Yesteryears -- March 15, 2014

2009 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Carcieri v. Salazar that the Secretary of the Interior does not have the authority to take land into trust for Tribes that came under federal jurisdiction after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act was adopted. The ruling placed a significant hurdle in the way of Native American Tribes recognized after 1934 to have the federal government take land into trust for them.

2004 - Tribal member Meghan Zimbrick helped the Willamina Bulldogs win their first ever state playoff game 45-29 against East Linn Christian High School. Also on the team were Tribal members Caitlin Zimbrick and Janel Lara.

1999 - Tribal Chair Kathryn Harrison penned a letter from Tribal Council regarding an upcoming vote on blood quantum enrollment issues. "Enrollment of members with no social, cultural or economic ties to the Tribe serves to erode the Tribe's identity," Harrison wrote in discussing how Tribal membership had grown from 862 members in 1983 to 4,333 in early 1999.

1994 - Three Native American artifacts were donated to the Tribe by Sharon and Richard Doran of Sheridan. They included a Makah or Nootka basket, a grinding rock found along the banks of the Yamhill River, and a berry crock that was found on Slick Rock Mountain. The Tribe was "aggressively" seeking historical items and encouraged anyone interested in making a donation to contact Tribal offices.

1989 - A raffle drawing was scheduled to help send Stan Kneeland to run in the April 1 Boston Marathon. Kneeland took first in the Grand Ronde Annual Fun Run in August 1988 and said at that time that he was planning on running the more than 26 miles in Boston.

1984 - Eight of the nine members of the Interim Tribal Council spent a day in orientation about the Bureau of Indian Affairs' programs, personnel, branches and services during Tribal Recognition Day at the Portland area office.

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