April 21, 1978 Page 5
National Indian News Briefs
AT HEARING ABOUREZK ASKS WHEN; JOSEPH SAYS MAYBE NEVER: For Under Secretary
James Joseph and Assistant Secretary Forrest Gerard, Senator James Abourezk had one basic question
at the April 12 hearing on the BIA Reorganization: “When are you removing the area directors from
power in BIA?” He didn’t ask whether or how. He wasn’t interested in the BIA’s 130-page study report;
he said he wanted action, not a study. For some two hours the Senator repeated his basic question.'
Finally, Under Secretary Joseph said that he anticipated that line authority would continue to be
channeled from Central Office to the agencies through some kind of intermediate offices.
WINDOW ROCK MEETING ON BACKLASH BEINGS: Leaders and representatives of more than 200
Indian tribes were coming together April 12 at Window Rock, Arizona for a 3-day conference to make
plans for a unified battle against organized efforts to destroy tribal rights. Veronica Murdock, president
of the National Congress of American Indians, called it “a desperate fight for survival. . . to help defeat
the backlash and change the public attitude that supports outrageous legislation.” Peter MacDonald,
chairman of the Navajo Tribe which provided $100,000 for the conference, said: “We are under attack on
several fronts, the courts, the media, legislatures, taxation, treaty rights, sovereignty, Federal funds,
water rights, land claims; mineral rights, education, economic development, energy. Our old friends are
gone ~ or going. We have found no new ones. We need to develop strategies and to form alliances, not
just with each other, but with individuals; organizations and groups in the non-Indian world.”
NTCA COUNSEL COMMENTS ON MEANING OF OLIPHANT DECISION: John R. Keys, Jr., a lawyer
who acts as counsel to the National Tribal Chairmen’s Association, was asked by the Indian Law
Reporter to comment on the meaning of the Supreme Court’s ruling that Indian tribes do not have
criminal jurisdiction on reservations over non-Indians. Keys’ comments included the following:
“Cohen’s fundamental proposition was that Indian tribes possessed all the inherent governing powers of
a sovereign except as those might have been expressly relinquished by the tribe through treaty or
expressly terminated by act of Congress. Justice Rehnquist, for the majority in Oliphant, tested that
syllogism against the historical record and against the status of the tribes in the federal system and
found it lacking in several crucial aspects. It is important to note first, however, that Oliphant did not
totally undermine the principle of retained tribal powers. The tribes may still look to their inherent
powers, especially in the areas of civil jurisdiction, but must do so with less certainty and a narrower,
more restricted approach than in the past.”
To The Editor
We want to express our
sincere thanks to Officer Robert
Medina who drove the ambu
lance and Office Dean Seyler,
EMT and Dr. Cecil for their
alert and competent actions
which recently saved our son’s
W VW W W W W W W b
life. Without their dedication
and ability to make accurate
and quick decisions, we fear we
would have lost him.
Parents of Tracy Ray Van Pelt,
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Hicks
and the Van Pelt children
Card of Thanks
To my friends,
Many thanks for all the
visitors, prayers and kind
thoughts during my recent hos
pitalization. A special thanks to
my husband for keeping the
household together.
Thank you again,
Eliza Hicks
Letter To The Editor
On behalf of the Madras
chapter of the American Field
Service, I would like.to thank all
of the Warm Springs people who
did so much to make the past
weekend such a memorable ex
perience for 80 high school stu
dents from 33 countries around
the world.
To The Editor*
This letter is in regards to
the Celilo Wyam Board and an
overview of past activities
which took place while I served
as a delegate from the Umatilla
Reservation. Since my resigna
tion last year I have informally
kept in touch with members of
the three tribes and individuals
from the cornmunity of Celilo.
I believe the Tribes’ com
m ittm ents to the Celilo com
munity are there and they are
strong committments. However,
it is impossible to coordinate the
activités of the Board from three
Reservations. There were many
discussions about monies and
financing from the three tribes
for the Celilo Village.
However, funding is not
going to address long range
concerns which the people of the
village should have. The impacts
of attaining federal and tribal
dollars were never really dis
cussed.
The responsibilities of the
community were not discussed
either. These monies if attained
will undoubtedly impact Celilo,
but how? The By-Laws of the
Board offer no real management
capabilities nor did they tie us
together as one cohesive unit.
We can ’t afford to deal in
the emotional sense. We must
deal with reality. That commit
tment will have to be a full-time
committment of the people
themselves. The people on the
river know better than anyone
else what the reality of the situ
ation is. The people from the
reservations know that there are
problems on the river but there
at^ .tremendous tasks and prob-
We especially appreciated “Popeye”, Andy Lucas, Chuck
the help of Bernice Mitchell, McKay, and the rest of the staff
Gorky Mitchell, Mona Jim, Wi at Kah-Nee-Ta, Della Estimo
nona Spino, Alfreda Mitchell, and the Warm Springs Rodeo
Tonya Mitchell, Sonja Bryant, Association, Ed Manion, Margie
Ed Spino, Duane Miller, Sanders Green, Maxine Clements, Sam
Heath, Roger Stwyer, Ray my Colwash and Joyce Quinn.
Moody, Jackson Mitchell, Louis
Sincerely,
Spino, Delson and C.C. Suppah,
Pat Creelman,
Alice Fiorendo, Satch Miller,
President Madras AFS
lems which need to be addressed
at home.
It is the Tribes who have the
responsibility of addressing the
river as a regional unit of juris
diction by way of the Treaties.
For the people who choose to
live there, it is up to them to
develop their own communities.
This means that they must
determine for themselves what
is feasible and what is not.
We’re not just talking about
Celilo but the entire region
between the dams. How many
people live there? Why do they
live there? Surely fishing cannot
provide for the entire needs of
the community. What economic
potentials are there besides fish
ing? What are the plans of the
surrounding non-Indians juris
dictions? Does the Indian have a
place in the plans? I would
venture to say that these non-
Indian jurisdictions have a lot of
information and data which is
there for the asking.
If they are receiving federal
funds to provide services then
they are bound to do so. The
problem facing all of us is: what
information do we need to put
together and who is going to do
it? The Board at Celilo needs
good management capabilities
before they can tackle anything.
The people will have to recog
nize their responsibilities be
cause in the end it is they who
will remain.
We Indians then are not
unlike the non-Indian in this
sense; we only come running to
our officials when we need some
thing. Yet when it’$ time to
make a decision, by consensus.
there are only a few people who
show up at the meetings. Ru
mors run our lives at times and
it is because of this that conflicts
arise.
We can’t ..afford this, we
need to lay out the facts, alter
natives, impacts, management
and plans not only-for the River
communities but for the reser
vations as well. This takes a lot
of research and time.
All of our communities have
needs and problems. There isn’t
a government in the entire world
who has solved every problem it
has. But, with our unique status
in this country and the tech
nology and science it can offer
us, we can and most likely will
survive.
Sincerely,
Mike Farrow
Pendleton, Oregon
Spilyay Now On Sale
“Spilyay Tymoo Sold Here”
signs have sprung up around the
community and people are trad
ing quarters for 12 pages of
news, sports, photos and an
nouncements.
Every other Friday the
newspaper goes on sale at a
variety of locations in and near
Warm Springs. Look for signs at
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Macy’s Store, Kah-Nee-Ta
Lodge and Village, Burger Inn,
the Information Center, Alice’s
Restaurant and Rainbow Mark
et.
If you miss it on Friday,
you’ll have many more chances
during the subsequent two
weeks. A steady supply of pap
ers will be available at all these
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And you can be sure of
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Join the hundreds who read
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To T he E d itor
We want to thank everyone
who was so nice while our
daughter, Shauna Craig, was
selling raffle tickets for the U of
W pow-wow in Seattle. For all of
our efforts, Shauna did not place
in the Junior Princess Contest.
We especially want to thank
Grandpa Ernie who saved the
day; Uncle Ralph and family for
the moral support; Antionette
and Dari for selling tickets for
Shauna; Ron and Aunty Kat for
all of their help Friday night and
for giving Shauna this chance;
Sheila Strom for her grand ef
forts in selling tickets and the
bag of goodies which Shauna
received; and everyone else who
just wanted to help out.
I am sure Shauna would
want to thank her agent Joel for
all of his help, even though he
wasn’t able to attend the pow
wow. This is a good experience
for Shauna, and I am sure that
you all would be as proud of her
as her family was.
Richard & Madeline Craig
. ness
There were these paratroopers that were making their first
jump. The plane was approaching the jump area, the light comes on,
land the sergeant commands his troops to hook up. The door opens
land the first guy by the door turns and asks the Sarge, “Sir, what if
¡my chutes doesn’t open. What should I do?” The Sarge looks at him
ifor a moment then savs. “Go down anyway.” Yikes!!
SS SS SS
Is there anyone who can solve this problem? “Did the early
bird enjoy the worm as much as the late bird enjoyed the extra
sleep?” Yikes!!
SS SS SS
There was this boy who came home one evening and tells his
Dad, “I got a job for after school hours as an office boy, only I told
the boss I was a year older to get the job.” His Dad said, “ You
shouldn’t lie to ydur boss. Do you know what he might do if he knew
that you lied?” “ Yeah! He’d probably send me out to be a
salesman.” Yikes!!
SS SS SS
There was this 21 year-old guy still living at home who had quit
school and was unemployed. One day his dad walks into the room and
says, “Son, you’re going to have to shift for yourself.” “Great, Dad.
What make and model is it?” Yikes!!
ss ss ss
You know that there are still Indian boarding schools scattered
throughout the country. One day there was this guy that got a letter
from his son that read, “Dad, would you send some food packages to
me? All they serve here is breakfast, lunch and dinner!” Yikes!!
ss ss ss
You know at one time they used to execute crim inals with
death by firing squad. There was this one guy standing in front of the
firing squad, the priest standing next to him. Finally he was asked,
“Do you have any last requests?” “Yes,” said the condemned man.
“Use blanks! ” Yikes!!
ss ss ss
What did the five-hundred pound canary say?
(„¡ALLIN ALLIN ‘aH3H„)
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