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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2000)
TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS Walt’s Words of Wit and Wisdom by Walt Klamath Every year for the last 11 years, I have brought this subject up with each new Council member, always with the same results and response. The new Council members say it’s a good idea and will bring it up later. I’m told that they didn’t bring it up as it costs too much, don’t have the resources, etc. Anyway, I have advocated that we buy Singing Springs and Milkmaid resorts. Now, Milkmaid was never built to make a profit. It was a tax write-off. It’s a nice building and quite comfortable. Some of the groups that I have taken there have stayed there. Singing Springs was a profit-making venture and does very well. Both of these were available for less than $1 million. From the rumors that I hear, they are no longer available. Seems that Grand Ronde was preparing to purchase them. What I have in mind does not necessarily have to be this location; something in our original homelands would be good. There are good feelings on the Rogue River. Or maybe something could be developed for the Salem property. It’s amazing to me to see the attitudes change from the time I would let people off at Marial and when I would pick them up at Big Bend (of course, maybe some Pepsi had something to do with it). My idea is to have a place for our people to work when they return from prison after a long time or return from alcohol treatment. Now, anyone who has been in prison for any length of time will have a hard time getting work. When asked for a resume’ of their past work experience, prison is not the best recommendation. It is true that many inmates do get training and all that good stuff, but they are not allowed the luxury of doing things that need to be done at the time, as it is in the real world. So, we have a place for these men and women to start a new life, so to speak, a place to develop a resume’ or work experience. When the time comes for them to move on to better conditions, they need something to fall back on. Now, the times I have visited our prison system, I have seen people who are capable in all fields of endeavor, carpentry, electrical, construction. You name it, I’ve seen them there. These places do not have to be non-profits. They can be for profit, depending on what type of facility is in place. It could be a minimum wage thing, where tips will make a good wage or something that people will come to, maybe lodging or eating like Singing Springs. Sometimes I have seen in the Federal Register where the Dept, of Corrections would pay a firm $120,000 a year to train and house 10 people. Other grants are available. It would take some time to find these, and then a job for someone released from an institution. I had hoped that Chinook Winds could kind of do this, but the way it turns out, even tribal members who don’t have a criminal background have a difficult time there. And some of them couldn’t work there' anyway due to their background. Hopefully someday, we as a tribe will be more concerned about our less- fortunate members who fall through the cracks and need to have a strong arm to pick them up, a spiritual system in place to carry on the teachings of where they come from, to put practices in place with guidance. These people who are incarcerated are exceptionally intelligent; that’s why they are where they are. They need the guidance of a spiritual power, of elders, and of family and extended family. This is the way it is; this is the way it will have to be. Secondhand, con’t from page 9 National, con’t from page 1 Please contact the prevention coordinator with any ideas or ways you can support this activity. On Jan. 23, we had 45 people, 11 of whom were adults! Thanks to Danelle Zosel-Sanderson and Kent Rilatos as staff people. Thanks also to the adults who sacrificed their personal time to support the youth and their community - Kelly Ball, Ray Blacketer, Charlie Butler, Everett Butler, Melissa Butler, Todd Butler, Trish Carey, Caroline Easter, Ramona Fisher, Larry and Vai Hibdon, Natasha Kavanaugh, Lifefeather, Angela Martin, Willie Metcalf, Bonnie Petersen, Selene Rilatos, and Danelle Smith. 10 Thank you to Kjeldsen’s Deli, and Chevron Mini-Mart (by Fred Meyer in Newport - Native American-owned), for donating gift certificates for open gym. We have given out almost 20 prizes/ certificates, most donated by local businesses with some purchased by the Tobacco Prevention Program. Congratulations to open gym participants who won prizes - Dakota Burgins, Keshena Butler, Dennis Carey, Dan Elgin, Maurice Knott, Joe Lane, Tasha Rilatos, Alyssa Scott, Denaee Towner, Chris VanDaam, Andrew Whetstone (sorry if I forgot a name, but as you know it has been real busy at open gym). internationally on intercultural topics. His published writings in the fields of theology and Alaska Native history are overshadowed by his four-part series produced by public television in Juneau, “Communicating Across Cultures.” The tribe is pleased to be working with the Lincoln City Visitor and Convention Bureau in preparing area lodging and businesses for the influx of conference visitors to the Oregon Coast. Registration and vendor information is available on the tribe’s web site (http://ctsi.nsn.us) by clicking on the Environmental Management Conference icon or by calling 1-800-922-1399, ext. 361.
