Tribal Council approves self-governance funding agreement

By Danielle Harrison and Nicole Montesano

Smoke Signals staff

The Wednesday, Dec. 4, Tribal Council meeting included a light agenda, with only four action items. This was due to a hearing that was scheduled in Portland that afternoon.

Council approved a 10-year Department of Interior self-governance funding agreement, which will run through 2034. The first one, a 5-year agreement, was approved in 2020.

Tribal Lands and Self-Governance Manager Jan Michael Reibach said the 10-year agreement will help reduce staff time spent on renewing agreements more frequently.

“Most Tribes have an annual agreement but when you have this, it requires extra processing and you have to renegotiate it every year,” Reibach said at a Tuesday, Dec. 3, Legislative Action Committee meeting. “By entering into the multi-year agreement, it streamlines the process and enables us to get our funding in a more expedited manner. … This year coming up, we’ll be reaching out to all the departments and programs that relate to self-governance…We’re doing well, but we want to do better and elevate our self-governance.”

The Tribe will receive a total of $3.66 million for self-governance in 2025, which is an increase of $8,003 over 2024.

The Tribe receives the funding for the purpose of carrying out Tribal self-governance programs such as government, education, human services, health care, public safety, community infrastructure, economic development, and lands and resource management.   

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved a timber distribution period of Jan. 1- Dec. 31, 2024, and declared Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, as the payment date.
• Approved enrolling one infant into the Tribe because they meet the enrollment requirements and denied enrolling one infant, because they did not meet the enrollment requirements in the Tribal Constitution.

In other news, Tribal Council Secretary Jon A. George read aloud a statement of the council’s opposition to Portland General Electric’s attempt to condemn the land at Willamette Falls where the Tribe received approval from the state to erect a removable fishing platform in 2018.

“Grand Ronde is actively opposing PGE’s condemnation efforts in federal court, challenging the company’s claims of authority and its unfounded safety concerns,” he said. “The Tribe has filed a claim for summary judgement in the case. This action (condemnation) jeopardizes the Tribe’s state-authorized cultural fishery and denies the public their right to access and enjoy this unique Oregon treasure.”

In 2023, the Oregon Department of State Lands extended the Grand Ronde Tribe’s permit to have a removable fishing platform at Willamette Falls through August 2028. The permit continues the Tribe’s ability to harvest up to 15 salmon annually for ceremonial purposes.

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