PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 700
Tribal Council
swearing in — pg. 9
OCTOBER 1, 2015
Gaming enterprise transformed
Grand Ronde Tribe in myriad ways
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
O
n Oct. 16, Spirit Moun-
tain Casino will mark
its 20th anniversary of
the opening.
Consistently one of Oregon’s
top tourist attractions, Spirit
Mountain Casino has been the
driver that put the Confederat-
ed Tribes of Grand Ronde on
the Oregon map economically,
culturally and politically, as
well as helped lead the Tribe
to prosperity.
“I think this anniversary is a
huge event,” says Tribal Coun-
cil Vice Chairman Jack Giffen
Jr. “I really think that the
people who drove the casino in
the beginning really thought it
would last only 10 years. So a
20-year anniversary is huge in
my eyes.”
Tribal gaming in the United
States began Oct. 17, 1988,
with passage of the National
Indian Gaming Regulatory
Act. Tribal gaming in Grand
Ronde started when Tribal
Council member Merle Holmes
and a handful of Tribal Council
members visited the Poarch
Band of Creek Indians in Al-
abama.
The Poarch Band had estab-
lished a bingo hall on its Res-
ervation and used the profi ts to
build a fi sh hatchery and paint
recycling business, and it had
begun building Elder housing.
The Poarch Band now operates
three casinos in Alabama.
Before the trip to Alabama,
Holmes had opposed gaming.
But when he saw the economic
opportunities brought about
by something as simple has a
bingo hall, he thought about
how gaming could benefi t the
Grand Ronde Tribe. Holmes
was one of the most respected
Tribal leaders in the North-
See CASINO
continued on pages 10-13
Country singer Martina McBride will be performing in Spirit
Mountain Casino’s Events Center on Saturday, Oct. 17, as part of
the casino’s 20th anniversary.
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribe off ers coff ee, conversation and encampment
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
M
EDFORD – The annual pilgrimage to southern Oregon called “Coffee
& Conversation with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde” couldn’t
have been more appropriately named.
On Friday, Sept. 25, in the Courtyard Marriott near Medford Airport, Tribal
representatives shared cups of coffee and conversation with local representa-
tives from the Medford area.
And on Saturday, Sept. 26, on the shores of the Rogue River and in the
shadow of Table Rock, Tribal members held an encampment at TouVelle State
See ENCAMPMENT
continued on page 16
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council member Jon A. George beads a necklace for Tribal Elder Kathy Kain
during the Table Rock Tribal Encampment at TouVelle State Recreation Site in
Central Point on Saturday, Sept. 26. Kain lives in Phoenix, south of Medford.