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JA N U A R Y 13, 1978 PAGE 11
H Destroyed6 ^ew
For the second time in
twenty years, Lillie Heath’s
home on the Deschutes River
near Kah-Nee-Ta was burned to
the ground. The cause of the fire
which occurred Monday Janu
ary 2 is unknown.
According to Benson Heath,
who was home with his mother
Lillie and a third occupant
Buzzy Berry when the blaze
started around 2:00 p.m., the
house was an “ inferno” in a
m atter of moments and they
were “just lucky to get out.”
The occupants were unable
to save any of their belongings,
which included valuables such
as beaded leather outfits, bas
kets, old photographs and re
cently acquired Christmas gifts.
Benson ran to the nearby home
of brother Sanders Heath to get
hoses while Lillie drove to Kah-
Nee-Ta to report the fire.
Kah-Nee-Ta sent their fire
apparatus and the Warm
Springs Volunteer Fire Depart
ment was dispatched but by the
time either of them arrived the
house was lost. Snowy roads
caused delay for the Warm
Springs crew.
The Heath home was insur
ed and an arson investigation
may be requested by the in
surance company, said tribal in
vestigator Ray Scott. The Heaths
were burned out of their home in
1959 and they rebuilt on the
same site in 1960. Uncertain of
their future housing arrange
ments, they are presently living
with Sanders Heath.
Out of 140 applications and
hours of interviews a new Health
and Social Services Branch
Manager has emerged for the
Tribes. Bob Jackson, a mental
health administrator in Kansas,
will arrive in Warm Springs
before the end of the month to
take over the position vacated in
September.
The previous manager, Noel
Day, “stepped down” Septem
Key BI A responsibilities
were identified and a three-fold
BIA mission was set forth at the
first meeting of the newly ap
pointed BIA Reorganization
Task Force December 21.
Under Secretary of the In
terior James A. Joseph announc
ed December 6 the appointment
of the task force to develop
recommendations for the Secre
tary on the reorganization of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
“Secretary Andrus wants to
insure that the trust reponsibil-
ities of the Federal Government
are carried out effectively, that
services to Native American
people are provided efficiently,
and that tribal governments are
strengthened,” Joseph said.
“ As part of a continuing
effort to meet this objective a
Task Force on the reorganiza
tion of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs has been established to
formulate and present recomm
endations to the Secretary for
immediately improving the
management, organization and
practices of the Bureau.”
Under Secretary Joseph
said the study is to be compre
hensive and the changes will be
fundamental — not just cosme
tic. He emphasized that the
changes will be instituted in an
orderly fashion to minimize any
hardship on BIA employees and
upon established relationships
between the tribes and BIA
offices.
ber 13 and responsibility for the
branch was placed in the Gen
eral Manager’s office. Admini
strative Assistant Ralph Min
nick guided the branch through
the critical budget process and
subsequent budget trimming ex
ercises.
Jackson, 45 will take on the
challenge of directing an array
of departments from welfare to
parole and probation. Social
The W.S. Rodeo Association
year which usually is the annual
root feast rodeo held in March or
early April.
Other events will be dis
cussed at the meeting such as
dues, membership, other rodeos
and roping jack-pots. The meet
ing date will be posted at all
social gathering places.
North American Indian Womens' Assoc.
Membership here in Warm
Springs is up to 25 now after
receiving applications from Jan
ice Clements here recently. It is
rumored that Janice deliberated
in her mind for some time on
becoming a member of the or
ganization and finally decided,
“What the heck, I might as well
be one of the gang.”
Study BI A Reorganization
The eleven-member task
force includes representatives of
the National Congress of Ameri
can Indians and the National
Tribal Chairman’s Association;
two representatives of the BIA
named by Assistant Secretary
for Indian Affairs Forrest Ger
ard; Acting Assistant Secretary
for Policy, Budget and Admin
istration Larry Meierotto; and
six public members. The public
members include Stewart L.
Udall, former Secretary of the
Interior.
Assistant Secretary Gerard
is an ex-officio member. The
task force director is Jack Rush
ing, a member of the Under
Secretary’s staff.
grams.
(2) To serve as an advocate
for the sovereignty and rights of
American Indian* Tribes and
Alaska Native groups in dealing
with other governmental entities
and the private sector.
(3) To fulfill and execute the
federal government’s trust obli
gation to American Indian
Tribes and Alaska N ative
groups.
Recommendations of the
American Indian Policy Review
Commission and other studies of
the Bureau and its responsibil
ities will be considered.
Among the areas for im
proving the performance of the
The task force, which held BIA which will be studied are:
its first meeting December 21, planning, advocacy, trust pro
will schedule subsequent meet tection services, human resour
ings at least twice a month. ce development, natural resour
Recommendations will then be ce development, social service
presented to Secretary Andrus delivery, personnel and adminis
at the beginning of this coming trative services/ and consulta
tion.
April.
Members of the task force
During the task force’s. De are: Robert J. Hampton, vice
cember 21st meeting, Assistant president of ATE Management
Secretary for Indian Affairs in Arlington, VA.; Willie Hen
Forrest Gerard (an ex-officio sley, executive vice president of
member of the task force) laid NANA Regional Corp., Inc.,-
out the following three-fold BIA zebue, Alaska; Ted Marston,
vice president of Cummins En
mission:
(1) To recognize and pre gine Company in Columbus,
serve the inherent rights of Ind.; Larry Meierotto, acting
Tribal self-government, to assistant secretary policy, bud
strengthen Tribal capacity to get, and administration, Depart
govern, and to provide resources ment of the Interior, Washing
for Tribal Government pro ton, D.C.
Health Branch
Has New Manager
Services have b**en identified as cents and sees in them a re
Club Activities
The Warm Springs Rodeo
Association is planning a club
meeting in the near future. The
main purpose of this meeting is
to elect officers for thè coming
rodeo season. A spokesman for
the club said guidelines will be
set up for the new officers in
planning of the first rodeo of the
F°rce
a priority by both management
and the Tribal Council, and the
branch’s budget has increased
30 per cent for 1978.
P art of the increase is the
transfer of the branch m ana
ger’s position from the BIA to
Tribal payrolls. The alcohol and
drug programs are also receiv
ing significant boosts.
Jackson said, from his
Crawford county Mental Health
Center office, that he is impres
sed with the Tribal Council’s
philosophy and approach re
garding health and social ser
vices.
“For too many years, other
people have done things for the
Indians. This Tribal Council said
‘We want to do it ourselves.’ ”
Jackson has a great deal of
experience working with adoles-
flection of larger problems in a
community. From his visits to
Warm Springs Jackson has
noted the passing on of adult
problems such as alcoholism to
the youth and has heard the
community’s call for increased
parenting skills.
As the new branch manager,
Jackson hopes to enhance com
munication and cooperation
among his departments so that
they might present more uni
form services to the clients and
community.
But getting his feet wet and
becoming acquainted with his
stâff will be Jackson’s first
order of business. “ I’d like to
hear what people in the organiz
ation think and involve as many
people as possible in decision
making,” he said.
Jackson has a M aster’s in
Included are: Lorraine Mis-
iaszak, acting director of Advo
cates for Indian Education in
Spokane, Wash.; Jim Sansaver,
reservation program office, Bill
ings area office. Billings, Mont. ;
Dr. Thomas Sawyer, director of
ARIES Consulting Corp, in Pro
vo, Utah; Ronald Toya, reser- /
vation program office, Bureau
of Indian Affairs in Southern
Pueblo Agency in Albuquerque,
N.M. .
Also, Ray Goetting, National
Congress of American Indians in
Washington D.C.; Steward L.
Udall of counsel, D u n c a n ,
Brown, Weinberg & Palm er in
Washington D.C.; and William
Youpee, executive director, Na
tional Tribal Chairmen’s Asso
ciation in Washington D.C.
Secretary Andrus has also
invited the Departments of En
ergy, Transportation, Commer
ce, Labor, Health, Education
and Welfare, Justice and Agri
culture to designate represen
tatives to participate in Task
Force meetings as observers
because of the responsibilities to
these Departments for admin
istering certain Indian pro
grams. The same invitation was
extended by the Secretary to
Rep. Teno Roncalio, chairman
of the Subcommittee on Indian
Affairs and Public Lands of the
House Interior Committee and
Senator James Abourezk, chair
man of the Senate Select Com
mittee on Indian Affairs.
Social Work which he earned
from the University of Kansas in
1961. In addition to administer
ing a mental health center in
Pittsburg, Kansas, he is consult
ant to state hospital alcohol,
drug and adolescent programs.
Previously Jackson had a
variety of experiences in direct
services as well as administra
tion. He has been a mental
health therapist, the admini
strator of an adolescent trea t
ment unit, a clinical social
worker and a psychiatric social
work aide in geriatrics.
Jackson is a Korean War
Veteran and is m arried with
four children.
He and his wife and their
two younger children will be
living in Madras, since no hous
ing is available in Warm
Springs. Jackson hopes to be on
the job by January 23.
8
The next N.A.I.W.A. meet
ing will be on January 17, and
the public is invited to hear
¡special speakers on Drug and
Alcohol and other general infor
mation on the user and-or dis
ease.
N.A.I.W.A. will have its reg
ular business meeting on Febru
ary 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Com
munity Center.
The Lions Club
At its last meeting held at
Alice’s Restaurant the Lions
Club discussed the raffle of the
steer. The steer will be butcher
ed into four quarters so there
will be four winners. The steer
was donated to the club by Wil
bur Johnson. The drawing will
take place on February 16th at
the Community Center. All Lions
Club members will be selling
tickets.
On the drawing board plans
are in final form for the annual
gold tournament sponsored by
the Warm Springs Lions Club.
The tourney is open to anyone
and it will get underway at 8:00
a.m. Snacks and beverages will
be sold at various points
throughout the course. Other
activities are also being plan
ned.
Joining the Spilyay Tymoo staff as secretary is Greg Smith, 18. The able young man, who was
featured in a recent Spilyay article about male secretaries, faces the challenge of creating a job and
routines where none existed. In other words, he’s helping us get our office act together.
CDS Photo,