Yesteryears -- March 1, 2018

2013 – Grand Ronde Tribal members fared well at the state wrestling tournament held in Portland, winning two state titles and taking two second places. Dallas High School sophomore Matthew Hofenbredl, 16, added a second consecutive title to his record. He had been wrestling since the age of 5. Scio High School senior Josh Parazoo, 18, did the same while his brother, Scio freshman Justin, 15, placed second in the finals. The brothers had been wrestling in Scio since they were 4 years of age. Michael Reyes, 15, a freshman at Willamina High School, took second place in the Class 3A 113-pound division.

2008 – Tribal members were to have five opportunities to testify about the Warm Springs Tribe’s proposal to build an off-reservation casino in Cascade Locks, which is part of the ancestral and historic lands of the Tribes and Bands that make up the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The first meeting concerning the Cascade Locks casino draft environmental impact statement was set for Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino on the Warm Springs Reservation. The Warm Springs Tribe was seeking to build a 603,000-square-foot riverfront destination resort and casino on 60 acres of industrially-zoned land in the environmentally sensitive Columbia River Gorge.

2003 – Tribal member Jake McKnight joined a team comprised of Natural Resources Department firefighters who were deployed to Texas to help find wreckage of the space shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated upon re-entering Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven crew members. In addition to six Tribal employees, the team also included four Forest Service workers from the Siuslaw National Forest and nine from the Willamette National Forest. The team’s expertise was in gridding the search areas by walking as well as following compass lines in rough vegetation.

1998 – The new governance building was under construction and scheduled to open in September. The 40,000-square-foot building and parking was expected to take up four acres and allow views of Spirit Mountain. “Appearance is only part of the overall function that the Tribe intends for the building,” an article stated. “The Tribe is striving to create quality services within the building. The administration building will centralize many programs that are currently widespread throughout many buildings.” The building was to become home to Tribal Council, the Legal Department, Tribal Court and Finance, as well as function in a manner similar to a State Capitol building.

1993 – Tribal member Charlene Freeman was featured as entrepreneur of the month for her business, C Street Hair, in Independence. She worked “very closely” with Economic Development Specialist Elaine Moore to refine the details of her business, such as having customers in a database, utilizing tax write-offs and working on expense tracking. “Thanks to the Tribe, I am a lot more organized,” Freeman said. “I have learned more than I ever dreamed. Every day, there’s something new.”

1988 – A Tribal voter registration drive was occurring by Social Services staff to make an effort to register every eligible voter for upcoming elections. “Too often individual voting rights are viewed as inconsequential or unimportant,” an article stated. “And sometimes it is difficult to feel your vote has much of an impact on the outcome of an election or how an issue is resolved. However, nothing could be further than the truth.” In an effort to help Tribal members participate, staff offered to assist in the voter registration process and had forms available at the offices or could arrange for an in-home visit if needed.

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