In November, The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde celebrated the 32nd anniversary of their restored reservation in northwestern Oregon. Ceremonies included adding Rogue River rocks to an earth and stone monument in an empowerment ceremony.
The tribes also staged a flag-posting ceremony in the Willamina High School gymnasium, hanging the tribal flag beside state, national and POW/MIA flags, a move sanctioned by the school board last summer. Tribal representative Jon George said the tribal flag represents his culture’s history and a long line of ancestors preceding the arrival of pioneer settlers and miners. Congress restored the reservation in 1983, rescinding the congressional termination in 1956, a century after the reservation’s creation at the end of the Rogue River Indian Wars.
In 1856, more than 27 tribes and bands from Western Oregon, Southern Washington and Northern California were forced onto the Grand Ronde and Siletz reservations, including 400 people marched 250 miles from near Medford, Ore., and another 600 marched from Portland after arrival from Fort Orford by coastal steamer.
The federal government reasoned their removal would free land for pioneer settlement and lessen conflicts among tribes and between Indians, settlers and miners.
Source: "150 Years Since Oregon's Trails of Tears." Taowhywee, Agnes Baker Pilgrim. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
Lewis, David. "Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde." The Oregon Encyclopedia. Portland State University and Oregon Historical Society, 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015. http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/confederated_tribes_of_grand_ronde/#.VltT_DZdFPZ; Daquilante, Paul. "Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, A symbol of their ancestors." Mail Tribune 29 Nov. 2015 [Medford, Ore.] : A2. [reprinted from Yamhill Valley News-Register] Print.
