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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2013)
LET TERS A PAINFUL DEATH Sweet Pea has died. Many of you might know him as the kid who sold his artwork out in front of Circle K and the Pita Pit. He was homeless. A few weeks ago, he was violently attacked simply for being homeless. They beat him so badly that they caused severe nerve damage. So badly in fact that he literally could not move without horrible pain shooting through his body. He was homeless and had nowhere to go after they kicked him out of the hospital. He was not getting better. On Wednes- day, he checked into the hospital. He had a brain hemorrhage and died Friday. You may think you beat up some random nobody, but you did more than that. You killed someone. He died and to add insult to it all, you sentenced him to suffer with traumatic pain during these freezing nights before he died. To the parents in Eugene: One of your children caused someone to die a slow painful death. Was it your neighbors kid who killed him? Was it your kid who killed Sweet Pea? Someone in town is the parent of a violent murderer. Sweet Pea said they were well dressed. Mayo Finch Eugene POSTAL MUSEUM Mayor Kitty Piercy’s State of the City Address envisioned the development of a Lane County and Eugene Museum of History. She located this museum in the beautiful downtown U.S. Post Offi ce SHE WHO WATCHES building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For those of us at the Lane County His- torical Museum this is, indeed, great news. We have been investigating the possibili- ties presented by the post offi ce building as a new museum facility for two years. Preliminary architectural plans have been drawn up and demonstrate the building’s functionality as a historical museum. Why our interest in relocation? The Historical Museum building at the fairgrounds has long been recognized as inadequate. Acquisition of the U.S. Post Offi ce building for continued use as a community asset offers a tantalizing opportunity for city and county cooperation. A jointly operated fi rst-class city and county history museum in the post offi ce could kick-start the long-discussed downtown cultural district. And if that conversion then facilitates acquisition of the privately owned remainder of the post offi ce facility (down 5th and wrapping around Olive), most of the city block next to the Hult Center could become a culture and heritage center (perhaps housing resident nonprofi ts much as the Hult Center houses resident companies). Such a cultural complex would generate the workday and after-hours use for the restaurants and entertainment venues necessary for a vibrant downtown cultural district. Is this the right time for such visioning? County and city budgets are stressed. The library took 10-plus years to arrive. With such lead times apparently necessary to garner public support, if not BY K AYL A GODOWATUF TI Waldo Lake, Floatplane Ban and the Threat of Invasive Species HONOR THE TREATIES, PROTECT SACRED SITES FOR ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS The Oregon State Aviation Board will be holding a public hearing regarding Waldo Lake on Thursday, Jan. 31, from 6 to 8 pm. This hearing will be held in the Ken Long Conference Room at the Willamalane Center in Springfi eld. M y family, the Tuftis (descendants of Charlie Tufti, credited for discovering “Waldo Lake”), of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon, are the original inhabitants of this area for at least 8,000 years, according to archeological data. We are the descendants of the Southern Molalla, Chakgeenkni-Tufti Band that migrated seasonally from the highlands of Waldo Lake to the low lands near Fall Creek. To view what is now known as Waldo Lake as merely a place of “recreation” is robbing our future generations of this country’s pristine beauty and pure, fresh drinking water. With the outrageous amount of privatization of water resources, we need to be very aware of what is at stake in these urgent times. If we as treaty rights holders do not stand up for our rights, protect the commons and create alliances with non- natives, then we will sit idly by while our earth is put into private ownership and irreversibly destroyed. The Waldo Lake lawsuit was fi led by a group of motorboat and seaplane owners, including Eugene timber heir Steven Stewart; Portland resident Aron Faegre, president of the Columbia Seaplane Pilots Association; and Albany resident Keith Kendrick, president of Waldo Lake for Everyone! The 1850 Donation Land Claims Act made it possible for white families to fi le for free land upon settlement, in compensation for “settling in a dangerous frontier area.” Meanwhile, our Indigenous families were being forced to reservation lands, lands deemed as “useless, desolate and uninhabitable.” This and later inequities created a class division, sense of entitlement to our homelands by non-natives and given 4 January 24, 2013 • eugeneweekly.com the Stewart family and many others, the opportunity to build intergenerational wealth due to white privilege. To this day our Indigenous families continue to live in poverty on reservation lands. The Stewart family claims to have “traditional” ties to our homelands. But the disproportionate disbursement of wealth has made it possible for Stewart, Faegre and Kendrick to fi le a personal lawsuit against the state of Oregon to keep motorboats on a pristine lake, while our family cannot afford that type of legal representation to protect our ancestral lands. As far as who controls the lake, none of any of the suit fi lers do for that matter. There is much to consider in historical relevance of this area and treaty law, which is far too often overlooked. As much as these men would like to use their money, social clout and power to gain control, this area remains ceded lands of the Molalla people, which falls under a treaty signed by our Molalla ancestors from Grand Ronde, Warm Springs and several other areas within the state. These rights we hold as descendants are protected under constitutional law. These treaties that were signed in the mid 1800s are a government-to-government agreement, granting non-natives permission to take residency, which they have taken full advantage of. We have been marginalized as Indigenous people for far too long. Our families hold the history of this country prior to colonization, and hold knowledge of the land incomparable to our fellow non-native citizens. As treaty rights holders, our rights are protected under constitutional law, law that could protect our resources, the commons, for all, Natives and non-natives alike. Under OAR 738-040-037: Waldo Lake access and the use of seaplanes with “certain restrictions.” Rule 4 states: “Seaplane pilots shall screen their aircraft for invasive species prior to landing at Waldo Lake. Any invasive species discovered shall be removed prior to arrival at Waldo Lake.” How do you screen a craft for invasive species if the species are in the form of microscopic or nearly microscopic seeds, eggs, bacteria or other organisms that could damage an environment that is so unique? Does the pilot do the screening? Are the pilots also biologists? Are they using scientifi c equipment to screen or are they just looking at the plane to see if there’s a zebra mussel hanging off it? Do we take their word for it that they screened their planes? If someone didn’t screen their planes, would anyone know? Many may fi nd it ironic to go to a place because of its unique beauty using a conveyance that threatens to destroy its unique beauty. Rule 6 states: “Pilots are required to notify the Department of Aviation, using an FAA fl ight plan form within 48 hours of departure from Waldo Lake to empirically document usage. The department shall keep track of seaplane operations to quantify the scope of usage.” The rule says the fl ight plan report shall include a point of contact including phone number, time of arrival and the time of departure. Rule 7 states: “Landings as a result of an aircraft emergency are at the discretion of the pilot in command of the aircraft and are not subject to this rule.” In other words, in the event of an emergency, the pilot in command does not have to abide by these documentation rules and all environmental protection rules are out the window, so to speak, in the event of an “aircraft emergency.” Another point to consider is how often fl oat planes crash. And in this particular situation, what type of irreversible environmental damage would be done then? All motorized crafts need to be banned in order to protect this fragile, unique ecosystem. And if anyone so chooses to kayak, canoe, swim, etc., it will be at their own risk, for no emergency backup will be provided. It is the only way to protect this area, for even the environmental impact from scientists conducting studies could alter this sacred site forever. To view OAR 738-040-037: Waldo Lake access and the use of seaplanes with certain restrictions, please visit wkly.ws/1f1or call the Oregon De- partment of Aviation: 503-378-4880 Kayla Godowa-Tufti is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon.
