Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1986)
March 19, 1986 Agency District Candidates Continued v "s ) U-.', ' J ' Louie Pitt I hope the people that vote are not going to vote solely for the person with the best speech or by those words printed in this Spilyay Tymoo issue. What the people are looking for in my opinion is someone that will do things for them, as awholegroupandnotjust for an elected official's family. As I stated at the Longhousetheothernight I am torn as to what my future holds, personal, health, family situation, on Lloyd Smith, Sr. I am responsible, depend able and concerned with the welfare of people. My father and I started the student work program in 1956. I started the local day care center for children in 1967 and served many students through the Tribal Education committee 1956 through 1974. 1 started and coordinated the Indian lan guage dictionary plus the teaching of the Indian lan guage in the local elemen tary school in 1973. Besides serving on the school board in night meetings, I am chairman of the Warm Springs Council on Alcohol and Drugs. The following Rita Squiemphen r v J 1 ' s' 1 ' ( i V- I I f " ' ' fori jjafcrmui t r iiirliiffltmii J. I A-ft. ' ' ' ' p ) i ' -:c .. - . -i "ass - , ' : " -.... a Si.,-- - .-; '' , ' : Special the job projects. The job of Tribal Council is a serious job with a lot of hard work. I have a question to ask the people. If I were elected, would the people be suppor tive of my decisions? My thoughts are that the collec tive wisdom of the people is the key force that got us here. When our leaders and managers stopped listening to the people, we lost a lot as far as understanding where we are going as a tribal people and a tribal corporation. I really think we tribal members have missed the point this last decade: we have allowed the elected leaders' to make our decisions for us, for getting ourown responsibi lity to loudly assist them in making those decisions the best decisions. I feel the responsibility is shared by our leaders, managers and the tribal membership. I think the burden for deci sions especially major ones should be on the people, either by petition or by membersof Tribal Council passing on decisions to the people. I felt honored to be a small player in the past petition effort, this was our government at work. The people were being heard but I was disheartened to are some of my concerns that I want to help resolve and improve. Commuication with the people is very important. The people must know of all programs and decisions that affect them. A success ful control of events rest basically upon a firm know ledge of what is being sought. The people cannot react properly to anything vthaf triedo hot know about. They must know about our long and short range goals and objectives. We must look into, assess, our organizational plans. There is a limit to resources and expansion. What is our limit? We must have some idea, and plan properly since our enterprises are not earning what we had hoped they would earn. The Plans of Operation for our enterprises should be available to tribal mem bers. They would help to understand how the enter prises are to operate. The Plans of Operations are provided for in Amendment 1 1 1 to our corporate charter. Manyof ourtribal members do not have the complete list of amendments to our Constitution, By-Laws and and Corporate Charter. The employment policy should be definitely under stood by all the people, and should be properly sup ported by Tribal manage ment on all levels. Promotions within the orga nization should be competi To Tribal Members: First, I want folks to know what is written here comes from a sincere person. I do not believe in speaking or writing useless words, nor making promises which can't be kept, for the sake of getting votes. In a way, it is sad that our reservation has districts, because this seems to divide up our three tribes. Although I am a candidate from the Agency District, if elected to serve on Council it is my belief that any decision I make or any vote I cast will go for the betterment of all three confederated tribes. Having served on the go verning body for three terms previously, I feel that I have gained valuable experience and insight into deciding what is best for the tribes Tribal Council Candidates' hear people putting down this effort. We have been so spoiled in letting others make our decisions for us. First the Bureau of Indian Affairs and now our very own corporation, the Tribes. The Warm Springs Tribes have to wake up to the reality that the world is changing, our natural re sources are changing, our human resource isgrowing at a great rate and that if we do not help ourselves to a better future no one is going to come to our rescue. We are blessed with a great physical resource our re servation land and as a human resource we must to grow into a more respon sible phase that deals with the future generations in stead of taking all we can get today. No matter what happens in these next few months I will have few regrets, but please be forewarned that I could possibly drop out of the race for personal reasons and might do so to support new tribal council candidates in order to dis place the old ones. We as a people cannot continue the direction that says money, mills, resorts and public image are more important than ourown Indian people. tive and not on a political basis. I have spoke on this issue many times. Obtaining skills, training, education and experience is no value -in our organization if the promotions are made politi cally. This affects the atti tudes morale of everyone including our young stu dents. What is Conflict of Interest? The people need to understand what1 it is and how it affects our tribal organization. I believe we need to talk about our "Con flict of Interest," as well as other problems openly, and arrive at some objective and positive solution for the welfare of our tribal organization. We must abide by our Treaty, constitution and by-laws, corporate charter and all other appropriate related documents, such as, Ordinances and Resolutions and taking pro per responsible action through well documented and recorded procedures. Among other things, we must protect our natural resources at all times by responsible action. Example, if our water rights are affected, then properaction should be recorded by at least a resolution and not just by a motion. No one appears to keep track of motions. The constitution states that important items should be acted upon by resolution. in both internal and external matters. I believe in the three tribes working toget her cooperatively toward common goals to the best interest of all of us. I feel that in the employ ment area, more tribal mem bers should be hired. They need to be given the chance to prove they are capable of holding a job and per forming equal to or better, than non-members. This is taking into consideration all enterprises as well as tribal administration. I have faith in ourtribal members and there is no reason why they should have to take a back seat to anyone on their own reservation. Having and holding a job is good for self-esteem and helps to make people more independent personally; and i imp ii ifwuprwpyiiww k- J w . : v ' WW I Claude Smith, Sr. DeaY Voters, My name is Claude Smith, Sr. I have been nominated to serve on the Tribal Alvis Smith, Sr. My dear tribal members, If I am elected to Council my very first concern here on the Warm Springs Reservation will be with the tribal members and the concerns that they have voiced, like employment, housing and education. I think that first we need to make some important changes to preserve our tribal money. I will make sure that each and everyone of you will be notified and made aware of just what will take place within ourtribal government and business from nowon. In that way you will all have some input into the business and you will be .able to help decide just how you want your tribal money spent. I can see parts of the tribal government that can use some improvement. But less dependent upon the tribes' community service programs. Although we have a housing program, there are still many tribal members who need places to live. We still have two and three families living in one house hold; we still have members living off-reservation be cause of the housing shor tage on the reservation. Why should they have to live like this, when they have a reservation which is capable of providing housing? We have employ ment for them here to enable them to rent; or buy homes through our credit program. I would also like to see the tribes purchase the HUD houses we have here. These could be made available to tribal members to either purchase or rent, preferably V ,.f- 4 rV a ' Jr ! :. -V' L- Insert Council from the Agency District for the people of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. I am Wasco Indian and lifetime resident of our re servation, except for my absence during World War II (1942-1945), when I served in the U.S. Army for 42 months in the South Pacific. Afterthe War, I came home and married the best woman I know, Victoria Charley. Together we raised seven children and we have 12 grandchildren, I worked 38 years for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Roads Department (records from my Government Service are open to any body). I retired in 1981, and in 1982, was appointed as Chief Appellate Judge and member of the Fish and Wildlife Committee. My retirement has allowed me to spend time working for my people. I have come to know the policies, laws, Ithinkthatfirstthere needs to be some changes made in different departments and the working force. Every enterprise needs to be checked out, like the timber mill, woods and hauling crews, Kah-Nee-Ta, the court systems, the police department, the admi nistration and the other departments. What is going on with our attorneys, con sultants and there are many other areas of unfinished business we need to con clude. Thisshouldbedone for the best interest of the tribal members. We need to make these areas more effective. I think that we as a people need to come up with new ideas that will be more bene ficial to the tribal members and the tribes. I believe in Indian tradi tion and this is why I've respected our elders, for to them is entrusted the truth of ages. After all, their wisdom has provided the Indian tradition. Hence we should practice the pre servation of our Native American culture. I believe in rodeos and powwows because that it isour Indian wayof having fun, in a way it builds a better life for the Indians in the modern world of today. At the same time we preserve our rich culture and heritage with a bit of physical and spiritual beauty- We must be patient and careful in making business and decisions concerning our resources and people here. This is big business and it concerns all of us as we are a part of our tribal government. Tribal Council purchase. The reason is that it is better to put money into something that you will eventually own; it will not be money going out one way, as in renting. We have many tribal mem bers who have the financial resources to build homes, but lack land on which to build. These hopeful home owners go out on the reser vation and pick a potential site on which to build, only to be told by committees and Council they can't build there becauseof zoning or other reasons. They are not told where they can build, only where they can not build. There is a lot of land in reservation country which is unused. This is an area which needs to be addressed immediately in favor of our awaiting builders. Page 3 and the Constitution and By-Laws of the Confede rated Tribes. My experience working with attorneys on Tribal matters and working with attorneys in Court and considering my available time has prepared me to serve on the Tribal Council. I am especially concerned about our children. As an Indian person, you must know where you comefrom. These are crucial times eco nomically for our people. Now is a time when we must know who we are and use our experience and knowledge to guide our Tribe through these political issues being dealt with concerning our reser vation. We need trust and honesty in our Tribal government. Please consider all of the facts when you cast your ballot for the person you want to serve on Coun cil and represent our peo ple. should be working for the tribal members. In order to be a good councilman, one must dis play the qualities of a good leader. They must prove their worthiness to the peo ple. One has to be recog nized and given a chance to prove himself to be bene ficial to thepeople. I believe in giving a person a chance. A good leader should not have a bad attitude and don't under estimate too many of the Indian people and do not denounce them. Just remember, we are all Native American Indians. We must see ourselves as a part of Mother Earth and not as an outsider who tries to impose theirselves on others. I would like to walk with confidence in knowing that I am a capable person to represent my Indian people from Warm Springs. Remember to vote for the person who you think will do the best for all of the tribal members. Also remember that leadership thrives on trust and mutual respect and consideration for everyone. Lets take a good look at ourselves and strive to work as a unit that gives us more power to do what needs to be done. Let's pray for strength to understand each other and our reason for being Indian. In spite of all our problems lets feel free in our hearts to keep our hopes up for the betterment of our Indian tribes at Warm Springs. Lets hold our heads up high and rely on each other for knowledge, wisdom and guidance and our spirits will prevail. I have some strong feelings about our forests. It is pretty common know ledgeamong ourtribal mem bers that our forest resource is dwindling. At one time years ago we had a thriving tree farm, but that is be coming depleted due to overlogging. It makes no sense to spend $1 .5 million on a logging operation when we should be decreasing the annual allowable cut instead. Although I am not a college educated person, my common sense tells me that we need to take steps to preserve one of our most important natural resources. We need to do some long-range planning in the forestry area; after all, we do have to think about the well-being of f u- Continued on page 4 i 1