Yesteryears -- July 15, 2015

2010 – Oregon Tribes were organizing to combat two November ballot measures that would have a “devastating effect” on Indian gaming statewide. Backers of a private casino in Wood Village had collected enough signatures to put the issue on the Nov. 2 ballot.

2005 – Tribal member Shelley Hansen was named Spirit Mountain Community Fund director, taking over from Adam Henny, who was named interim director in July 2004.

2000 – The Tribe made a $500,000 donation to the Portland Art Museum to create the new Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art, which will give museum visitors a better sense of the museum’s Native American collection. “To know us, you have to know our art,” said Tribal Council Chairwoman Kathryn Harrison.

1995 – Tribal Council members Kathryn Harrison and Mark Mercier attended a fundraising luncheon for Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse at the Governor Hotel in Portland. Furse is a longtime friend of the Grand Ronde Tribe and an instrumental figure in Tribal Restoration efforts in the early 1980s.

1990 – Enrollment Director Margo Mercier reported that membership totaled 2,646 with 80 new enrollees after people responded to an application sent to households whose children were not yet enrolled.

1985 – A fry bread stand to raise money for the powwow did well, earning $150 at Phil Sheridan Days and more than $200 during the two-day celebration in Willamina. Volunteers also introduced the “Grand Ronde hamburger,” which was a hit along with the original fry bread and strawberries and shortcake.

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