Yesteryears -- March 1, 2017

2012 – The Tribe celebrated two important milestones: Tribal Elder Pearl Lyon turned 100 years old on Feb. 20 and the Cultural Resources Department celebrated the publication of the new Chinuk Wawa dictionary, which ran almost 500 pages and included 1,000 core words and about 3,000 compound words.

2007 – Tribal member Mary Loy was hired by the Tribe’s Health & Wellness Department as the nurse navigator. She helped patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer or have had an abnormal screening. “Being able to give back to my people in any way possible is just a really good feeling,” she said.

2002 – Cliff Adams was appointed as the Tribe’s new general manager. He had previously worked for 14 years as the Tribe’s Natural Resources Department manager. “I’m excited about this because now I really get to see everything,” he said. “Now I get to know about all aspects of what goes on.”

1997 – Tribal Council made appointments to a re-organized Powwow Committee. Twenty-four applications were received and Donna Casey, Carol Gleason, Dana Leno, Mark Cook, Jon George, Kathy Tom and Joann Mercier were appointed with Mychal Leno and Dakota Whitecloud named as alternates.

1992 – After 4.5 years of hard work and dedication, Tribal Forester Cliff Adams receive the ax from Tribal Council -- a gold-plated ax as a token of appreciation for his years of service and commitment to the Grand Ronde Tribe.

1987 – Tribal member David LaChance, 94, of McMinnville received the Purple Heart medal 69 years after being wounded during World War I. He was wounded in the left shoulder and both legs while serving as a private with an Army infantry unit in France.

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