Home Fields:
Under
Construction
The area is rich with recent
Indian history, and projects
will keep history alive.
By Ron Karten
v "The Grand Ronde that started as a
place of exile has become home, and
the old culture is rising from what were
ashes a century and a half ago.
Thanks in particular to two land
purchases in the area, the Tribe is now
"reestablishing a cultural presence" in
the place where the Trail of Tears ended
150 years ago, according to Cultural
Resources Specialist Eirik Thorsgard.
The series of projects in this area
surround what once were Molalla
Tribal campgrounds. Starting when
the 1 855 Trail of Tears brought Indians
from many tribes and places to Grand
Ronde, the campgrounds were used by
the Molallas through the 1 870s.
Tribes that had been marched to
Grand Ronde from the north camped
on the north side of the South Yamhill
River that goes through the property
and Tribes brought up from the south
camped on the south side of the river,
said Tribal Cultural Collections Coor
dinator Lindy Trolan.
A plankhouse and the development
of a new pow-wow grounds, back
ground work for a museum interpretive
center and ongoing development of the
Fort Yamhill State Park are all part of
the rebirth, Thorsgard said.
Pow-wow Grounds
The new, $650,000 pow-wow
grounds will be located to the right
side of the road now accessing the new
Fort Yamhill State Park. It will replace
the grounds at the governance center
campus, and provide showers and rest
room facilities.
Tribally-owned Round Valley Con
struction is working on some drainage
issues now, adding culverts, said Tribal
Engineer Eric Scott. The site power de
sign has been completed and "as soon
as weather permits," bids will go out for
the highway part of the project.
"We're working feverishly to get it
done for the summer," said Scott. All
right-of-way, environmental, roadway
design and traffic study issues have
been settled, though the Tribe contin
ues to work with the Oregon Depart
ment of Transportation on an access
permit. Signage and a utility crossing
are also still to be completed.
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Above and below, work continues on
the new pow-wow grounds. At left Is
a map of what the area will look like
as development continues. Note that
the pow-wow grounds at the top of
the map.
Photos courtesy of Cultural Department