NOVEMBER 15,2013
Smoke Signals 5
NOV. 22 continued
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ercised ongoing governmental func
tions; proving the Tribe consisted of a
community of Indians belonging to a
formerly recognized Tribe; and that the
Indians still lived in their aboriginal
territory, maintaining their customs
and language; and were poorer than
the surrounding adjacent nonlndian
population.
With the help of a $9,000 grant, Jackie
Provost, Margaret's daughter, was hired
as secretary and conducted a census of
Tribal members, going door-to-door to
determine how many Tribal members
lived in the Grand Ronde area. In addi
tion, 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, at
tending powwows and cultural events.
The Tribes, including the Warm Springs,
Siletz, CoosSiuslawLower Umpqua
and Cow Creek, wrote letters of support
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
Merrier Colton.
Locally, Tribal members dispelled un
substantiated rumors and overcame op
position from neighboring communities,
garnered the support of other Tribes and
convinced Congress 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 Merrier, 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 Resto
ration workers thought about quitting.
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Jackie Mercier Colton Whisler
"When things went wrong, I would
ask Margaret, "Whose idea was Restora
tion anyway?" " Harrison recalls.
But Tribal members pressed on.
Restoration testimony
Furse and Wharton represented the
Tribe as legislative liaisons. Slowly, mo
mentum built toward a date in Wash
ington, 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 Merrier,
Eula Petite, Jackie Provost and Marga
ret Provost.
By 1982, Harrison, who had worked
on the Siletz Restoration effort, had
become lead community organizer,
mustering support for federal recogni
tion and convincing opposition groups
of the inherent justice of Restoration.
Opposition from fishing and timber
organizations was first neutralized and
then turned into support. Community
concerns about losing land and increas
ing tax rates were quelled through
educational meetings. In the end, the
Restoration 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 Merrier and others flew
to Washington, D.C., on their own
money to meet lawmakers and lobby
for Restoration.
Congressman AuCoin, impressed
with the Tribe's ability to enlist com
munity support, submitted the Grand
Ronde Restoration Bill on Sept. 14,
1983, while Sen. Mark Hatfield did the
same in the Senate. Oregon Gov. Vic
Atiyeh and assorted Polk and Yamhill
county commissioners voiced their sup
port for a restored Grand Ronde Tribe.
In October 1983, Marvin Kimsey,
Jackie Colton, Kathryn Harrison 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 Wil
lamina High School when she testified.
Harrison, now 89, remains proud
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Merle Holmes
that three-fifths of those who went to
Washington, D.C, to testify on behalf
of Tribal Restoration were members of
her family.
They all spoke convincingly on behalf
of restoring the Grand Ronde Tribe to
federal recognition.
"They testified on the issue of justice,"
Furse recalled. "It was very impressive
testimony."
The Restoration Bill passed through
the House of Representatives with 57
letters of support and none in opposi
tion. It sailed through the Senate under
Hatfield's legislative guidance, receiv
ing approval on the chamber's consent
agenda on Nov. 11, 1983.
All that remained was the president's
signature. Grand Ronde Tribal mem
bers had to wait 11 agonizing 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 2,200 members.
"We were elk hunting and we heard
the announcement on the radio," Marga
ret 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 celebratory
shouts.
'It was the happiest day of my life,"
recalls Margo Mercier.
That was 30 years ago.
In that time, several of the key play
ers in the Tribal Restoration effort have
walked on.
Merle Holmes walked on in May 2004
at the age of 70.
Jackie Mercier Colton Whisler was
taken away shortly after the Tribe's 24th
Restoration anniversary in December
2007 at the age of 56. Her father, Dean
Mercier, walked on July 6, 2011, and
Russell Leno walked on Dec. 7, 2010.
Other important participants in the
Restoration effort are still with the
Tribe, Elders now in their 60s and olden
Kathryn Harrison, Margaret Provost,
Candy Robertson, Patti Tom Martin and
Marvin Kimsey, to name a few.
Post-Restoration success
In the almost 1 1 ,000 days since Resto
ration, those Tribal Elders have watched
the restored Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde grow from owning only a
2.5-acre cemetery to obtaining almost
10,000 acres for a reservation to building
Tribal Community and Governance cen
ters to opening Spirit Mountain Casino
and Spirit Mountain Lodge.
They have watched the Tribe become
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 mem
bers 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 return to
the reservation. They have watched
an educational facility go up to teach
Chinuk Wawa.
They have watched a new generation
of Tribal members take the helm and
guide the Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde toward prosperity, 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 said. "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."
Harrison, who served on Tribal Coun
cil for more than 20 years and never lost
an election, best summed up the years
since Restoration for the Tribe.
"We are living out the dreams of our
Elders and our ancestors," Harrison
said.
(This article includes previously pub
lished information from "Standing
Tall: The Lifeway of Kathryn Har
rison" by Kristine Olson and the 1985
Grand Ronde Reservation Plan, as
well as Smoke Signals articles written
by Tribal members Chris Mercier and
Angela Sears and longtime staff writer
Ron Karten. In addition, it includes
information and quotes from interviews
conducted with Tribal members and
Elders, as well as other key players in
the Restoration effort, during the summer
and fall of 2008).