PAGE 4 NOVEMBER 17, 1978
May Have Found A New Tactic
by Cynthia Stowell
A funny thing happened on
the way to the Washington State
polls this year. Indians were
coming out of the woodwork.
The campaigned. They chal
lenged. They strategized. They
voted.
And in some respects they
won.
Colville Vice Chairman Mel
Tonasket captured more than 10
per cent of the vote in his third
party race for the fifth District
congressional seat.
Treaty abrogationist Jack
Cunningham (R-Seventh Dis
trict) lost a return trip to D.C.,
leaving the fate of his three anti
Indian bills uncertain.
And the seat voluntarily
vacated by Rep. Lloyd Meeds
(R-Second District) of water
rights extinction fame, was filled
by Democrat Al Swift who seeks
to “eliminate conflicts” between
Indians and non-Indians.
It may be a bit presumptu
ous to assert a causal relation
ship between the politicization of
Indians and the election results.
Washington state constituents
may have simply tired on their
own of the incessant législative
hammering their representa
tives took delight in administer
ing to the Indian population.
After all, the Washington State
Opinion Survey carried out by
the Yakimas last April showed
that the average Washingtonian
(not the sports fisherman) was
uninformed about but not hostile
toward his Indian neighbor.
The races were close how
ever and any campaign action by
Indians could easily have had an
impact on the fence-sitters.
*
This is what Indians did,
according to Rudy Ryser, cam
paign coordinator for Tonasket
and strategist par excellence.
Voter registration was as
important as ever, with voter
drives on the various reserva
tions. Indians are notorious for
not exercising their franchise.
But to play the white man’s
game successfully, Indians had
to go beyond passive yea’s and
nay’s and devise an active
political strategy, said Ryser.
Thus the two prong attack:
sponsoring their own candidate
and getting involved in other key
campaigns by way of position
papers, briefings and
press
coverage.
Specifically in the Second
District race for Meeds’ seat,
efforts were aimed at neutraliz
ing the Indian issue while getting
behind Swift. In the Seventh
District, an “overt attack on
Cunningham’s position”
was
coupled with support for Demo
crat Mike Lowry who has gone
on record as opposing treaty
abrogation and advocating tribal
sovereignty.
The Tonasket candidacy in
the Fifth District could have the
farthest reaching impact, noted
Ryser, as post election energies
focus on the development of the
Independent Party. Tonasket
and troops plan to be watchdogs
for re-elected Rep. Tom Foley,
while continually directing the
public eye to Indian issues and
concerns and demonstrating how
Indian and non-Indians issues
are much the same. They will
also be on the look-out for candi
dates for 1980.
“We may not have the physi
cal numbers to outvote” large
portions of the constituency, said
“let’s be friends” posture. The
new game being played by
Washington Indians strikes an
interesting balance.
Perhaps some of the energy
devoted year after year to grum
bling, fretting and coddling in the
rather isolated world of national
Indian organizations could be
better spent in the thick of
things-playing the white man’s
political game with Coyote’s wile
but with characteristic Indian
integrity.
From the High School Counselor
by Ron Pinkham
The United Indian Education
Conference in Portland was well
received by students. Staff of the
United Indians of All Tribes
Foundation gave the students the
best of compliments for their
participation and performance
at the Tuesday evening banquet.
Everyone here at Warm Springs
should be very proud of the
students who attended.
With the ever increasing im
portance of education on the
Warm Springs Reservation, it
behooves all of us to be very
supportive to all students regard-
less of their grades. Yet, those is not the total answer. But for
who earn poor marks must be now, it is one which is of
given positive reinforcement paramount importance to Tribal
from the home end. That the Governments in gaining econo
student’s efforts in school should mic independence and becom
be given now, not later, should be ing self-sufficient.
stressed. High School is the first
Remember there are pro
step in gaining the fundamentals grams and activities on the
in which to travel further in the Reservation designed to involve
field of education, not to mention the parents and students in
the job market.
two-way communication. This
Many young Indians must will lead to better understanding
take responsibility for them and mutual support. Become
selves in order to gain headway involved with me here at school
in this expensive world, and to do and with your child so that we
what they please within today’s can best work together and gain
society. So remember, education the ultimate goal, a High School
diploma.
Letters to the Editor
SUPPORT FAYE
To the people of the Warm
Springs Confederated Tribes:
We solicit your support and
backing for a young lady by the
name of Faye Hurtado who is
running for the title of Junior
Miss for Jefferson County.
Faye is the only entry from
Warm Springs in recent years.
She is really a top contender for
this title and among other prizes,
could win a scholarship to her
chosen college.
I feel faye really is a very
There are obvious problems with the petition for north boundary
talented,
poised individual who
police protection now being circulated. As petitions often are it is
will represent well the citizens of
impassioned and ambitious. It asks for a lot all at once.
Not that author Tony Suppah hasn’t put a great deal of thought: the Warm Springs community.
So we are inviting every one
into it. The detail in his staffing and equipment requests is evidence of
to
the
pageant starting at 2:00
his familiarity with police workings. Rural fire and police protection is
not a new or hastily hatched notion — the concern has the weight of p.m. Sunday at the Madras High
School cafeteria.
time and repetition.
Respectfully,
But Tony left some of his homework undone. Can he really justify
Pat Woodsie
a staff of three or more based on the numbers of citizens and the value
Faye’s Advisor
of assets in the area? And where is the $250,000 going to come from?
Suppah appears to favor a grant, but grant proposals take a lot of AA HELPS
careful documentation. Is he ready to follow through?
Dear Editor:
Tony’s strategy could be questioned, too. The Council may have a
I am writing to you as a
real distaste for petitions after the Gold petition that so divided the concerned member of the Warm
membership in 1976. In addition, the tribal police department is in a Springs Confederated tribes.
precarious position with respect to the Council and negotiations could
As an alocholic individual
easily be upset with a noisy plea for more money and men.
and active in AA, I believe that
And yet this may be just what the Council needs to hear. The AA is one of the main reasons for
petition, for all its shortcomings, bears an important message from
staying sober today.
the reservation community. It is a message lurking behind recent
To me as an individual, AA
gatherings and sure to surface at the upcoming general council on the has made me a new person. It
budgets.
has given me a new lease on life.
We need improved law enforcement services, not a reduced When I first joined AA, I thought
program, the people are saying.
that it was one big joke, but I
Council foiled the police department’s attempt to reorganize and soon realized that it is a very
improve its own services by cutting back on several requested serious program, helping when
positions and programs, including the assistant chief and two juvenile^ ever needed, helping me to be
positions. They also put on hold two patrolmen, a dispatcher and a
able to talk openly and listen
Kah-Nee-Ta security guard. The apparent reasoning was that
without harsh judgment
on
additions were not justified based on past performance. (Is it a true others.
measure of a worker’s ability to observe how he performs without the
The Warm Springs Alochol
tools he needs to do the job?)
Center has helped me to under
Perhaps this was the time Council should have taken a gamble stand that I have many things to
with the police department. When public sentiment is crying for law learn about my people and their
and order, to undermine the existing program is to lower community
many drinking and drugs, and
morale a few more notches.
how they differ from the outside
The petition is another call for improved services. There may
world.
have
been a more
way to present it but can the Council
„
jx .-j .
..... convincing
, v
--------
TheCenter has a very effec-
afford to ignore the message it Tjears'froth Ihfe comniiiriity?
* ’ [jive program which can be fitted
Petition Bears
Important Message
Ryser, but the prospects of coali
tion with non-Indians is very
real. “You don’t have to be a
Congressman to effect political
change,” he continued “You just
have to be forceful and honest
and have access to the press.”
Apparently idealism isn’t
dead and'pragmatism is a wel-
come newborn.
For years Indians
have
sought political and economic
clout, using methods .ranging
from AIM’s subtly effective
to individual needs to help main
tain one’s sobriety.
One is the Antabuse pro-
gram.
Two is AA meetings held
each Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, from 12 noon to 1 p.m.
Three is AA meetings held
each Tuesday and Friday nite
from 8 p.m. to whenever.
Four Individual counseling
for those who need extra help.
I believe as an Alocholic
person that AA, a higher power,
and what help I can give to other
people, are my strength in main
taining my own sobriety.
James L. Armstrong
CONFUSING SIGN
To the editor:
Due to a confusing sign at the
Kah-Nee-Ta turn-off, about three
people end up at our house each
week looking for the resort.
The sign, which is just past
the bridge when you’re coming
from Warm Springs, appears to
point the way up Indian Head
Canyon instead of along the
Warm Springs River. This sends
people toward Simnasho and
many miles later the frustrated
tourists stop at our place for
directions.
Can’t Kah-Nee-Ta correct
this problem so that visitors can
more easily find their destina
tion?
Chesley Yahtin
GIVE KIDS A GOOD HOLIDAY
MEMORY
To the people:
People throughout the nation
will be gathering together at
various homes or special places
in the next 2 months to enjoy the
holidays. The holidays are
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and
New Year’s Eve.
The holidays have a special
meaning for each individual
whether it be an adult or child.
For the child, the age ranges
from 1 day to eighteen years. The.
message on their behalf is,
“please give them a special
memory.”
PATH-Foster
Care Program
Tribal Council Agenda
Nov. 20 — Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m.
1. 10:00 a.m. - 509-J Report
2. 2:00 p.m. - Kah-Nee-Ta Report
Nov. 21 — Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m.
1. 10:00 a.m. - Committee Reports
2. Miss Warm Springs Committee
3. Prepare for General Council
GENERAL COUNCIL, Agency Longhouse
7:00 p.m.
Agenda: 1979 Budgets
Nov. 27 — Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m.
1.10:00 a.m. - Proposed resolution re funeral grants to
Nonmembers married into Tribe-Vital Stat.
2. “Brief Lood at Warm Springs” - Review revision
Nov. 28 — Tribal Council Meeting, 9:00 a.m.
1. 10:00 a.m. - Roads system, progress report
v2. 2:00 p.m. - Management Reports
TO BE SCHEDULED: Funding - Irrigation Project & Justice Center