Tribal Council adds 23 more members to the Restoration Roll

By Dean Rhodes

Smoke Signals editor

The Grand Ronde Tribe’s effort to ensure that all Tribal members who should have been on the Restoration Roll are eventually placed on the historically important list continued as Tribal Council approved adding 23 more names to it during its Wednesday, Sept. 2, meeting.

The addition of 23 more names brings the total for this year to 78 additions to the Restoration Roll. In 2019, Tribal Council added 204 Tribal members to the roll.

The Restoration Roll was the first roll compiled of Grand Ronde Tribal members after Nov. 22, 1983. However, because the membership had become so dispersed during the 29 years of Termination, all those who should have been included could not be identified at the time or were unaware that they should have had their names on the roll.

The current process, which requires Tribal members apply for addition to the Restoration Roll, allows a Tribal member who was living on Aug. 13, 1954, and born to a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to be added.

In November 2018, Tribal Council approved a resolution that established criteria for consistently applying the phrase “entitled to be on the membership roll of the Tribe on Aug. 13, 1954” as meaning that the person was entitled to be on the roll if that person was alive on that date and born to a Tribal member.

The 23 names now move forward to the Department of the Interior for approval.

Tribal Council also approved the agenda for the Sunday, Sept.13, General Council meeting that will be held remotely using Zoom. Spirit Mountain Casino General Manager Stan Dillon will deliver his annual report in executive session.

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved a $209,223 contract with Scholten Construction of Willamina to expand the arbor at uyxat Powwow Grounds off Hebo Road. Tribal Council member Kathleen George said during the Tuesday, Sept. 1, Legislative Action Committee hearing that the expansion of the dancing circle is the first phase of a larger project to make the powwow grounds big enough to accommodate the crowds that participate during the August Contest Powwow;
• Approved an emergency amendment to the Tribal Housing Ordinance that will allow the Tribe to use a Housing & Urban Development program to expedite the foreclosure process for homes in Grand Meadows should a tenant be in default of their lease at the 36-lot manufactured home subdivision;
• Approved the Sawtooth timber harvest as presented by the Natural Resources Department that is projected to net the Tribe approximately $302,000 after expenses and fees;
• And approved the enrollment of one infant into the Tribe because he or she meets the requirements outlined in the Tribal Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance.

Also included in the Sept. 2 Tribal Council packet were approved authorizations to proceed that:

• Allows Health Services Executive Director Kelly Rowe to petition the Indian Health Service to expand the Tribe’s Contract Health Service Delivery Area to include Clackamas County, which is home to 170 enrolled Tribal members;
• Allows the hiring of a temporary position within the Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department that will be dedicated to patrolling Tribal lands;
• Hires Reece and Associates of Albany for engineering, design and construction services on the home ownership project;
• And approves the hiring of 11 Education Department staff members and funding the positions with CARES Act monies through the end of the year.

To watch the entire meeting, visit the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and click on the Government tab and Videos.