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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1999)
OR. COLL. IE :78 CHASTA i . 06 UMPQUA !S66 MOLALLA December KALAPUYA 1 1993 TXffNNPfrF ROGUE RIVER I A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe December 1, 1999 Members gather to celebrate Restoration By Tracy Dugan More than 200 tribal members and family came to the Grand Ronde El ementary School on November 21 to celebrate the anniversary of Grand Ronde Restoration. This year, the Tribe celebrated 16 years of being federally recognized. The Grand Ronde Royalty Committee and the Royalty participants hosted the celebration. Signed by President Reagan on November 22, 1983, the Grand Ronde Restoration Act allowed the Tribe to be recog- sovereign na function as its ernment, as allow tribal in A) nized as a tion, and own gov- well as a mem- ,: ' V ff' : 1 1 , bers to receive benefits from federal Native programs such as Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. After federal recog nition, the Tribe received 9,811 acres of reservation land in Grand Ronde. At the celebration, Council Chair Kathryn Harrison thanked the people who were involved in the res toration effort during the early years. "We should thank those people who worked so hard for all of us," said Harrison. "Not just today, but anytime of the year." Harrison said that although we can be proud of what we have now, we should not forget the hard times. "This is the Thanksgiving season. It's a good time to reflect on how far we've come," she said. "Here we are, with our buildings, our land, and re sources at our disposal. Let's thank those people who started this effort." Merle Leno was the announcer for the celebration. Before the feast was served, some prizes were given to tribal members who came to the event. Ila Dowd received a prize for being the eldest woman at the cel ebration; Leonard Vivette received a prize for being the eldest man. Leonard also won the prize given out for the tribal member who trav eled the greatest distance to be at the celebration. He lives in Yakima. Stan Speaks, Area Director for the Continued on page 2 Royalty princesses Andrea Childers, (left) and Ashley Bedortha celebrate with family members Angie Ellis (Ashley's mom) and grandma Candy Robertson. Photo by Tracy Dugan mum wsnmmw mm liters encouraged to apply for housing By Brent Merrill The dream of having a place for tribal Elders to live in the heart of the Grand Ronde community will soon come true for many. An area near the current tribal governance center has been cleared and construction is under way, and is scheduled for completion in August of 2000. The Elders' housing project is a 38 unit rental development, which is receiving funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The units will be made up of 900 square foot duplexes, triplexes and four-plexes. Each unit will have two bedrooms, one bathroom, front porch and patio and a carport with storage. Gas ranges, refrigerators, dish washers, washers and dryers, gas forced air heating and air condition ing are featured in each unit. Units will be handicapped accessible and can be fitted for wheelchairs inside as well. The housing complex will have walking paths around it. Tribal Occupancy Specialist Bryan Langley said the process for Elders Continued on page 2 Bl (BflD ami, GSpS1 Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon 9615 Grand Ronde Road Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347 Address Service Requested PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALEM, OR PERMIT NO. 178 Serials 0&r t . UNIUERSI EUGENE OR &r-4t University of Oregon Library Received on: l-0-99 Smoke signals Spirit Mountain to develop, manage Spokane casino for Kalispel Tribe Spirit Mountain Casino will serve as the primary management con sultant to the Kalispel Tribe in de veloping the Kalispel's Northern Quest Casino north of Spokane. Spirit Mountain will help provide equity and other financing to build the casino. It will oversee construc tion and operation of the casino for five years. "Spirit Mountain has helped turn things around for the Grand Ronde people," said Kathryn Harrison, chairwoman of the Tribal Council. "We are happy to be helping another tribe work toward self-sufficiency." "The management team at Spirit Mountain has a firsthand under standing of the economic develop ment and self-sufficiency goals of the Kalispel Tribe," said Glen Nenema, Chairman of the Kalispel Tribal Busi ness Council. "They are a good fit." The Kalispel Tribe plans to open its casino next fall. It is expected to employ 500 people, with a payroll of $12 million. Revenue from the ca sino will fund tribal education and their Camas Institute, developed in association with Dartmouth College and Gonzaga University to provide educational and employment oppor tunities for the general public and other Native Americans living near the Kalispel reservation. The casino also will provide employment oppor tunities for the greater eastern Washington community. "It is unique for a tribe to step in to help out another tribe " said Bruce Thomas, Spirit Mountain CEO. "This is a great opportunity for us to share our experience and expertise with other Native people." Typically, Indian tribes contract with Nevada or New Jersey firms to oversee casino development. This is one of the first times that an Indian tribe has chosen to contract with another tribe for casino development and management services. The Kalispel Tribe also considered management proposals from the Mille Lacs of Minnesota and the Oneida Tribe of New York. "Spirit Mountain has shown that it can build a first-class casino and operate it in a socially responsible way," said Dave Bonga of the Kalispel Tribe'. Spirit Mountain is the largest and most successful casino in the North west. It is Oregon's number one at traction, drawing more than 3 mil lion visitors a year. The casino em ploys 1,500 people. Spirit Mountain is one of eight Indian casinos in Or egon. Grand Ronde was the only Or egon tribe to build and operate a ca sino without the help of an outside management firm. Instead, the Tribe put together its own financing package and management team to oversee building and operating the $50 million casino.
