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JUNE 1, 2018
Tribe receives $62,227
Historic Preservation grant
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde received a $62,227 grant
from the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service
to help operate the Tribe’s Historic Preservation Office.
The grant was one of 175 totaling $11.4 million awarded to Tribes
throughout the United States.
Planning & Grants Manager Kim Rogers said the annual award
will help cover salaries in the Tribal Historic Preservation Office
within the Cultural Resources Department.
The funds are collected from drilling on the Outer Continental
Shelf and assist communities and Tribes in ensuring diverse historic
places, culture and traditions are protected for future generations,
a Department of the Interior press release said.
Congress passes Tribal
Economic Development Act
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A possible hurdle to the Grand Ronde Tribe
developing its privately held land is one step away from being removed.
Congress passed the Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act, which
now heads to the desk of President Donald Trump for a signature before
it becomes law.
The Senate approved the act on Nov. 30, 2017, and the House of Repre-
sentatives OK’d it on Wednesday, May 16.
The act allows five Oregon Native American Tribes, including the
Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, to purchase, sell, lease or convey
their interests in non-trust property without the approval of the federal
government. The bill does not apply to Tribal interests in property that
the federal government holds in trust.
The legislation is intended to allow the Oregon Tribes greater control
over transactions involving property.
The bill was submitted by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley on May 25, 2017.
Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio introduced an identical bill in the House of
Representatives on July 13, 2017.
“(The act) will clear up any potential ambiguity regarding federal law
as it pertains to Tribal lands. This is a proactive step as our Tribe has
not experienced any issues regarding transfer of fee lands,” Tribal Lands
Manager Jan Michael Reibach said in December when the act cleared
the Senate.
“It’s absurd that Tribes were forced to get congressional approval be-
fore they could develop property that they privately own,” Merkley said
in a press release announcing House passage of the act. “Several Oregon
Tribes asked me for help on this issue as they encountered barriers to
development projects, and I could not be more pleased to see it heading
to the president’s desk to be signed into law. This legislation is critically
important to Tribal sovereignty and economic growth, allowing Tribes to
take ownership over development opportunities on their Reservations.”
Tribal Attorney Rob Greene mentioned the legislation to Merkley when
the senator met with Tribal Council on May 4 and expressed concern that
it could affect development of Chemawa Station, a joint economic devel-
opment project between the Grand Ronde and Siletz Tribes.
“Tribes in Oregon should have the authority to set their own economic
course, and an essential piece of that decision-making must be the flex-
ibility to develop their privately owned property,” said Oregon Sen. Ron
Wyden. “I am gratified that common sense and fairness have prevailed
so that Tribes throughout our state can choose to pursue development
opportunities that create jobs and revenues.”
Oregon’s only Republican in Congress, Rep. Greg Walden, said he looks
forward to Trump signing the bipartisan measure into law.
“Passage of this measure will help improve the lives of Oregon Tribal
members by giving them new opportunities to manage their lands without
unnecessary federal red tape,” Walden said.
Currently, under the Indian Non-Intercourse Act, Tribes are required to
obtain federal approval to purchase, sell, convey, warrant or lease lands
they own privately. This makes it difficult, expensive and impractical for
Tribes to take advantage of economic development opportunities because
they have to get approval from Congress every time they want to obtain
a commercial mortgage for non-trust property.
The Oregon Tribal Economic Development Act allows five Oregon Tribes
to forego that additional approval on privately held lands. In addition to
Grand Ronde, the act affects the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indi-
ans, the Siletz Tribe, the Warm Springs Tribe and the Cow Creek Band
of Umpqua Indians.
“Economic development and investment is vital to improving the lives
of our Tribal members,” Tribal Council Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy
said in a press release. “The bill removes a significant barrier to the Tribe
leasing and developing fee land. The Tribe is grateful for Sen. Merkley’s
leadership on this issue and his role in passing the legislation.”
S moke S ignals
Smoke Signals starts
own Facebook page
Smoke Signals has launched its own Facebook page and is posting its
stories, photos and podcasts to that page as of Tuesday, May 1.
Deputy Press Secretary Sara Thompson, who is a Tribal member, took
over administrative duties for the Tribal Council and The Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde Facebook pages, which were previously adminis-
tered by Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez and Smoke Signals
Editor Dean Rhodes, respectively.
Popular features, such as photo galleries from Tribal events and links
to Smoke Signals podcasts and stories, are now be featured on the news-
paper’s Facebook page.
“This is part of the continuing evolution of an independent Tribal press
for the Grand Ronde Tribe,” Rhodes said. “The other two Facebook pages
are outlets for official Tribal government announcements and positions,
while the Smoke Signals Facebook page will be a conduit of information
dissemination for the independent Tribal press that was created in January
2017. This also accomplishes a goal of the Grand Ronde Editorial Board,
which seeks to create a defined separation between the Tribal government
and the Tribal independent press.”
Rhodes will be the moderator of the Smoke Signals Facebook page, which
can be “friended” at www.facebook.com/SmokeSignalsCTGR/.
“Although I will miss having the more than 4,500 friends on the main
Grand Ronde Facebook page, I am hopeful that many of them will quickly
friend Smoke Signals on Facebook so that they can keep abreast of in-
dependently reported news about the Tribe,” Rhodes said. “In addition,
this separate page will give us more latitude to post links of other stories
about Native American Tribes and issues regionally and nationally that
Tribal members might be interested in reading about.”
For more information, contact Rhodes at dean.rhodes@grandronde.org
or call 503-879-1463.
Medication drop box installed
The Grand Ronde Tribal Police Department, 9655 Grand Ronde Road,
now has a medication drop box located in the front lobby.
Lobby hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The drop box is for any prescribed or over-the-counter medication. If the
containers are too large to fit in the drop box, please repackage them in a
zip-lock plastic bag. Tribal Police employees cannot handle the medications
so the person dropping them off must repackage them.
Needles and liquids are not allowed in the drop box.
Tribal Police suggest mixing liquid medications with cat litter or coffee
grounds and then throwing them away with the household trash.
For more information, call 503-879-1821.
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