Yesteryears - March 1, 2016

2011 – A group of Cultural Resources Department employees were working on the first river canoe that the Grand Ronde people have built certainly since Restoration and likely since the early 1900s. “I haven’t found any proof of a canoe like this being made from Grand Ronde Natives since we were marched here in the 1800s,” said Cultural Education Specialist Brian Krehbiel.

2006 – During a book signing for Kristine Olson’s “Standing Tall: The Lifeway of Kathryn Jones Harrison,” Molalla Mayor Mike Clarke visited the Molalla Area Historical Society to make the Tribal Elder and former Tribal chairwoman an honorary citizen. “Welcome to my homeland,” Harrison told Clarke.

2001 – The Tribe’s new communication tower was completed. The 200-foot tall tower will enhance communications for emergency services in the Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan areas. The tower is located directly north of Spirit Mountain Casino and Highway 18.

1996 – Tribal Council announced its intention to adopt a Tribal Housing Ordinance that would establish the Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Authority, which will develop and implement Tribal housing programs that help needy Tribal members obtain decent housing.

1991 – Tribal Elders Ila Dowd and Nora Kimsey were among a group who attended the grand opening of the Polk County Museum in Dallas and showed off a set of baskets that were made almost 100 years earlier.

1986 – Ed Larsen at the Spirit Mountain Store at Agency started selling jackets, hats and T-shirts with the Tribal logo on them. The store was located at Highway 22 and Agency Creek Road. “The council wishes to thank Ed for his cooperation in selling them,” reported Smoke Signals.

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