This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project , a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.

In the wake of Gov. Tina Kotek’s decision earlier this month not to veto a controversial $45 million appropriation to Willamette Falls Trust to buy land at the falls in West Linn, six Oregon tribes have collectively expressed widespread dissatisfaction to the governor about her office’s handling of tribal relations—and the involvement of tribes from outside of Oregon.

In 2023, her first year in office, Kotek established a 15-member task force on tribal consultation and named a tribal affairs director, Shana McConville Radford, formerly the deputy executive director of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

“Communication and transparency are cornerstone to the

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