Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) is a federally recognized tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. They consist of at least 27 Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundary of the Cascade Range, and the northern boundary of southwestern Washington and the southern boundary of northern California.
The community has an 11,288-acre (45.7 km2) Indian reservation, the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. Established in 1856, the reservation occupies parts of Yamhill and Polk counties.
Because the tribes had lived near each other, and often spoke more than one language for use in trading, after they were grouped in the 19th century on the reservation, they refined a creole language that became known as Chinook Wawa. Although long forced to speak English, the people are working to conserve this Native language. They have taught Native speakers through immersion programs for young children.
History[edit]
19th century[edit]
From 1854 to 1856, the U.S. Army resettled Native people from western Oregon, the Oregon coast, and along the Columbia River to territory along the South Yamhill River. It was here that the Grand Ronde Reservation was established in 1857. In 1887, with the passage of the Dawes Act, the Grand Ronde Reservation was reduced through the privatization of property. Land that was not allotted to Natives through the process of privatization was made available to non-Native ownership.
20th century[edit]
In 1936, Grand Ronde voted to confederate, accept an Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) government, and adopted a constitution and by-laws modeled after the U.S. government. In 1954, US Congress "terminated" the tribe.[7] The land of terminated tribes was no longer tax-exempt. Faced with the increased cost of land ownership, many lost their property. In addition, people from terminated tribes could no longer attend Chemawa School and had to pay for medical services. In 1956 the reservation was closed and the tribal council disbanded. In 1975, the tribal council was reconstituted.[8] In 1983, House Resolution 3885 restored federal recognition status to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Five years after this resolution, a small portion of the original reservation was returned to Grand Ronde which is used today for timber, recreation, and traditional harvesting practices.[7]
The tribes began publishing Smoke Signals, then a monthly newsletter, in 1978; it has since shifted to a semi-monthly publication schedule, and a tabloid newspaper format.
Cultures[edit]
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has a curriculum specialist who created tribal history lessons[9] funded in part by Oregon Senate Bill 13, which supplies funds for each of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to create curriculum about Native Americans' contributions to Oregon history.[10]
A Chinuk Wawa immersion program is available for kindergarteners and first graders. The tribe published Chinuk Wawa: As our elders teach us to Speak It, a Chinuk Wawa dictionary, in 2012.[11]
In 2010, the tribe built a plank house on the reservation. In 2011, Grand Ronde Canoe Journey, an exhibit about the tribe's canoe traditions, was installed at the Willamette Heritage Center.[11]
Every year the reservation hosts powwows and a Round Dance.[11]
Reservation[edit]
The community has an 11,288-acre (46 km2) Indian reservation, the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, located in Yamhill and Polk counties of Oregon. In the 2000s, the tribe's population was more than 5,500 members.[11]
Economy[edit]
The Tribes employ around 1,600 people.[12]
Since 1996, the tribes have generated most of their income by operating the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, between Lincoln City and Salem. The most successful casino in Oregon,[12] it attracts considerable tourist traffic from the coastal beaches and resorts. Six percent of the casino's profits goes to the Tribes' Spirit Mountain Community Fund,[12][13] which supports and funds various organizations in the following 11 western Oregon area counties: Benton, Clackamas, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill.[14] By 2017, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund had given more than $75 million to non-profit organizations,[13] making it Oregon's eighth largest charitable foundation.
They also earn revenue from the management of their timber resources. They have developed "other tribal enterprises in construction and environmental management, real estate investment and inventory logistics services."
In the 21st century, the Grand Ronde tribes have opposed the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs' plans to build an off-reservation casino in Cascade Locks, Oregon. They spent more than $800,000 trying to influence decisions on the issue by supporting certain candidates in the 2006 primary races for Governor of Oregon.[15]
Tribal languages[edit]
Historically the tribe had people speaking 27 distinct languages. Numerous members of these tribes could speak more than one language due to their proximity and trading relationships. The Oregon Territory was one of the most linguistically diverse regions in the world. On the reservation, most Native Americans began communicating using Chinook Jargon, the trade language that had developed earlier. The Chinook Jargon was widely spoken throughout the Northwest between tribes and newcomers to the region.
At Grand Ronde reservation, Chinook Jargon developed as a creole language, and was the first language in most native homes. Tribal members continued to use this language, even as their children were educated in English and through the termination era (1954-1983). During this period, children were being sent to Indian boarding schools and forced to learn English; all individual tribal languages at Grand Ronde became extinct as their last native speakers died.
In the 1970s, Grand Ronde elders began teaching Chinook Jargon language classes in the community. In 1983, the Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde regained federal recognition as a sovereign tribe. As part of restoration, they established a formal language program for children, which they could support through revenues generated from gaming. They renamed Chinook Jargon as Chinuk Wawa (Talking Chinuk). The Grand Ronde tribe's immersion language program has produced native speakers, joining another half-dozen Native language immersion programs in such success. This program begins in preschool classes (Lilu) and continues into Kindergarten. The language program officials plan to expand the immersion program to a pre-8 grade program, and offer classes for adults. This will create speakers of the language to help the language survive in perpetuity.