»ifcy oi
s
A*« A
Racist
memorabilia
Page 5
Prostitution
problem
POSAF
demonstration
Page 4
Page 5
Volume XV, Number 44
September 4, 1906
25C Copy
Tw o Sections
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Itt,
Gary receives appointment
by Nathaniel Scott
n «41S O
Dsrella Dino' Butler Heft), Gary Butler (not shown),
and Robert Van Pelt (center) w ent on trial for murder
Tuesday in Portland The three cousins are accused of
killing an alleged Indian gravero b ber. D efen se at
torneys a tte m p te d to have th e m u rd e r charges
dropped on the trial s opening day. over a dispute
about a witness the state had not made known to the
defense until tw o weeks before the trial Multnom ah
County Circuit Court Judge Donald Londer refused
the m otion to dismiss Attorneys for both sides plan
to call at least 160 w itnesses in the trial that could
last four to six weeks
(Photo Richard J Brown)
G overnor Vic Atiyeh appointed
Bobbi 1 . G ary, a resident o l P o rt­
land lo r the past 41 years, and six
other members to the lo n g Term
I are Advising Committee Gary was
nominated to a four-year position bv
speaker o f tlx- house Vera Katz.
t onfirmed on Aug. 14, the commit
tee will serve as monitor tor the I ong
Term Cate < hnbudsinan Program.
The committee was established by
Senate B ill 292 I he b ill was spoil
soied bv Senator B ill M cC oy and
1.1 of her senators State Representative
M argaret C arter also supported the
bill
The com m ittee w ill oversee the
quality ol services provided by O re
gon’s 2m nursing homes
Gary said, " I teel gieat about the
appointm ent I advocate lo r senior
citizens and I teel our job is to listen to
people in nursing homes and make
recommendations .”
The committee's specific responsi
BOBBI GARY
IPhotu Richard J. Brown)
brilly is to assist in planning; and act as
liaison between the com m unity and
various health planning agencies, Gary
said. At the com m ittee's first meet
ing, G ary, who has been active in
com m unity a ffa irs since m oving to
Portland in 1942, was elected commit
tee chairperson.
In addition, Gary serves as president
ot Portland Gray Panthers; president
o f the Portland Older Women I eague;
chairperson o f the Black Women
Health Project; and sits on the I irban
1 eague's and the N A A l P's board
o f directors.
" I'v e always been a com m unity
person," Gary said. “ I've been around
a long time and I've been doing for 42
years."
Gary said she has a lot o f interest,
fo r instance, she is interested in apart­
heid and what goes on in the Black
com m unity. " I t ’ s not enough for
us to want change; we have to pul
fo rth e f f o r t , " she said, adding, " s o
many o f us d o n 't."
Fair Butler Trial wanted
by Robert I oltuun
“ What I want to see happen here is
a fair tr ia l," said John I rudell, poet,
former chairman o f the American In ­
dian Movement, and close friend ol
Dino and Gary Butler
September 3rd, alter lo u t and one-
half years o f legal wrangling and venue-
hearings, the Butlers and Robert Van
Pelt went on tria l in M u ltn o m a h
C ounty C irc u it C o u rt. They are ac­
cused o f the 1981 murder o f a T oledo,
Oregon, man whei allegedly was a
robber o f Indian graves
The issues involved in the trial trace-
back to a struggle for treaty rights and
against desecration o f Indian graves in
the Siletz area, not far from Toledo.
Also involved, according to Trudell, is
the Butlers' Indian activism stemming
from the W ounded Knee occupation
o f 197.3
After Wounded Knee, said Trudell.
the I-BI enforced a state-of setgc on t)ie
Pine Ridge Reservation in South Da­
kota. Dino Butler helped set up a spir­
itual camp on the reservation, and was
accused o f killing I BI agents during a
shootout.
Butler spent considerable time in
jail, then was acquitted by an all-white
jury in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “ In Cedar
Rapids, you have a iury saving, “ We
understand the need lot Indian people
to defend themselves against federal
agents’ , " said I rudell Butler and Van
Pelt supporters hope lor a similar jury
in Portland
But the 1 BI d id n ’ t forget, I rudell
said “ The I B l's position alter the
trial was that they were going to get
Dino, they were going to kill h im ."
In and out ot jail, helping in Indian
struggles when he could, D ino Butler
returned now and then to his la m ilv
home in the Siletz area He involved
himself in a struggle there to regain
ancestral land, for hunting and tishmg
rights, and against desecration ot In ­
dian graves. P utting a stop Io grave
ro b b in g is one o f the m ain In d ia n
struggles across the country, according
to T rudell.
Then Donald Pier, described in the
media as an "amateur archaeologist,"
was murdered m January, 1981. I ru
dell said the Butlers and Van Pelt were
accused o f the murder on shaky evi­
dence as part o f a program o f harrass-
uient in the continuing fa llo u t from
Wounded Knee
" A crime like this could convenient
ly tit the purposes o l the sta te ," said
I rudell “ Taxpayers’ money is being
used to settle a vendetta against move
men, Indians."
“ W e 'll watch to see w liai kind o f
ev idence is 'fo u n d '," he said I rudell
described a prosecution using hypnosis
on witnesses who change then stories,
and a grand ju ry "te rro riz in g " the
Indian community around Siletz in its
search tor witnesses and inform ation.
I Itimately the trial is about survival
and quality ol life tor Oregon Indians,
I rudell said "T h e re are form s of
racial and economic apartheid dial ex­
ist in this country and this slate, and
that's the issue. It's called law and
order but it’s still war . . .”
Helping develop com m unity sup
port for their "prisoners o f w ar” is a
loosely knit group o f Native A m e ri­
can activists called I he Society ot
People Struggling to be Tree Some are
veterans o f earlier struggles who saw
their friend die. “ T o some degree, we
are some o f the survivors, and they are
hunting us," said I rudell
“ It’s a fam ily, in a w a y," said Tru­
dell, who lost his own fam ily in an
arson caused fire in 1979. " W e ’ re in
no conspiracy. We just want to live
and pursue what is left o f our ideals."
Em ergency M edical technician John Ingdahl com
fo rt* Eicca E. Lucas, 5. after he w as run dow n by a
hit-and run driver in tha parking lot of Runyon's 880
Store Saturday afternoon Arrested and charged with
Tri-Met: On strike Monday
Soon to be scarce Tri M et goes on strike Monday
(Photo Richard J Brown)
by Robert Lothian
Leaders o f Local 757 o f the A m a l­
gamated Transit W orkers union a n ­
nounced Tuesday that Portland’s first
transit strike is scheduled to begin at
I2.TJI a.m. Monday, Sept. 9th.
Local 757 leaders called for a strike
alter contract talks broke down Tucs-
day, when T ri-M e t made good on its
intention to override union objections
and implement its final contract offer
Throughout the months ot bargain­
ing, union negotiators have said they
would recommend a stiike if Tri-Met
took such action. The union left six
days fo r the city to prepare fo r the
strike.
T ri-M e l’ s filia l o ffe r, largely un
changed from its original offer, which
union members voted down in July, is
aimed at saving $3.7 m illio n in labor
costs with a 5 percent wage reduction
and elimination of work rules.
I Tnon d u e l negotiator Mel Schop-
pert said the union made a last ditch
com prom ise o ffe r that apparently
wasn’ t good enough fo r T ri M et,
which rem ains c o m m itte d to cost­
cu ttin g moves aimed at drivers and
mechanics.
Schoppcrl said the union was not
w illing to give up 35 40 w ork rules
won in 75 years o f b argaining. He
charged Tri Met with being more inter­
ested in breaking the union than in
cost-saving.
T ri Met general manager James
Cowen said it would be at least three
weeks before the transit agency could
put buses on the streets w ith n o n ­
union employees. The company plans
service on nine m a jo r lines around
the c ity , using replacement drivers
The special I.ITT service lor the elderly
and disabled will continue uninterrupt­
ed, he said.
In a le tte r to employees, Cowen
charged the union leadership with try
mg to make an example out ol P ort­
land so as to improve the union's bar
gaining position in other cities
Asked i f the strike m ight last Id
weeks or longer, Schoppcrt said. " I t
it does, there w on't be much o f a Tri-
Met le ft.”
Meanwhile, Mayor Bud ( lark said
he would be willing to meet with both
sides to try and w ork out an agree­
ment that could avert a strike. Gov
Vic A tiy e h said he w o u ld n 't get in
voiced unless invited by both sides
The strike w ill idle 1.400 union
drivers and mechanics, and force the
c ity ’ s 70,OCX) transit riders, including
many school ch ild re n , to seek other
means o f transportation. < ity council
woman Margaret Strachan urged those
who normally take the bus to car pool
or ride their bicycles.
felony hit and run and reciless driving was Fredrick
Devine S tam b au gh E m ergency personnel at Em
m anual Hospital indicated Lucas w ould be treated
and released.
(Photo Richard J Brown)
Payroll deductions fund
National Black United Front
Dana A A lston, the President o f
the N ational Black United fr o n t
(NBUT’). has o fficially announced the
organization's 1985 campaign to se­
cure Com bined federal Campaign
(CTC) dollars fro m government cm
ployces.
I his is the fifth year that NBUT has
participated in the C IC 's massive
drive, which raises over 2(M) m illio n
dollars annually. Previously, m inority
charitable organizations were barred
as ineligible; until NBUT won their his­
tone suit against the government. Now
the CTC has become a significant
source o f funding fo r the 15 year old
organization.
"P a y ro ll deductions is the most
effective and efficient way to raise
money and people tend to give more
through payroll deductions than out of
p ix k c t, because o l the case. It is less
o f an economic s tra in ," said A lston.
During the last tw o years, the go v­
ernment lias been phasing out listing
charitable organization's names in the
pledge brochures. In most cases, con­
tributors can no longer check o ff a
name, they must now fill in a blank
line.
" A w rite in campaign and charity
does not make you go very fa r, very
fa s t," explained A lston " V is ib ility
and accessibility are the key questions
for us. Tor example, it has been proven
that you cannot elect candidates with a
w rite-in campaign, nor can you raise
significant dollars "
- ATTENTION -
I he ( oinmission on Black A ffa irs w ill hold its September meeting on Sep
ternber I I , 1985 in Rmtrn 354 C apitol Building, Salem, Oregon The public is
invited to attend