Smoke signals., December 01, 1989, Image 1

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THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE
GRAND RONDE COMMUNITY OF OREGON - December wsq
TRIBAL GOVERNMENT:
How It Works For You
Q The people of the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde were effected dramatically by the United States
Government's Termination Act of 1954. The relation
ship between the Tribe and the federal government -which
was a trust relationship established by both
governments through treaties - was severed.
The discontinuation of that government-to-government
relationship ultimately meant that the services that had
been provided to the Tribe by the federal government
were no longer made available. These services, that had
been guaranteed by treaty, included housing assistance,
educational benefits, economic development assistance
and most importantly, health care benefits.
Termination, and the loss of services resulting from
termination, led to the almost complete destruction of
the Tribes' identity as a people. Shortly after this, the
community of Grand Ronde slowly disintegrated
because people had to seek gainful employment and
better living conditions in other areas. Therefore, the
homelands that were also promised by treaty were
basically destroyed.
One of the more dramatic effects of termination was
the ensuing poverty level of Tribal members. The
extreme poverty conditions could be directly attributed
to the fact that many of the members were untrained in
job skills, uneducated and inherently ignorant of the
dominant culture's social practices. There was also a
significant increase in alcoholism among the people of
Grand Ronde. Having been stripped of their access to
federal services and realistic employment opportunities
as well as having their community decimated, tribal
members were left with an impending sense of hopeless
ness concerning their situation. It was that sense of
hopelessness that contributed greatly to the increasingly
high rate of alcoholism.
"For a federal agency to move in, and by an
act of law remove the identity, or attempt to
remove the identity, of a group of people is
absolutely incredible. The whole concept was
incredibly arrogant on the part of the legislators
at that time..'"
Jim Willis
In the area of Health, the high rate of alcoholism led to
increased incidents of heart disease and other serious
health problems like diabetes. The lack of access to
medical care meant that even though people needed
medical attention they couldn't get it because they
couldn't afford it and they didn't have the resources to
obtain it. '
According to the Tribes' General Manager Jim Willis,
the most significant result of Termination was the
beginning of "a process of stripping away the identity of
the people" of the Confederated Tribes of Grand
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The guest of honor at therTribes' Restoration Celebration was Elizabeth Furse. Furse, who was instrumental in
helping the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde attain Tribal status, spoke to the general membership about what
the early days of the Restoration effort were like. The Tribe celebrated the sixth anniversary of their Restoration to
Tribal status on November 19th at the Grand Ronde Elementary School. Actual Restoration was November 22,
1983.
Ronde. "It is only through the incredible will and
perservance of the members of the Tribe that they were
able to maintain any semblance of identity as Grand
Ronde Indians," said Willis. Willis also said "for a
federal agency to move in, and by an act of law remove
the identity, or attempt to remove the identity, of a
group of people is absolutely incredible. The whole
concept was incredibly arrogant on the part of the legis
lators at that time; and of course the effect was devas
tating for the people of the Tribe."
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