Yesteryears -- May 1, 2018

2013 – The Tribe mounted a new exhibit at the Willamette Heritage Center at the The Mill in Salem. “We Were Here First … and We Are Here to Stay: Assimilation, Termination and Restoration of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon” took visitors through the 1850s Treaty Era to the Termination Era of the 1950s to the Tribe’s preparation for its 30^th anniversary of being restored. The exhibit was curated by the Land and Culture Department Exhibits and Archives Program staff members David Lewis, Julie Brown and Veronica Montano.

2008 – The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission approved a rule change that returned big-game hunting rights for cultural ceremonies to Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde members. The Tribe had been working to regain the rights after losing them. “A great day … a historic day,” said Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn Leno. “I wish every Tribal member knew what was going on here today.”

2003 – Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy testified before the Senate Health Policy Committee on SB 878, which amended a previous legislative decision made the prior year to cut health benefits for Native Americans along with the general population of Oregon as a cost-savings move. However, the new plan included higher deductibles and loss of preventive care services. “It’s hardly an insurance plan at all,” said Edward Fox, director of the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board.

1998 – Language specialist Tony Johnson was featured for his development of a Chinuk Wawa archive of written and audio materials. Johnson was pursuing a master’s degree in linguistics at the University of Oregon when he was recruited as a language specialist by the Grand Ronde Culture Board. He decided that establishment of a language program archive was an essential first step. With the help of archival materials, Tribal Elders and his own experience, Johnson compiled a dictionary of 825 Chinuk words with English equivalents. He also adapted a font created by a Canadian professor that could be easily modified to represent all the sounds in Chinuk Wawa.

1993 – Tribal Council Chairman Mark Mercier attended a Forest Conference in Portland with President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Clinton came to Portland to discuss the “timber crisis” with various political figures, business owners, Tribal officials and environmentalists. During the daylong conference, Clinton listened to both sides speak about their concerns. His Cabinet was set to bring a plan to end the gridlock within 60 days of the conference.

1988 – A hearing for the Grand Ronde Reservation Act was held in Washington, D.C. At the same time the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs had its hearing, Oregon Sen. Mark Hatfield submitted a similar bill in the Senate to show his support for the establishment of a 9,811-acre Reservation in Yamhill County. Rep. Les AuCoin, who introduced the Reservation Bill in the House of Representatives, said that the Tribe had agreed not to export logs or compete in the timber market for 20 years. “This is an important gesture by the Grand Ronde Tribe,” he said. “A gesture that shows a good neighbor attitude for the nonTribal community in this heavily timber-dependent region of my district.”

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