PRESORTED
STANDARD MAIL
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 700
Smoke Signals wins
general excellence
award — pg. 14
august 15, 2023
State extends
Willamette Falls
fishing platform
permit through ‘28
By Dean Rhodes
Publications coordinator
T
he Oregon Department of
State Lands extended the
Grand Ronde Tribe’s permit
to have a removable fishing plat-
form at Willamette Falls through
August 2028 on Thursday, Aug. 3.
The permit continues the Tribe’s
ability to harvest up to 15 salmon
annually for ceremonial purposes.
“(Permit) Holder is authorized
to maintain a fishing platform at
a single location only during the
period for which the Holder is au-
thorized to harvest salmonids un-
der its Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife Ceremonial Harvest
Permit,” the notification states.
“Holder must remove the fishing
platform each year on or before the
date that the ODFW Ceremonial
Harvest Permit expires.”
The renewal also requires the
Tribe to work in good faith with
upland owners to ensure the fishing
platform does not interfere with
any upland owner’s use, including
that of Portland General Electric.
The Tribe applied for and re-
ceived approval for a waterway
structure from the Department of
State Lands in 2018. The remov-
able fishing platform was complet-
ed in October 2018 after Portland
General Electric revoked permis-
sion allowing Grand Ronde Tribal
members and employees to use its
land to access and build the plat-
form from the safer West Linn side
of the Willamette River.
Tribal Natural Resources De-
See PERMIT
continued on page 7
Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council Secretary Michael Langley and Tribal Council member Kathleen George hug in celebration after
the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife Commission voted to pass a memorandum of agreement with the Tribe
during the commission’s meeting in Salem on Friday, Aug. 4. The agreement will expand the Tribe’s ceremonial
and cultural hunting and fishing areas on off-Reservation and non-trust lands and allow the Tribe to co-manage
this for its members with the state.
ODFW approves MOA expanding
Tribal hunting and fishing rights
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals editor
A
lmost 37 years after Grand Ronde was forced to sign
a consent decree with the state of Oregon restrict-
ing its hunting and fishing rights in order to get its
Reservation Plan approved, some of those rights have been
returned.
See RIGHTS
continued on pages 10-11
Tribal Council member Jon A. George dances as the Warrior
Song is sung to celebrate the Tribe’s memorandum of
agreement being passed.
Paddle to Muckleshoot Landing Day attracts thousands
By Danielle Harrison
Smoke Signals editor
S
EATTLE – More than 100
canoe families from Tribes
across British Columbia, Or-
egon and Washington arrived on
the shores of Alki Beach Park for
Paddle to Muckleshoot Landing
Day on Sunday, July 30.
Thousands of people crowded
along the shoreline, some peering
through binoculars and trying to
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
catch a glimpse of the approaching
canoes, which marks the comple-
tion of the paddling portion.
The excited crowd didn’t have to
wait long. Over the sound of the
drums and a light breeze under a
blue sky, cheers and clapping could
be heard as the first canoe, On
Shaman, appeared on the horizon
See CANOES
continued on pages 12-13
Grand Ronde Canoe Family members pull qisqis along the beach during
the Paddle to Muckleshoot 2023 Landing Day at Alki Beach Park in Seattle,
Wash., on Sunday, July 30.