Clash along the Columbia

 Ten simple words.

For the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in western Oregon, ten words introduced into an existing law would restore their relationship with the land upon which their ancestors lived. Other tribes, however, consider the move risky.

Last month, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) introduced a bill in Congress that would add the Grand Ronde to the list of four tribal groups who currently have treaty and consulting rights in the Columbia River Gorge area under the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act of 1986. The Grand Ronde tribes, who were forcibly removed from their homeland along the Columbia River in 1855-56, were busy fighting for federal recognition and a reservation when the law was passed.

“It’s a matter of simple justice,” says Siobhan Taylor, public affairs director for the Grand Ronde. “When Lewis and Clark came to the area they mention meeting speakers of the Chinook languages … descendants of those speakers are members of the tribe today.”

As part of the act, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, the Nez Perce and the Yakama Nation are allowed to partake in cultural ceremonies around the Gorge and are regularly consulted on environmental matters. If human remains are found in the area, those tribes are sought out in case the remains belonged to an ancestor who should be properly buried. 

All four of those tribal groups oppose the inclusion of the Grand Ronde tribes into the Columbia Gorge act.

“You cannot open the door just a little ways, and have just the inclusion of another tribe,” said Louie Pitt, director of government affairs for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, in an Aug. 13 article in the Spilyay Tymoo. Including any special interest could dilute the rights and management responsibilities of the existing tribes, he said.

The hostility between the tribal groups might have something to do with Grand Ronde’s formal opposition to the proposed Warm Springs casino in Cascade Locks (the Grand Ronde have their own casino). Or perhaps the law’s existing tribal members fear their fishing rights will be threatened.

The issue is reminiscent of the feuds between tribes in Washington, some of which oppose the Duwamish’s fight for federal recognition.

“A long time ago, you could travel anywhere in any reservation and you’d be welcome,” says Cecile Hansen, a Duwamish tribal leader and descendant of Chief Sealth, Seattle’s namesake. “Mom always made dinner on Sunday from scratch, and there was always some Indian people from some place who would show up. And now it’s not that way … That’s an unspoken truth."

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde aren’t asking for anything other than to be recognized, Taylor says, and if anything the tribes should really be supporting each other.

“The Grand Ronde is a Columbia River tribe and we see no reason why we shouldn’t get the same voice,” she says. “I don’t know what [those other tribes] are thinking.”