Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; Grand Ronde, OR
About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2008)
2 NOVEMBER 15,2008 Smoke Signals Nov. 22, 2008, marks 25 years since Restoration Anniversary a time to remember members who made it happen By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Nov. 22, 2008, marks the most important day in modern Grand Ronde history: the 25th anni versary of President Ronald Rea gan signing House Resolution 3885, which became Public Law 98-165, the Grand Ronde Restoration Act. President Reagan's signature officially ended 29 years of the fed eral government not recognizing what many Grand Ronde Tribal members knew deep in their hearts - that they were Native Americans, and the federal government had responsibilities to uphold because of that status. "The fact that the federal govern ment doesn't extend recognition doesn't mean that you're not a Tribe, or not indeed a government," says Don Wharton. In the late 1970s, he founded Oregon Legal Service's Native American Program, which assisted terminated Oregon Tribes pursuing Restoration. "The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde existed as a Tribe and a government; they just didn't have federal recognition." At its Silver Anniversary of Res toration, members of the Confeder ated Tribes of Grand Ronde have much to celebrate and be thankful for. Spirit Mountain Casino unveiled in May 2008 it9 fourth major ex pansion since opening in 1995. The proceeds from that success ful gaming enterprise provide the financial foundation for important educational, health and social benefits for more than 5,100 Tribal members today. Culturally, the Tribe is resur gent. More and more Tribal youth participate in powwows and learn to speak Chinuk VVawa in school. Tribal members young and old learn traditional crafts, such as basket weaving and making hand drums, through Cult ural Resources classes. The Tribe is constructing a tra ditional plankhouse at the new Uyxat Powwow Grounds near Fort Yamhill State Park and plans are under way to build n cultural centermuseum to display Tribal artifacts and teach visitors about Grand Ronde history. And there's much to look forward to as Tribal Council and Tribal members seek to improve Tribal services and diversify the Tribe's economy continuing into the 21st century. Remembering the Restoration effort, the almost 30 years of Ter mination and the tortured history of the 26 Bands and Tribes that form the foundation of eVery living Tribal member is apropos at 25. Tribes rounded up In the early 1850s, the ancestors of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde signed seven treaties with the federal government that ceded most of western Oregon, from the California border to the Columbia River and up the Columbia River Gorge to Mount Hood in return for promises of a reservation. Members of several Native American Tribes and Bands were rounded up by the U.S. Cavalry and walked under armed guard to the Table Rock Reservation near present-day Medford in 1854-56. The area was a temporary gathering place for Native people before the 33-day, 265-mile journey north to the Grand Ronde Indian Reserva tion that occurred in February and March of 1856. Chief Bogus, Tribal Elder Nora Kimsey's grandfather, died on the march to Grand Ronde, which oc curred during cold and wet condi tions. In all, eight Tribal members died and eight were born on what would become the Rogue River Tribe's Trail of Tears. Grand Ronde ancestors who lived in the Willamette Valley spoke dia lects of Molalla, Kalapuya, Clacka mas, Chinook and other languages from neighboring Tribes. Those from the Rogue River Valley spoke dialects of Athabascan, Penutian and Hokan. In all, Reservation residents spoke more than 25 dif ferent dialects from at least four different language families when they arrived in Grand Ronde. The only Native language in common was Chinuk Wawa, which became the primary language for most reservation residents. While many of the ancestral languages were spoken for generations af ter relocation, eventually Chinuk Wawa became the common Native language for the Tribe and today is the recognized Native language for Grand Ronde. Despite relocation to the supposed safety of the Grand Rondo Reserva tion, the assault on the Tribes' ways of life continued unabated. The 69,100-acre Grand Ronde Reservation granted by President Franklin Pierce's Executive Order ' f ' " ' ' 1 t" i From left, Tribal members Marvin Kimsey, Margaret Provost and Merle Holmes started the Tribe's Restoration effort in the early 1970s. in 1857 survived only until the value of the timber and mineral resources were recognized. The 1887 General Allotment Act divided 33,000 acres of the res ervation almost half into 270 allotments of land to Indians at Grand Ronde. The goal was to make farmers out of Indians and the act allowed Tribal members to live on their land tax free while it was held in trust. At the end of 25 years, the land was to be transferred from trust status to fee status and be come taxable in an attempt to allow the Native families to eventually own the land. However, most of the allotments went out of Indian control with "alarming rapidity," according to the Tribe's 1985 Reservation Plan. 'This was true not only at Grand Ronde, but across the nation wher ever allotments had been made un der the General Allotment Act." In 1901, following negotiations initiated by federal Indian Inspec tor James McLaughlin, the federal government declared 25,791 acres "surplus," and purchased it from the Indians for $1.10 an acre or a per capita of $72. Much of that land was then sold to local timber interests. Many of the allotments that remained in Tribal member pos session were eventually lost as indecipherable tax laws pushed some Tribal members to forfeit their land, while others sold out, raising money to surv ive. The Indian Reorganization Act of 193(5 enabled the Tribe to again purchase land to build homes for Tribal members on the reserva tion. Six ranch properties and one building site totaling 537 acres were purchased by the Tribe with 1UA funds. For those who stayed, life was hard. Tribal Elder Nora Kimsey, 99, re members making baskets to take to McMinnvlle in a horse-and-buggy to trade for clothes. She remembers long trips to Dallas to purchase gro ceries, as well as washing clothes in local creeks and catching crawfish and boiling them in tin cans. Many Tribal members were sent to Indian schools and adopted by non-Native families, threatening the Tribe's heritage by disconnect ing the youth from their history. However, many who attended Che mawa Indian School in Salem, such as Tribal Elder Kathryn Harrison, report that it was one of the great formative experiences of their still young lives. In 1954, when Termination became the law of the land, the 69,100-acre reservation granted to the Grand Ronde Tribes in 1857 had dwindled to less than 600 acres. Two years later, federal ser vices, such as health care, ceased. Tribal members, then numbering 822, each received a one-time check of $29.40 - a payment that was sup posed to replace their identity. Termination era Termination came in the name of freeing Indians from reliance on the federal government, allowing them to join the fabric of American life on an equal basis with other Americans, but it also meant that the Grand Ronde people would no longer be acknowledged as Indian people, and would have no rights on their reservation lands. For almost 30 years, Tribal mem bers were virtually a landless people in their own land. Sec NOV. 22 continued on page 4
