PORTLAND, Ore. — Kathleen George walks to the edge of Agency Creek, which flows down off the forested land of the Grand Ronde tribe, and smiles.
She finds joy in the outdoors.
“Being out in the big woods, being on lakes and playing around in streams has always been one of the places I’ve been happiest,” she said.
At age 48, she’s spent a lifetime working to make a difference for nature and for her tribe.
She’s never lost her sense of wonder for the towering trees, the kind she saw as a girl near Mount Hood.
“And I just love to run out in the forest and and look up at the huge trees. You know, so big there you didn’t see them that big, at least not a lot of them, in other places that we went. And it was just so special, so unique. It was cathedral like.”
Now, as a Tribal Council member for the Grand Ronde and a member of the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission, she’s able to turn her passion into policy.
She supported her tribe’s recent purchase of 23 acres of industrial land surrounding Willamette Falls in Oregon City, an historic gathering place for her people.
Kathleen became the spokesperson.
“Every year we return here to get our first salmon here at the falls and to give thanks to and for that salmon here on the river,” she said at a media event near the falls.
Kathleen grew up not on the Grand Ronde reservation—but in the Portland area, Milwaukie to be specific.
That’s because her tribe did not officially exist at the time according to the Federal government.
The Grand Ronde was one of several tribes terminated by the government in 1954 under the argument that Native Americans would be better off assimilating into American life instead of being stuck on their reservations.
So, Kathleen's mom moved from Grand Ronde to Portland. She got a job at the Oregonian newspaper, and met and married a man from Ireland who sold ads at the paper.
And then Kathleen was born.
She is aware she looks more Irish than Native American.
“There are comments. And that’s fine. I know I look like the Irish side of my family. My dad was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland before moving here,” she said.
“And I look very Irish, ” she added.
It’s something Kathleen learned to live with.
“Yeah, it certainly does come up. People sometimes let me know as if it hasn’t occurred to me yet,” she said.
She shrugs it off.
“I don’t look like a traditional – what their expectations of a traditional Native American person are but that’s okay. You know, it is what it is. I’ve spent my career working hard for tribes. I don’t have any problem knowing who I am,” she said.
Kathleen attended Catholic schools in the Milwaukie area, including LaSalle Prep, and then went on to Dominican University in California where she graduated with a degree in environmental biology.
After graduation she began looking for a job.
In the meantime, the tribe had fought the government to get its identity back and won.
They needed someone to help with environmental programs.
Kathleen was reluctant to apply.
“I honestly was. You know at the time I was a young 20-something. I was living in Portland. At that time it seemed like Grand Ronde would be a long ways away,” she said.
But she applied and got the job.
In her early 20s she helped set up the tribe’s environmental program.
“It was challenging! It really was. And especially when you are starting a new program right? When nobody has tried to answer these questions or struggle with these issues before,” she said.
She dealt with everything from water quality and salmon spawning to logging and farming practices and more.
Along the way she learned to meet and listen to the people most affected by policy.
“There’s a tendency by human beings to make assumptions- about other people- about what they want. About why they want it. And if we have the patience to listen to one another -- really listen to one another -- we can often find out that some of those assumptions are not necessarily right,” said Kathleen.
After several years she took a new job with the Umatilla tribe in Eastern Oregon and later opened an environmental consulting company before eventually returning to the Grand Ronde.
Through it all, the values she saw her parents model guided her work on the environment.
“If your family likes to fish, those streams have to be healthy enough to support fish, and fish that people can eat. So, I think that rather than having to just say it, they demonstrated their values for these things,” she said.
The Grand Ronde tribe owns and operates the Spirit Mountain Casino.
It’s a huge money maker—and for five years Kathleen worked as Executive Director in charge of its Community Fund—investing up to $5 million each year in local nonprofits and of course, environmental programs.
“Her culture is embedded in everything that she does and its really inspiring to see,” said Michael Cherry.
Cherry is a woman who was named after a tribal elder. She now runs the Community Fund.
She used to work in VIP hospitality at the casino but Kathleen spotted her talent and convinced Cherry to apply for the job.
“I see her doing that a lot with people in general in terms of looking at everybody’s individual strengths and saying, you know what you should consider doing? Because she’s really interested in seeing people thrive,” said Cherry.
Kathleen has made a big impact.
“She is an amazing ambassador of the tribe. We are very, very lucky to have her,” said Cherry.
Kathleen lives near the reservation with her husband and three sons.
The woman born to a unique American heritage, who grew up in the city, found her calling and her people on the Grand Ronde Indian reservation—and has no plans to slow down.
“Serving my tribe, serving my community. That’s been one thread that’s been pervasive throughout most of my career choices is serving tribal communities and helping them accomplish their goals,” she said.