Tribal trials and triumphs
By AMANDA PENNELLY
Issue date: Fri, Apr 16, 2004
1856
• President James Buchanan creates a 69,100-acre Grand Ronde Reservation, with the ratification of that treaty completed by executive order the following year.
1887-89
• The Dawes General Allotment Act is passed by the federal government. This allowed unallotted reservation land to be sold to nontribal parties for single-family farming — reducing tribal land to 61,440 acres.
1901
• The sale of “surplus” (or unallotted) reservation land continues at about $1 per acre, leaving the Grand Ronde Reservation with 440 acres.
1954
• Congress terminates 62 tribes native to Oregon — ending federal services and selling tribal lands — to assimilate American Indians into mainstream America.> 1956
• Congress terminates the Klamath Indian Tribe, and Grand Ronde and Siletz reservations are closed.
1975
• A committee is established at Grand Ronde to restore the tribe; its land base is approximately 5 acres.
1982
• Members of the Grand Ronde restoration team raise $250,000 in donations from area churches, private donors, government agencies and various fund-raisers.
• Leaders such as Kathryn Harrison continue to make trips to Washington, D.C., to appeal for federal recognition.
1983
• The Grand Ronde Restoration Act is signed to establish a future reservation for Grand Ronde.
• The “Restoration Roll” also opens, with tribal membership at about 862. The membership registry later closes with a total of about 1,100 members.
1984
• The Grand Ronde Tribal Education program is established, receiving most of its funding from timber sales.
1988
• Congress signs the Grand Ronde Reservation Act — providing 9,811 acres of nearby timberland for the new Grand Ronde reservation.
• The National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is passed by Congress, which gives tribes the right to own and operate gaming facilities through compacts with state governments — which are designed in compliance with state gaming regulations.
1990
• Tribal higher education scholarship programs are developed with timber revenue.
1992
• The first gaming compact is signed between Oregon and the Cow Creek and Umpqua Tribe of Indians.
1993
• Grand Ronde enrollment expands to about 3,000 members, and an ordinance is passed by tribal leaders to tighten membership requirements.
• The tribe employs approximately 130 people.
1994
• A state compact authorizes a Grand Ronde casino near Lincoln City.
• Grand Ronde begins its Head Start and early childhood development programs with the help of the surrounding counties.
1995
• The 90,000-square-foot Spirit Mountain Casino facility opens, employing 600 people from the community.
1996
• The state Task Force on Gaming is created by then-Gov. John Kitzhaber and led by then-Attorney General Ted Kulongoski. Its seven-month inquiry focuses on the overall gaming market in Oregon — eventually recommending the one-casino-per-tribe policy that has been used unilaterally in state gaming compacts ever since.
1997
• A new Grand Ronde compact with the state of Oregon authorizes the addition of craps, roulette and pai gow poker, along with any game approved for play by the Nevada Gaming Commission. In exchange for the expansion, Grand Ronde agrees to create the Spirit Mountain Community Fund — a nonprofit that would allocate 6 percent of the tribes’ annual gaming revenue to charities in 11 Oregon counties, as well as to government services in Polk and Yamhill counties.
• Per capita disbursements of about $2,800 each year are given to tribal members, with payments held in trust for members under 21 years of age.
• Grand Ronde opens Grand Meadows, a development of 36 manufactured homes for purchase by tribal members.
1998
• Spirit Mountain Casino begins a 175-acre expansion that includes the addition of 1,500 slot machines and a 100-room lodge. It now has a total of 1,500 employees.
• The tribe builds its own tribal Head Start education program.
1999
• The tribe’s enrollment restrictions tighten again as membership balloons to about 5,000 after the casino opens.
2000
• Spirit Mountain Casino earns $63 million in gaming revenue and establishes itself as the most-visited tourist destination in Oregon.
• The tribe opens an elder housing facility for about 50 tribal members.
2002
• A new tribal education facility opens, which includes a multipurpose room, library, computer lab, language emersion classes and videoconferencing classrooms in collaboration with local community colleges.
2003
• Grand Ronde opens a family housing facility for 102 tribal members.
• The tribe also opens a convenience store and gas station along Oregon Highway 18.
• New Spirit Mountain Casino CEO Douglas Pattison takes office, launching an advertising campaign for the casino.
• Spirit Mountain Community Fund celebrates the donation of more than $20 million in charitable donations — awarding 130 grants in 2003.
• Grande Ronde offers to fund a baseball stadium in Portland in exchange for an off-reservation casino.
• After the stadium proposal falls through, Grand Ronde offers to fund a headquarters hotel at the Oregon Convention Center, in exchange for authorization to build a future casino on the property. Now Gov. Kulongoski reaffirms Oregon’s one-casino-per-tribe policy, which eventually causes Grand Ronde to pull its hotel bid.
• Per capita disbursements for tribal members rise to more than $5,000 a year.
2004
• An $18 million, 160-room addition to the Spirit Mountain Casino lodge is announced, with a completion date slated for summer 2005.
• The tribal council decides to stop monthly advance funding to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund — essentially halting all charitable donations until April 2005 — in order to accrue annual interest on the funds.
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