S moke S ignals
DECEMBER 1, 2015
9
Walden makes first visit to Grand Ronde
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Congressman Greg Walden, who
represents the largest area of any
Oregon member of the House of
Representatives and is the state’s
lone Republican in Congress, made
his first visit to Grand Ronde on
Friday, Nov. 20.
“It’s good to get a check mark next
to getting out here,” Walden said to
seven Tribal Council members in at-
tendance – Tribal Council Chairman
Reyn Leno, Vice Chair Jack Giffen
Jr. and members Chris Mercier, To-
nya Gleason-Shepek, Denise Harvey,
Brenda Tuomi and Ed Pearsall.
Walden said he delivered a
speech in Portland earlier in the
day, which provided him and a staff
member an opportunity to visit
Grand Ronde.
Walden lives in Hood River and
represents all of eastern Oregon
and portions of southern Oregon.
He has served in the House of Rep-
resentatives since 1999.
“We’re really glad that you had
an opportunity to come out and
visit,” Leno said, who then asked
what is occurring in Washington,
D.C., that might affect the Tribe.
Walden briefed Tribal Council
on the recent passage of a bill that
would keep Tribes from having to
abide by U.S. Department of Labor
rules, maintaining Tribal sover-
eignty. He also briefly discussed
forestry issues on federal lands
and referenced the massive Canyon
Creek Fire that occurred this sum-
mer in his district near John Day.
“We need more active forest man-
agement and be better stewards of
the federal forests,” Walden said.
“It’s awful what happened and will
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Congressman Greg Walden shakes hands with Tribal Council member Brenda
Tuomi during a meeting with Tribal Council in Grand Ronde on Friday, Nov.
20. It marked the first time that Walden, who has served in the House of
Representatives since 1999, has visited the Tribe.
happen.”
Walden then asked Tribal Council
members what was on their minds,
which led to a discussion of how
well the Tribe maintains its natural
resources, as well as an in-depth
discussion of proposed amendments
to the Grand Ronde Reservation Act
and why the Grand Ronde Tribe
opposes a Siletz bill that would
equate the Siletz Reservation with
the historical Coast Reservation.
Leno said the Grand Ronde Tribe
is currently negotiating with Til-
lamook County to accept approxi-
mately 1,200 acres of surplus forest
land. The Tribe also has been able
to increase its allowable cut on the
Reservation from 6 million board
'I feel there are some
great people here'
CLINIC continued
from page 8
clearly understands the profes-
sional aspect of it,” said Leno.
“I hope people are patient and
cooperative with her.”
“I feel there are some great
people here. There are great re-
sources available – everything is
there,” said Rowe. “Making the
members healthier and more
aware – that’s exciting to me.
There is a lot of opportunity for
us to work together and to come
together as a team and I think
that that is the key to making
things successful, so I’m really
excited to work on that.”
Rowe is married and has one
adult son. She said she wants the
Grand Ronde Health & Wellness
Center to be a center of excel-
lence.
“I feel that we are so primed,”
said Rowe. “Bringing it together
will be exciting and I think it’s
going to be exciting for everybody
here. It’s not just accepting a new
job for me, but accepting a job
with so much riding on it. It’s so
important. It’s not just a job. This
has so much more meaning in it.”
Mercier said the clinic is mov-
ing ahead with an assessment
plan that was created by former
Interim Director Tal Moore. Mer-
cier said staff has met with Tribal
Council and have implemented
many of the main recommenda-
tions in the assessment plan.
Mercier said Rowe has seen
the document as a member of the
Health Committee and that she
is on board.
“Part of that is just getting back
to the mission statement and the
vision statement,” said Mercier.
“When we have new staff come
on, we are training them on why
we are here, what our purpose is,
what our roles are and who our
patients are.”
Mercier said the business of
health and wellness in Indian
Country is unique and valued,
and in Grand Ronde even more so.
“We’ve invested a lot in it, it’s
important to Tribal members,”
said Mercier. “There are not
many Tribes out there that have
done that.” n
feet to 7 million board feet.
“We don’t use herbicides on our
Reservation and we’ve seen an in-
crease in salmon returning,” Leno
said. “We’re really proud of our
natural resources.”
“Surrounding communities are
impressed with our management of
our lands,” Giffen said. “We’re good
stewards of the forests.”
The Tribe’s positive relation-
ship with surrounding cities and
counties led to a discussion of the
proposed amendments to the Grand
Ronde Reservation Act, which are
back before Congress again.
The amendments would amend
the Reservation Act to create a
one-step process that would allow
the Grand Ronde Tribe to take land
within its original Reservation of
more than 60,000 acres into trust
as on-reservation land and once the
land is taken into trust it would
automatically become part of the
Tribe’s Reservation.
Currently, the Grand Ronde Tribe
must apply to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs for a fee-to-trust application
when it purchases land. After the
land is accepted into trust by the
BIA, the Tribe then must amend
its Reservation Act through con-
gressional action for the land to be
considered part of the Reservation.
The proposed amendments were
re-introduced by Oregon Sen. Ron
Wyden in March. The Tribe has
been working for more than six
years to amend the Restoration
Act. During the last Congress, the
amendments were passed by the
House, but did not get through the
Senate before Congress adjourned.
In contrast, Tribal Attorney Rob
Greene said, the Siletz bill attempts
to broaden that Tribe’s Reservation
beyond Lincoln County, which
was identified as the Siletz Tribe’s
homelands in its Restoration Bill.
“We were given Polk, Yamhill,
and Tillamook counties and they
were only interested in Lincoln
County,” Leno said. “We need to
recognize what was given to us by
Congress. What are they present-
ing that is bigger than a congres-
sional act?”
Greene said the Siletz bill could
change history since the Coast Res-
ervation was created for all western
Oregon Tribes and not just the
Siletz. He added that if the Siletz
bill becomes law, it will create
conflict between Tribes that could
hamper economic development in
Tillamook County.
“We have clear boundaries now,”
Greene said. “Let’s stay with those
boundaries. Otherwise, we will
have a mess that we will have to
deal with for years to come.”
Leno added that the Siletz bill
is opposed by both Yamhill and
Tillamook counties, as well as the
Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
Indians in southern Oregon.
“They are not parity,” Greene
said about the Grand Ronde and
Siletz bills. “They are not the same
sort of bill.”
Leno said the Siletz bill also could
create conflict between Tribes when
it comes to artifacts and remains
found in overlapping areas. “Re-
mains might sit for years in boxes,
waiting to be put away,” he said.
Greene asked Walden to talk with
Rep. Don Young of Alaska, chair-
man of the House Subcommittee on
Indian, Insular and Alaska Native
Affairs, about the two bills when he
returns to Washington, D.C.
Leno then segued to another
issue: federal funding for Tribal
police and how Terminated Tribes,
such as Grand Ronde, do not receive
monies for the very expensive job of
operating a police department.
“There seems to be different rules
for Terminated Tribes and regular
Tribes,” Leno said.
For instance, since Grand Ronde
was terminated for 29 years, it
was not federally recognized when
some federal programs that provide
funding to Tribes were created. And
trying to get into those programs
and their revenue streams now is
proving difficult.
Greene added that the Tribe even
was advised to withdraw its request
for federal funding because a denial
could be held against the Tribe in
the future.
“If you are not able to apply, then
they can say they are meeting de-
mand,” Walden said ruefully.
Leno also discussed the Tribe’s
recent purchase of the shuttered
Multnomah Greyhound Park in
Wood Village.
“We’ll have to level it and are
looking at it for a long-term return
that will fund our endowments,”
Leno said.
Walden said the land is a prime
piece of real estate within the Port-
land metro area.
The approximately 50-minute
meeting ended with Mercier jok-
ingly asking Walden, a fellow
University of Oregon graduate,
how the state can change its state
nickname from the Beaver State to
the Duck State.
Leno, an Oregon State University
graduate, chuckled.
“Well, this has been most instruc-
tive and helpful,” Walden said.
The Tribe gifted Walden a bas-
ket of items and an information
packet about the Tribe’s history
and culture.
Also attending the meeting was
Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia
Martin. n