Yesteryears - July 15, 2025

2020 — Spirit Mountain Casino began requiring customers to wear masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, following a new state requirement for masking in all indoor public spaces. The Tribe’s Health & Wellness Department also expanded its coronavirus testing to Tribal employees.

2015 — After a year of considering the issue, Tribal Council issued a statement declaring that, notwithstanding a new law in Oregon, decriminalizing the use and possession of recreational marijuana, the Tribe would exercise its rights as a sovereign nation, and would continue to ban use and possession on Tribal land and at Tribal enterprises, including Spirit Mountain Casino.

 2010 — Oregon Tribes, including Grand Ronde, were gearing up to fight two November ballot measures brought by backers of a private casino in Wood Village, who wanted to start the only casino in the state not operated by one of the nine federally recognized Tribes. The measures would have amended the Oregon Constitution to create an exception to the 1984 ban on private casinos in Oregon and authorize a new casino in Multnomah County.

2005 — The Tribe named Shelley Hanson as the new director of the Spirit Mountain Community Fund. Hanson succeeded Adam Henny, who was named interim director in July 2004.

2000 — The Spirit Mountain Community Fund donated $500,000 to the Portland Art Museum, that, combined with an earlier $500,000, would enable the museum to remodel its Hoffman wing to create the Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art, providing 7,000 square feet of exhibition space for new galleries dedicated to Native art.

1995 — Tribal Council sponsored community meetings in Eugene, Salem, Portland and Grand Ronde to discuss six priority investment areas for Tribal revenues over the following five years, for revenue generated by Spirit Mountain Casino.

1990 — Enrollment Director Margo Mercier announced that questionnaires mailed to Tribal members to create a database, including households with children who were not yet enrolled, had resulted in 80 new enrollees, bringing Tribal membership to 2,646.

1985 — The result of the research report and secretarial proposal for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe was released by the deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, naming two organized groups: The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe and the Cow Creek Descendants Organization. Descendants were instructed to begin gathering proof of their Cow Creek ancestry.

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