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Confederated Tribes of The Grand Ronde Community
The logo of Spirit Mountain Casino, an enterprise of the confederated tribes.
Contact
Address: 9615 Grand Ronde Rd., Grand Ronde 97347
Phone: 503-879-5211 or 1-800-422-0232
E-mail: publicaffairs@grandronde.org
Web: www.grandronde.org
About
Restoration Date: November 22, 1983
Number of Members: 5,200
Land Base Acreage: approx. 11,288 acres
Number of people employed by the Tribes: 1,512
Economy
Spirit Mountain Casino; over 10,000 acres of forest lands; a wild lands fire fighting crew. Natural and Cultural Resources, Social Services, an Education system and a Health and Wellness Center also count among the tribal assets today.
Points of interest
Spirit Mountain Casino was created to enhance the tribe’s economic self sufficiency. Today, it is Oregon’s most successful casino and the tribe dedicates 6% of the profits to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund supporting charitable organizations in an 11-county area of western Oregon. The fund has given over $50 million to area charities. The Veterans Memorial, four granite pillars representing the four branches of the armed services, holds the names of tribal members and area veterans who fought and served their country.
The tribe hosts a Veterans’ Pow Wow each July and a Competition Pow Wow on the third weekend each August. Fort Yamhill Heritage area nearby tells the story of the relocation, transition and sadness for Grand Ronde’s people when they were forced from their ancestral homelands which extended from the banks of the Columbia river to the Oregon–California border onto the Grand Ronde Reservation under military guard.
History and culture
The tribes include Athabaskan speaking Chasta, Rogue River and Upper Umpqua from southern Oregon. Molalla tribes are from the western Cascade mountains, Kalapuya Tribes are from the Willamette Valley and Chinookan speaking Tumwater, Clackamas, Watlala and Multnomah are from the lower Willamette and Columbia Rivers. Chinuk Wawa became the Tribes’ common language. Traditional basket making and weaving, skills still practiced today, were important tribal utility and cultural skills.
Tribal court
Tribal Judge Suzanne Ojibway-Townsend, 9615 Grand Ronde Rd., Grand Ronde 97347; 503-879-2303
Tribal council
Chairman Cheryle A. Kennedy (2012); Vice-Chair Reynold Leno (2011); Secretary Kathleen Tom (2011); Council: Steven L. Bobb, Sr. (2010), Toby McClary (2012), Chris Mercier (2010), June Sell-Sherer (2010), Valorie Sheker (2012) and Wink Soderberg (2011)