NOVEMBER 1, 2003
Restoration Issue 3
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lination forever linked
Design
Harrison
the added benefit of opening Indian
lands to development by timber and
farming interests in the area.
Oregon, at the time, was the
nation's leading timber producer,
and it was no coincidence, accord
ing to Furse, that the head of the
Department of the Interior at
the time was former Oregon
governor Douglas McKay.
"It was a land grab. It
was a timber grab,"
she said.
It also came
at a time when
liberals "be
gan to place
less emphasis
on redistri
bution of
wealth and
more on eco
n o m i c
growth," ac
cording to In
dian Metropolis,
written by histo
rian James B.
LaGrand. In addi
tion, LaGrand
wrote, liberals
supported "a civil
rights movement
that emphasized
individual rights
based on equality
under the law
and retreated
from rights based
on special group
status in the wake
of Nazi
Germany's use of
group status for deadly
purposes."
The arguments were convincing.
Many Indians, back from the war,
supported the concept of equal
rights, and in addition, were look
ing for a way to borrow money for
land and home purchases, some
thing not possible until very re
cently on Reservation land. Ter
mination would provide all that,
plus a one-time payment for agree
ing to sell Reservation lands.
Not all Indians were ready to give
up their Tribal recognition, how
ever, according to Tribal member
Brent Merrill, Grand Rondes' Pub
lic Information Officer. "A lot of
Tribal members hid out rather than
vote for Termination," he said.
Though the facade of a vote for
Termination by 61 Oregon Indian
bands was transmitted to Washing
ton, "in no case was there a real
vote," said Furse.
"Someone from the BIA said, Tou
might as well get used to it, because
it's going to happen anyway,'" ac
cording to Kathryn Harrison.
Termination was, of course, not
all bad for all Indians. Without tra
ditional ways or traditional support
systems, Tribes languished, but
within homes and families, indi-
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Tribal Police Force Settlers feared that when the United States Army ended their occupation of the Grand Ronde Indian
Reservatiqrijn 1866 that the Natives would be free to commit crimes against the white man. As part of a negotiated withdrawal of
troops in the area, a Tribal Police force and Court System was set up. The men in this picture were the first Tribal Police force circa
1866 (left to right) Foster Wachino, Stephen Foster, Jim Foster, Chief Joseph Shangretta (seated), Isaac Stevens, David Leno and
Frank Quenelle.
viduals worked hard and families
helped each other. Many of the
harsh excesses of Indian schools,
meant to mainstream Indian
youth, were passed, and local
Tribal Elders today talk about the
benefits of attending the Indian
School at Chemawa.
President Lyndon Johnson offi
cially reversed termination as a fed
eral policy in 1968, but it was not
until 15 years later that the move
ment made its way to Grand Ronde.
If some individuals succeeded
without federal recognition, the
Tribal Council realized, in Furse's
words, "It was not about me and
you, it's about the Tribe."
The work of Restoration had the
humblest of beginnings. Tribal
Council member Ed Larsen remem-
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Symbol Of A Different Time The former Fort Yamhill right after being moved to Grand Ronde where it was known simply as
the "Blockhouse." While located on the Grand Ronde Reservation, the building was used as a jail. Natives were routinely beaten, hung
and shot in the Blockhouse during its use in the area. The Blockhouse was moved to Dayton around the turn of the century where it sits
today. Current Tribal Elders say it probably would have been burned had it not been moved in the night. This picture was taken soon
after the structure was placed in Grand Ronde (see the new fence and clean ground around the building). The pipe sticking out of the
top floor is not a cannon, but a stovepipe. The top floor is offset from the bottom level to allow soldiers to place their rifles through holes
in the floor to protect the Fort from attack.
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