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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2011)
7V ' " 'I ' PRESORTED STO P-l Pt26 U.S. POSTAGE PAID i nfi iXff V fi 0R NEWSPtfFO? PROJ. UO LIBRARY SYSTEM PRE ""nlia , ; II.M.II..I.III....I.I.I.(..lll.n..lll 8 O JANUARY 1,2011 , moke y fe) ignals A Publication of the Grand Rondo Tribe JJTK VVw Va! WWW.grandrOnde.org XJIVrPQTJA. a MOLALLA a ROGUE RIVER n KALAPUYA a CHASTA IPDaifi)l!dfoM s iraairaDa -mm Photo by Michelle Alalmo A naming caramony for the Tribal plankhousa will take place on Jan. 30. Tha plankhousa will ba namad "Achfa hammi," a Tualatin-Kalapuya word moaning "a houso built of cadar planks," translating to simply "plankhousa 'Achfa-hammi' honors ancient Kalapuyan village By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer The project that Tribal Elders had been waiting more than 40 years for, that finally began the develop ment phase 10 years ago and went through dozens of work ers and a handful of managers before its grand opening in September 2010 will get a name on Jan. 30. "Achfa-hammi," a Tualatin Kalapuya word meaning "a house built of cedar planks," translating to simply "plank house," was finalized in Decem ber, said Tribal member Bobby Mercier, the Tribe's Language and Cultural specialist. Henry Zenk, an anthropologist and friend of the Tribe, helped with the translation, said Mercier. "It was decided by a commit tee," said Mercier, including himself, Carol Logan, Dolores Parmenter, Eirik Thorsgard, - Lenny Logan, Brian Krehbiel and Travis Mercier. Logan and Parmenter are Tribal ' Elders and the others are Tribal members. All have been involved with the plankhouse project for many years. When the Grand Ronde Tribes were marched here in the Trail of Tears of 1856 and 1857, a Tualatin-Kalapuya village existed on a site around the corner to the north from where the plank house now sits near Fort Yamhill State Park, said Bobby Mercier. The use of a Tualatin-Kalapuya name honors that village. "It took three to four months (to settle on a name)," he said. "We've been working on it, talk ing about it and looking at the area where the house sits. We were looking for just a traditional name, in Kalapuya. We wanted to recognize our Kalapuya people who also were brought here." The Jan. 30 event, still being planned with detailed announce ments to come, will include a giveaway and a noon meal, and will honor as many as 35 to 40 people who worked on the house over the years. B Tribal Housing Authority erects Welcome Center By Ron Karten Smoke Signals staff writer A Welcome Center, the lat est addition outside of the Tribal Housing Authority office, will hopefully serve two functions, says Executive Director Carina Kistler. The building is the most concrete result to date of the 2009 spate of gang activity in the area. Commu nity and police efforts already have reduced gang activity almost to noth ing, said Sgtn Kevin Haynes of the Polk County Sheriffs office. The new 18-by-8-foot structure is located on the roadway into the Tribal Family Housing develop ment known as Chxi Musam Illihi. Fitted with a computer, phone and cameras, the structure was installed in early December and op erational questions were still being evaluated before the anticipated opening in January. "We call it a Welcome Center, to welcome people to the community, to give information, directions and be a presence for assistance to resi dents," says Kistler. "Of course, we also want to monitor suspicious ac tivity to deter criminals from caus ing trouble in the community." While the Tribally funded se curity service patrols are a 247 operation, manning of the Welcome Center will likely be targeted to high traffic hours. "The intent is not to create a gat See WELCOME CENTER continued on page 8 Washington Tribe plans to build casino 15 miles north of Portland metropoliton area By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor The U.S. Department of Interior granted the Cowlitz Tribe in Washington state permission to acquire property north of the Portland metropolitan area as reservation land on which to build a casino. The announcement from the Department of In terior, released two days before Christmas, allows the Cowlitz Tribe to acquire 152 acres to serve as its initial reservation near the town of La Center. The Cowlitz Tribe was federally acknowledged in 2000 and currently is headquartered in Longview, Wash. The current Cowlitz plan is to build a 134,150-square-foot casino on its new reservation immedi ately west of Interstate 5 about 15 miles north of the Columbia River. The Cowlitz originally envisioned a larger casino resort including an eight-story, 250-room hotel, but scaled back its vision because of the economy and the financial problems of one of its primary back ers, the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, which is dealing with $1.6 billion in debt. Now, the Cowlitz plan an initial two-story build ing with room for 135 gaming tables and 20 poker tables, and a 5,000-seat convention and meeting venue. Cowlitz Tribal leaders say the casino could be open in two to three years. The Grand Ronde Tribal Council is working with its staff and consultants to evaluate appropriate courses of action. B 1 V LA CENTER -S-4V " WASHINGTON J MUUMMMH fM Map created by George Valdez
