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Smoke Signals
JUNE 1, 2019
Tribe agrees to pursue transfer of 667.5-acre Noble Oaks Preserve
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council approved a res-
olution during its Wednesday,
May 15, meeting that may lead to
the Grand Ronde Tribe assuming
wildlife management of the 667.5-
acre Noble Oaks Preserve outside
of Willamina.
Noble Oaks is a conservation
property currently managed by
The Nature Conservancy, which
purchased the preserve in October
2014 for $1.5 million, according to
Polk County Assessor records.
Richard Noble, a former lawyer,
and his wife, Nancy, purchased
the property because they enjoyed
raising animals, which progressed
into helping endangered animals
such as antelope, rhinoceros, gi-
raffes and red pandas. The couple
subsequently joined the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums.
After outgrowing a 50-acre prop-
erty in the Scholls area southwest
of Portland, they purchased the
former cattle spread near Willam-
ina and had as many as 250 rare
and endangered animals roaming
the land. To help protect the exotic
animals, its location was a guarded
secret.
Wanting to ensure that their
land remained protected after they
walked on, the Nobles contacted
The Nature Conservancy.
The property is one of the last
spots where white oak savanna that
once dominated the Willamette
Valley continues to thrive. It also is
near the historic boundaries of the
original Grand Ronde Reservation.
The Nature Conservancy received
funding from the Bonneville Power
Administration’s Willamette Wild-
life Mitigation Program to purchase
the property, which is now subject
to a conservation easement that
protects it as wildlife habitat in
perpetuity.
The approved Tribal Council
resolution directs Tribal Lands
Manager Jan Looking Wolf Rei-
bach to complete the donation of
the property to the Tribe. Once
the Noble Oaks Reserve property
is acquired, it will join Chahal-
pam, Chankawan and Rattlesnake
Butte as the Tribe’s conservation
properties acquired through the
Bonneville Power Administration
program being managed for wildlife
and conservation purposes.
Smoke Signals is not identifying
the exact location of the Noble Oaks
Preserve property at the request
of the Tribal Lands Department to
help ensure its safety.
In addition, Tribal Council also
approved a purchase and sale
agreement to pursue buying a
4,502-square-foot home situated
on an additional 2.75 acres on the
Noble Oaks property, which is sepa-
rate from The Nature Conservancy
donation.
“The Tribe prides itself in acquir-
ing property for any number of rea-
sons,” Reibach said. “Over the past
few months we have been working
to secure a conservation property
in Polk County. The majority of
the property will be donated to
the Tribe while a smaller parcel
is available for purchase. We are
working closely with the current
landowner to finalize details and,
pending approvals and closing,
hope to take ownership later this
HELP BUILD
OUR FLOAT!
2019 Spirit Mountain Grand Floral Parade
June 5 – 6, 2019
VOLUNTEERS
Room for 30 Employees (First Come First Served). All volunteers will be
entered in a raffle for City Fair passes with unlimited carnival rides or Rose
Cup Race tickets. Folding chairs will be available for those who can not
stand for any length of time.
WHERE
Meet at the Main Entrance (by Mountain View Sports Bar) at 7:45am.
The bus departs at 8:15am and returns to the casino at 4:30pm.
A continental breakfast and box lunch will be provided. When calling to
reserve your space, please specify what kind of sandwich you prefer
(Ham, Turkey, Roast Beef or Tuna).
PTO
If this is your regularly scheduled day to work, you must request PTO
from your department.
CONTACT
Please call Sponsorship Administrator Jocelyn Huffman at 503-879-3054
by June 1, 2018 to register.
Don’t forget to place your lunch order, and get any necessary PTO approved.
summer.”
Reibach said people with ques-
tions should contact him at 503-
879-2394.
In other action, Tribal Council:
• Declared Friday, June 14, as the
second per capita payment date
in 2019. Finance Officer Chris
Leno said the amount of the
payment will not be known until
after June 1;
• Approved applying for a $20,000
grant from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Parks & Recreation
that would help with preser-
vation of the 2,000-square-foot
Grand Ronde Depot building.
The Tribe has already received a
$75,000 grant from Spirit Moun-
tain Community Fund to pay for
the estimated $180,000 needed
to fix the building’s foundation,
cedar roof, gutters, windows and
doors. The depot building is the
only structure in Grand Ronde on
the National Register of Historic
Places, which occurred in 2012;
• Approved a cooperative agree-
ment with the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency that
will continue to fund the Grand
Ronde Tribe’s involvement in
the Portland Harbor Superfund
site. The agreement will provide
the Tribe a maximum $384,256
that will fund the Tribe’s work
as a technical consultant and
employee participation from July
1 through December 2020;
• Approved an intergovernmental
agreement with the city of Hills-
boro for the Interpretive Program
to complete artwork at Rood
Creek Bridge Park;
• And approved the enrollment
of three infants into the Tribe
because they meet the criteria
outlined in the Tribal Constitu-
tion and Enrollment Ordinance.
Also included in the May 15 Trib-
al Council packet was an approved
authorization to proceed that ap-
pointed Tribal Council member
Michael Langley to the Elliott
State Research Forest Advisory
Committee.
The entire meeting can be viewed
on the Tribal website, www.gran-
dronde.org, by clicking on the News
tab and then Video.
Tribal Council adds 15 to Restoration Roll
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Tribal Council voted to add 15
names to the Restoration Roll
during its Wednesday, May 29,
meeting.
It marked the second time this
year that Tribal members have
been added to the roll. During
a special meeting held Feb. 28,
Tribal Council voted to add 20
Tribal members to the Resto-
ration Roll.
Tribal Council will now request
that the Secretary of the Interi-
or approve the Restoration Roll
additions.
Tribal members added to the
roll were Tamara Kennedy, Ran-
dy Cunningham, Gregg Leno,
Michelle Kelley, Joyce Hanson,
Tommy Jones, Janet Taggart,
Eloise Winter, Marvin Cunning-
ham, Lynda Jones, Ann Clev-
enger, Sally Weiss, Sylvia Jones,
Danny Jeffers and Tommy Jef-
fers.
Tribal Council Chairwoman
Cheryle A. Kennedy said she did
not participate in the Restoration
Roll process for Tamara Kennedy,
who is her daughter, and did not
vote on her addition to the Res-
toration Roll.
The process for adding names
to the Restoration Roll started
in 2012 when Tribal legal staff
started working with the Depart-
ment of the Interior to develop a
process for approval and addi-
tions to the roll.
In December 2015, Tribal
Council approved 16 additions
and three corrections to the Res-
toration Roll. At the time, Tribal
Council Vice Chair Chris Mercier
said the advantage to having your
name on the Restoration Roll is
that it allows Tribal members to
count all of their Indian blood
as Grand Ronde blood, which
could help extend an individual’s
bloodline.
“Tribal Council recognizes the
devastating effects Termination
had on the membership,” said
Tribal Council Secretary Jon A.
George in reading from a pre-
pared statement. “In an effort to
correct those effects, we passed
a resolution in November 2018
that provides criteria for con-
sistently applying the phrase
‘entitled to be on the member-
ship roll of the Tribe on Aug. 13,
1954.’ The resolution states that
a person was entitled to be on the
membership roll of the Tribe on
Aug. 13, 1954, if that person was
alive on that date and born to a
Tribal member. Tonight, we wish
to provide additional thoughts
on what it means to be born to a
Tribal member. We believe being
‘born to a Tribal member’ means
being born to a person who could
have been a Tribal member at
the time of the applicant’s birth.
“When this Tribe was Termi-
nated, a number of families were
wrongfully left off the member-
ship roll. The correction of the
Restoration Roll is important to
Tribal families because having
an ancestor on the Restoration
Roll is a requirement for mem-
bership under the current Tribal
Constitution. Corrections to
the Restoration Roll are part of
an ongoing effort to correct the
wrongs of the past and provide
a path to membership for those
families who continue to suffer
the effects of Termination.
“The interpretation is an at-
tempt to address the inaccura-
cies of the federal government’s
recordkeeping at the time of Ter-
mination. This Tribal Council
continues to build on the efforts
of our previous leadership and
help bring closure to families
who have been suffering. This
See MEETING
continued on page 15