NOVEMBER 15, 2008
Smoke Signals 5
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NOV. 22 continued
from page 4
going door-to-door to determine
how many Tribal members lived in
the Grand Ronde area. In addition,
a trailer purchased from Russ Leno
for $50 was set up at the cemetery
to help families register.
Meanwhile, Margaret Provost
sought the support of other Tribal
leaders, attending powwows and
cultural events. The Tribes, in
cluding the Warm Springs, Siletz,
CoosSiuslawLower Umpqua and
Cow Creek, wrote letters of sup
port to Congress and persuaded
the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest
Indians to allow the Grand Ronde
Tribe to join before being federally
recognized.
To meet the federal criteria,
Tribal members held governmental
meetings, powwows and cultural
ceremonies. They worked to certify
blood quantum, document those
who still spoke Chinuk Wawa and
collect income numbers. In 1980,
the first Grand Ronde Royalty was
crowned with Queen Jackie Provost
and Princesses Margie Lafferty and
Jackie Mercier Colton.
Locally, Tribal members dispelled
unsubstantiated rumors and over
came opposition from neighboring
communities, garnered the support
of other Tribes and convinced Con
gress that Restoration would not be
a Pandora's box, opening the way
for illegitimate claims.
"There was that doubt," Kathryn
Harrison recalls. "People hadn't
heard of us. They thought Grand
Ronde was in eastern Oregon."
Amongst all this, Tribal members
pursued grants for funding and
held fundraising activities, such
as roadside fry bread stands and
selling homemade jam made by
Tribal Elders.
To garner community support,
they contacted churches, clubs
and scores of organizations. Before
steady funding arrived, Marvin
Kimsey quit his job to devote more
time to the effort.
Tribal Elders, such as Ila Dowd,
Velma Mercier, Wilson Bobb and
Esther LaBonte, held bake sales
and donated money.
Margaret Provost recalls that
every time there was a meeting,
there would be a bake sale.
"If things didn't sell, they bought
from each other," she says.
A nonprofit corporation was
formed, and by June 1982, the
Tribe had raised $250,000 to fund
Restoration efforts.
The hours were long and the work
tedious enough that sometimes
Restoration workers thought about
quitting.
"When things went wrong, I
would ask Margaret, 'Whose idea
was Restoration anyway?' " Har
rison recalls.
But Tribal members pressed on.
Restoration testimony
Furse and Whnrton represented
the Tribe as legislative Unisons.
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Jackie Mercier Colton Whisler
Slowly, momentum built toward a
date in Washington, D.C., before
Congress.
Meanwhile, an interim Tribal
Council was elected, composed
of Chairman Marvin Kimsey, co
Chairman Wink Soderberg, Secretary-Treasurer
Jackie Colton
(Whisler) and members Kathryn
Harrison, Merle Holmes, Dean
Mercier, Eula Petite, Jackie Pro
vost and Margaret Provost.
By 1982, Harrison, who had
worked on the Siletz Restoration
effort, had become lead community
organizer, mustering support for
federal recognition and convincing
opposition groups of the inherent
justice of Restoration.
Opposition from fishing and tim
ber organizations was first neutral
ized and then turned into support.
Community concerns about losing
land and increasing tax rates
were quelled through educational
meetings. In the end, the Restora
tion effort received more than 100
letters of support from community
members, business owners, state
and county representatives, and
Elders of the Tribe.
Restoration leaders, such as
Merle Holmes, Dean Mercier and
others flew to Washington, D.C., on
their own money to meet lawmak
ers and lobby for Restoration.
Congressman AuCoin, impressed
with the Tribe's ability to enlist
community support, submitted the
Grand Ronde Restoration Bill on
Sept. 14, 1983, while Sen. Mark
Hatfield did the same in the Sen
ate. Oregon Gov. Vic Atiyeh and
assorted Polk and Yamhill county
commissioners voiced their support
for a restored Grand Ronde Tribe.
In October 1983, Marvin Kim
sey, Jackie Colton, Kathryn Har
rison and her children, Frank and
Karen, along with Furse made
their historic trip to Capitol Hill
in Washington, D.C.
Karen was a 16-year-old junior
at Willamina High School when
she testified.
Harrison, now 81, remains proud
thnt three-fifths of those who went
to Washington, D.C., to testify on
behalf of Tribnl Restoration were
members of her family.
They all spoke convincingly on
Merle Holmes
behalf of restoring the Grand Ronde
Tribe to federal recognition.
"They testified on the issue of
justice," Furse recalls. "It was very
impressive testimony."
The Restoration Bill passed
through the House of Representa
tives with 57 letters of support and
none in opposition. It sailed through
the Senate under Hatfield's legisla
tive guidance, receiving approval
on the chamber's consent agenda
on Nov. 11, 1983.
All that remained was the pres
ident's signature. Grand Ronde
Tribal members had to wait 11
days for that to happen.
President Ronald Reagan signed
Bill HR 3885 on Nov. 22, 1983.
The restored Confederated Tribes
of Grand Ronde began with 1,101
members.
"We were elk hunting and we
heard the announcement on the
radio," Margaret Provost said. "It
was very exciting."
Kathryn Harrison drove her car
up and down Grand Ronde Road,
honking her horn and yelling, "We
did it ... we did it!"
A small crowd of Tribal members
gathered at the Tribal cemetery
and toasted the event with celebra
tory shouts.
"It was the happiest day of my
life," recalls Margo Mercier.
That was 25 years ago.
In that time, several of the key
players in the Tribal Restoration
effort have walked.
Merle Holmes walked on in May
200 1 at the age of 70.
Jackie Mercier Colton Whisler
was taken away shortly after the
Tribe's 21th Restoration anniver
sary in December 2007 at the age
of B6.
Other important participants in
the Restoration effort nre still with
the Tribe, Elders now in their (50s
and older: Kathryn Harrison, Dean
Mercier, Margaret Provost, Candy
Robertson, Patti Tom Martin, Rus
sell Leno and Marvin Kimsey, to
name a few.
Post-Restoration success
In the more than 9,100 days since
Restoration, those Tribal Elders
have watched the restored Confed
erated Tribes of Grand Ronde grow
from owning only a 2.5-acre cem
etery to obtaining almost 10,000
acres for a reservation to building
Tribal Community and Governance
centers to opening Spirit Moun
tain Casino and Spirit Mountain
Lodge.
They have watched the Tribe be
come the largest employer in Polk
and Yamhill counties.
They have watched the Tribe build
its own Health & Wellness Center
that provides medical services to
Tribal members and residents of
the surrounding community.
They've watched as new Grand
Ronde Tribal members have been
born, learned their heritage and
culture, and matured into proud
Native Americans.
They have watched housing built,
allowing Tribal members to re
turn to the reservation. They have
watched an educational facility go
up to teach Chinuk Wawa.
They have watched a new gen
eration of Tribal members take the
helm and guide the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde toward pros
perity, self-sufficiency and control
of their collective destiny.
"I think one of the real strengths
that the Grand Ronde people have
is that we know that our destiny is
in our hands," Kennedy says. "We
no longer want to be in a position
where someone else has the key to
whether we survive or not. We will
determine our own destiny."
Margaret Provost was a main
speaker in May, when the southern
expansion to Spirit Mountain Ca
sino opened, and Kathryn Harrison
offered the invocation.
Provost recalled the "hard strug
gle" to restore the Tribe.
Harrison, who served on Tribal
Council for more than 20 years and
never lost an election, perhaps best
summed the years since Restora
tion for the Tribe.
"We are living out the dreams
of our Elders and our ancestors,"
Harrison said.
(This article includes previ
ously published information
from "Standing Tall: The Life
way of Kathryn Harrison" by
Kristine Olson and the 1985
Grand Honde Innervation Plant
as well as Smoke Signals ar
ticles written by Tribal members
Chris Mercier and Angela Sears
and longtime staff writer Hon
Karten. In addition, it Includes
information and quotes from in
terviews conducted with Tribal
members and Elders, as well as
other key players in the Restora
tion effort, during the summer
and fall of 2008).