Wrangell Sentinel -

By Jamie Hale

The Oregonian/OregonLive

After a private blessing and a prayer, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde invited gathered media to watch as an excavator tore into a wall of the old, abandoned paper mill at Willamette Falls, Oregon, that the tribe says has stood on its ancestral grounds for too long.

The tribe held a symbolic demolition event at the old Blue Heron Paper Mill on Sept. 21, representing a small step toward removing the industrial site and returning it to Indigenous hands.

Chris Mercier, vice chair of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council, said the tribe has been trying t...