4
S moke S ignals
APRIL 1, 2016
Food donations
Tribal Council approves
enrollment of 22 members
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Macie Ayala puts a can of stewed tomatoes on a shelf at the Grand
Ronde Food Bank, iskam mfkhmfk haws , on Friday, March 25.
Youth in the K5 Afterschool Program held a food drive over spring
break and collected 72 pounds of food for the Food Bank. After
the food was weighed and youth took a tour of the Food Bank, the
students got to put the food they donated on the shelves.
ATTENTION CTGR TELEPHONE SERVICE
If you have an emergency and need to dial “911” you must first dial
a “9” (9911).
The only calls that do not require that you dial a 9+ are those made
from the CTGR extensions within the CTGR campus and/or those who
use CTGR Tel for their home phone service.
2011 – The first river canoe carved in Grand Ronde since Resto-
ration and probably much earlier went on display at the Willamette
Heritage Center at The Mill in Salem. The canoe was part of the
Grand Ronde Canoe Journey exhibit at the Heritage Center.
2006 – Two wood-
en carvings by Adam
McIsaac and designed
by Grand Ronde Cul-
tural Resources Interim
Manager Tony Johnson
were erected at the edge
of Blue Lake in Fair-
view. They commem-
orated the arrival of
Lewis and Clark in In-
dian Country. A formal
dedication ceremony
was scheduled for May.
File photo
2001 – Kim Rogers,
the Tribe’s new Policy
and Planning director, started working for the Tribe. He had worked
for the Tulalip, Sauk-Suiattle and Puyallup Tribes in Washington
state before moving to Oregon.
1996 – Phase II expansion at Spirit Mountain Casino was pro-
gressing rapidly with employees and customers eagerly anticipating
the addition of 36,500 square feet of gaming, dining and family
entertainment space in July. The new expansion will include Leg-
ends Steakhouse and Lounge, a video arcade and expansion of the
gaming space.
1991 – Tribal Chairman Mark Mercier and Tribal Council member
Larry Brandon attended a Tribal Leaders Forum in Seattle where
they met Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, who was chairman of the Senate
Select Committee on Indian Affairs. Inouye said that he is generally
supportive of Indian people and he was attending the meeting to
take his “marching orders” from Tribal leaders.
1986 – Tribal Council Chairman Mark Mercier and fellow coun-
cil members Merle Leno and Kathryn Harrison met with Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife employees to discuss the hunting
and fishing consent decree.
Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year in-
crements through the pages of Smoke Signals.
Tribal Council approved the enrollment of 22 new members into the
Tribe during its Wednesday, March 23, meeting.
The 22 new members included 21 non-infants and one infant who meet
the provisions for enrollment outlined in the Tribal Enrollment Ordinance
and Tribal Constitution.
In other action, Tribal Council approved the contract for the Sunday,
April 3, General Council meeting that will be held at the Valley River Inn
in Eugene. The program report will be from Emergency Management.
Tribal Council also approved applying for a two-year Administration
for Native Americans’ Social Economic Development Strategies grant
that would be used for preservation and education to renovate the Depot,
process and curate a backlog of artifacts and assist with the development
of two exhibit areas at Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center. If awarded,
the Tribe would receive $730,113 over the two years.
Also included in the March 23 Tribal Council packet was a staff direc-
tive requesting the Tribe’s Information Services Department to research
the possibility of live audio streaming Tribal Council work sessions with
the live stream still subject to rules of confidentiality, such as executive
session and attorney-client privilege.
The meeting, in its entirety, can be viewed by visiting the Tribal website
at www.grandronde.org, clicking on the News tab and then Video.
Bike helmets available
The Tribe’s Social Services Department has bicycle helmets
available for distribution. Those needing a helmet need to visit the
department and sign a helmet application, as well as get fitted.
For more information, contact Social Services at 503-879-2034.
Decision might be
delivered in June
APPEAL continued
from front page
independent respects,” Robbins
argued.
Robbins said the Record of De-
cision erred in deciding that the
Cowlitz did not have to be recog-
nized by the federal government
in 1934.
“If you look at the text of the stat-
ute and if you look at the structure
of the statute, everywhere you look
there are signs pointing to 1934,”
Robbins said.
Robbins’ presentation was in-
terrupted often by questions from
members of the three-judge panel,
who inquired if the Indian Reorga-
nization Act limits the Secretary
of the Interior’s ability to take
land into trust for Tribes who were
only recognized in 1934, as well
as trying to determine the exact
definition of “federal recognition.”
“The ROD most conspicuously
fails to reckon in any serious way
with the 2005 proceedings be-
fore the National Indian Gaming
Commission in this very case with
respect to this very parcel,” Rob-
bins said. “In seeking a so-called
restored lands exception to IGRA
(Indian Gaming Regulatory Act),
the Cowlitz admitted and the NIGC
determined that any recognition
or jurisdiction for the Cowlitz was
terminated as of 1934 and had
been throughout the entire 20th
century.”
Robbins asked the Court of Ap-
peals to remand the case back to
District Court.
“We would hold the agency to its
historical position that recognized
means recognized in 1934,” Robbins
said.
Sharp, who represented Clark
County, said that a Tribe had
to occupy lands set aside by the
federal government in 1934 to be
federally recognized, as well as that
the Cowlitz were so dispersed in the
early part of the 20th century that
they were not considered a Native
American Tribe under federal ju-
risdiction. He also argued that the
Cowlitz do not have a historical
connection to the land taken into
trust for them.
Leno said during the Tuesday,
March 22, Legislative Action Com-
mittee hearing that a decision from
the Court of Appeals might be is-
sued in June at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Clark County and
some of its residents are awaiting
a Court of Appeals ruling on a mo-
tion for emergency relief to halt the
current construction occurring at
the Cowlitz site west of Interstate
5 near La Center and plans by
the Cowlitz Tribe to inject treated
wastewater from the casino into
the ground, potentially affecting
the water quality of the Troutdale
Aquifer, which is a primary source
of fresh water in the region.
A recording of the Appeals Court
hearing can be heard at www.cadc.
uscourts.gov/recordings/record-
ings.nsf/DocsByMonday?Open-
View&StartKey=20160320160314
&Count=12&scode=2