Yesteryears -- Aug. 15, 2015

2010 – An event hosted by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde at Spirit Mountain Casino honored Sue Shaffer, longtime chairwoman of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, for her years of service to Indian County both in Oregon and nationally.

2005 – Grand Ronde Tribal members joined with Chinook Tribal members for the Paddle to Elwha Canoe Journey, which ended at Hollywood Beach in Port Angeles, Wash. Participants paddled more than 200 miles over 12 days.

2000 – Tribal Elder Grace Engelhardt cut the ribbon officially opening the new Elders’ housing development. The 38-unit development was funded through three Housing and Urban Development grants and additional funding came from Tribal Council.

1995 – A special section, “Grand Ronde Site Planning Project,” was published. Its purpose was to develop a site use plan for Tribal lands and a generalized land use compatibility plan for the associated areas in the Grand Ronde community.

1990 – Two Tribal members, Angela Leno and Chadwick Stryker, received Oregon Minority Achievement scholarships, which provided up to five years and paid for total tuition and fees at a state college or university.

1985 – Tribal Council thanked Powwow Chairman Dean Mercier and committee members for their efforts to put on the first annual Powwow Celebration. Tribal Council also thanked Val Grout and the Kitchen Committee, as well as Mike Larsen and Alton Butler for umpiring the softball tournament held in Willamina. “Considering this was the Tribe’s first annual powwow, the number of people turning out was successful,” Tribal Council said.

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