Just two weeks after Gov. Tina Kotek signed off on $45 million for an inter-tribal development project at Willamette Falls, the state has granted $12.5 million to Oregon City for a separate tribal effort at the falls.

The move comes amid fraught political and cultural conversations around the future of the falls and who should develop the long-inaccessible area.

Kotek had initially considered vetoing the $45 million lawmakers had designated for the project because the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde protested the allocation. Her eventual approval allowed the funding to go toward the Inter-Tribal Public Access Project, an effort in West Linn led by the Willamette Falls Trust and a coalition of tribal governments that doesn’t include the Grand Ronde.

On the opposite side of the falls in Oregon City, the Grand Ronde is working on its own development: tumwata village.

On Wednesday, the City Commission of Oregon City unanimously approved an agreement with the state of Oregon to receive $12.5 million. The city will now negotiate with the Grand Ronde on how to use the money at the tumwata site.

The Grand Ronde expressed excitement.

“We’re grateful that they [Oregon City] have been able to work with the State of Oregon to ensure that funds allocated years ago remain on the Oregon City side of the river,” Grand Ronde spokesperson Sara Thompson said in a statement. “As we get ready to break ground on the first phase of redevelopment, we remain committed to working with our partners and local residents to create safe, uninterrupted public access for everyone at Willamette Falls.”

Similarly, Oregon City Mayor Denyse McGriff was eager to move the project forward.

“I really feel very strongly that we can create a partnership to at least get some part of it completed as per the requirement. We have a really huge opportunity here to finally get this up and running,” McGriff said before voting to approve the agreement.

Despite expressing appreciation for Oregon City’s collaboration, the Grand Ronde remains disappointed in the state’s allocation to the trust.

The Grand Ronde argued that the Willamette Falls Trust misrepresented tribal history in its request for funding from the state. The tribe also took issue with the project’s inclusion of an out-of-state tribe: the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, which is based in Washington.

The other tribal members of the trust include the Oregon-based Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

The Grand Ronde spoke out against the allocation earlier this month when Kotek announced she would not veto the $45 million for the trust project after all.

“Governor Kotek’s decision represents indifference about Oregon’s true tribal history and sends a message to Oregon tribes like Grand Ronde that our documented and indisputable ancestral connections to Willamette Falls and our treaties do not matter,” Thompson said in a statement after Kotek’s announcement. “This decision reaffirms the premise that political opportunism by affluent Oregonians will win over honoring Oregon tribal homeland integrity. It rewards backroom deals while critical state-wide programs such as transportation and education remain unfunded.”

Thompson told OPB the new allocation to Oregon City for tumwata does not change the status of its relationship with the state.

The $12.5 million comes from two previous allocations by the state Legislature to Oregon Metro for an effort known as the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, a riverwalk to the falls in Oregon City. For years, the Willamette Falls Trust — which once included the Grand Ronde, along with the other tribes — worked with Metro, Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state on the legacy project.

That project stalled in 2022 when the Grand Ronde withdrew from both the trust and the project partnership, citing frustrations with a lack of progress. Metro returned the $12.5 million to the state but still has a $20 million allocation from its 2019 parks and recreation bond that was initially slated for the project. Metro did not respond to a request for comment on current intentions for the remaining money.

In a recent letter to Kotek, the trust stated its wish that all $32.5 million previously allocated to the legacy project go to the Grand Ronde’s current project.

The Grand Ronde plan for tumwata village includes a mixed used development with office space, cultural spaces, public gathering spots, restaurants, retail and a riverwalk.

Before the arrival of white settlers, tribes from all over the region gathered at the falls to fish, trade and conduct spiritual ceremonies. But industrialization of the 19th Century largely cut off access to the 40-foot falls. At the same time, the United States government removed Indigenous tribes from the area to reservations scattered across the Northwest.

Today, people can only reach the falls by boat. Efforts to change that began with the legacy project several years ago.

Though that work halted three years ago, the Grand Ronde have moved forward with their own project in Oregon City on the 23-acre former paper mill property they purchased in 2019. The property, once home to the Blue Heron Paper Mill, sits above the Willamette River between the Arch Bridge and Willamette Falls.

Since 2022, the tribe has focused on demolishing the property’s 55 buildings and structures. With demolition continuing, Thompson said the tribes are still mapping out a construction timeline.

The process was not delayed by a large fire at the property in January, Thompson said.

Meanwhile, another tribal dispute around Willamette Falls awaits resolution.

Portland General Electric, the state of Oregon, the Grand Ronde and the other tribes expect U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon to issue a decision soon on the power company’s attempt to condemn five acres of state land at the falls where the Grand Ronde has a fishing platform.

With the state of Oregon stepping back from that legal fight, the Grand Ronde took up the mantle, arguing the state should maintain ownership of the land. The other tribes took PGE’s side, saying the company has offered all tribes equal opportunity to fish at the falls.

PGE also owns a large portion of the land on the West Linn side of the falls, where the company operates its TW Sullivan hydroelectric facility. A part of the land the trust hopes to acquire for its project is owned by PGE.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/21/oregon-grand-ronde-tribe-willamette-falls-tumwata-village/