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.