DECEMBER 1. 1978 PAGE 9
Treaty
This phenomenon could be
viewed as evidence that the
government’s assimilation pol
icy backfired. But more posi
tively it may be proof that
Indians refused to disappear.
And in the treaty context, the
government’s obligation to In
dian tribes seems to have grown
beyond ploughs and dwelling
houses to a trust responsibility
that transcends treaty specifics.
NEXT: Internal and External
Affairs Controlled by Treaty.
(Continued from Page 8)
■ Indians lost millions of acres in
' this way with the frequent result
i of checkerboarded reservations,
' but Warm Springs fared well
partly because their land was not
in great demand and because of
! wise leadership.
Currently about 10 percent of
i the reservation is allotted and
only a bit more than 1 percent
has been alienated, or sold to
non-members through the years.
References, Part V
An attitude working against
Felix S. Cohen, Handbook of
; individualizing and civilizing
i was commissioner Walker’s 1872 Federal Indian Law - Wilcomb
[hope that one day all tribes Washburn, Red Man’s Land,
[would be “reduced to the condi- White Man’s Law
General Services Admini
> tion of suppliants for charity.”
At the same time the govern stration Report Re: Petitions of'
ment expected Indians and the the Confederated Tribes of the
Indian problem to disappear, it Warm Springs Reservation (In
Iwas creating a vast, self-perpet dian Claims Commission Nos.
uating bureaucracy to service 198 and 198-A), December 1967.
I Indians whose dependence on the Minutes of the Treaty Council
i government was growing with Atty. Dennis Karnopp
Amos Simtustus, Warm Springs
every ration.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Chief
[exists a century and a half after Nelson Wallulatum Wasco Chief
its birth in 1832 providing funds Delbert Frank, Sr.
land services to Warm Springs Jefferson and Wasco Counties
land other reservations far be- Assessors’ Offices
lyond the specific terms of their
[treaties.
Exchange Enhances Understanding
Students
from
Warm
Springs, Simnasho and Madras
Elementary Schools have been
given the opportunity to ex
change ideas, friendship, ways of
life and culture.
The culture exchange pro
gram, as it’s called, is in its
second year, and is helping to
expose Madras and Warm
Springs kids to one another.
“Our goal is not to let junior high
school be the first time they’re
together.” stated Warm Springs
principal Mike Darcy. Darcy
also said the program will also
be instrumental in “breaking
down stereotypes that Madras
kids have of Warm Springs
kids.” adding that kids have
even asked if Indians wear
clothes to school.
Warm Springs kids recently
traveled to Madras Elementary
to show the 500 plus kids there
the various dance steps. And,
just prior to Thanksgiving, a
group of Madras second graders
visited Juanita Curtis’ class and
had a turkey dinner.
Forest Service Recuitment Begins
Application forms for sea-
Bsonal employment with the For-
■ est Service will be available
■December 1, 1978, through Jan-
luary 15, 1979.
Applications will be accept-
Ied through January 15. Non-cler-
ical positions to be filled include
wield jobs as aids and technicians
in forestry, range management,
physical science, engineering,
surveying, biological science,
and hydrology. Applicants must
- be 18 years of age at the time of
availability for employment.
Selections fof seasonal jobs
will begin in mid-February with
jobs starting after May 12 and
ending before October 1, 1979.
Salaries will range from ¿.57 to
$5.05 per hour. About 4,000 jobs
will be filled in the Pacific
Northwest Region of the Forest
Service (Oregon and Washing
ton) where more than 16,000
applications were received last
year.
Firefighting positions re
quire the passing of a physical
fitness “step test” equivalent to
running 1% miles in 12 minutes
or less.
Applicants may submit only
one application to the Forest
Service, and may indicate only
one location preference.
Inforamtion on other season
al jobs and specific programs is
available at Civil Service Com
mission and National Forest
Supervisor’s offices.
All applicants will be given
equal consideration without re
gard to race, color, sex, creed, or
national
origin.
Education,
availability, and prior exper
ience will determine an appli
cant’s chance for employment.
Budget Meetings,
■(Continued from Page 1)
■increases. This did not happen,
Ihowever. Council chairman
Gene Greene explained that
many of the recent increases
were part of the “catch-up”
process to bring salaries in line
with national standards.
Greene said that his own
salary as natural resources
director was upped considerably
Rafter being too low for years.
Referring to earlier remarks
about loyalty to the Tribes,
Greene commented, “Maybe I
won’t even accept my raise.”
Prunie Williams and others
suggested that not only employ
ees should undergo merit ratings
but that the performance of the
Council and committees should
also be evaluated.
Referendum not needed to
approve budget
The atmosphere at the first
meeting was tense for a few
moments
while
confusion
reigned on the budget approval
procedure.
Rosella Phillips
maintained that there were not
enough tribal members attend
ing the meeting to vote on the
budget, but she was informed
that a referendum is not called
unless the proposed budget is
challenged within thirty days
after public posting. (At the time
of the meeting, 49 days had
elapsed). Twenty percent of the
enrollment or two Council mem
bers may call a referendum to
challenge the budget, but if
appropriations exceeding $25,000
are to be made beyond the
approved budget, a popular ref
erendum is required.
People seemed surprised
¡when informed of this procedure
which was approved by mem
bers as a constitutional amend
ment in 1973. Previously tribal
members did not have an oppor
tunity to oppose budgets. Peti
tion and referendum procedures
will be presented and explained
in a future Spilyay Tymoo.
Police Department Gets Com
munity Support
Law and order took on
special importance in the light of
increasing alcohol and drug re
lated crime coupled with the
Council’s controversial denial of
certain police department bud
get requests. The first meeting
came to an ¿motional end when
George Clements called out to
the departing Council, “We’re
asking for protects n of our
children and you’re turning us
down!”
Council members who voted
to cut out the assistant police
chief, a juvenile officer, and a
narcotics officer and to “hold in
abeyance” two patrolmen, one
dispatcher, and one Kah-Nee-Ta
security man, defended their
action by saying past program
performance did not justify such
increases and that cooperation
with other programs might ac
complish the same ends without
increasing personnel.
Police Chief Jeff Sanders
described his force of eight
patrolmen as “thin” especially
when ambulance duty and office
responsibilities take them off
their beats. Separating the jail
ing and dispatching functions
was an effort to comply with
Council recommendations, he
said.
Billie Jo McConville of the
Alcohol and Drug Program des
cribed the police department as
“multi-purpose” — providing
services ranging from fire and
accident assistance to counsel
ing. “They really have concern,”
she said. Cutting back on servi
ces means cutting back on the
morale of the community, she
observed.
Councilman Larry Calica
explained that Council hadn’t
reduced the department budget
from 1978 but had denied the
entire
increase
requested.
Administrative improvements
are in order for the department,
he said.
Municipal branch manager
Rudy Clements remarked, “I
don’t say we have a perfect
program but we are trying to
upgrade the quality of the pro
gram and be more effective.”
The assistant chief (Dick Mon-
tee) was added to provide _“day
to day support,” thus freeing up
the chief for overall program
planning, he said. “We can’t
bottleneck the program by not
giving it the administrative sup
port it needs,” said Clements.
Chairman Gene Greene gave
reason for cautious optimism at
the second meeting when he said,
“The police department will
probably get their ten positions
—depending on what the Council
decides.” Council will be meet
ing December 19 to reconsider
the matter.
Employ members, not outsiders
The employment and train
ing of tribal members for tribal
jobs was, as ever, 'the focus of
much attention. Several people
felt that qualified Indians with
“fistfuls of degrees” were being
overlooked for jobs in the tribal
organization. Instead, outsiders
are brought in who tend to
perpetuate the incidence of non
Indian employment by hiring
friends from the outside, thus
blocking tribal members from
jobs and advancements. Admini
strative branch manager Doug
McClelland defended his hiring
practices in the accounting de
partment by pointing to the
“limited number of tribal mem
bers trained in a rather complex
field who are available for
employment.”
Some people felt that being a
tribal member was qualification
enough for many jobs. Said
Leroy Bobb, “We don’t need
degrees ... to teach us to be
robots ... I wear my qualifica
tions on my chest and in my
heart. I am one of the people.”
He said on the basis of this he
was qualified to take on the
health branch manager’s posi
tion.
Others felt that even though
the Tribes give priority to tribal
members’ applications, they
should do more to “encourage”
such applications, beyond nor
mal advertising.
Enterprises ripping us off?
Kah-Nee-Ta manager Bill
Pauli was asked to explain his
$94,000 employee training pro
gram. The funds, he said, pay
salaries and provide training
materials and professional assis
tance for the purpose of “helping
tribal members get and keep
jobs.” Some people wondered
who would be benefitting from
such training when over 65
percent of the employees are
non-members and many Indians
are only at entry level.
Kap-Nee-Ta was acknow
ledged by most to be an attrac
tive resort with a great deal of
potential, but the pressure is on
to make it profitable. Ken Smith
felt that the appointment of a
“new, progressive board” might
be a step in the right direction in
the “competitive and difficult”
resort business.
Others felt that putting ener
gy into Kah-Nee-Ta was a farce
when the natural resources of the
reservation were disappearing
and there isn’t enough housing
for people.
Timber Practices criticized
Timber harvest and thinning
practices were a source of ill
feeling as people felt the forest
was being destroyed. Council
man and logger Z ane Jackson
reminded members that timber
is responsible for a large part of
the Tribes’ income and thinning
as well as harvesting makes for a
more productive forest. “We’re
not out to destroy anything,” he
said. “That forest needs to be
harvested.”
Olney Patt, Sr. summed up
many people’s feelings when he
advised the council to “sharpen
their pencils” and go over the
budget again. He wondered
whether the tribal organization
might be duplicating services
and “spinning its wheels.”
“It’s one thing to create an
empire and surround yourself
with people,” Patt said. “But
these programs are supposed to
do something for us.” He reco
mmended more program evalua
tion and a better system of
“checks and balances.”