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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 15, 2016)
14 S moke S ignals OCTOBER 15, 2016 Flags will remind those of relations with Tribes FLAGS continued from front page Portland between the Cow Creek and Klamath lags. Odd place? Not according to Billy J. Wil- liams, U.S. Attorney for Oregon, who said during a recognition cer- emony on Wednesday, Oct. 5, that posting the nine flags of Oregon Tribes in a room where many large meetings are held will remind fed- eral employees of the importance of government-to-government re- lations with Tribes. “We’ve done this because we want a complete display of lags of im- portance in the District of Oregon,” Williams said. “So we approached each Tribal nation in requesting a lag to display in this room. … We believe that the display of Tribal lags along with the U.S. lag and that of the state of Oregon will rec- ognize the importance of the Tribal sovereignty of Tribal nations in the state of Oregon. These lags will be a reminder to all employees of the department and any visitors – we hold a lot of meetings in this room – of our government-to-government relationships. It is genuinely a great honor to display these lags in this room.” Williams, who has worked in U.S. Attorney’s Ofice for almost 16 years, said he started as the Tribal liaison for the Department of Justice. He said it took about two years to obtain all of the lags from Oregon’s Tribes. “The U.S. Attorney’s Ofice has a long history of working with Tribal nations in the state of Oregon and we have a rich history of honoring the trust relationship that we have with each of the nine federally rec- ognized Tribes,” Williams said. “We have strived to build those strong relationships through annual con- sultations and getting involved in issues of importance to individual Tribes in both the criminal and civil arena. “I would note that as someone who has been involved in our gov- ernment-to-government relation- ships for the past 16 years, every former U.S. Attorney that I have served under has made Indian Country a priority. … I think that we have been passionate about liv- ing up to our trust responsibilities here in the District of Oregon. “Consultation between the Unit- ed States and the Tribes is the cornerstone of our Tribal work. We can’t do our jobs without those consultations.” Because of a budget summit and conlicting obligations, no Grand Ronde Tribal Council members attended, but Tribal member Da- vid Harrelson, the Tribe’s Historic Preservation oficer, accepted the award for the Tribe. Following the presentation of awards to Tribal leaders, Williams opened the loor for comments. Harrelson stressed the impor- tance of treaties, especially the Willamette Valley Treaty of 1855 that was signed by his ancestor, Joseph Shangretta. “On behalf of Grand Ronde, I want to thank you for acknowl- edging and recognizing the first peoples of Oregon,” Harrelson said. “Something that is very important, and I know yourself and a lot of the people in this room understand, is what treaties are and what they mean, but it is something that a lot of the world doesn’t understand. A lot of the work that we do is try to convey that.” Harrelson looked out the sixth- loor window at the high-rise build- ings in Portland, which is part of the Grand Ronde ceded lands. “Those treaties are forgotten about,” Harrelson said. “You will hear Tribal people talk about our treaties and talk about these things that have happened and these ob- ligations that were made, and ulti- mately it is all a part of a narrative of ‘We don’t exist anymore. We’re extinct.’ … I have to explain to peo- ple all of the time that we are still here. The people of this place, we have survived. We survived remov- al, we survived the reservation era and forced assimilation, and in the end we even survived Termination. “The other component is that treaties are not just Tribe’s trea- ties, they are the foundation for everything. They are the founda- tion for that while we survive, this place thrives. Look at this; we are standing in these tall skyscrapers in Portland: our former lands, for- mer village sites, our former ishing grounds. Everything that has made this place great and wealthy was once ours. And there are still pieces of it that are still ours. “We have to work through that process and share that these trea- ties are not only the foundation for Tribal people and our future and how we survive, but also for this place and how Oregon thrives.” Harrelson complimented the U.S. Attorney’s Office for recog- nizing not only the Grand Ronde treaties, but also those of other Oregon Tribes. “The U.S. Attorney’s Ofice has been an ally in recognizing what those foundational legal documents are to the state of Oregon and this land itself, as well as Tribes,” Har- relson said. Also in attendance was Senior Staff Attorney Deneen Aubertin Keller. Other high-proile Oregon Tribal leaders included Dee Pigsley from Siletz and Michael Rondeau from the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua In- dians. Almost every Oregon Tribe, including the eastern Tribes, sent representatives to the event. Ad created by George Valdez