Home History & Culture History Removing the Consent Decree

Removing the Consent Decree

 

- Tribal member Sara Thompson, the Tribe’s only female ceremonial fisher, talks about the consent decree and the impact it has on her community.

 

- Tribal member Reyn Leno, a former Tribal council member and Vietnam veteran, talks about the consequences of the consent decree, and the importance of hunting.

 

- Tribal member Bobby Mercier, talks about what hunting means for him, and how the consent decree has impacted his family and community.

The History

In 1985, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde was forced to sign a Consent Decree with the State of Oregon and Federal Government. The Consent Decree imposed an impossible choice upon the Tribe: choose your land or hunting and fishing rights.

The Tribe made the only decision it could. By signing the Consent Decree, the Grand Ronde Tribe received a nominal fraction of their original lands as Reservation land but their hunting and fishing rights were severely restricted as a result.

Time for Change

For almost 40 years, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has abided by the biased rules of the consent decree, which limit where, when and how much tribal members may hunt and fish – something that has always been core to the identity of the Grand Ronde people.   

In November 2021, Oregon’s U.S. Senators. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced Senate Bill 3126, which would give the Tribe the opportunity to review the consent decree and work with the State of Oregon to modernize its hunting and fishing rights.  

This bill is an important first step toward restoring the hunting and fishing rights of the Grand Ronde Tribe. 

Join the Movement

The Consent Decree is unfair, unjust and a relic of a racist past. Now is the time to correct a longstanding injustice and honor the Grand Ronde’s Tribal Sovereignty. Add your name to the list of those that support quick passage of this important legislation.

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Cheryle

“Restoring our hunting and fishing rights will help correct the injustice that has been perpetuated against our people for decades, it will strengthen our customary role as caretakers of the land and begin to heal past wrongs.

Hunting and fishing are, after all, about more than our individual tribes; they are about our collective history and way of life. Through this new legislation, we are only asking for the chance to work with the State of Oregon to regain what was taken from us,” wrote Chairwoman Cheryle Kennedy in a recent op-ed published in the Oregonian.

Read the full op-ed here: Opinion: Grand Ronde’s ancestral hunting and fishing rights should be restored