Yesteryears -- Feb. 15, 2013

2008 - The Tribe voted during a Feb. 8 special election to approve one of three proposed amendments to the Tribal Constitution regarding enrollment requirements. The only amendment to pass with enough votes was a requirement that Native Americans currently enrolled in another Tribe will have to wait five years after relinquishing their rights to membership in the other Tribe before they can be considered for enrollment in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Before passage, the relinquishment period was one year.

2003 - Grand Ronde flew its flags at half-mast in honor of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart during re-entry into the atmosphere on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 1. Grand Ronde Tribal member and Air Force veteran Buddy White was pictured lowering the flags.

1998 - Tribal member Connie (Mercier) Lopez received a certificate of recognition for 25 years of service in working for the U.S. government. She worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a teacher at Santa Rosa Boarding Day School on the Papago Indian Agency in Sells, Ariz. She is the eldest daughter of Darrel and Ruth Mercier.

1993 - Sen. Mark Hatfield was appointed to the U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Mark Phillips, Washington representative for the Grand Ronde Tribe, said Hatfield's new committee assignment will give Oregon Tribes an important voice in legislative affairs.

1988 - Senior Miss Grand Ronde Cindy Martin was looking for candidates for Tribal Royalty to fill the posts of Senior Miss Grand Ronde and Junior Miss Grand Ronde. "The most important part of being on the Royalty Court for the individual is the opportunity to meet many new people, not only within our own Tribe, but in other Tribes and cities," she said.

Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year increments through the pages of Smoke Signals.