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SEPTEMBER 15, 2022
Siletz, Coquille Tribes
withdraw from Oregon
Tribal Gaming Alliance
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians and Coquille Indian Tribe
have withdrawn from the Ore-
gon Tribal Gaming Alliance, an
18-year-old coalition of federally
recognized Tribes within the state
that own and operate casinos.
Tribal Council Vice Chair Chris
Mercier, who also is vice chair of the
Tribal Gaming Alliance, announced
the withdrawal of the Siletz Tribe
at the Tuesday, Aug. 30, Legislative
Action Committee meeting.
The Gaming Alliance has
scrubbed the Siletz and Coquille
Tribes and their respective casinos,
Chinook Winds in Lincoln City and
the Mill Casino in North Bend, from
its website at otga.net.
The Gaming Alliance now con-
sists of the Grand Ronde Tribe,
Coos, Lower Umpqua & Siuslaw
Tribes, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Indians, Klamath Tribes, Confeder-
ated Tribes of Umatilla Indians and
the Burns Paiute Tribe. The Warm
Springs Tribe also is not a member.
“This isn’t the first time they
have withdrawn,” said Tribal lob-
byist Justin Martin about the Siletz
Tribe. “OTGA is a consensus organi-
zation, so even the issues they have
concerns about wouldn’t have had
any action because all Tribes don’t
agree on off-Reservation policy.”
The Siletz Tribe approved a res-
olution on May 20 to withdraw
from the Gaming Alliance and it
was received by the organization
in mid-June. The Coquille Indian
Tribe passed a resolution on July
5 that was received by the Gam-
ing Alliance on July 25. Both are
considered “internal documents”
that the Gaming Alliance declined
to release.
Both the Siletz and Coquille
Tribes did not respond to e-mail
requests from Smoke Signals seek-
ing copies of their respective reso-
lutions.
Martin said Siletz’s withdrawal,
along with that of the Coquille In-
dian Tribe, will not have an effect
on the Gaming Alliance.
“OTGA’s main objective is collect-
ing data to use to educate elected
officials, the general public and the
news media about Tribal gaming in
Oregon,” he said.
Siletz’s and Coquille’s withdraw-
als from the Tribal Gaming Alliance
may be part of both Tribes’ efforts
to significantly alter Oregon’s
long-standing policy of one casino
per Tribe on Reservation land.
The Siletz Tribe filed an appli-
cation with the Department of the
Interior to build an 180,800-square-
foot casino with 2,000 gaming
devices and 45 table games north
of downtown Salem in April 2020.
During a January 2022 Bureau
of Indian Affairs virtual public
hearing on the Siletz proposal, 21 of
the 28 speakers were Grand Ronde
Tribal members or employees who
unanimously spoke in opposition to
the idea of allowing the Siletz Tribe
to leapfrog over Spirit Mountain
Casino and build a second casino
closer to Salem.
In 2017, the Siletz Tribe proposed
building a second casino at the
20-acre site off Interstate 5 and
splitting the proceeds with the state
of Oregon and eight other federally
recognized Tribes in Oregon. The
Grand Ronde Tribe objected to that
proposal as well.
The Salem market has become
more important to Grand Ronde’s
Spirit Mountain Casino following
the Cowlitz Tribe opening Ilani
Casino approximately 17 miles
north of the Portland-Vancouver
metropolitan area in April 2017.
The Siletz Tribe will need the
approval of Interior Secretary Deb
Haaland and Gov. Kate Brown or
her successor before proceeding
with its Salem proposal. The state’s
current gaming policy would also
have to be shelved.
In 2020, the Coquille Tribe at-
tempted to get a 2.42-acre parcel
in Medford – 170 miles from its
administrative offices – placed into
trust for a proposed second casino,
the Cedars at Bear Creek. The
proposed casino would have been
adjacent to a nine-hole golf course
and a planned 111-room hotel.
Should the long-standing state
policy end, the Grand Ronde Tribe
also is poised to seek permission to
build a second casino at the former
Multnomah Greyhound Park site in
Wood Village just east of Portland.
The Tribe purchased the property
in December 2015 and is currently
working to have it taken into trust.
Despite withdrawing from the
Gaming Alliance, the Siletz Tribe
hosted the Aug. 30 Oregon Tribes
meeting at its casino in Lincoln City
and continues to partner with the
Grand Ronde Tribe in developing
Chemawa Station in Keizer.
“To me, I don’t understand why a
Tribe would withdraw from OTGA,
but choose to belong to an organi-
zation that is a coalition of the nine
Oregon Tribes,” Mercier said. “I’d
have to think that gaming issues
will eventually arise there.”
School clothing program opens
Social Service’s school clothing program opened on July 30.
This is a first-come, first-served program and children who benefit must
be an enrolled Grand Ronde Tribal member.
The child must be of school age and enrolled in school (preschool, ele-
mentary, middle or high school). Income criteria applies.
Contact Social Services at 800-242-8196 or 503-879-2034 for an appli-
cation. Deadline for all applications is Sept. 30.
Smoke Signals
General Council briefed on
Spirit Mountain Casino
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Spirit Mountain Casino Chief
Executive Officer Bruce Thomas,
Assistant Executive Officer Ca-
mille Mercier and Spirit Mountain
Gaming Inc. Board Chairman Andy
Jenness gave the first presentation
of the 2022-23 General Council
meeting cycle on Sunday, Sept.
11, via the Zoom teleconferencing
program.
Mercier gave a 17-minute presen-
tation in executive session and the
trio then fielded nine questions and
comments from Tribal members in
attendance.
Since the presentation was held
Camille Mercier
in executive session, Smoke Signals
cannot publish specific details.
In other action, Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia Hernandez
delivered the Tribal Council election results from Saturday, Sept.
10, that saw two incumbents – Denise Harvey and Kathleen George
– re-elected to three-year terms. Former Tribal Council member Bren-
da Tuomi secured the third seat, replacing six-term Tribal Council
member Jack Giffen Jr. who did not run for re-election.
The election of three women in one Tribal Council election has
never occurred before since 1983’s Restoration.
The next General Council meeting will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday,
Oct. 2, and will feature an executive session presentation about the
Tribe’s endowments.
Dakota Ross, Ashlee Webb and Jamieson Smallwood won the $100
door prizes and Tiny Gibbons, Robert Wiggs, Lee Ann Huffman,
Simone Auger and Sydney Clark won the $50 prizes.
Tribal member Veronica Gaston opened the meeting with an
invocation and Tribal Council member Jon A. George performed a
drum song.
The non-executive session portion of the meeting can be viewed by
visiting the Tribal government’s website at www.grandronde.org and
clicking on the Government tab and then Videos.
Tribal members wanting to see the executive session portion
should contact Hernandez at stacia.martin@grandronde.org or call
503-879-2304.
PGE power outages
affect West Valley area
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Portland General Electric warned West Valley residents in the
Grand Ronde, Willamina and Sheridan areas that it would turn off
power in its Public Safety Power Shutoff areas to prevent the chance
of downed power lines starting wildfires.
The weather forecasted for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11,
included strong, gusty winds and temperatures in the high 80s and
lower 90s.
Tribal General Manager David Fullerton closed the Governance
Center at noon Friday and the planned hybrid General Council meet-
ing held on Sunday, Sept. 11, was changed to an all-Zoom meeting.
In-person voting still occurred on Saturday for the 2022 Tribal
Council election in the Community Center. Seventy-one Tribal
members cast ballots in person.
PGE said it was “highly likely” that it would temporarily turn off
power in all 10 of its Public Safety Power Shutoff areas to reduce the
risk of wildfires. Shutoffs affected approximately 30,000 customers.
“PGE aims to provide up to four hours of notice to customers before
turning off the power,” the company said. “We understand that being
without power is difficult and will work as quickly as safety allows
to fully restore power. However, a PSPS can extend for days, even
after the weather returns to normal because we visually inspect our
lines and other electrical equipment and make any repairs that are
necessary before re-energizing.”
Tribal Facilities Manager Tyson Mercier said the power was out for
about 12 hours on the Tribal campus and was spotty in the surround-
ing community, but no wildfires started in the West Valley area.
Weather in the Grand Ronde area moderated on Sunday, with
highs decreasing into the low 70ss and high 60s throughout the
following week.