Tribal Council approves 76-acre WWMP acquisition, non-infant enrollments

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Tribal Council approved acquisition of the 76-acre k’anawi property through the Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, at its Wednesday, Oct. 8 meeting.

During a Tuesday, Oct. 7, Legislative Action Committee meeting, Tribal Economic Development and Lands Director Jan Reibach noted that the site, located near McMinnville, includes an existing parcel with a new access easement, and that the Tribal Lands Department and the Natural Resources Department have worked with the BPA to bring this project to its final acquisition phase.

“Through this program, the Tribe has done really well,” Reibach said. “How the program works is you have 100% external funding and we get to acquire lands, and the Tribe gets to own the land and reestablish Indigenous species. We also get paid to do it because we get management funds put into this program…The Tribe has increased our land base throughout our homelands by 2,578 acres…When this property is closed, it will increase our Willamette Wildlife Mitigation Program acres to 2,654.28.”

Tribal Council also approved the first round of 15 non-infant enrollment determinations during the Wednesday meeting.

Requirements for enrollment changed in January after the Bureau of Indian Affairs certified the results of the Tribe’s constitutional amendment election that was held in December 2024, changing enrollment requirements to lineal descent.

Applicants must now possess Grand Ronde Indian blood and descend from a biological parent or grandparent who was at any time an enrolled member of the Tribe, provided the ancestor was not enrolled in error. DNA testing is required.

Enrollment for members older than 6 months and not subject to juvenile dependency hearings is limited to 150 new members annually, although Tribal Council may increase it up to 200 by resolution.

“These are the first of non-infants, non-emergency enrollments (under the new requirements),” council member Tonya Gleason-Shepek said. “It was a good process and I wanted to say ‘hayu masi’ to the staff.”

Kathleen George said that she was aware of nervousness and concerns about the new enrollment process, but that lineal descent is what the Tribal membership approved.

“It is our future and we’re very happy for the families who are now enrolled,” she said. “We also ask for patience and understanding for those who are waiting.”

In other action, Tribal Council:

• Approved the 2026 Grants Evaluation and Management Systems Indian Housing Plan, which describes all eligible programs that the Tribal Housing Department will be operating during 2026;
• Approved a Tribal credit card for up to $5,000 for Kim D’Aquila to use in her duties as the new Tribal attorney after the retirement of longtime Tribal Attorney Rob Greene in early October;
• Approved the reappointment of Tribal Council member Kathleen George to the Spirit Mountain Gaming Inc. Board of Directors with a term ending Sept. 30, 2028;
• And approved a memorandum of understanding between the Tribe and the Oregon Judicial Department, the Oregon U.S. District Court and the state’s eight other federally recognized Tribes.

To watch the entire meeting, visit www.grandronde.org and click on the Videos tab.