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This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.
The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon is urging Gov. Tina Kotek to slow walk a request from Willamette Falls Trust for up to $75 million in state funding to buy land near the falls.
In a June 9 letter, Grand Ronde tribal chair Cheryle Kennedy wrote to Kotek that her tribe had “serious concerns about the proposal.”
Earlier in the legislative session, Willamette Falls Trust, a nonprofit with four tribal members on its board, circulated a document in the Capitol seeking funding for the acquisition of 60 acres of property near the falls, including Moores Island and nearby uplands on the Willamette River between West Linn and Oregon City. The property is available due to the closure of West Linn Paper Company.
The trust, whose members include the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, is seeking $50 million to $75 million in initial state funding, according to the document the trust circulated. Former Gov. Kate Brown serves as the trust’s president.
Willamette Falls Trust envisions “an easily accessible public space developed alongside Tribal leaders that includes viewing platforms, pathways, facilities for educational and cultural events, and gift shop featuring local makers.”
The document also alludes to the central role Willamette Falls has played for tribes over the centuries, saying, “Many tribal nations have creation stories centered around the Willamette River and the falls.”
But that description appears to have struck a nerve with the Grand Ronde.
“Proponents are presenting this project as returning lands to Oregon’s tribal nations; however, the Willamette Falls Trust excludes the Confederated Tribe of the Grand Ronde, which is the tribe of record in the area, and includes an out-of-state tribe [the Yakama],” Kennedy’s letter says.
The Grand Ronde letter lands as the session moves into its final weeks and lawmakers and Kotek begin jockeying for the large capital expenditures that are always part of the final bills to pass in a session. Those “go home” or “Christmas tree” bills are where senior lawmakers and the governor fund their most favored projects. The funding of capital projects is subjective, political and, usually, highly competitive.
In her letter, Kennedy told Kotek there had been no tribal consultation on Willamette Falls Trust’s proposal and there was significant disagreement among tribes about the history of the falls. She reminded Kotek that a bitter federal lawsuit was already pending over tribal use there, pitting the Grand Ronde, who obtained a state license in 2018 to erect a ceremonial fishing platform below the falls, against Portland General Electric. PGE operates a hydroelectric dam there and is a partner with the Warm Springs tribe on the far larger Pelton-Round Butte dam complex on the Deschutes River.
Related: PGE’s CEO Makes Last-Minute Appearance at Trial Over Disputed Fishing Platform at Willamette Falls
“This project is misguided, disingenuous and comes at a time when our tribe is engaged in litigation over the state’s largest utility over our ability to practice our culture,” Kennedy wrote. (U.S. District Judge Michael Simon is expected to rule on the Grand Ronde’s lawsuit in the coming weeks.)
“The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde encourages further evaluation of the request and engagement by tribes with documented treaty rights, and whose aboriginal lands encompass the Willamette Falls waterway,” i.e., the Grand Ronde.
Michelle Cole, a spokeswoman for Willamette Falls Trust, says the potential acquisition of property at the falls is a “once in a lifetime opportunity.” Cole says that far from excluding the Grand Ronde, the trust offered the tribe a seat on its board, an offer that still stands.
“The trust recognizes that many tribes and many peoples have a deep history at Willamette Falls,” Cole adds. “That is one reason why the trust has long been committed to an inclusive process as we seek to restore public access to this historically and spiritually significant place.”
A spokeswoman for Kotek says the governor is reviewing the letter.