Yesteryears -- Nov. 1, 2020

2015 – Tribal Council voted to pursue the purchase of the 31-acre Multnomah Greyhound Park site in Wood Village during its Oct. 14 meeting. The site, which was no longer used for dog racing, was listed for sale at $11.2 million. Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno said that the Tribe was developing a business plan for the property that would diversify the Tribe’s economic base. 

2010 – Tribal member Hattie Mercier, 5, was featured in Nickelodeon Junior’s “Kids Across the World,” documentary. The Nickelodeon crew conducted interviews with children ages 4 to 6 from around the world. The 60-second spots had the children show and talk about their lives. The crew filmed Hattie at home in Willamina, at the home of her grandfather, Tribal Elder Darrell Mercier, and at her Tribal kindergarten Chinuk Wawa immersion class.

2005 – The Grand Ronde Tribe was selected by the Northwest Indian Housing Association as “Tribe of the Year.” Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Director Carina Kistler Ginter presented the award to Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy at a General Council meeting. Acting General Manager Chris Leno presented Ginter with the “Executive of the Year” award from NIHA.

2000 – Tribal member Lynn Robertson returned home after four months of fighting wildfires with the Interagency Hotshot Firefighting Crew. He worked in Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Oregon. Robertson’s firefighting crew worked an average of 18 hours a day and he estimated putting in approximately 1,200 hours of overtime in four months. “It was a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it because we got a lot of community support from the people whose homes we were saving,” he said.

1995 – More than 4,000 Tribal members, civic leaders, business vendors and others involved in Spirit Mountain Casino celebrated the opening of Oregon's newest and largest Tribal gaming facility. Celebrants crowded the casino’s bingo hall to hear presentations by Tribal Chairman Mark Mercier and Vice Chair Kathryn Harrison. Afterward, attendees adjourned to try gambling on the 700 slot machines, 25 blackjack tables and other games available in the 90,000-square-foot facility.

1990 – Tribal member Angie Leno was honored at Western Oregon State College, where she was a freshman. She was one of 16 minority students honored at a dinner hosted by the school president for receiving the Minority Achievement Scholarship. “The dinner acknowledges that the students are here on campus,” said Director of Minority Affairs Oscar Galindo. “I felt that the school needed to let these students know, ‘Hey we’re glad you’re here and we’re proud of you.’ ”

1985 – Tribal Chairman Henry Petite announced his resignation at a General Council meeting. The council nominated Vice Chair Mark Mercier to fill the vacancy. “As you know, we have been extremely busy working on our Reservation plan,” Mercier said. “Once these meetings are complete, the final wrap-up of the plan will be implemented.”

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