The skanner., January 22, 2014, Image 1

WWW . THESKANNER . COM
J ANUARY 22, 2014
P ORTLAND , O REGON
V OLUME XXXVI, N O . 16
25
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
Capacity crowd
celebrates King with
The Skanner News
Of The Skanner News
A capacity crowd filled the Portland Con-
vention Center on Monday morning for the
Skanner News Group 28th Annual Martin
Luther King Jr. Breakfast.
As usual the event attracted a wide variety
of attendees, from local churchgoers, educa-
tors and teenagers to Mayor Charlie Hales,
and both of Oregon’s U.S. Senators, Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley.
Winner of the Skanner News’ Drum
Major for Justice Award, an honor bestowed
on a local resident who has dedicated their
life to Civil Rights, went to Joyce Braden
Harris, Equity Assistance Center director
for Education Northwest.
Event emcee, Bobbie Dore Foster, execu-
tive editor of The Skanner News Group,
presided over the presentation of dozens of
college scholarships for local students
attending schools around the country.
A celebrated poet, Pastor Emmett Wheat-
fall of Remember the Hope Christian Fel-
lowship Church, gave the invocation as well
as the benediction; singer Jeanne Wiggins
led the audience in the Black national
anthem, “Lift Ev’ry Voice.”
For the first time the event was broadcast
live on Portland Community Media televi-
sion, Channel 30.
Honored guests at the head table included
Neil MacFarlane, general manager of
TriMet; Roger Thompson, vice president for
enrollment management at the University of
Oregon; Portland City Commissioner Dan
Saltzman; Patrick Quinton, executive direc-
tor of the Portland Development Commis-
sion; Portland Mayor Charlie Hales; Dr.
Bruce Goldberg, keynote speaker and inter-
im executive director of Cover Oregon; Ben
Basom, director of communications for the
Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpen-
ters; Steve Frisby, president of Portland
Division of Safeway; Gary Oxley, president
of Oxley and Associates; Jack Roberts,
executive director of the Oregon Lottery;
DRUM
MAJOR
Joyce Braden Harris accepted the
Drum Major for Justice Award at The
Skanner News Group’s Martin Luther
King Breakfast. Harris has spent her life
as an educator and community
organizer as well as a scholar and
mentor. Julie Keefe photo
NW Tribes Throw Members Out
Disenrollment leaves Native Americans ‘culturally homeless’
By Gosia Wozniacka
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) —
Mia Prickett’s ancestor was a
leader of the Cascade Indians
along the Columbia River and
was one of the chiefs who
signed an 1855 treaty that
helped establish the Confederat-
ed Tribes of the Grand Ronde in
Oregon.
But the Grand Ronde now
wants to disenroll Prickett and
79 relatives, and possibly hun-
dreds of other tribal members,
See BREAKFAST on page 3
INDEX
News ................2,3,5,6
Opinion .....................4
A & E ......................5,8
Bids/Classifieds .......6,7
PHOTO BY THE SKANNER STAFF
Annual
ML King
Breakfast
because they no longer satisfy
new enrollment requirements.
Prickett’s family is fighting
the effort, part of what some
experts have dubbed the ``dis-
enrollment epidemic’’ — a ris-
ing number of dramatic clashes
over tribal belonging that are
sweeping through more than a
dozen states, from California to
Michigan.
“In my entire life, I have
always known I was an Indian. I
have always known my family’s
history, and I am so proud of
that,’’ Prickett said. She said her
ancestor chief Tumulth was
unjustly accused of participat-
ing in a revolt and was executed
by the U.S. Army — and hence
didn’t make it onto the tribe’s
roll, which is now a member-
ship requirement.
The prospect of losing her
membership is ``gut-wrench-
ing,’’ Prickett said.
“It’s like coming home one
day and having the keys taken
from you,’’ she said. ``You’re
culturally homeless.’’
The enrollment battles come
at a time when many tribes —
long poverty-stricken and
oppressed by government poli-
cies — are finally coming into
their own, gaining wealth and
building infrastructure with rev-
enues from Indian casinos.
Critics of disenrollment say
the rising tide of tribal expul-
sions is due to greed over
increased gambling profits,
along with political in-fighting
and old family and personal
feuds.
But at the core of the problem,
tribes and experts agree, is a
See NATIVE on page 3
Centennial Party for N. Portland Library
Locals encouraged to bring mementos for celebration display
By Lisa Loving
Of The Skanner News
T
he North Portland Library – one of
the only Carnegie libraries in the city
– is throwing its 100th birthday party
on Feb. 1, and book-huggers are encouraged
to bring by historic memorabilia for the spe-
cial event.
Library manager Patricia Welch plans a
display to depict the institution’s history,
and she is calling on the local community to
pitch in with stories, ideas or anything they
may have to celebrate the gorgeous red-
brick building at 510 N. Killingsworth St.
“People love the library,” Welch says.
“Every time I come into this building I feel
the love, because only in a town where peo-
ple love their libraries so much, would the
public agree to step up and fund this beauti-
ful library.”
The ornate, Jacobean-style brick edifice
was built through the civic improvement
project of industrialist Andrew Carnegie
that saw the construction of landmark
libraries across the country.
The North Portland Library itself pre-
dates the current building, as Portlanders in
See BOOKS on page 3