4 APRIL 15,2007
Smoke Signals
Grand Rondes Seek Inclusion In The Gorge Act
As participants, the Grand Rondes will help manage the area.
By Ron Karten
The Grand Ronde Tribe has been
working at the federal level to be
included among the list of Tribes
consulting on issues in the Colum
bia Gorge. Federal, state and local
governments, as well as legislated
special interest groups like the
Gorge Commission all now seek
the advice of four Northwest Tribes
the Warm Springs, Yakama,
Umatilla and Nez Perce in man
aging the Gorge area.
The lower Columbia River, in
cluding the Gorge contains the
land that the antecedent bands and
tribes of Grand Ronde ceded to the
federal government by Treaty in
1855. But the Grand Ronde was
left off of the list of Tribes included
in the 1986 Columbia River Gorge
National Scenic Area Act. The fact
is, however, that the area includes
the ancestral homelands of many
Grand Ronde families.
Two signers of the June 22, 1855
Treaty Chiefs Tumulth and
Obanaha of the Watlala Band of
Tumwaters had villages in the
area of Cascade Rapids. Their de
scendents include Tribal member
Marilyn Portwood of Portland, and
her cousin, Tribal member Chuck
Williams, of The Dalles.
Grand Ronde's inclusion in the
Gorge Act, passed in 1986, "is a
matter of fairness," said Tribal At
torney Rob Greene.
"I think they have an equal right
to be part of the management pro
cesses with the other four tribes,"
said Daniel Boxberger, Chair of
the Anthropology Department at
Western Washington University.
"Probably the reason Grand Ronde
was left out is that the scenic area
was established during the period
when Grand Ronde was scrambling
to get back on their feet from Ter
mination." The Grand Ronde was restored
in 1983. In the next few years,
when the other Tribes were in
cluded in the Gorge Act none of
which lost their land base through
termination were working out
the details of the new legislation,
Grand Ronde was busy restoring
its reservation. It was 1988 before
Congress restored 9,811 acres to
the Tribe.
"The Tribe couldn't do everything
at once," said Greene, "but Grand
Ronde should have been among
those other Tribes included in the
scenic act."
Tribal member Marilyn Port
wood, now of Portland, remembers
picking blackberries as a youth in
Skamania on land her great grand
mother bought and homesteaded in
the 1870s. "My great grandmother
(Mary Stooquin) of the Cascades
Band traded a team of horses for
property up in Skamania. She took
what pioneers were given and then
she bought more."
"Her daughter raised her family
up there and my mother and her 10
brothers and sisters were all born
in Skamania County.
The first nine children joined the
Yakama Nation. The two young
est found out they were eligible for
Grand Ronde," said Portwood. This
was back in the late 1980s.
"We think hobos burned it down,"
said Portwood. "We sold it (150
acres) only ten years ago in Ska
mania." (It is now part of a wildlife
refuge.)
But the family also includes
Portwood and Williams' great great
grandfather Chief Tumulth of the
Watlalas who signed the Janu
ary 22, 1855 Willamette Valley
Treaty.
Portwood recently attended the
funeral of a cousin. He was to
be buried in a pioneer cemetery".
"Tumulth is there. He was moved
from a Memaloose Island site. My
great aunt and mother are buried
there, and now my cousin. He was
the husband of Grand Ronde Tribal
Elder Josephine Towers, who still
lives at White Salmon.
"Fishing up there was very im
portant to my mother's family,
said Portwood, "especially during
the depression. With 11 children,
that was a big part of their staple
diet."
Another Treaty signer was Chief
Obanaha, whose descendents also
are members of the Grand Ronde.
"On top of the two chiefs that you
mentioned, the other one of note
is Lal-Bick, sometimes referred to
as Oregon City John, whose father
was Tamaquin, who was the chief
of the Cascade people at the second
cataract of the Cascade Rapids,"
said Tribal Cultural Protection
Specialist Eirik Thorsgard of his
own ancestors.
"Oregon City John's other Indian
name is: Kwychyawhesuschk. His
son was Homer Hoffer whose chil
dren were Mary Ann Michelle, An
drew Hoffer, Joseph Apperson and
Moses Apperson, all of whom have
descendants in Grand Ronde.
'The Cascade people had fishing
rights and ownership at the Cas
cade Rapids as well as the Oregon
City Falls or Tumwata Falls.
"The bands often referred to as
Tumwata were in fact the same
people, and held lands in both areas
rather than being separate people.
Additionally, they often wintered
over in Oregon City and Vancouver,
Washington as well as the islands
around that area such as Hayden
Island and Sauvie Island."
'The Grand Ronde has significant
historic and cultural ties in the Co
lumbia River Gorge," said Greene.
"Grand Ronde should have the
same voice that other Tribes do for
matters in the Gorge." B
Tribal Career Development Program Off To Good Start
CAREER continued
from front page
interim manager of the Training and
Employment Department.
Henny and the TCD program
also work closely with the Tribe's
Vocational Rehabilitation & 477
Program. Jim Wigington, Program
Supervisor, explains that he works
under similar circumstances as
Henny and, on many occasions,
with her and her clients.
"My role has been one of an ac
tive participant between Voca
tional Rehabilitation477 and Spirit
Mountain Casino," said Wigington
in an email response about the
program. "As we share many of
the same clients, the need for us to
work closely is very apparent and
strongly needed."
Henny also explained that the
need for the program is to help
identify an individual's interests
and to find an occupation that is
a "good fit" for that person's needs
and wants.
"The casino field is not for ev
eryone," explained Henny. "It is
our responsibility to get them to
someone else to help them find a
field they are interested in."
The Tribal employee population
at the casino is more than 140.
With that being said, it is obvious
that with a two person crew, the
hours can be long and the duties
can be a heavy workload. Henny
stated that in the month of Febru
ary alone, her and DeHart worked
with 28 individuals. She said that
11 of those are working on devel
opmental plans, 13 are working
on retention plans, and four Tribal
members are reentering the work
force. Also for the month of Febru
ary, Henny and DeHart conducted
29 one-on-one meetings, 17 man
ager meetings and seven meetings
with casino directors.
"This program is a
strongly focused effort
for our Tribal employ
ees," said Henny. "We
get great support from
our General Manager
Randy Dugger as well
as all of the directors."
"In my opinion, this
program has been very
successful," said Wig
ington. "We have pre
sented four different
classes. The interac
tion was good and we
have had very positive
results and feedback,"
he added. "The consis
tent factor with all the
classes was a request
to continue with these
types of presentations
and we plan to do just
that."
Through the inter
views I have conducted,
it seems that not only
getting Tribal mem
bers on the right path but keeping
them there and not giving up are
among the top overall goals of the
TCD program.
"These are strong beginnings
and we have made a difference so
far," Wigington said. "We need
to continue with these programs
and expand them to include more
departments to insure that we
are doing as much for our Tribal
members as possible. We have de
termined that there are some inher
ent problems that we are going to
consistently deal with but through
education, training, and guidance,
we feel that we can make a differ
ence," continued Wigington.
"We can't solve all of the prob
lems," added Henny, "but if we
make a difference at all, this pro
gram is successful." B
f jl; ( ... if' Lv
r I
I ' ' I Mi ;-' A X
Tribal member David DeHart and Tribal Elder Sam Henny work together in the Tribal Career
Development Program for Spirit Mountain Casino's Human Resources Department.