Yesteryears - May 1, 2024

2019 –Tribal Council member and Tribal Elder Steve Bobb Sr. was inducted into the first Willamina High School Hall of Fame at an induction dinner and auction. The event was a benefit for the school’s athletic program. “Steve has made outstanding contributions to the athletic program at Willamina High School as a Bulldog supporter,” Athletic Director Jerry Buczynski said. Bobb attended Willamina High School in the 1960s.

2014 – The Tribe’s Cultural Education and Outreach Program was working on a Chinuk Wawa language application. Tribal members had an opportunity to volunteer to have their photo taken to accompany words in the app. The free app was being made for the iPhone and iPad, and one for the Android operating system was to follow in 2015.

2009 – Tribal member and Youth Education High School Lead/Tutor Chris Bailey was accepted into the Sapsik’wala Teaching Program at the University of Oregon. Sapsik’wala is a teaching degree program that supports education, training and mentoring of Native American teachers. Classes began in June 2009 and ended in August 2010.

2004 – The Tribe’s Youth Education Department held its annual College & Career Fair in the Tribal gym. More than 200 students attended the fair, which had 34 booths and included representatives from Northwest Indian College, community colleges, state colleges, private universities, military recruiters, lending agencies and job corporations. The purpose of the day was to promote colleges and careers for students after high school graduation.

1999 – For the first time ever, Grand Ronde’s basketball team made the national Indian tournament where they made a valiant effort against some tough competition. Melvin Brisbois, Richard Brisbois, Haa-nah Mike, Issack Kentta, Lenny Logan and Duane Manyhides played some tough games in the National Indian Athletic Association’s 26^th annual basketball championship in Salem, but did not bring home any victories.

1994 – Tribal Council and the Spirit Mountain Development Corp. developed an employment policy for staffing the new gaming center. Bruce Thomas, the corporation’s executive director, said that if a Tribal member and non-Tribal worker applied for the same job, the Tribal member would be given preference – if the two were judged to be equal in all requirements.

1989 – The Tribe’s annual Memorial Day gathering was set for Saturday, May 27. It was held at the Grand Ronde Elementary School.

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