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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1978)
Task Force Reports To Secretary On BI A Reorganization M em bers of a T ask Force ian Affairs needs to be improv appointed in December 1977 to ed, “ S ecreta ry of the Interior prepare recom m endations on Cecil D. Andrus said. “One of my primary aims as the restructuring of the Bureau of Indian Affairs presented their S ecretary of the Interior is to final report to Secretary of the carry out a fair and vigorous Interior Cecil D. Andrus earlier program for the b enefit of our American Indian citizens. This this month. The report will be published requires that we provide a firm in the F ed era l R eg ister and basis for Indian self-determina distributed to Indian tribes and tion, that tribal governments are organ ization s for com m ent strengthened, that the trust re sp o n sib ilities of the F ederal through June 30, 1978. After analysis of the report Government are conducted ef and con sid eration o f the com fe c tiv e ly , and that serv ic e s to m en ts, S ecretary Andrus will the Indian people are provided make specific decisions early in efficiently. “While changes will be insti- August on the management and organizational structure of the luted in an orderly fashion and bureau, together with a schedule every effort w ill be m ade to for carrying out the changes. minimize any hardship on BIA A preliminary report of the employees and upon established Task F orce w as p resen ted to relationships between the tribes Under Secretary of the Interior and BIA officials, I am commit- Jam es A. Joseph on March 31. ed to the p rin cip le that basic “ While I h ave not had an im p rovem en t in the Bureau is opportunity to study the report necessary if we are to help meet in d etail and h a v e reach ed no the many challenges faced today conclusions on any of its specific by the American Indian people.” The p refa ce to the Task recom m en d ation s, I sh are the b a s ic . con clu sion of the Task F orce report sta te s that the Force that the organization and group focused on what it viewed operation of the Bureau of Ind as the major organizational is sues and problems. The recommendations in the 130 page report include the following: -T he top level organization should consist of the Assistant S ecretary for Indian A ffairs with three principal Deputies — for planning and evaluation, for operations (Commissioner), and for budget and finance (Comp troller). -T o reflect the high level of commitment to self-determina tion on the part of the Bureau, program and policy implement ation for P .L . 93-638, the Self- D eterm ination A ct, should be placed under the Deputy Assist ant S ecretary — P lanning and Evaluation. —C onsideration should be given to the location of field offices, there should be a review of each Area Office on a case-by case basis to consider the need to retain or combine these offic es. -T o p m an agem en t should have the option of utilizing “Schedule C” appointments to fill Area Director positions. Among the areas studied for improving the BIA were: plan ning, advocacy, trust protection services, human resource devel opment, social service delivery, personnel and ad m in istrative services, and consultation. In addition to twice monthly meetings in Washington, D.C., the Task F orce also held field h earin gs in P hoenix, Arizona; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Den ver, Colorado; P ortland, Ore gon; and Duluth, Minnesota. T r ib a l C ouncil A g en d a Apr 24 - Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m. 1. Committee Reports - Quarterly, Water Board 2. Timber Resources: Timber Committee, Range Committee Fish & Wildlife Committee, Natural Resource Dept. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. - WSFPI Board Meeting, Kah-Nee-Ta 7:00 p.m . - GENERAL COUNCIL,. Agency Longhouse, Annual Report of WSFPI Apr 25 - Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m. 1. 10:00 a.m. - Criminal Justice Facility - Design 2. 2:00 p.m. - Management Reports, Grievance Procedure, Affirmative Action Program Apr 26 - Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m. 1. Kah-Nee-Ta Complex' - M anagem ent, Kah-Nee-Ta Advisory Committee Apr 7-8 - Columbia River Basin Fisheries Alliance-Thunderbird, Astoria - NOTE: Interpretation of Budget Amendment to be scheduled Ullman Requests Funds For Hatcheries, Water Projects WASHINGTON, D.C. — Oregon Congressman A1 Ullman, earlier this m onth, urged the P ublic Works Appropriations subcom m ittee to g iv e high priority to increased power output and im proved anadromous fish runs in the Pacific Northwest. Ullman testified in support of the Army Corps of Engineers’ $124 million budget request for construction on M cN ary Lock and Dam, McNary Second Pow erhouse and B on n eville Lock and Dam Second Powerhouse. “Construction of these facil itie s w ill help in crea se power output and mitigate damage to fish runs,” Ullman said, noting that one of the few n egative im p a cts of F ed era l w ater re source development has been its impact on fish runs. The 2nd District Congress- man also testified in support of an additional $5.2 million for the Lower Snake R iver F ish and Wildlife Compensation Plan. C onstruction of eig h t an a dromous fish hatcheries in Ida ho, Eastern Oregon and Eastern W ashington w as authorized in 1976 b eca u se of sev e r e red u ct ions in salm on and steelh ead runs a s the resu lt of the four hydroelectric dams on the Low- er Snake. Ullman said the $5.2 million he is requesting would be used to construct the first hatchery at M cCall, Idaho and designed three or four additional hatcher ies. The McCall h atch ery was designed last year. An additional $100,000 is needed to make the new Warm Springs F ish H atchery fully Is C a rter K eep in g H is P ro m ise To A m erican In d ian s? NOTE: (When Jim m y Carter was campaigning for the U.S. Presidency, he made the following promises to American Indians. In order for us to d eterm in e w hether or not he is liv in g up to those campaign promises, it is up to us to review them periodically. Now that Carter has been in office for a while, it is tim e for us to see how he is m easu rin g up. With this purpose in m ind, Spilyay Tymoo reprints the following for your review.) By President-Elect Jim my Carter I recogn ize the unique relation sh ip betw een the fed eral government and Native Americans, and I believe that to the greatest exten t p ossib le p rogram s for Indian trib es should be d esign ed , implemented, and managed by Indian tribes. Indian people should be able to make their own decisions regarding budget priorities, the operation of Indian schools, the best use of their land, water, and mineral resources, and the direction of their economic development. Self-government must mean that the majority of decisions affecting Indian trib es w ill be m ad e in the T ribal Council room and not in Washington, D.C. Today, duplication of effort, waste, and neglect pervade the administration of programs, while newly enacted legislation is often bogged down for months awaiting for the bureaucracy to develop confusing administrative regulations. A large percentage of federal money is eaten up through the administration overlap and waste. Federal dollars appropriated for Indian programs are often misspent and misallocated to programs that are unwanted by and of little use to Indians. A s part of m y plan s to réo rg a n ise govern m en t, I intend a eom pletereview of a ll federal programs» designed-for» Indian people to be conducted with the full participation of Indian leaders from tribal, urban and national organizations. This review will determine the best manner by which the trust responsibility should be assured and maintained; it will consider how Indian legal interests can be represented in the future; it will analyze the' administration of Indian program s and recom m end ch an ges to cut overhead co sts and to assure that Indian needs are really being served; and it will develop plans for fuller participation by Indian tribes in the operation of Indian programs. Indian fa m ilie s and children, lik e a ll A m erican fa m ilies, deserve to be protected and supported by government rather than ignored or destroyed. The rights of Indian fam ilies to raise their children a s they w ish have not alw a y s been resp ected by government. Today up to 25 percent of all Indian children are raised in foster homes or adoptive institutions. Some of these placements are unw arranted, and m any could be p revented if proper so cia l services as well as sufficient educational, economic and housing resources were available to Indians. I intend to insure that Indian fam ilies are assisted and bolstered by government policies. Indians have a historic, legal and moral right to a fair share of a v a ila b le w ater reso u rces. The u ltim a te resolution of con flicts concerning these rights, and the rights of others in the Southwest, will alm ost certainly be decided by the courts. In disputes concerning w ater rig h ts, a ll sid es m ust be a ssu red fu ll and com petent leg a l representation. Legislation, however, m ay be necessary to speed the resolution of th ese co n flicts, a s an a ltern ative to protracted legislation. Finally, I will not take unilateral action on any issue regarding Indian affairs or Indian programs without full , consultation with tribal representatives. Ours will be a government of participation, of action; p f’program involvement, and of true self-government. operational, Ullman said. Con struction of the h atchery w as completed recently. In h is testim on y, U llm an urged the Subcommittee to give sp ecia l con sid eration to th ese other Corps projects: -$500,000 to begin construct ion of the Willow Creek Dam Project primarily for flood cont rol in the Heppner, Ione and L exington area of northestern Oregon. The project w as first authorized in 1965. -A n additional $61,000 for a total of $115,000 for the Klamath Basin study to determine what can be done to correct the algae problem s of Upper Klam ath Lake and Lake Ewauna. -$125,000 for a study of the Crooked River Basin to consider potential water resources devel opment. In the Bureau of Reclama tion budget, Ullman asked for an additional $300,000 to be used for a study of the U m atilla, John D ay, D esch u tes and Grande Ronde Rivers with the focus on the improvements necessary to restore salm on and steeh ead runs. U llm an a lso asked that $389,000 be added to the budget request for the Central Oregon Irrigation District, which is re placing flumes. The additional m oney w ill not in crea se the th ree-year cost of the project, but is needed next year to keep the project on schedule. Ullman’s testimony was oh behalf of budget requests for the fisc a l y ea r w hich begins in October.
