4
S moke S ignals
september 1, 2014
Fundraising continues
CHACHALU continued
from front page
2009 – U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader
introduced House Resolution 3514,
which would amend the Columbia
River Gorge National Scenic Area Act
to include the Grand Ronde Tribe.
The act lists the Nez Perce Tribe,
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the
Yakama Indian Nation, Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs and the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation. “Grand Ronde is
a Columbia River Tribe and there is no
reason to deny the Tribe an equal voice
File photo
with the other Tribes under the Scenic
Area Act,” he said.
2004 – A Tribal satellite office in Portland opened at 3312 S.W.
Kelly, funded by an Administration for Native Americans grant.
Eighty-six percent of Tribal members living in Portland who an-
swered a 2002 Tribal survey said that they would use a satellite
office as a first step in seeking Tribal services.
1999 – The second annual Chinook Jargon Conference was held
over three days in Grand Ronde, drawing a fairly even distribution
of Tribal members and outside academics. Of the 30 participants,
the Tribal perspective ranged from 6-year-old Kim Contreras to
Tribal Chairwoman Kathryn Harrison. “For some of our people,
Chinook was the only language they spoke, so then even God would
have to learn it, don’t you think?” Harrison said.
1994 – Construction started on the Tribe’s $21 million gaming
center, which is scheduled for a grand opening in August 1995.
“Ours is the only Indian gaming project that has managed to obtain
financing through a major commercial lender,” said Bruce Thomas,
director of Spirit Mountain Development Corp. about an $18.5 mil-
lion loan approved by John Hancock Insurance Co.
1989 – Smoke Signals and Tribal archives do not have a copy of
the September 1989 edition.
1984 – About 150 people attended the Mercier Family and Friends
reunion. Tommy and Lori Fuentes from Warm Springs brought
salmon and eels to help celebrate. Attendees had a good time with
swimming, horseshoes, volleyball and playing cards.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year
increments through the pages of Smoke Signals.
ists to improve, enrich and give
greater expression to humanitarian
endeavors in Oregon, and to assist
in improving the quality of life in
the state, according to the mission
statement on its website.
Previously, the Chachalu Phase
II capital campaign has received
$250,000 from the Meyer Memo-
rial Trust and grants from the
Oregon Community Foundation
($35,000) and the Ford Family
Foundation ($200,000). In addi-
tion, two grants from other Oregon
Tribes included $15,000 from the
Umatilla’s Wildhorse Foundation
and $13,384 from the Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Siuslaw’s Three Riv-
ers Foundation.
“The process of obtaining these
grants included many meetings and
coordination with the foundations,”
said Land and Culture Depart-
ment Manager Jan Looking Wolf
Reibach. “Together with Finance
and Tribal Council, the capital
campaign team worked to create a
new process to provide the Tribe’s
financial information securely to
the foundations in order to meet
the broadened requirements com-
pared to most federal grant ap-
plications.
“We continue to move forward
with fundraising efforts paralleled
with management and continued
development of Land and Culture
and Chachalu. Full updates of the
Chachalu capital campaign with
financials, projections, plans and
recommendations shall be provided
to Tribal Council in September.”
Long a dream of the Tribe, a
Tribal museum and cultural cen-
ter received a jump-start in the
summer of 2011 when the Tribe
purchased the former Grand Ronde
Middle School site from the Wil-
lamina School District.
After almost three years of plan-
ning and renovation work, Phase I
of the Chachalu Tribal Museum &
Cultural Center opened on June 5.
Since then, there have been more
than 1,000 visitors and dozens
of tours conducted at Chachalu,
Reibach said.
With current fundraising suc-
cesses, more than 25 percent of
the cost for Phase II has been
raised, Reibach added. The next
phase will include 4,500 square
feet of additional exhibit space, new
classrooms, a conference area and
a history research library.
Chachalu is a Tualitan Kalapuya
word meaning “place of the burnt
timber” that people used to refer-
ence areas of Grand Ronde affected
by a devastating forest fire that
occurred in the mid-1800s.
“Chachalu is the name chosen for
the Tribal museum and cultural
center because, as with our land,
the Tribe is healing from the past
and continues to provide for our
people,” Reibach said. n
Lab, Radiology changes hours
Starting on Aug. 18, the Lab and Radiology Department at the Health
& Wellness Clinic changed its hours to 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. It opens on 9:30 a.m. Thursday and
closes for lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. daily.
For more information, contact Lab Assistant Niki Iott at 503-879-1435. n
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