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MAY 15, 2005
Tribal Council Members Lobby Congress
Expanded hunting and fishing rights will require working with the state.
By Ron Karten
Reyn Leno, Tribal Council Vice
Chairman, and Tribal Council Mem
ber Jack Giffen Jr. traveled to the
nation's capital twice this month to
lobby for Tribal concerns.
The first visit grouped concerns
about appropriations with an effort
to expand Tribal hunting and fish
ing grounds.
"My feeling is that we got support
(for expanding Tribal hunting and
fishing grounds at the federal
level)," said Giffen, "as long as we
do our homework with the state."
"I felt they were really receptive
to things like our not being able to
hunt in our historical hunting
grounds," said Leno, "and having
to use frozen meat for our cultural
events."
The Tribe aims ultimately to
broaden the hunting and fishing
rights for Tribal members through
out the Tribe's ceded lands, extend
ing from the Columbia River on the
north down through the state line
on the south, from the Coast Moun
tain Range on the west inland to
the Cascades Mountains, the range
that holds Mt. Hood.
Initial efforts in Washington let
the Oregon Congressional delega
tion know that the Tribe was em
barking on this effort but did not
go into specifics, Leno said.
Currently, Tribal hunting and
fishing is limited to the so-called
Trask Unit, extending from the
coastline on the west through
Tillamook and Forest Grove on the
north, then from Forest Grove on
the East down to McMinnville and
then back west through Grand
Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan on
the south .
Traditionally, the Grand Rondes
hunted south of Highway 18,
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The Negotiators Tribal Council Vice Chair Reyn Leno
(right) and Tribal Council member Jack Giffen, Jr. stop at a
Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C.
where the Trask Unit ends, and on
up the mountain to Murphy Sum
mit. "We hunted up to the summit,"
said Leno, "and the Siletz hunted
the back side of the mountain."
The process of negotiating with
the state is just getting underway.
"We have been contacted," said
Anna Richter Taylor, a spokes
woman for the Governor. "We're
in the process of scheduling that
meeting. The bottom line at this
point is that the Governor's office
will be sitting down to discuss is
sues around hunting and fishing.
The Gover
nor feels
strongly
about being
a partner
with the
Tribe."
Giffen's
testimony to
a subcom
mittee of the
House Ap
propriations Committee
included
three addi
tional re
quests: "First,"
from
G i f f e n ' s
written tes
timony, "as
others have
noted this
morning, we
are con-
c e r n e d
about the BIA's proposed budget re
structuring. Nobody from the BIA
ever consulted with us about redo
ing the budget. This is a very sen
sitive matter to Tribes, and we ask
that the Committee reject the pro
posal and instruct the BIA to work
with the Tribes on any proposed
changes to the budget format.
"Second, Grand Ronde requests
that Endangered Species funding
be restored to the $3 million level
provided in FY 2002. Our 120,000
acres of forested Reservation in
cludes habitat for the Northern
Spotted Owl and the Marbled
Murrelet. In FY 1991, when the
owl was listed, we worked with
other Northwest Tribes and this
Committee to establish the very
first ESA funding in the BIA...
"Finally, Grand Ronde requests
that the Committee look into the
IHS distribution of Contract Health
Services funds to see if it equitably
accounts for the absence of any
IHS-funded hospitals in the Port
land area... We believe... that Con
tract Health Services funds should
be adjusted to compensate the Port
land and California areas for not
having any other IHS-funded al
ternatives for in-patient care."
"I was pretty nervous when I first
sat down," said Giffen. "They were
all..." and he put his hands on his
face and raked them down his
cheeks the way people do when
they are as bored as they can be,
"and I'm thinking, they're not in
terested or paying any attention
whatsoever."
But afterwards, he added, "I felt
really good. I got their attention.
I made eye contact, and they asked
questions afterwards."
The second trip, that was also to
include Tribal Council Member
Angie Blackwell, intended "to tell
the Oregon delegation and possi
bly the Secretary of the Interior
that we have potential problems
with a casino at Cascade Locks, and
it's not about competition but it's
about services for our membership,
and being able to maintain those
services," said Leno. B
People Of The River
Native arts from Oregon territory Tribes turn up at
the Portland Art Museum.
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Interested George Rasmussen had a careful look at the People of the River
exhibit. He said that despite a lifelong interest in Indian artifacts, he had never
seen anything as good as this exhibit before.
By Ron Karten
Wandering through rooms of bas
kets, sculptures and beadwork, George
Rasmussen and his daughter, Linda
Hoagland, who have spent years visit
ing the petroglyphs along the north
banks of the Columbia, took in the
pieces of the collection with interest.
"I've seen Indian relics," said
Rasmussen, who was born in Oregon's
High Desert near Burns, "but never
anything like this."
"My father took me along the river
when I was young," said Hoagland.
Before the artifacts were fenced in for
protection, she used to get up close to
She Who Watches and then feel along
the ground for "bedrock mortars."
"You don't explore like that any
more," she said.
Meanwhile, Barbara Guetti, an En
glish Professor at Portland State Uni
versity, had perched her chair by the
entrance to the exhibit with a pencil
drawing of the exhibit's opening piece
in her lap.
"I live near the museum," she said,
"and love to come and draw the stat
ues." Meanwhile, Forest Grove resident
Linda Feik said that this exhibit "con
firms what I thought about how tal
ented the Indians are. The carvings,
the art forms are wonderful," she said.
Looking at a basalt crocodile-like
carving with two 'bowls' carved in its
back, she said, "Makes me wonder
what some of these were for."
Showing at the Portland Art Mu
seum through May 29 is "People of the
River."
The 204 artifacts on display are from
"Tribal groups that today live in the
Umatilla, Yakama, Warm Springs,
Grand Ronde and Chinook communi
ties," according to background provided
by Elizabeth Martin-Calder, a public
relations representative for the mu
seum. This is the first major museum ex
hibition to focus on the art of the Co
lumbia River Indians. The artwork is
from Native Americans who have lived
along these shores for over 10,000
years.
Many of the pieces including work
in basketry, sculpture and beads
have been stored away in museums
and private collections, and not seen
publicly for more than 100 years, said
Martin-Calder.
"The presentation discusses the
uniqueness of local Tribal communi
ties, their traditions, and how each
community developed independently
from any other cultural region in North
America," said Martin-Calder.
"This art style, developed by the
Chinookan people, is distinct among
Northwest coast art and it deserves
attention far beyond a regional focus,"
said Tony Johnson, Acting Cultural
Resources Division Manager.
Since 1997, Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde through the Spirit Moun
tain Community Fund has contributed
nearly $1.2 million to the museum,
and serves as a major sponsor of this
exhibit.
PORTLAND ART
MUSEUM HOURS
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday,
Wednesday, Saturday.
10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Thursday & Friday. "
12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.