Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon

Tribal flag
Total population
Enrolled members: 2700
Regions with significant populations
 United States ( Oregon)
Languages
English, reviving Chinuk Wawa
Religion
Christianity

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 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 11,040 acres (45 km2) Indian reservation, the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, which was established in 1855 in Yamhill and Polk counties.

Because the peoples had lived near each other and often spoke more than one language for use in trading, after they were grouped together in the 19th century on the reservation, they refined a creole language that became known as Chinook Jargon. Although long forced to speak English, the peoples are working to revive this as a native language named Chinuk Wawa. They have produced native speakers through immersion programs for young children.

In August 2016 the tribal Court of Appeals (en banc) overturned the tribe's mass disenrollment in 2014 of 66 living descendants of Chief Tumulth of the Kalapuya, who had signed the 1855 treaty with the United States by which his tribe ceded communal land and agreed to the Grand Ronde reservation. This was the first such action by a tribal court overturning disenrollment of members by a tribe.[1]

Members of the confederation

The tribes who were removed to the Grand Ronde reservation are:

United States treaties establishing the CTGR

The reservation today

The community has an 11,040-acre (45 km2) Indian reservation, the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation, located in Yamhill and Polk counties of Oregon.

Economy

Since 1996, the tribes have generated most of their income by operating the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde near the coastal Lincoln City, Oregon. They attract considerable tourist traffic from the coastal beaches and resorts.

They also earn revenue from management of their timber resources. They have developed "other tribal enterprises in construction and environmental management, real estate investment and inventory logistics services. [As of 2000] Its Spirit Mountain Community Fund has given more than $9 million to non-profit organizations since 1997, making it Oregon's eighth largest charitable foundation."[5]

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.[6]

Tribal languages

Historically the tribe had peoples 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 among 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 the 1990s the Confederated tribes of Grand Ronde regained federal recognition as a sovereign tribe. As part of their renewal, 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 into perpetuity.

Membership

The elected tribal council sets the rules for membership. Generally membership requires direct descent from persons listed on the rolls at particular times and a percentage of Native American ancestry from among the tribes in the Confederation.

As a result of political conflict, in 2014 the tribal council voted to disenroll en masse 66 living descendants and six deceased descendants of the 19th-century Chief Tumulth.[1] Chief Tumulth of the Kalapuya had signed the 1855 treaty with the United States that ceded tribal land and agreed to relocation to the Grand Ronde reservation, established by this treaty.

"The Chief Tumulth descendants were classified as “provisionally disenrolled” Grand Ronde members in July of 2014, which stripped them of almost all their tribal rights, including voting rights in the Grand Ronde elections. A three-judge Tribal Court of Appeals panel restored the 66 descendants as full tribal members."[1] But, based on tribal law, the court could not restore membership to six members who were posthumously disenrolled in 2014. The law prohibits heirs and descendants from challenging such action.[1]

Attorney Gabriel Galanda defended the Tumulth descendants and has strongly opposed such "politically motivated" disenrollment. Russell Wilkinson, spokesperson for the descendants, said that such disenrollment was a self-destructive practice of tribes. Tribal council elections were scheduled for September 10, 2016.[1]

Tomanowos, or Willamette Meteorite

Since 2000, members of the tribe travel to New York City annually in July 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 as a natural curiosity.

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. Efforts since the late 20th century to repatriate the meteorite to Oregon were not successful, but the CTGR (successor to the Clackamas, one of the confederation) reached an historic agreement in June 2000 with the American Museum of Natural History. The tribe can have periodic access to Tomanowos for religious and cultural purposes. They perform rites and ceremonies related to their belief in the Tomanowos' role in their sacred history.[5]

The American Museum of Natural History of New York City bought the meteorite in 1906 from the Oregon Iron and Steel Company, which at the time owned the land on which it was found. This land was historically occupied by the Clackamas prior to European-American immigration. The museum has displayed the meteorite since then, known as the largest found in North America. Since 1999, it has been featured at the new addition known as the Rose Center for Earth and Space.

In the late 20th century, the tribe attempted to repatriate Tomanowos under NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990. The museum argued in federal district court in 2000 that the law applied to ceremonial objects made by the tribes, not to objects such as the meteorite, which occurred naturally and may be revered by peoples. It sued to be named as official owner of the meteorite.[7]

The museum and CTGR tribe reached agreement in June 2000 to share custody of the meteorite to preserve it for both religious and scientific purposes.

"The American Museum of Natural History and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon today signed a historic agreement that ensures access to the Willamette Meteorite, a world famous scientific specimen at the Museum, by the Grand Ronde for religious, historical, and cultural purposes while maintaining its continued presence at the Museum for scientific and educational purposes. The agreement recognizes the Museum's tradition of displaying and studying the Meteorite for almost a century, while also enabling the Grand Ronde to re-establish its relationship with the Meteorite with an annual ceremonial visit to the Meteorite."

[5]In addition, the museum committed to establishing internships for Native Americans, to create new connections between the communities and make opportunities for young students.[5]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 ICTMN Staff, "Grand Ronde Disenrollment Reversed by Tribal Court", Indian Country Today, 9 August 2016; accessed 11 August 2016
  2. ↑ Rogue Rivers—-several tribes grouped together based on the Rogue River Wars of ~1855-1857. These tribes lived in the Illinois and Rogue rivers areas of southwest Oregon and northern California. They were split between the Grand Ronde Reservation (Yamhill River Reserve) and the Coast Indian Reservation of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz after the Rogue River Treaty of September 10, 1853.
  3. ↑ http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol2/treaties/rog0603.htm
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-14. Retrieved 2009-10-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Willamette Meteorite Agreement", June 2000, American Museum of Natural History, accessed 4 September 2015
  6. ↑ Jaquiss, Nigel (May 17, 2006). "Betting On The Governor's Race". Willamette Week.
  7. ↑ Weiser, Benjamin (February 29, 2000). "Museum Sues to Keep Meteorite Sought by Indian Group". The New York Times.

Further reading

External links

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