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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 2016)
LET TERS INTENT VS. IMPACT I was incorrectly identified last week [Letters, 12/1], so I’d like to introduce myself properly. My name is Ana: I’m a queer, light-skinned Latina from a multi- cultural family. I have a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies from Willamette Uni- versity. I was a campaign volunteer for Hillary Clinton. Because of my mishmash of identities, I’m privileged in many areas, marginalized in others. My goal as a feminist is to recog- nize my privilege and use it to amplify the voices of those who are not being heard. I’ve made lots of mistakes, and some- times I too feel defensive about being called out. When this happens, I try to take a deep breath, check my ego and listen. I also try to do my own research, so people with mar- ginalized identities don’t always need to do the work of educating me. It’s hard work, but I know I can’t continue to grow as an activist if I don’t listen and learn. I’d encourage anyone who is still con- fused about blackface to Google the ques- tion, “Is blackface ok?” There are countless resources, many written by people of color, detailing more extensively why blackface is inappropriate and unacceptable. I’d also encourage folks to think about intent vs. impact. Imagine throwing a Fris- bee around with friends in a crowded park. If I make a bad throw and hit a stranger in the head, it doesn’t matter to that person that I wasn’t intending to hurt them. The impact of my action was that they got hurt, and I need to take responsibility, apolo- gize, and make sure they’re ok. To be honest, the number of letters de- fending blackface as excusable has truly frightened me. As a community, we need to be able to recognize and call out racism, especially our own. Ana Sayavedra Eugene DOWN ON BROWN I know nothing of Gov. Kate Brown’s interior life, the experiences that helped form her character and aided her in de- veloping her internal standards. We judge public servants by their proposals and their actions. Some of Brown’s past actions have been disappointing to me: her complicity in the sale of the Elliott State Forest and the lessening of the protections for Oregon wolves. Because of these actions, Brown did not earn my vote this past election, al- SHE WHO WATCHES though I voted for every other Democratic candidate on the national and state tickets. Despite this past history, I was truly stunned by her proposal to permanently shut down the new state psychiatric hospi- tal in Junction City, just recently opened, in her proposed budget. What a rich resource that hospital is, and what a long fight it was to achieve it! Brown says she prefers community- based solutions, despite the fact that these are presently overwhelmed by demand and she allocates no funds to maintain or create more of them. Isn’t this the same rhetoric we heard from President Reagan, whose national fiscal policies basically eliminated these hospitals? He also preferred local so- lutions and allocated no financial resources to create them. Again, as always it seems, the most vulnerable among us are on the losing end of these “very difficult” decisions. Perhaps Brown should consult with some of the families that have members with severe mental disabilities and see what we think about this proposal. We are the ones who truly face daily difficult decisions. James W. Luzzi Eugene SODOM AND ORLANDO Seriously, one of the best letters EW re- ceived in 2016 [“The Best Letters,” 12/1] was from a small-minded bigot comparing the mass shooting in Orlando to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and drawing the appropriate biblical conclusion? Or, rath- er, is the inclusion of that letter how EW proves to itself that it’s not just a blindly ideological rag? I’d be willing to bet the best letters the EW receives are those that go unprinted because they cut too close to the bone. Bill Shaw Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: We strive to print as many letters as possible and run extras online. The “best” letter was the rejoinder we ran right after that letter, headlined “Butt Sex.” POVERTY WAGES Coming up on Monday, Dec. 12, the Eu- gene City Council is scheduled to discuss the value of providing a minimum wage for city employees and contract workers who provide city service for us. We cur- rently have more than 700 employees who earn less than $15 an hour, which in a num- ber of cases makes them eligible for food stamps. We are currently paying wages to B Y K AY L A G O D O W A T U F T I TV Butte Update TRIBES HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE RESPONDS E d King of King Estate Winery created a mining company called the Old Hazeldell Quarry (OHQ) Project. East of Eugene in Oakridge, King and cohorts have applied to rezone 46 acres of forestland to quarry through Lane County. The quarry site is known as TV Butte and is proposed to be active for 50 years, extract- ing 17 million tons of andesite rock. Spokesman Phil Donovan of OHQ claims that “if approved, OHQ will be able to provide up to 17 mil- lion tons of high-quality rock to be used in building roads, bridges and homes in Lane County and be- yond.” Exact use for the rock has not been confirmed. TV Butte on Dunning Road is part of an ancient Molalla village site. TV butte is within the “Usual and Accustomed Places” of the 1855 Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon. Article VI of the United States Constitution states that “all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.” A treaty is a legal agreement between nations; it is international law — not domestic. Treaties are international legal agreements that only sovereign nations, such as the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon, who are signers, can invoke. Tribal sovereignty is at the core of the TV Butte quarry proposal. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Or- egon Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) submitted a Nov. 3 letter to Deanna Wright, associate planner of the Lane County Land Management Divi- sion, who is responsible for testimony and documenta- 4 December 8, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com tion regarding the land use change. The letter says: “This proposed change falls within the Usual and Accustomed Lands of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the CTWSRO has a direct interest in any project activi- ties. The CTWSRO have reserved treaty rights in the management of these lands, as well as Ceded Lands, as set forth through the Treaty with the Middle Tribes of Oregon, 1855, and the ‘reserved rights doctrine.’” The letter continues: “Of specific concern are In- dian burials potentially located near the old Charlie Tufti homestead. The THPO recognizes oral history equally as valuable as results of archaeological survey or archival research in identifying historical land use. Indeed, oral history often sheds light on historical use when survey and other methods cannot. The THPO does not advocate any disturbance of burials, even in- advertently, if the knowledge exists that they may be present.” At the last public hearing Oct. 12 in Oakridge, Rick Minor of Heritage Research Associates (HRA) presented a testimony attempting to debunk and dis- miss evidence of tribal occupancy at TV Butte. Minor teaches in Historical Preservation at University of Or- egon. Heritage Research Associates, located in Eugene, is represented by Minor, Linda Hart and Kathryn Toepel. HRA has been hired by OHQ to submit an archaeo- logical report to assist in rezoning the butte. HRA’s report was unsubstantial and dismissive of Molalla tribal testimony and historical occupancy at TV butte. The report did not include anthropological or eth- nographic aspects that are extremely important to tribes. Most importantly, burial sites located within the impact zone and potentially the quarry site were not properly addressed. The Warm Springs Tribal Historic Preservation Office knows there are seven tribal burial sites within the quarry impact zone. There may be more within the proposed site. And the superficial pedestrian survey conducted by Minor was inconclusive. The Lane County Commission and Lane County government, who are currently overseeing the appli- cation, have failed to take the concerns of our tribe seriously. At the last public hearing on the issues, Kevin Mat- thews, past candidate for East Lane County commis- sioner, told the commission: “The Goal 5 process has been rigged for sand and gravel over generations of conservative commissioners who get majority of their campaign contributions from the sand, gravel and tim- ber industry.” He continued: “They’ve rigged the system. For Goal 5 resources like wildlife, rivers and fish, like wet- lands and scenic areas. Parvin Butte. TV Butte. Those resources only count once they’re in an inventory.” And finally: “Lane County has used every loop- hole in the book to essentially not have an inventory for those resources. There’s supposed to be natural resource inventory in place. Which Lane County has never done. They don’t want you to know about it. They’re going to say we only have narrow criteria we can decide on. Because for decades, they’ve set it up that way,” Matthews said. The Lane County Commissioners will hold a third deliberation Dec 13 at 1:30 pm, Harris Hall in Eugene. Please join us. Kayla Godowa Tufti is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and descendant of the Klamath Tribes. She is a writer, lyricist and Indigenous rights advocate.
