Yesteryears -- Nov. 15, 2011

2006 - Tribal member April Campbell arrived as Education Department manager after living for a time in central Washington. She was an education specialist in the department from 2000-05. Campbell earned a bachelor's degree in Management of Organization Leadership at George Fox University in Newberg and was working on a master's degree in Education from George Fox with a specialty in higher education.

2001 - Tribal members Jackie Whisler and Bobby Mercier took on the task of teaching the next generation of Grand Ronde youth Chinuk Wawa. Whisler left the Executive Office to become a language teacher in the Cultural Resources Department while Mercier was leaving a job in the Maintenance Department to teach the Native tongue. Whisler and Mercier received training that was funded by a $193,000 Administration for Native Americans grant.

1996 - The 13^th annual Restoration Celebration was scheduled for Nov. 23 at Grand Ronde Elementary School. Dinner was set to start at noon with a mini powwow to follow.

1991 - Michael Larsen was selected to be a "community encourager" for the Health and Human Services Clinic. As such, he was tasked with acting as a liaison between the Tribal community and the Health Care and Planning departments to find out what kind of care is needed at the clinic.

1986 - Enrollment Clerk Margo George reported that Tribal membership was now 1,983. In addition, she was gathering information on how to start issuing Tribal identification cards.

Yesteryears is a look back at Tribal history in five-year increments through the pages of Smoke Signals.