Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon facts for kids
Tribal flag
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Enrolled members: 5200 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States ( Oregon) |
|
| Languages | |
| English, Chinook Jargon |
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) consists of twenty-seven Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon. It is bordered on the west by the Oregon Coast; its eastern boundary boundary is Cascade Range. The northern boundary is southwestern Washington, and the southern boundary is northern California. The community has an 11,288-acre (45.7 km2) Indian reservation, the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, which was established in 1855 in Yamhill and Polk counties.
After the tribes were grouped in this territory in the 19th century, the community spoke a language called Chinook Jargon. The people, despite being forced to speak English, are working hard to preserve Chinook Jargon, speaking it whenever they can, especially around the children.
Contents
Members of the confederation
The tribes who were removed to the Grand Ronde reservation are:
- Chasta (or Shasta; from present-day Oregon and California bands of the Shasta Nations)
- Chasta Costa (Southern Oregon Athapaskan speakers)
- Kalapuya (Yamel (Yamhill), Mary's River, Winfelly (Mohawk), Atfalati (Tualatin), Yoncalla (Kommema), Ahanyichuk, Santiam)
- Molalla (Santiam Band, and Molala)
- Rogue River (Historically a name made by mixing Takelma, Upper Umpqua and Rogue River Athapaskan tribes)
- Klickitat
- Chinook (Thomas Band Chinook, Williams Band Chinook, Wal-la-lah band of Tumwaters, Johns Band Chinook, Clackamas Chinook (Oregon City))
- Tillamook (Salmon River, Nehalem, Nestucka)
- French-Canadian (Iroquoian)
United States treaties establishing the CTGR
- Treaty with the Chasta, etc., 1854
- Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc., 1855
- Treaty with the Molalla, 1855
- Treaty with the Rogue River, 1853
- Treaty with the Rogue River, 1854
- Treaty with the Umpqua-Cow Creek Band, 1853
- Treaty with the Umpqua and Kalapuya, 1854
History
As a result of the seven United States treaties, the U.S. Army resettled twenty-seven native people tribes to territory along the South Yamhill River. The Grande Ronde Reservation was established in 1857.
The Dawes Act of 1887 gave every tribal member, with half Indian blood or more, a small plot of land. Land that was not given to the Natives through this process of privatization was sold. Each tribal member was given $72 for the sale of the remainder of the land that was not given to a member of the tribe.
In 1936, Grand Ronde voted to make their way of life more like the United States government. In 1954, U.S. Congress "terminated" the tribe, making the land they lived on able to be taxed. Many people lost their property, had to switch schools, and had to pay for medical services. In 1988, a small portion of the original reservation was returned to the Grand Ronde tribe and is used today for timber, recreation, and traditional harvesting practices.
The Tribes started publishing a monthly newsletter called Smoke Signals in 1978. It has since changed to a tabloid newspaper that is published twice a month.
Tribal languages
Historically, the tribe had people speaking twenty-seven distinct languages. Many members of these tribes could speak more than one language because they were so close to other tribes and it helped them trade goods with each other. On the reservation, most Native Americans began to speak in the common trade language, Chinook Jargon. During the termination era (1954-1983), children were sent to Indian boarding schools and forced to learn English. This caused all individual tribal languages at Grand Ronde to become extinct as their last native speakers died.
In the 1970s, Grand Ronde elders began teaching Chinook Jargon language classes in the community. The language program officials plan to grow the immersion program to a preschool through eighth-grade program and offer classes for adults. This will create speakers of the language to help the language survive.
Culture
Oregon State Bill 13 helps pay for curriculum specialists (people who write school lessons) to create tribal history lessons for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The curriculum teaches about the Native Americans' part in Oregon history.
To preserve the Chinook Jargon language (also called Chinuk Wawa) the tribes made an immersion program available to kindergarteners and first graders. The program teaches the language and speaks it constantly so that the children always hear it: they are "immersed" in the language. The tribe published Chinuk Wawa: As Our Elders Teach Us to Speak It, a Chinuk Wawa dictionary, in 2012.
In 2010, the tribe built a plank house on the reservation. In 2011, they added an exhibit about the tribe's canoe traditions at the Willamette Heritage Center called Grand Ronde Canoe Journey.
Every year the reservation hosts pow wows and a Round Dance.
The reservation today
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 over 5,500 members.
Economy
The Tribes employ around 1,600 people. Most of their money is earned from the Spirit Mountain Casino. By 2023, the Spirit Mountain Community Fund had given more than $95 million to non-profit organizations, making it Oregon's eighth-largest charitable foundation. They also earn money from the management of their timber resources.
Membership
The elected tribal council sets the membership rules. Normally, membership requires direct descent from a person listed on the rolls at particular times. A member must also have a percentage of Native American ancestry from among the tribes in the Confederation. Being a member of the tribe has an estimated financial benefit of between $3500 and $5000 per year; however, that does not include health care.
The Grande Ronde Tribal Council was created by the Tribal Constitution and has nine members. Each member serves a three-year term and can be re-elected. There is no limit to how many terms a council member can serve. Anyone eighteen years or older and an enrolled member of the Tribe can try to be elected to the Tribal Council.
Mass tribal dis-enrollment of descendants of Tumulth case
In 2014, the tribal council voted to dis-enroll sixty-six living and six deceased descendants of Chief Tumulth. This meant that these people lost their tribal rights because their ancestor had signed a treaty in 1855 with the United States. The treaty had given away tribal land and agreed to the relocation of the Grand Ronde reservation.
In 2016, the tribal Court of Appeals overturned this decision and re-enrolled the sixty-six living descendants of Chief Tumulth. This was the first time a tribal court had overturned the disenrollment of members by a tribe.
Tomanowos, or Willamette Meteorite
Each July since 2000, members of the tribe travel to New York City to see Tomanowos, also known as the Willamette Meteorite. This meteorite was taken from Oregon years ago and has been displayed at American Museum of Natural History.
The Clackamas people, one of the Grand Ronde tribes, traditionally believe that this 15-ton meteorite was a sacred 'sky person' who fell to earth thousands of years ago and helped create their people and their world. In June 2000, the American Museum of Natural History and the tribe agreed to share control of the meteorite to preserve it for both religious and scientific purposes. The museum also committed to making internships available for Native Americans, to build new connections between the communities and create opportunities for young students.
Interesting facts about the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon
- The 325 "Indian Refugees" who were moved from the Table Rock Reservation in Southern Oregon walked along the Rogue River Trail of Tears.
- The journey along the Rogue River Trail of Tears began on February 23, 1856, and ended on March 25, 1856. There were eight deaths and eight births along the way.
- Most Grande Ronde Tribes' reservation land was taken from them in the early 1900s. They have been able to reclaim just over 12,077 acres of the original 60,000+ acre reservation.
- The Tribe’s territories include Washington, Marion, Yamhill, Polk, Tillamook, and Multnomah counties.
- Spirit Mountain Casino is one of Oregon’s top tourist attractions.
- The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde began a project that would preserve the history of the tribes. Seventeen lessons have been developed for eighth graders in several school districts in Oregon.
- Sixty-five elders of the tribes were interviewed to create the information for the history lessons.
