I
Member shares
To the editor,
My dear people, I have had some
concerns regarding several issues and
business activities by our tribe.
First, I, and many of our people,
did not agree with the suspensions of
the 3 tribal member general manag
ers that occurred several months ago.
Not only was this unfair to these
men, but I felt it was done in a hu
miliating manner. How could any
supervisor take this type of action.
The public safety referendum was
never formally and legally resolved.
The actions were devastating to this
tribe and alienated our people from
their tribal leaders.
I also understand, that these 3
general managers tried to go to meet
with council and the council mem
bers that were present, walked out on
them. Now if it were a woman, you
would all race to the Kleenex to see
who could draw the first tear. These
men had their employee rights vio
lated and no one wants to listen.
When you need their votes, all you
councilman will remember that these
men and their families are good
people and are good employees. Plus,
I have only seen 2 of these general
managers have been put back to work,
what happened to the third?
Second, why hasn't our tribe done
right by giving the victims of those
who lost their lives due to employee
errors, a fair and speedy monetary
Tribal member
To the editor,
In Utmost Good Faith. How about
unul the rivers run dry? Do these words
sound familar? Reserved for the Indians'
exclusive use? For the protection of the
Indians, so the whites cannot intrude upon
the Indians' land and the Indians can live
in peace. How about the "full citizenship"
in 1924 in their own country? Women
were given the right to vote in 1 920, before
the Indians were allowed citizenship in
their own native land America. The Land
of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
Land of Opportunity. Free enterprise.
Sweet Land of Liberty. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring. One na
tion under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Crown thy good with
brotherhoodfovm sea to shining sea. Very
admirable and eloquent words.
Where did the U.S. Constitution get its
roots? It began in the Iroquois Indian
Nation in the east and was based on the
principles that Indians lived by before
Columbus bumped into "India" in 1492. It
may have been primitive, but all its guid
ing principles were included in the docu
ment. If you put the documents
side-by-side, the similarities are astound
ing. I want to make this "crystal clear", as
Nixon would say, that I am speaking as an
individual native American, not as a repre
sentative of my tribe, the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs.
I am involved in history and have
studied federal Indian policy extensively.
It seems the federal government makes
things look good on paper for the Indians,
but what they write and what they do are
two different things. Usually when you
put something into writing and sign it, that
means you will keep your words. Speak
ing of "original promises", where is the
farming equipment, provisions and supplies
promised in the treaty? Where are the
houses promised to be built for our chiefs?
Why didn't our chiefs receive the money
they were promised in the treaty? Sounds
Please return
camera
Lost camera on New Year' s eve at
the Community Center. It contains
pictures of my family that is very
sentimental to me. Please return, no
questions asked.
Call Monica Wahnetah at 553-
3243.
Tribal member
Over flowed with thoughts of how
the year 2000 can be for our people,
can be overwhelming with scenarios
of happiness and laughter or it can be
a magical twist of fate; In all reality,
we need to make good happen for
ourselves. And in order for us to do
that, we need to stand together and
strive for the same rights & fights.
Get involved, voice yourself! I know
that many hearts have been let down
in the past good 20 years because of
the never changing of how we do
business! It is about time that our
tribal organization took that leap of
updating our style of doing serious
business! We need Change and
Change is Always Good! How in the
heck do you think Microsoft got so
rich! Their Team did not argue, they
debated, they worked as a Team, not
for personal prosperity! In order for
us to take care of the next upcoming
7 generation, we need to get our
upcoming leaders in the door and let
our old management team take a se
rious look at how reality and busi
ness is taken care of out there! Cer
tainly it is very evident that we are
not getting any richer; and if they say
we are, then where is the much needed
youth center, new library, new school,
new and better living quarters, where
exactly is our bigger bonuses or per
capitas?!
, Questions such as, why does our
'construction alwayr happen in the
fallwinter time?! Business wise, it
concerns regarding several
settlement? We need to do right by
these people and their families. We
need to make this monetary settle
ment for our leaders failure to correct
our Public Safety problem prior to
these deaths. Do we have to make
these families suffer more, because
until this matter is closed in good
faith, their mourning will go on.
Third, who is going to be held
accountable for the poor investment
on the last casino venture? Who au
thorized who to throw away $500,000
of the Tribes money into the wind?
Boy, I bet our tribal attorney's re
ceived a good bonus this year-much
more than $500, like we received.
Not to mention the $194,000 spent
on land that will be used for a tribal
owned casino.
Fourth, why in God's name were
the husband and wife team put in
charge of these critical Branches.
The wife was responsible for pro
tecting those employees who abused
our children. Now, our tribe is facing
a pending law suit and our leaders
put her in charge. Then the husband,
who can't even get a few of his
employee's to work a full week and
be there when clients need them dur
ing a crisis, is in charge of another
critical branch.
Now, the Chief of Police is n issue
that needs discussion. I was hoping
this supervision and work behavior
speaks out on
kinda' like bribery, doesn't it. Our treaty
was negotiated in 1855, but was not rati
fied by Congress until 1859. Why? Evi
dently, the objective of the treaty was to s
get us removed from the Columbia River
ASAP, and worry about the legalities of
"formalities" later. Let's see, with the
treaty signed in 1855 and the State if Or
egon gaining its statehood in 1 859, there's
definitely something wrong with that pic
ture. I can't put my thumb on it, but maybe
it has to do with emigrants living for four
years on land not legally theirs.
There is one history book that states,
"The tribes fought desperately to keep their
land and way of life. After their defeat,
they were forced to live on reservations
throughout the West." Please be informed
that the Warm Springs Confederated Tribes
was not defeated. We negotiated a treaty,
with clear understandings and commit
ments. We expect the people within the
influence and legal impact of the 1855
Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon
to live up to their forefathers agreement.
The principles of discovery, plenary power,
and the idea of "an Indian's place is on the
reservation," are all in dire need of discus
sion and resolution. I suggest a serious
brushup on history. Also ha ve Mr. Webster
handy. There is much to be learned and
uncovered. There is not much out there in
resources on the way it really was from an
Indian's perspective. You've all seen
Cowboy and Indian movies on TV, read
history books written, some accurate but
most are not. Native American historians,
let's get busy and help set the records
straight.
This is concerning our tribe's attempt
to build a casino along the Columbia River,
our original homeland before we were
placed on the Warm Springs reservation.
Many people in general are ignorant about
how we came to be located where we are.
We gave up through cessation, 10 millions
acres of land of our original reservation, a
good portion of Oregon. Nation-wide, the
To: Marilyn Janice "Melon"
Meanus
Happy Birthday sister! 1-22-2000,
my memories make me smile. The
closeness of sisters is a joyful thing.
To share lives, to enjoy each other's
children, to know we are there for
each other. Whenever you need
me....I'm here! I love you sister!
Love & Prayers,
your sister-Annie
shares many
makes no sense at all; Shorter hours
of work but more days to complete
the project, higher prices for the
needed material, maybe even the
cold, rainy, snowy weather can have
some sort of faulty effect on the qual
ity of worth in the woodmaterial!
And another question, Housing-Why
cannot a single person share a two
bedroom with another single per
son?! They keep saying having that
kid is a must to qualify! Even if
single homesites with option to buy
would be great and of course, sweat
equity is always helpful ! How else
do you expect a person to get ahead
and strive for other goals?! Treating
your own tribal members with re
spect will have a domino effect on
their goal setting, striving to made a
better life, how they live, how they
teach the younger ones and how they
carry themselves!! Our leaders need
to take a look at all angles, before just
signing documents-Just because
some non-Indians tells them- it's a
good deal-doesn't make it 'OK' to
spend tribal money. It seems like
some sort of research or bettering
shopping for bidders would be imple
mented. Take a look at the old boys
& girls dorms, they have held up
after all these years (foundation wise). '
Even the old sidewalks built then are
still holding up, not like the cheap
material used for our parking lots,
sidewalks, roads and home's. Why-4-
not go back to cheap heat, radiator
Warm Springs, Oregon
would have changed since he was
been removed at least 2 times from
this position, but I guess I was only
dreaming. I do compliment the po
lice department for their hard work
on all the recent drug busts and I
hope they learned from the flub ups.
What is sad though, all these drug
dealers are back on the streets faster
than they are arrested.
That brings me to the Tribal Court.
I think we need to take a look at the
judges. The chief judge is the only
judge that adheres to accountability.
We have to stop the revolving door
in order to reduce the crime rate.
Sure we can blame only public safety,
however, tribal court accountability
plays a major role in repeat offend
ers. There would be fewer crime vic
tims if the court would do thcirjob on
keeping the offenders off the street. I
am not saying jail is the only answer,
but we have to consider that some
times it is. If jail means keeping one
less house getting broke into; one
less man, woman or child being
abused; one less drunk driver; one
less elder being abused; one less child
or adult being sold drugs, therefore,
being one less crime being commit-ted-forgive
me if I seem heartless,
but I believe all people need to be
held to a certain standard of personal
accountability-employees and crimi
nals. If the job isn't getting done,
gaming-
total ceded land given back by Indians to
the government was 10 times that amount.
That's a lot of land for tribes and especially
for one single tribe to fork over. We did
retain what we thought to be important to
us, which was fishing and hunting rights,
root digging and berry picking, in order to
support our tribe. In our treaty with the
federal government these are called "usual
and accustomed places." By being placed
on this reservation, we gave up partially
one of the natural foods that had sustained
our tribe along the Columbia River for
10,000 years salmon.
I have read over and over how the white
man wanted to "civilize" us. In the process,
they tried to christianize us "heathens."
They tried to convert us into their way of
life which included farming and other
"acceptable" occupations. To help get us
away from our "savage" way of life, they
tried to extinguish the very core of our
lives-family. They did this by putting us
into Indian boarding schools, would not
allow us to speak our native tongue, the
consequence being brutal physical punish
ment, cut off our braids and basically forced
us to live in a military type of en viornment,
dress alike, march to school, march to the
dining hall, march to church. Abusive
teachers and matrons, very little contact
with our families, forced to leave home
three-fourths of the year. Talk about cul
ture shock. But, did this kill our
"uncultivated" way of life? No, it did not.
We as a people, still exist and because of
the loss of some of our culture and lan
guages, have to work hard to revive this
valuable knowledge to pass on to our
younger generations. What I am wondering
is whose definition of "civilized" word is
correct and acceptable to whom. For 10,000
years we lived in peace along the great
river in an enviornment we knew, and
under standards we set for ourselves at that
time. After Lewis & Clark came along in
1805 under President Jefferson's orders,
the west was opened up and emigrants
To Janis "Tash" Wainanwit
Gunshows,
Happy Birthday sister! January
15, 2000. Many times shared, many
miles traveled. The support given
when needed, prayers said when
asked, are so greatly appreciated.
Thank you for knowing my heart and
' all that it contains, to know how to
pray for me and mine.
Your sister, Annie
concerns and
and brick walls? And with all the
grant monies out there, what hap
pened to the people they sent to the
Learning How to Write Grants class?!
Did it do any good or was that just
another way of trying to follow up on
some complaints heard at our coun
cil meetings? If you send our people
to collegetrainings, let them have
that Hands-on skill you paid for, oth
erwise it's more wasted money down
the drain.
And what' s up with Kah-Nee-Ta? !
I always hear the assistant to the
manager, voice, "We are here to make
money", What happened on New
Years Eve?! I heard that KNT didn't
make money but went in the hole! A
business person would have offered
a package to Tribal Members at a
, discount, I mean, we do own that
place don't well! And besides all
that, just showing your WS tribal ID
should give a tribal member a 20
discount in any of our enterprises! If
you will not give us bonuses orraises,
at lease give us some sort of privilege
for being a corporate owner. Even
the jobs at Kah-Nee-Ta still have
numerous non-Indians out there. And
just for our people's information, I
go there at least monthly artd some of
the workers cannot even speak En
glish. You know that we have tribal
members that speak English and
would gladly work out there if the
"KNT personnel' person would just
quit being so damned prejudice. And
issues
make the appropriate changes.
Next, Tribal Council ordered that
all public safety department budgets
were to be reinstated and reimbursed
the amounts that were cut. Well, there
were several departments who did
not get their money back, now it is
the line employee's who have to be
subjected to someone's personal
agenda and vindictiveness. Tribal
Council, will you honor your words
and give those departments their op
erating money back? I think you need
to take a look at all training and travel
for the public safety and the legal
services, to get an idea of who the
pets are and insure that all employees
are given equal opportunity to train
ing. I read somewhere there is a recall
petition. I have not seen any of these
recall petitions and I think they should
be made accessible to the public.
Have the persons in charge of circu
lating this petition considered print
ing this petition in the paper? Who is
being recalled? I say-all or none. If
all this nonsense is going on, then
they are all responsible. I might get
sick if I hear "I am only one vote",
which I think is even a bigger cop
out as the tribal councilmen allowing
all this with open-eyes.
Leona A. Ike,
Tribal Member
(defined as a man without i country) came
to the west in torrents from both Pacific
and Atlantic Ocean ports after the federal
government had taken away mass amounts
of land from eastern tribes for the benefit
and use of these emigrants. When land
became scarce in the east for settlers, there
was only the mid-west and west to open up
for them. Indian land was sold for as little
as two cents per acre. What would that
same land be worth today? At least an arm
and a leg. Folks, I'm just being truthful
about this. Indians didn't write books,
they passed information from generation
to generation by word of mouth. An
agreement used to be by a handshake be
tween people. Whatever happened to that
kind of trust and integrity? But wait,
there's more. My question then is, who in
actuality wasis civilized? To our way of
, living, we considered ourselves civilized.
We lived by standards and customs we
developed ourselves throughout the centu
ries. Non-Indians and missionaries came
along and attempted to force their stan
dards, values, and Christianity onto us.
iWe badhave a culture of our own since
i time immemorial. Of course this would
cause conflict. When something is pro
posed to be changed, there will be resis
tance. We are all afraid of change because
it threatens and interrupts the way we have
always done things. We tend to think of
reasons or excuses to avoid change, and to
validate that thinking.
Old federal government documents
throughtout the centuries have pointed in
one direction, and that was to assimilate
the Indians into the mainstream society
through many different ways. Thousands
of documents also say the Indians need to
become self-sustaining and less dependent
on the federal government. These doctrines
give the same message over and over.
There have been and still are attempts to
exterminate the race through wars, disease,
Continued on page 12
To Angela Phyllis Bellanger,
Happy Birthday niece! January
25, 2000. Each time we meet, you ae
happy to see me, this brings such joy
to my heart!
Wishes for lots more happy times
in your life. May you have pleanty
presents also! To show how much
we love you!
Love & Prayers,
Auntie Annie, Faron, Scott,
Tatum & Levi Kalama
thoughts on
further more, this person is not even
married into the tribe anymore and is
there any order in that office! Plus
how many years is it gonna take
before you put an honest Indian per
son in those job positions? ! The whole
community knows that a large per
centage of the tribal organizations
did not take their employees out there
because of the customer service we
receive out there. Damn and we own
that enterprise! Hey, when I worked
at their gift shop, the KNT board and
their wives were privileged to re
ceive as much at 50 off some mer
chandise and I knew that wasn't a
scam to make money!, . t
What exactly does it take to get
tribal members some decent jobs?! I
remember when CTWS has a bus for
employees and a lot of the. tribal
members like to work there and all
that fizzled out whenthe greedy ones
, started getting the supervisory jobs
out there. One doesn't have to won-
der why the majority of our people "
do not want our casino off the Rez.
How long have the same non-Indians
been in their great paying jobs and
haven't been training a tribal mem
ber for that job so well deserved?!
You as leaders, need to look at ,
some stats concerning stuff like this;
better yet, do some of your own stats !
It's like, how about all the non-Indians
renting our KNT hamlets and
tribal member couples that have to
rent in the community, get their rent
HeHe fire timber sale
assessments
The Resource Management Inter
disciplinary Team has released two
draft project assessments, covering
the Hehe Fire Timber Salvage and
Northside 2000 Timber Sale, for pub
lic review. The documents were pre
pared by the Project Interdiscipli
nary Team to provide options for
timber harvest in the Badger Creek,
Beaver Creek and Coyote Creek
drainages.
Three alternatives were formu
lated and numerous logging methods
were considered for both projects,
taking into account present resource
conditions, forest health and public
input. The Hehe Fire salvage sale is
expected to yield approximately 3
million board feet and the Northside
2000 sale is expected to yield ap
proximately 49-55 million board feet.
The documents are divided into
sections explaining the purpose and
need for action, resource-based indi
cators used to help the technical staff
analyze and mitigate environmental
impacts, and details of the three al
ternatives. There are maps showing
the harvest blocks, quick reference
tables to compare the alternatives, a
ist of measures needed to mitigate
mvironmental consequences, and the
roject Interdisciplinary Teamfs rec
mmended alternative.
The goal of. Alternative A under
ioth sales is to continue current man-
Appreciation
To the community of Warm
Springs,
I would like to take this opportu
nity to thank all of you who attended
the Miss Warm Springs 2000 Pag
eant at Simnasho Longhouse. A big
thank-you to Bridgette Scott
Whipple for all the work that she put
into planning and preparing for the
pageant and for the encouragement
she gave to all the contestants. You
energy brought many positive as
pects to this annual event and I look
forward to working with you during
the upcoming year. I'd also like to
recognize and thank all those of you
who helped decorate, set-up, and
clean-up; without you, none of it
would have been possible. To the
judges, Captain Moody, and drum
group; thank you for being a part of
this event. To all of my friends and
extended family who have stepped
forward and gave me encouraging
words, laughter, and friendship, I
Happy belated Birthday
Aunt Effie & Aunt Gladys
From your two lovely nieces,
Myra & Shirley
ft :
'c : J.
several subjects
raised because both of them work?
Take a look at how you let these non
Indians treat our own people! It's
BS. I mean, what happened to the
tribal member preference, then In
dian and then non-Indian, some
people have this backwards!! I say
our people was really spoiled by the
past bonuses and not having to be
accountable for doings in the com
munity and on the job, but does that
mean, to still let these non-Indians
think they own OUR enterprises. An
example I would like to use is: The
Print Shop, KWSO and Spilyay
Tymoo could have very updated
equipment, instead they just giving
themselves raises; instead of putting
priorities in place. I seriously have
nothing against my co-workers, it's
just that our tribal organization has
gotten lazy and sloppy and does not
stick to what the Comp Plan says.
And actually and personally, the idea
of buying the Juniper Motel (across
from Safeway), is a very bad busi
ness deal. How old is that place, the
pipes must be rotten as hell by now,
the cheap walling inside the rooms
speak for themselves, as well as the
problem they had with cockroaches
and if you have money to even think
about buying that motel (and the
candy shop that goes with it), then
you must have money stashed away
for our children's youth center, li
brary and school!
If you want to invest in Madras,
January 13, 2000 5
released
agement. Activities such as hunting,
recreation and cultural food gather
ing would continue as in the past.
The only harvest proposed under
Alternative A woul J be through con
ventional salvage operations.
The emphasis of Alternative B for
the Hehe sale is to salvage fire-killed
timber on 1,374 acres within the fire
boundary in accordance with IRMP
standards and best management prac
tices. The emphasis of Alternative C
is to salvage fire-killed timber on 74
acres within three allotments.
The emphasis of Alternative B for
the Northside 2000 sale is to treat
stands with high and moderate forest
health problems in the northern por
tion of the reservation west of High
way 26. The emphasis of Alternative
C is to treat stands with high and
moderate forest health problems in
the northern portion of the reserva
tion on both sides of Highway 26.
The alternatives would have vary
ing impacts on water, fish, wildlife,
cultural, timber, range, soil and eco
nomic resources. There would also
be some changes to the transporta
tion system, which would include
eradication of unnecessary roads.
For more information or copies of
the documents contact Rich Lohman
in the Forestry Branch, or call 553
2416. Tribal members have 30 days
to comment on the proposed sales.
given
truly appreciate the time that you
have taken. Your words will remain
in my heart as I travel during the
year. .
The opportunity to represent the
community of Warm Springs and the
three tribes that reside here as Miss
Warm Springs 2000 is indeed is a
great honor to be bestowed upon any
individual. I have a lot of energy and
ideas and am excited about the many
opportunities that lie ahead. As a
chosen representative, I believe that
it is important that the community be
aware of when and where I represent
each of you. During the upcoming
year, I will be writing a monthly
column in the Spilyay Tymoo which
will inform the community of my
travels as Miss Warm Springs. If at
any time you need to get a hold of
me, please contact my chaperone,
Bridgette Scott-Whipple at 553-3233
ext. 224.
Alyssia Macy
Thanks to all ;
' Thank you to our Families and to
everyone who helped to celebrate
and honor our marriage on Decem
ber 11th, 1999. Thank you espe
cially to our Elders, to Uncle Charles,
and to Chief Judge Sohappy for
blessing our Union. There is no
greater time than now to our lives as
great as they can be. We look for
ward to healing and a positive future
for our Community and for our Na
tion. , Zach and Jessie del Nero
Hand-Game Tourna
ment hosted by the
Yakama Nation
Medicine Singers
January 28, 29, & 30, 2000
White Swan Pavilion
on the Yakama Nation
Encampment grounds.
$150 Team entry fee
3-5 players per team
No fake pointing; no scarves; no
rehiding
betting allowed on the kick
stick.
Contact Michael J. Bill (509)
877-6675
why not buy a house for the college
students traveling to Bend or rent an
area for Indian Small Business own
ers?! Enough said for now, but from
my heart, I strongly feel that our new
Tribal Council is heading down the
right road for their people and that's
a good feeling to finally have people
in there that actually care about their
own people and not just playing dirty
politics for their own gain! Although
one thought is, at times in order for
our leaders to actually heart what the
people want, they need to realize the
hard work and pain some people had
to go through just to get where they
are today. A lot of employees did not
kiss moon to get where they are.
Maybe better put is I know how hard
it is to strive for an apartment, for a
used car, I was not given money on a
platter. I had to work hard for what
little I have today. Some people have
always been given nice clothes, the
best schooling, money for pleasure,
those people do not know what hard
work is. They haven't been there and
I feel that in order for our leaders to
really hear and feel what our tribal
members are saying they need to go
into some of those homes, see how
some people struggle. We are the
owners of this beautiful nature of
land, we need to protect it, it's all we
have and the outsiders want it. Tribal
members deserve better!
Respectfully submitted,
Emma Smith