Yesteryears -- July 1, 2019

2014 – Seventy-eight Tribal employees were recognized for a combined 875 years of service to the Grand Ronde Tribe during an employee recognition event held at the Community Center. Health & Wellness Business Officer Manager Tresa Mercier reached her 29^th anniversary of working for the Tribe. She began working on Oct. 1, 1984.

2009 – Tribal Elder Gene LaBonte was elected to chair the Governor’s Veterans’ Affairs Advisory Committee. LaBonte, a Vietnam War-era Navy veteran, was appointed to a four-year term on the committee the year before. His one-year term as chair was set to begin in September. The group was working toward building a second veterans’ home in the state, as well as seeking legislation that equalized payments to all veterans, regardless whether one served in a battle zone or at a base.

2004 – Tribal member Jan Michael Reibach was chosen as one of the nominees for the Indian Summer Music Awards to be held in Milwaukee, Wis., in September. The awards were designed to honor the best Native American music that had been released nationwide. Reibach’s “Native Blues” album was nominated in the blues category and his “One Heart, One Spirit” album was nominated in the flute category. “My music has evolved into something unique,” he said.

1999 – The Tribe signed an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service as a first step toward coordinating management of 6,600 acres of national forest lands with the Reservation. The agreement was a result of an idea that was raised at a Forest Service meeting almost two years previously and proposed to Natural Resources staff. The stewardship agreement would allow the Tribe to cooperatively manage Forest Service land in the same watershed basin as the Reservation.

1994 – The Department of the Interior gave the go-ahead for the Tribe to begin construction of its proposed multi-million gaming facility. After a compact agreement was approved by the state of Oregon the year before, final approval was delayed by the Interior Department on the grounds that the land along Highway 18 was not part of the Grand Ronde Reservation. Spirit Mountain Development Corp. expected the facility to open in mid-1995 and employ approximately 500 people.

1989 – The Tribe was developing a long-term master plan that focused specifically on housing and community development. “A long-term planning strategy is needed to obtain land and develop community facilities and housing in the Grand Ronde area,” Tribal Chairman Mark Mercier said. Once a land purchase was complete, the Tribe would have access to funding options through Housing and Urban Development and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

1984 – Eleven Tribal youth were hired through a contract with the Mid-Valley Jobs Council to work in the local area through mid-August. There were three major worksites: Tribal offices at the Depot, the Tribal greenhouse and cemetery. Youth employees were scheduled to scrape off old paint, care for plants, perform minor repairs, mow lawns and keep cemetery grounds clean.

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