Yesteryears -- June 15, 2017

2012 – Spirit Mountain Casino’s float, named “Love Rocks,” won the President’s Award and was the lead float in the parade. Tribal members Kiana Leno and Peter Nelson were the models for the Native boy and girl depicted on the float.

2007 – In support of a bill introduced into the 110^th Congress that would include Grand Ronde in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Act, the Tribe produced an eight-minute DVD “to demonstrate to state and federal authorities that members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde have always had ties to the Columbia River Gorge area,” Public Affairs Director Siobhan Taylor said. Tribal Elders Valerie Alexander, Marilyn Portwood and Chuck Williams participated in the production.

2002 – The Tribal newspaper, Smoke Signals, hired a new staff writer. Ron Karten, originally from New York, had lived in Oregon for 20 years. He had written for several different magazines and also worked for Oregon State Sen. John Lim from 1993-97.

1997 – Jackie Provost, Emma Leno and Miranda Provost represented the Tribe while riding on the Tribe’s Grand Floral Parade float. The judges’ top prize – the Sweepstakes Award – went to the Tribal float, which showed a bobcat playing with a butterfly to reflect the parade theme “Having Fun.”

1992 – Tribal Council scheduled a public hearing in the Tribal Community Center to hear community input on substance abuse and its effect on programs and services provided by the Tribe. Tribal Council was reviewing whether to expand the current Drug-Free Workplace Policy, which involves drug testing only under certain circumstances to a random program.

1987 – Tribal members were receiving about two pounds of salmon each on a first-come, first-served basis. The subsistence salmon came from the fish hatchery at Dexter Dam outside of Eugene.

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