Spilyay Tymoo
Warm Springs, Oregon
November 6, 1997 9
Joint committee meeting nets dreams, concerns for future of Confederated Tribes
Comprehensvie Plan Community Input
The Comprensive Planning Teams have been meeting
with community members during the month of October
and November. The Joint Committee gave their input for
the Governmental Affairs Team. Following is their input
for the Comprehensive Plan.
Tribal Government Vision & Goals input on
Comprehensive Plan
Sovereignty & Treaty Rights:
Prouds:
Pelton Dam Water Rights
Declaration of sovereignty written
Fishing Agreement with State
Using our Ceded land
U.S vs Oregon administered (State recognizing their
Trust Responsibility)
Sorries:
Agreeing to build Bonneville Dam
Polarization of people (districts created)
Other Tribes using our usual and accustomed places
Not communicating to young people. Not take it for
granted.
Need to add hunting to agreement
Courts bringing in outside people for collections
Documentation funds from Tribe not being used
Biggest Fears:
Pelton Dam could hurt Tribe's water rights
638 contracting is a step toward termination
Sovereignty diluted by congressional action case by
case could eventually loose everything
Do we know what sovereignty is? Can we exert it? Do we
know our sovereign boundaries?
Other tribes using 1865 Treaty, not recognizing 1855
Treaty.
Our blood lines are becoming so thin what will happen
in future
Desired Future:
Use the 10 million ceded acres used for all treaty rights
berry picking, root digging, hunting, fishing, water
rights.
Other tribes recognize W.S. sovereignty not using
federal government definitions.
Handle all tribal members cases in Tribal Court (not in
State, city, county),
Federal magistrate - overturn A-l Decision
Vision:
The people (ie. W.S.Simnasho) all working together, for
children to have a better life - like the old people did. (ie.
people from Seekseequa all coming together to work,
have a meal).
Viable economics & jobs for people (not relying on
government).
Everyone supporting themselves doing work that they
enjoy
How Do We Get There:
Need Bruce Babbit to sign tribal restoration plan
Get federal government understand historical agreements
(ie. Bonneville Dam)
Need to understand and uphold process
PLANNING PROCESS & ORGANIZATION
Prouds:
Helping the organization with opportunities to work
together (Committees, Branches, Community, etc.)
Sorries:
Turfism still here, little follow-up to make sure we're
working together, still competing for budgetslittle
assistance given to one another, coordination &
communication problems still persist.
Fears:
Planning Process isn't followed through - we don't stay
on course, termination, bankruptcy, continued in-fighting
(districts, government, etc.)
Lack of self-determination
More non-tribal members running government
Youth not involved
Desired Future & Vision:
Good communication throughout organization & with
community , responsive government with effective
leadership, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
working together & in harmony, no discrimination,
traditional & progressive values respecteddifferences
respected
No in-fighting
INTERGOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND
COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION:
Prouds:
Water negotiations, Gaming Compact, KWSO Radio
Station, Printing resolutions in paper.
Sorries: 509-J school district relationship,
Rose Garden large amount of money not brought before
the people.
Location of Casino
BIA downsized, but still hired non-Indians
No inter-organization communication
Lack of coordinationcommunication between dept. &
committees
Tribal Council less travel
Fears: .
Treaty tribes vs non-treaty tribe agreements with state
and federal agencies
No money for budget
Future:
Educated Professional tribal members
Alcohol substance free tribal members
Housing for tribal members families
More & constructed recreation
Expand KWSO for community satellite use
More reports from Tribal Council
Strengths:
Good leadership
Long-range planning
Development and growth of the organization
Desired Future:
A college and voccational tech school for professional,
technically educated tribal members.
Well planned budget and tribal monetary planning for
the future.
How Do We Get There?
Tribal member management with more involvement with
community and organization
Our own alcohol and substance abuse treatment facilities
ENROLLMENT & RECORDS:
Prouds:
Started on imaging system (to computerize tribal
records)
Sorries: Adoptions should be abolished.
Too vague enrollment requirements
Limit committee minutes
Records Dept. not stationary in one department
Fears: Loss of blood quantum
Loss of major documents
Future: Stricter & more constructive requirements
Make Records Dept. a stand alone department
Desired Future:
A school the reservation; trade school, reduction
unemployment and welfare numbers; leadership by
example, more private business and economic
development, hospital
How Do We Get There?
Follow plans, not let them set on a shelf
Input from the Committees will be added to that of other
community members for developing the Tribes 20 year plan. If
you or your family would like to give your input to any of the
following teams you can contact the team leader or Planning
Department (553-3290):
Economic DevelopmentFinance Team, Sal Sahme, Education
Human Resources, Julie Quaid, Governmental AffiarsBIA
ASC, Ginger Smith, Human Services, Willy Funetes orMarita
Jones, Natural ResourcesBIA, Deepak Sehgal, Public Safety,
Dan Martinez or Anita Jackson, Public UtilitiesHousing,
Nancy Collins; Tribal Court, Wilma Picard.
Across the Wire
ldaho:Gaming arguments "largely academic"
BOISE, Idaho (AP) As he awaited for
mal reports from his Gaming Study Com
mittee, Gov. Phil Batt conceded that argu
ments about tribal-run gambling on Idaho
Indian reservations are "largely academic."
Batt said voters forfeited the ability to do
much about Indian gambling when they ap
proved an amendment to the Idaho Constitu
tion in 1988 allowing establishment of a state
lottery.
"No state, as far as I can tell, has been
really successful in shutting down tribal op
erations after they have a lottery," the gov
ernor said Monday.
That conclusion was in line with the
findings of his Gaming Study Committee,
which last month narrowly recommended
maintaining the status quo both on and off
Idaho's Indian reservations.
The 7-5 vote endorsed a statement aimed
at validating current tribal casino operations
while assuring there is no major expansion in
the future. Excluded from the statement is an
endorsement of the Internet lottery site the
Coeur d' Alene tribe has been test marketing.
The statement calls for gamblng compacts
with the tribes to be amended to reflect the
extent of electronic gambling already on the
reservations, and to allow for expansion only
as a reflection of tribal financial requirements.
the market being served and the impact on
local services.
The governor said changes in state law
may be required.
"Wherever these negotiations lead, the
results should require ratification by the
Legislature," he said. "Thousands of Idaho
ans are going to be unhappy with the resolution
of his no-win matter. Their voices should be
heard through their legislators."
Batt told the panel he appointed last spring
toassess all gambling in Idaho. But the sharply
divided committee's real purpose was to find
a way to end the debate over tribal expansion
into electronic pull-tab and so-called video
lottery machines that the governor has claimed
were illegal under state law.
On Monday Batt still decried the "mania
for gambling" across the nation. He specifi
cally targeted Idaho Tribal Gaming's adver
tising campaign with the slogan "Everybody
Wins," calling it "1 80 degrees from accurate."
But the governor also acknowledged the
economic benefits Idaho's tribes have realized
from reservation gambling, including lower
unemployment rates and improved educa
tional opportunities.
He said the committee's split on the issue
reflected the ambivalence of Idaho residents
about gambling.
Indian leader contends
government not living up
to education trust duty
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) The federal
government isn't meeting its legal responsi
bility to provide education to American In
dian children, an Indian leader says.
"Education is a trust duty," said Ernie
Stevens, vice president of the National Con
gress of American Indians. "It cannot be
ignored. So far, the quality of education we
have received is poor and must change."
Stevens, a member of Wisconsin's Oneida
Tribe, was a keynote speaker Monday at the
National Indian Education Association Con
vention. The annual gathering has attracted
about 4,000 delegates to Tacoma from Indian
Ancient Nisqually legend topic of children's book
tribes across the country.
Indian tribes ceded their lands to the gov
ernment in exchange for ongoing support,
Stevens said. It's the government's responsi
bility, he said, to continue making payments
for those lands.
"Maybe we should start repossessing
lands," Stevens suggested. "Maybe we should
be like car dealers when people can't make
their car payments."
According to National Indian Education
Association figures, Indian youngsters have
the highest dropout rate, highest suicide rate,
lowest test scores and lowest college atten
dance of any minority group.
Stevens said in the past two sessions of
Congress, lawmakers have passed off re
sponsibility for Indian tribes by sending block
grants to individual states.
Tribes must work together to head off
cutbacks in federal funds and social-welfare
programs, Stevens said.
County could halt Muckleshoot amphitheater
IAIA student files suit against principal, board
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) An Institute of
American Indian Arts student who lives part
time in Juneau has filed suit alleging IAIA
President Beatrice Rivas Sanchez and several
board members violated his civil rights by
changing curriculum and firing Indian
teachers.
In the lawsuit filed here Friday, Timothy
William Hiser, 36, accuses Sanchez and board
members of subjecting him to cruel and un
usual punishment and acting in a racially
discriminatory manner when they persuaded
hi m to attend the two-year arts college without
informing him of the changes.
Hiser, a Chippewa-Cree from Box Elder,
Mont., and Juneau claims the defendants
violated his rights under the First, Fifth, Eighth
and 14th amendments of the Constitution.
He had applied to IAIA in July 1996 and
was accepted for fall 1997.
"The defendants have failed to follow the
mission statement of the college, thereby
creating an issue of fraud, racial discrimina
tion, breach of contract and cultural geno
cide," wrote Hiser, acting as his own attor
ney. Hiser said he also had been accepted by
Marlboro College in Vermont but was urged
by an admissions officer to attend IAIA be
cause of its strong cultural studies program.
Hiser said he passed up the Marlboro
College opportunity, accepting admission to
IAIA, only to learn upon arrival in Santa Fe
that cuts in curriculum and faculty had been
made.
He asked the court to:
Award him $500,000 from each de
fendant for punitive and exemplary damages.
Issue a preliminary injunction to keep
the defendants from terminating any re
maining IAIA faculty who will be witnesses
in the case.
Order the defendants to undergo psy
chological evaluations "to see if they are fit
for duty in the Native American education
arena."
Order the defendants reinstate all
American Indian faculty terminated in 1996.
Order the defendants to write an apology
to Hiser and all past and present IAIA students
for racial discrimination and release a copy
of the apology to all statewide newspapers
and to News From Indian Country.
Order the defendants to memorize and
recite the U.S. Constitution in court and in
struct the defendants to each write a 75,000
word essay explaining what the protections
of the Constitution are, what they are going to
do in the future to make sure they uphold it in
their individual and official capacities.
Appoint him legal counsel and award
attorney's fees and costs.
Besides Sanchez, defendants include
board members Robert H. Ames, Gail Bird,
Kenneth Blankenship, Barbara Davis Blum,
Loren Kieve, Duane H King, A. David Lester,
James D. Santini and Thomas A. Thompson.
The defendants either could not be reached
for comment Friday or declined to comment.
SEATTLE (AP) The fate of a 20,000
seat concert amphitheater the Muckleshoot
Indians are building near Auburn could wind
up in court unless King County can resolve
its differences with the tribe.
Several County Council Republicans on
Monday called for zoning restrictions that
could halt the project. If the full council
passes an emergency ordinance applying rural
zoning to parts of the Muckleshoot Reser
vation, the tribe is expected to file a lawsuit
in federal court.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that
counties may impose taxes and land-use
regulations on certain lands within a reser
vation under certain circumstances. But King
County would be moving into largely un
charted legal territory.
County Executive Ron Sims notified the
Muckleshoots last week that King County
believes it has the authority to tax and regu
late reservation property thit is privately
owned, whether by tribal members, non
members or the tribe itself. B ut he said county
and tribal officials should negotiate their
differences.
Councilman Kent Pullen went one step
further Monday when he introduced an or
dinance to impose county rural zoning for
one year on all privately owned land within
the reservation.
His proposal would exempt property held
by the federal government in trust for the
tribe. State and local governments have no
authority over trust lands.
John Halliday, the Muckleshoots' eco
nomic development director, said if the pro
posal passes, the tribe will sue.
"How does (the county) enforce things
against a government that has sovereign im
munity, that is in its own territory that is
granted by treaty with the United States
government?" Halliday asked.
Pullen's proposal would create a one
year moratorium, during which the county
could try to conduct environmental reviews
of the project.
"We may conclude that it shouldn't be
built at all or we may conclude something
else, but it shouldn't go ahead at this time
completely incompatible with the surround
ing uses with no underlying zoning," Pullen
said.
His plan was endorsed by a busload of 34
amphitheater opponents who came from the
Enumclaw plateau to Monday's council
meeting.
"If the laws are followed as they are on
the books, I think there may be a very good
chance of stopping it," said retiree Dennis
Swanson.
Pullen said he believes a majority on the
13-member council favors his plan.
But Sims' aides said Pullen's proposal
goes too far.
"What we want to do is work with them
cooperatively," deputy chief of staff Kurt
Triplett said. "This is pretty immediate and
punitive."
In the end, the council delayed making a
decision on the issue until next Monday.
The amphitheater is scheduled to open
next spring and stage 30-40 evening events
year. It's a joint venture of the tribe and San
Francisco concert promoters Bill Graham
Presents.
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) Man needn't
have money, cars and stock options to be
greedy.
It's been with us since time began. Yakima
author Nancy Luenn makes that patently clear
in her colorful new children's book, "The
Miser on the Mountain: A Nisqually Legend
of Mount Rainier."
Luenn, 42, retells the legend with the help
of illustrator Pierr Morgan, whose paintings
are so beautiful you may want to rip them out
and frame them to hang above your sofa. But
that would be selfish, and that's not what this
story's about.
"The Miser on the Mountain" features a
man's desires overtaking his duties as a
husband, father and tribal member. Latsut,
which means the one with clenched hands, is
too cheap to host feasts or give his wife shells
for a necklace. All he wants is "hiqua," barter
shells. And his ceaseless quest for the trea
sured shells eventually takes him away from
his family and sends him up the slopes of
Mount Rainier, where he finds a summit
lake, human-sized otters and a bountiful cache
of shells.
Latsut takes as many shells as his arms
can carry. But he offends the spirits by not
bringing an offering. They make his trip
home miserable by pelting him with winds
and snows.
But all ends well. Latsut survives, learns
from his selfish ways and returns a changed
man.
"I think it symbolizes change," Luenn
said. "I think kids will like the adventure and
they'll get the point and understand that he's
breaking the rules."
The story was first told to Theodore
Winthrop in 1853 on his travels through the
Pacific Northwest. And in this retelling,
Luenn conveys Nisqually beliefs and images.
She explains that the snowfields and glaciers
on the mountain aie home to spirits and she
uses Nisqually terminology throughout.
The book, recommended for children
between the ages of 4 and 8, is Luenn's 12th.
She came upon the idea for "The Miser on the
Mountain" years ago when reading a news
paper article about Indian legends. Since then,
she thought it would make a good children's
book.
"I was intrigued by this idea of a lake on
the summit with otters in it," she said. "I'm
very fond of mountains and otters. There's
several Nisqually legends about a lake on top
of Mount Rainier."
She's been attracted to Mount Rainier,
the highest peak in Washington, since com
ing to the state decades ago as a college
student in Olympia.
"When you come into downtown Olym
pia there's an incredible view of Mount
Rainier," she said. "It's the most important
symbol of Washington."
She even tried to climb it once but made
it only half way before a storm forced her
down.
Luenn was contacted by Sasquatch Press,
a Seattle-based publishing house, about
writing a Northwest-centered children ' s story .
The editors liked "The Miser on the Moun
tain" idea and linked her with Morgan. Luenn
and Morgan exchanged ideas over the course
of a year before finally producing the final
product, which was released last month.
Luenn also worked with the Nisqually
Indian Tribe to ensure their approval.
"Sometimes a story belongs to a family or
an individual and that's something I wanted
to ask about," she said. "The people at the
tribe were receptive."
A portion of the royalties from the sale of
the book will be donated to the Weusso
Nisqually Tribal Library to purchase books
and fund story-telling programs.
Grace Byrd, a library technician with the
Nisqually Indian Tribe, said Luenn showed
consideration in asking the tribe to preview
the book before it was in final print.
"She wanted to make sure it was accurate,"
she said in a telephone interview. "She also
did a lot of research."
Luenn, who teaches adult English-as-a-Second-Language
classes in Grandview,
moved to Yakima from Olympia a few years
ago. She's been writing children's books for
1 5 years, ranging from picture books to young
adult novels. Generally, her stories deal in
mythology from other cultures, fantasy or
ecology.
In 1996, she released the book, "Squish!
A Wetland Walk," an illustrated story of a
child's exuberant exploration of wetlands.
The book, which received the 1995
Governor's Writers Award, was inspired by
a proposed housing development that
threatened a wetland. The book colorfully
describes the importance of wetlands to
ecosystems. And the city of Olympia even
tually purchased the wetland to preserve it as
park.
She's currently working on a book that
will be released by Atheneum and illustrated
by Anna Vojtech about a boy and his family
on a fishing trip on a river and the otters they
encounter.
i