Tribal Council Message-
Tribal Council, in 1997,
completed several projects
that are very important for
the future of the Tribe, while
continuing to work on other
important matters. The most
significant event for the
Council this past year was the
completion and signing of the
Water Settlement Agreement
between the Tribe, the United
States and the State of
Oregon. The Tribe began this
effort in the early 1980s and it
has taken a long time and
much hard work by all the
parties to bring it to a
successful conclusion. The
Council signed the agreement
because we are convinced
that the unique circumstances
of the Warm Springs
Reservation and the
Deschutes River Basin call for
a unique water settlement
agreement. The agreement is
unlike any other water
settlement in the country in
that it emphasizes the
importance of keeping water
in the streams for fisheries,
cultural purposes and other
uses important to the Tribe.
The agreement gives us
security in that it will provide
water for our people and for
our reservation and its
resources for as long into the
future as we can see. Because
of the expense and
uncertainty of litigating our
water rights, especially with
the U.S. Supreme Court
taking an increasingly
uncertain view of Indian
rights, the Tribal Council
believes the Water Settlement
Agreement secures our future
in an uncertain and changing
political and legal
environment.
Nineteen-ninetyseven also
saw the Tribal Council
continue its activity in the
legislative arena where we
worked hard to build strong
relationships with the two
new senators representing
Oregon in the United States
Senate as well as the other
members of our
Congressional delegation in
Washington, D.C. Working
together with other tribes
From the Chairman
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Joe Moses
Tribal Council Chairman
Dear Tribal Members,
As Chairman of the Tribal
Council, I want to take this
time to look back on the
accomplishments of the tribal
organization in 1997 and to
thank the membership for
your continuing support for
the direction and efforts of
the Tribal Council. Nineteen
ninety seven saw the Tribal
Council complete one very
important undertaking, the
Water Settlement Agreement,
and begin another equally
important effort, the
relicensing proceeding
involving the Pelton-Round
Butte hydroelectric project.
The Water Settlement
Agreement is something that
this Council and previous
Tribal Councils have worked
on since the early 1980s. By
bringing this matter to
conclusion, we believe that
we have secured the future of
our people and our resources
for many years to come from
the standpoint of insuring
that the lifeblood of our way
of life our water will
always be with us. The
relicensing effort is different
but, in many ways, just as
important as the water
settlement agreement. The
Tribal Council is convinced
that in order to ensure the
economic future of the Tribe
and its members for
generations to come, it is
essential that the Tribe obtain
ownership and operational
control of the Felton and
Round Butte dam project. In
order to obtain the license, we
must compete with Enron
PGE, one of the world's
largest and most powerful
utility companies based in
Houston, Texas, in an effort
that will take several years to
run its course. However, if
we are successful in this
effort, which we believe we
will, the investment in the
future of the Tribe will have
been well worth the effort.
The Tribal Council was
also very busy in 1997
working with other tribes to .
defeat threatening new anti-
Indian legislation proposed in
the united btates Congress.
These legislative proposals,
which would have stripped
the Tribe of its sovereign
immunity, imposed federal
taxes on all tribal government
income, and prevented the
Secretary of Interior from
taking land into trust for the
Tribe, were beaten back only
with the combined efforts of
Warm Springs and other
tribes across the country
working together to educate
the United States Congress
about the unfairness and
illegality of these proposed
bills. Unfortunately, our
opponents in Congress are
still there and we expect them
to renew their anti-Indian
legislative proposals in 1998
and beyond. We will have to
work even harder in the
future to preserve what we
have.
In summary, it has been a
very busy year, but a
gratifying one. As Chairman
of your Tribal Council, it has
been my pleasure to serve
with a very dedicated group
of men and women who
make up the 20th Tribal
Council of the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon. The
Tribal Council has worked
extremely hard and tried its
very best to protect the
sovereign rights and
resources of our tribe while
building a future for our
community that will ensure
that the generations to come
will always have a tribal
homeland to call their own.
Sincerely,
JOE MOSES,
Chairman
Warm Springs Tribal Council
across the country, we were
successful in appealing to
Senator Wyden and Senator
Smith to help defeat
Washington Senator Slade
Gorton's attempts to
legislatively abolish tribal
sovereign immunity through
a rider on the Interior
appropriations bill. We also
were successful in our efforts
to defeat Congressional
attempts to tax tribal
government income and to
block the Secretary of Interior
from taking land into trust
for tribes. While these were
significant victories in 1997,
we are certain that Senator
Gorton and other opponents
of tribal rights in Congress
will renew their efforts to
legislatively attack our
sovereign authority. We will
have to work as hard or
harder in 1998 as we did in
1997 to preserve what we
have.
An extremely important
project that began in ernest in
1997 and will continue for
several years into the future
is the decision by the Tribal
Council to seek the license
for operation of the Pelton
Round Butte hydroelectric
project on the Deschutes
River. The current license
holder for those projects,
Enron-Portland General
Electric Company, will fight
very hard to keep from
losing its license when the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission decides in 2001
who will get the license to "
operate these projects for the
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Tribal Council members were sworn in during ceremonies in early May 1995. The 20th Tribal Council
has provided leadership and foresight for issues faced by the Tribe today.
next 50 years. The Tribal
Council is convinced that the
economic future of the Tribe
is best served by seeking and
obtaining the license to
operate these projects. This
will be a difficult undertaking
and we know that Enron-PGE
will fight us every step of the
way. The Council believes the
relationships it is establishing
with Oregon's Congressional
delegation will help to ensure
that our application for this
license is contested on even
terms with the application of
Enron-PGE.
In 1997 the Tribal Council
also worked closely with the
tribal enterprises to help
ensure that these enterprises
are operated successfully
both to generate income for
our tribal governmental
operations and to provide
employment to tribal
members and their families
on the reservation. We
believe that the tribal
enterprises have shown
continuing improvement in
reaching both of these goals.
In particular, the DE project
shows tremendous potential
for future development based
on new technology and new
products using diatomaceous
earth. Indian Head Casino
also has shown tremendous
improvement in its
profitability, and
demonstrated that success by
repaying a portion of the loan
it received from the Tribe to
build the casino. We expect
the future of Indian Head
Casino to be very bright and
we will continue to work
with the casino to plan for its
future and include those
plans in our negotiations with
the State of Oregon for
extension of our gaming
compact. Kah-Nee-Ta Resort
also began to rebound in 1997
from the devastating floods
of February, 1996, that almost
completely destroyed the
Village complex. The pool
and other portions of the
rebuilt Village were reopened
in 1997 and we expect a new
and much improved Kah-Nee-Ta
Village to be fully
operational for the tourist
season in 1998.
SecretaryTreasurer and COO message-
Ray Calica
Dear Tribal Members,
Three years ago, when we
were appointed Secretary
Treasurer and Chief
Operations Officer, we had
some specific goals in mind.
We wanted the Organization
to be responsive and
accountable to the people.
We believe there have been
definite accomplishments in
these areas.
In 1997 the "line item
budgeting" policy was
initiated. This was needed to
make general managers and
directors aware of where
they were spending tribal
SecretaryATreasurer
money, and in the process making them accountable, as they
should be. In 1997 more than 700 budget modifications were
processed by Finance.
We have tried to demonstrate the importance of the
community and the need to provide the quality and quantity
of service that our tribal members are expecting and deserve.
Our concern has been that our people be given the
opportunity to succeed. We say we want to be the healthiest
Indian community by the year 2,000. What does that really
mean? Our people need to be healthy in mind, body, and soul.
They need to be self confidant, providing for their families.
This comes through employment, housing, and education. The
Organization must assist and support in these opportunities to
the people.
In 1997, Norma Smith became the Chief Financial Officer.
Norma is a tribal member who has spent most of her life
working for the Tribe. It is important for our people to
succeed, and Norma Smith demonstrates that dedication, hard
work, and education brings success. Congratulations to
Norma; she earned her opportunity to be CFO.
The Internal AuditCompliance function was moved out
from the Finance Branch in 1997. This was done to place more
emphasis on being accountable, and was an extension of the
"line Item Budgeting" policy. This has made a big difference
but it is nothing we invented. We just moved it out from
under the Finance Branch, directly under the Secretary
Treasurer to further assure accountability.
Nineteen-ninety-seven was a year when our water
negotiations were completed with the State and Federal
Governments. We signed the agreement in October. It was
also the year when we began working on our relicensing of
the Pelton and Round Butte projects in earnest. We are
competing against one of the world's largest corporations in
Enron, headquartered in Texas. Unlike Enron, this is our
homeland where our parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents
grew up. We care about the land and the people, and we feel
we will do a better job than a company based 1,500-2,000
miles away.
The Tribe's Managed Care Program made a decision to no
longer use Mountain View Hospital in Madras in 1997. The
decision came after two-and-one-half years of negotiations
failed in regards to Mountain View Hospital's billing
practices. Mountain View Hospital is currently being audited
by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. Meanwhile, our people are being treated
very well at Central Oregon District Hospital in Redmond and
Saint Charles Medical Center in Bend. Hopefully in the very
near future we can re-new our relationship with Mountain
View Hospital.
Most of the 1996 Flood damage has been repaired at Kah-Nee-Ta.
This has been a major project that cost the Tribe a lot
of money in repairs and new construction and lost revenue
the time the tww
construction has taken place.
We are thankful that there
were other agencies available
to help take some of the
financial burden. The flood
generated 53 FEMA Damage
Survey Reports reservation
wide.
Everyone is aware we
reduced our annual timber
harvest the past few years.
Timber has always been our
largest revenue producer.
With the decrease in the
timber harvest we need to get
better at finding ways to
generate new revenues. In an
effort to provide jobs and
income, we built Indian Head Casino and started Warm
Springs Composite Products. After a rocky start, Indian Head
Casino appears to be doing well. Net income in 1997 exceeded
$2 million. Warm Springs Composite Products also had early
challenges, but has the potential to provide significant income.
However, with our growing population we must find viable
enterprises that allow our forest to regenerate.
Because of shrinking revenues, our tribal budget has been
reduced the last couple of years. This has forced us to ask the
Organization to do more with less. Most of the general
managers and directors have risen to the occasion. We thank
those who have.
Sincerely tubmitted,
' J Nr. ' ' J
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Mike Clements
Chief Operations Officer
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