Smoke Signals 3
JANUARY 15, 2009
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Five western Oregon Tribes unite in effort to educate public on sovereignty, history on Jan. 3 1
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The state of Oregon will celebrate
its sesquicentennial 150th an
niversary of statehood on Feb. 14.
But, as any member of the state's
nine federally recognized Tribes can
tell you, putting a number on how
long their ancestors have lived on
the land that today is called the state
of Oregon is almost impossible.
And if they could arrive at a defini
tive number, it would dwarf 150 by
more than 10,000 years.
To commemorate the fact that
Native Americans were in Oregon
long before statehood occurred, and
that Oregon's history did not start
on Feb. 14, 1859, the Gathering of
Oregon's First Nations will be held
beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan.
31, at the Oregon State Fair & Expo
Center's Salem Pavilion, 2330 17th
OcegoiTQ Congressman
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
David Wu, Oregon's First District
representative in the U.S. House
of Representatives, hasn't wasted
any time on educating Secretary
of the Interior nominee Ken Sala
zar on the Warm Springs Tribe's
proposed casino in the Columbia
River Gorge.
On Jan. 5, Wu sent a letter to
Salazar expressing his opposition
to a proposal that land within the
Columbia River Gorge National Sce
nic Area be taken into trust for the
Warm Springs Tribe for a proposed
603,000-square-foot riverfront re
sort and casino in Cascade Locks.
Wu's letter lays out his opposition
to the gambling casino and asks
Salazar, a Colorado senator nomi
nated by President-elect Barack
Obama to head the Interior Depart
ment, to consider the numerous
Photo by Mkhelto Alalmo
On Monday, Jan. 5, a group of Tribal employees and Oregon
Department of Environmental Quality representative held
govemment-to-govemment meeting. In attendance were, front row
from left. Ceded Lands Coordinator Mike Karnosh, DEQ's Liaison to
Tribal Nations Mikell O'Mealy, Director of Development Pete Wakeland
and Staff Attorney Lisa Bluelake. Back row, from left Director of
the DEQ Dick Pedersen, Tribal Council member Val Shaker, Natural
Resources Manager Mike Wilson and Interim DEQ Western Region
Division Administrator Keith Anderson.
St. N.E., Salem.
The gathering will begin with
exhibits and demonstrations by
members of western Oregon's five
federally-recognized Tribes the
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Siuslaw, Coquille
Indian Tribe, Cow Creek Band of
Umpqua, Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde and Confederated
Tribes of Siletz. In addition, Tribal
members of two eastern Oregon
Tribes the Klamath and Con
federated Tribes of Warm Springs
will participate.
A Powwow Grand Entry is slated
for 1 p.m. with another Grand Entry
set for 5 p.m. Grand Ronde Tribal
Elder Bob Tom is coordinating the
powwow and can be reached at 503-393-3566
or rptom60hotmail.com.
The gathering will feature Tribal
information booths, exhibits, ven
David Wu
environmental and transportation
issues surrounding the proposal.
"Sen. Salazar is poised to take
on responsibility for the Columbia
River Gorge and our many other
national treasures once he is con
firmed," Wu said.
"I am committed to working
dors and cultural demonstrations.
Vendor contact is Mona Fisher at
541-444-8230.
Another important element of the
gathering will be educating Orego
nians about the sovereignty of the
state's Tribes, said Cow Creek Tribal
Chairwoman Sue Shaffer.
Planning for the Gathering of
Oregon's First Nations began in
early 2008 and has involved rep
resentatives from the five western
Oregon Tribes.
Jan. 31 was symbolically chosen as
the date for the gathering to remind
residents that there were Tribes
with their own unique cultures liv
ing in what is now Oregon before the
arrival of European explorers and
settlers in the early 19th century.
On Friday, Jan. 30, Gov. Ted Ku
longoski will read a proclamation
at the State Capitol, proclaiming
opposes Goirgje casino
with him and other members of
President-elect Obama's incoming
administration, briefing them on
issues of importance to me and my
constituents, and joining together
to preserve Oregon's distinctive
heritage for future generations."
Friends of the Columbia Gorge,
Gorge residents and many area
elected officials also have opposed
permitting a gambling casino with
in the Columbia River Gorge.
In March 2008, five hearings were
held in Washington and Oregon on
the proposal's draft Environmental
Impact Statement. The Confeder
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde was
part of a coalition of groups oppos
ing the casino.
The Tribe opposed the Warm
Springs proposal because it breaks
Oregon's long-standing policy of
one casino per Tribe on reservation
land and encroaches into Grand
Ronde's historical and ancestral
lands.
Other groups, however, keyed
in on the environmental effect of a
large casino in the Gorge.
The Columbia River Gorge is a
natural scenic treasure that is des
ignated by Congress as a National
Scenic Area," said Michael Lang,
conservation director of Friends of
the Columbia River Gorge. "It is our
sincere hope that Interior Secretary-nominee
Ken Salazar protects
this treasure for our children and
future generations to experience.
There are many alternative sites
in Oregon, outside of the Columbia
River Gorge, that would be more
appropriate for large-scale casino
development."
Recent developments have fur
ther complicated plans to build the
proposed gambling casino within
the Gorge. In November, the state
Department of Transportation
rejected a request that would have
allowed existing Interstate 84
highway interchanges to remain
open after a new, casino-focused
interchange is built. The new in
terchange would be located doner
to existing interchanges than the
Saturday, Jan. 31, as Oregon Tribal
Nations Honor Day for the State
of Oregon's Sesquicentennial. The
proclamation acknowledges Tribal
governments and their sovereign
relationship as viable governments
in Oregon.
At 1:30 p.m. Friday, a video, pro
duced by Cow Creek's Creative Im
ages, telling the combined stories
of the five western Tribes will be
previewed at the Salem Pavilion
and a media interviewinformation
session will begin at 3:30 p.m. The
video also will be shown during the
Jan. 31 gathering.
The Gathering of Oregon's First
Nations, which is free and open
to the public, is sponsored by the
sovereign governments of the five
western Oregon Tribes and the state
of Oregon donated use of the Salem
Pavilion. B
current spacing standard allows.
The closure of an existing inter
change would force local traffic to
divert to the new casino-designed
interchange, inconveniencing area
residents and increasing conges
tion," Wu said.
"I am glad ODOT continued to
adhere to spacing standards that
have been established for the safety
of all highway drivers. The incon
venience that longtime residents
would face to ease the flow of ca
sino traffic is just one of the many
reasons that this gambling casino
should not be located in the heart
of the Gorge."
Wu also cited the 218-mile com
mute Warm Springs Tribal mem
bers would have to drive to work
at the new casino.
"A commute of 218 miles would
keep Tribal casino workers away
from home for long periods each
day, possibly causing undue harm
to their families and community,
even before the economic cost as
sociated with traveling such a great
distance is calculated," Wu said.
The (Warm Springs) community
could suffer further if a significant
number of Tribal members make
this long daily trip on already unsafe
and congested roads that frequently
experience inclement weather."
Wu suggested that the Warm
Springs Tribe consider alternative
non-Gorge sites for a new casino.
"Oregon is a big state, and the
Warm Springs Tribe resides on its
biggest reservation, which spans
6 10,000 acres," Wu said. The long
standing policy of one casino per
Tribe, on reservation, still gives the
Warm Springs a number of sensible
and profitable options."
In closing, Wu asked rhetorically,
"Would we permit construction of
a gambling casino in the Grand
Canyon or Yosemite Valley?"
The Obama administration takes
office on Jan. 20 and Salazar will
have to be confirmed by the U.S.
Senate before succeeding current
Secretary of the Interior Dirk
Kempthorne.