to benefit the Start Making a Reader Today Program, better known as the SMART Program. The non-profit has provided almost 1,400 books to children at Madison where 101 children are served, including all of its kindergarten students in its K-SMART Program.
NORTH BEND – The largest was $20,000, the smallest just $1,110. Whatever the size, each of the 49 grants awarded by the Coquille Tribal Community Fund this year will improve life in a local community.
Grantees and local dignitaries gathered at The Mill Casino-Hotel on Friday to celebrate the work of the grantees. This year’s tribal fund grants totaled $261,762.50. The fund, consistently the leading source of charitable grants for South Coast nonprofits, has distributed more than $6.4 million since it was launched in 2001.
The fund’s largest 2019 grant was $20,000 to the Umpqua Community Health Center, to help buy a new ultrasound machine for expectant mothers. The machine will replace an obsolete model nearly three decades old.
The smallest 2019 grant was $1,110, awarded to the Lakeside Community Presbyterian Church’s warming center project. Operating on a frugal budget, the church opens its doors to homeless people on nights when the temperature dips below freezing. The $1,110 will cover its costs for a whole year.
Money for the fund comes from a share of the tribe’s casino revenue. Each year an appointed board of tribal members and community leaders meets to review applications and decide on the awards.
The year’s board consisted of Coquille Tribal Council Secretary Linda Mecum; Coos County Commissioner Melissa Cribbins; state Rep. Gary Leif; Chelsea Burns, Coquille Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors; Joe Benetti, mayor of Coos Bay; Jon Ivy, tribal member; and Scott LaFevre, tribal member.
The tribal fund’s next application cycle will begin Sept. 1. Learn more at www.coquilletribe.org, or call fund Administrator Jackie Chambers at (541) 756-0904.
Here’s a list of 2019 grants:
Volunteer Kendall Smith, left, coaches Kiyanna Day and Mackenzie Thompson during a “Girls Who Code” session at the Boys and Girls Club. The program, sponsored by the Southwestern Oregon Workforce Investment Board, was one of 49 recipients of Coquille Tribal Community Fund grants in 2019.
March 2019
COOS BAY – If technology is the future, sixth-grader Jade Moon plans to be ready.
Every Wednesday afternoon, Jade logs onto a laptop and joins other girls to learn the fundamentals of computer programming. Their after-school class, “Girls Who Code,” encourages middle-school girls to explore careers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
“I just love the fact that I’m learning all this stuff that I can use in the future,” Jade said. “If I decide to be a programmer, I can.”
Girls Who Code is a nationwide organization that aims to close the national gender gap in technology. With nearly 90,000 girls involved nationwide, the movement challenges the antiquated notion that math and science are mostly for boys.
The local chapter meets weekly at the Boys & Girls Club in Coos Bay. It’s being supported this year by a $7,000 grant from the Coquille Tribal Community Fund. Jackie Chambers, the Coquille Tribal member who administers the fund, is enthusiastic about it.
“Part of the Coquille Indian Tribe’s focus is to help our young people get an education and advance in life,” Chambers said. “We’re proud to make this contribution, and we can’t wait to see what these girls accomplish in their lives.”
The women who lead and teach the local group use words such as “empowerment” and “sisterhood” to describe the spirit of Girls Who Code. They say their goal is to break the cultural barrier that still discourages girls from pursuing STEM subjects.
The program’s website boasts of building “the largest pipeline of future female engineers in the United States.”
“It’s a huge tool for the future,” said Courtney DuMond, a volunteer in the local program.
On one recent Wednesday, the girls learned about using a simple programming language to create a quiz game. They also learned the real-world skill of establishing SMART goals. (SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.)
Each year the girls are asked to apply their technological lessons to a project with social implications. This year’s team chose anxiety and depression. They’ll address the subject with tools such as building a website or making a video. Thus they learn to use technology while practicing teamwork, problem solving and compassion.
“I’d like to get the people who have depression and anxiety — and sometimes both – some help,” Jade said.
Girls Who Code was one of 13 education-related programs receiving grants from the Coquille Tribal Community Fund in 2019. The 13 grants, totaling $69,025, were part of the $261,762 being distributed to 49 organizations during the fund’s annual “Grant Week.” Since 2001, the tribal fund has distributed more than $6.4 million, using revenue from The Mill Casino-Hotel & RV Park.
FOCCAS volunteer Sheila Ward loves cats, but she and others are working to limit Coos County’s feline population.
March 2019
You can run out of gas. You can run out of money, time or patience.
Nobody ever seems to run out of cats.
“Cat overpopulation in this area is a terrible problem,” said Sheila Ward, a volunteer with Friends of Coos County Animals. “I think it’s a problem everywhere.”
Specifically, it’s a math problem. Cats aren’t far behind rabbits in the multiplication department. A female cat may get pregnant when she’s just 4 months old, and she can deliver as many as three litters a year.
So FOCCAS fights a perpetual campaign to reduce uncontrolled cat breeding. One of its allies is the Coquille Tribal Community, which this year gave the group a $5,000 grant to help cover vet fees.
FOCCAS was founded in 2006 to promote animal welfare and ease the strain on the county shelter. Its 35 volunteer foster homes have cared for thousands of animals awaiting adoption.
Cats in the group’s care consistently outnumber dogs, but the felines’ rapid reproduction is only one reason. Owner attitudes are another.
“They just don’t think of spaying and neutering their cats as much as they do with dogs,” Ward said.
When kittens arrive, people commonly advertise them on Facebook, give them away outside Walmart, or dump them along some rural road. Sometimes people move out of an apartment, leaving behind a cat and half a dozen kittens.
“Hundreds of cats just get thrown away,” Ward said. “Certain times of the year, we have dozens and dozens.”
Tribal fund Administrator Jackie Chambers said she’s glad for the chance to help.
“I feel like this is an issue that we can all relate to,” she said. “In receiving this grant, FOCCAS is giving people in our community the means to keep their pets healthy and safe.”
The Coquille Tribe’s grant will help cat owners who can’t afford the cost of spaying (for female cats) or neutering (for males). FOCCAS provides vouchers for the S/Nipped clinic in Empire.
Along with financial help, FOCCAS aims to change cat owners’ attitudes. Ward said some people who receive vouchers neglect to use them. She recalled a woman who forgot to fix her tomcat, only to face a big vet bill after a feline rendezvous led to a bloody fight.
“You reach some of them, and you don’t reach others,” Ward said. “The ones who really care about this, and they’re invested in their cat, they’ll take care of it right away — and they’ll tell their friends.”
The Coquille Tribe’s $5,000 grant to FOCCAS was one of two environment-oriented grants the tribe will award during its 2019 Grant Week. The Coos Watershed Association received $2,000 for a project involving environmental murals and native plant species.
Overall, the tribal fund’s Grant Week awards totaled $261,762 to 49 grantee agencies. Since being founded in 2001, the fund has awarded more than $6.4 million to community organizations serving five counties.
FOCCAS needs donations, volunteers and additional foster homes for dogs and cats. Adoptable pets are on display each Saturday at Pony Village Mall. Learn more at http://www.friendsofcooscountyanimals.org, or call (541) 269-1989.
