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“A lot of hunting and fishing organizations in Oregon believed that if we had our hunting and fishing rights that we would be taking away from them,” she said. The state of Oregon wouldn’t agree to the federal restoration of the tribe unless the tribe signed a consent decree waiving its hunting and fishing rights, Kennedy said. There were meetings that were held that were deafening when you walked into the room because there was so much yelling and screaming at us.” “They’re pushing and pushing us to sign a consent decree. She was also on the tribal council back then. Kennedy remembers the hostile meetings with Oregon fish and wildlife managers in the 1980s before her tribe agreed to give up its rights. It’s just that, that was the will of the ones who were in power at the time.” Sometimes I don’t think it’s really misunderstood. “A cultural practice that had been within our people since time immemorial has been restricted and misunderstood. “The consent decree was thrust upon us and really had us in a stranglehold,” she said. Members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde hold a first foods ceremony with a traditionally harvested salmon.Ĭourtesy of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde The Siletz and the Grand Ronde are the only tribes that still have these consent decrees in place, and they prevent the tribes from ever updating the agreements so they might one day manage traditional salmon fishing and elk hunting on their own land.Ĭheryle Kennedy, Grand Ronde Tribal Council chairwoman, said the bills’ passage would correct an injustice that happened when the tribes were restored. In the 1980s, the tribes signed agreements with the federal and state governments that restored their federal status and gave them some land on reservations.īut there was a catch: The tribes could only be restored if they agreed to give up their fishing and hunting rights outside of the reservation through a consent decree. The tribes were stripped of their land and federal status in 1954 when Congress passed the Western Oregon Termination Act. Senate Bills 31 would make it legal for the tribes to amend the restrictive, permanent agreements that were written into the laws that created their reservations in 1980 for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz and 1986 for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.