A Deeper Look: Polk County
Polk County, Oregon
Then will the lame leap like a deer, and
the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and
streams in the desert. Isaiah 35:6
When we wrote about Polk County in an earlier post, we
mentioned The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, the reservation with
headquarters in Polk County, and lands mainly in Yamhill.
The tribe has been expanding their lands whenever
possible. The Willamette Falls site has been an important location to the various
tribes of the Pacific Northwest, and in 2019 the Grand Ronde tribes purchased
the 23 acres where the former Blue Heron paper mill operated, on the edge of
the Willamette Falls. Work continues for that site.
The original reservation of over 60,000 acres was
established in 1858. In the 1950’s the federal government terminated many
tribes and reservations, under the misguided belief that the Native Americans would
benefit by assimilation into American culture. However, that was not the case,
and this move by the government created greater poverty, hardship, and loss of
land for the Native Americans affected. Since then, several tribes have
petitioned to be restored.
In 1983, under President Ronald Reagan, the government
passed the Grand Ronde Restoration Act and the Confederated Tribes were given
back a fraction of their former holdings. However, there was opposition and to get
their land they were obligated to sign a “Consent Decree” by the state of
Oregon that seriously limited their hunting and fishing rights.
This has been a sore point with the tribes for the
past 40 years since their objective was to restore and retain their heritage
and customs, and pass that on to their children. Hunting and fishing were a
very important part of that, not just for food, but as a part of their culture.
Our state hunting and fishing regulations do not support that.
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| Polk County, Oregon |
In reading through a few articles on how the Decree
came into being and the struggle the tribes had to get their tribal status
restored, one realizes how complex things can be. While we have mentioned
repenting for the “sins of our fathers” in the way the Native Americans were
treated in Oregon, a better understanding of the factors involved is needed.
In the book 1491 Charles C. Mann, makes a case
that there was a misreading of the American landscape by early immigrants. The
very first explorers from the Old World brought diseases to which the Natives
had no immunity. Those diseases moved across the continent, decimating entire
tribes. In the Northwest, for example, the Multnomah tribe, which had been
large and flourishing, had all but ceased to exist due to an epidemic by the
time Portland was established on their former lands in the 1850’s.
The early explorers saw the continent as basically
empty land sparsely populated by indigenous peoples who lived “at one with nature.”
However, the population was far less than it had been before the Europeans came.
And rather than just living with nature, they actively managed the landscape.
In Oregon the forests were managed, mostly by low-key periodic
burning, to keep areas open for wildlife and for beneficial plants like berries
and camas. The community where I spent my childhood was called “Elk Prairie,”
and was known in pioneer days for all the Elk antlers scattered about. Before
the white settlers, apparently, the Natives had kept the area clear for large
Elk herds.
The state of Oregon regulates hunting and fishing to
maintain healthy populations of wildlife and the Grand Ronde’s desire to follow
their traditional customs conflicts with state rules. The state presumably fears
the overhunting of fish and game.
The debate over the Consent Decree continues…
How do we pray for Polk County?
Those from among you shall build the old
waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you
shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
Isaiah
58:12.
Pray for wisdom and unity in Polk County, the Grand
Ronde Reservation, and the state over the management of forests and wildlife. Pray
for state Fish and Wildlife officials.
Pray for the leaders of the Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde. There is a nine-member council. The Chairman is Cheryle A.
Kennedy, Vice-chair is Chris Mercier, and Secretary is Michael Langley.
Pray for the Polk County Commissioners, Craig Pope,
Lyle Mordhorst, Jeremy Gordon.
Pray for revival among the Native tribes of Oregon.
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