Yesteryears -- June 1, 2019

2014 – The 12^th anniversary of the dedication of the West Valley Veterans Memorial saw more than 250 people attend. The event began with a noon meal of ceremonial stew and an invocation by former Tribal Council Chair Kathryn Harrison. Tribal Royalty helped serve the meal and later performed “The Lord’s Prayer” during the memorial ceremony. Flags were at half-staff as the lunch crowd moved to the Veterans Memorial. Special mention was made of the passing of Tribal Elder and World War II veteran Gene Hudson.

2009 – Spirit Mountain Casino opened its two latest entertainment venues over Memorial Day weekend. “It was a true entertainment weekend,” said Spirit Mountain Casino Marketing Manager Greg Fritz. “People had four places to go for entertainment.” The 3,884-square-foot, 381-seat Mountain View Sports Bar and 2,900-square-foot, 287-person capacity Raindrops Nightclub opened and brought standing-room-only crowds to the casino over the weekend.

2004 – The Tribe’s Cultural Resources Department, in cooperation with the Mission Mill Museum Association, collaborated on the reprinting of Dr. Harold Mackey’s book, “The Kalapuyans,” long considered to be one of the most accessible resources for information and history on the Native Americans of the Willamette Valley. The book had been out of print for 30 years and was a challenge to locate. The book was re-released with the permission of the Mackey family in a second edition with a new cover, photographs and a new paragraph explaining the Grand Ronde perspective. There was also an updated bibliography with sources.

1999 – The Grand Ronde Tribe hosted almost 200 Tribal leaders and representatives at Spirit Mountain Casino for the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians mid-year conference. The organization includes Tribes from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeast Alaska, northern California and Montana.

1994 – Construction of the Tribe’s multi-million gaming facility was scheduled to begin later in the year. The Tribe was awaiting an amendment to the Grand Ronde Reservation Act to pass, which would end Interior Department confusion about gaming on the land along Highway 18. The delay was a result of a technicality in the compact agreement signed between the state and the Tribe regarding what land was allowed for Tribal gaming facilities.

1989 – The Grand Ronde Tribe held its first Reservation timber sale, which included 3,695 board feet of timber that was purchased by Hampton Lumber. The Western Skies sale was valued at approximately $1.3 million.

1984 – Tribal member Toni Mercier was running for the position of Junior Miss Delta Park. She was asking for support of her Tribe by people buying tickets to the event at the upcoming Memorial Day gathering in Grand Ronde.

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