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Spilyqy Tymoo Mqy 17, 2001
Letters to the editor
1 1
Heedingthejutu
Students from Jefferson County School District 509-J's elementary
schools gathered at the Museum at Warm Springs last week for
"Seeds of Discovery" activities. Rosalind Sampson, education
director for the museum, said the 350 to 400 students came from
Warm Springs, Metolius and Westside Elementary Schools. With
funding from a NASA grant, volunteers from OMSI, the Tribes'
Natural Resources Branch and the Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department gave presentations on subjects that included water, fish
and wildlife (including snakes, middle and bottom right), the ATLATL
or throwing stick (bottom left), forestry, nature games (polar bears
and seals, top left), insects (top right), forestry, birds of prey, plants,
fossils, storytelling and petroglyphs.
Of brain chemicals, electricity and hugs ...
Hello from Pastor Rick.
Reading a news magazine: U.S.
News Reports. It was telling the lat
est news of addiction issues. It seems
that' alcohol and drugs do short
term, temporary things to our brain.
Duh, it's called getting drunk. Then
it begins long-term changes to the
brain chemistry.
The long-term stuff makes people
think differendy, act differently and
become someone else. The good
news is that knowing the chemistry
Editor's Note
Spilyay Tymoo wel
comes letters from its
readers. All letters,
preferably 350 words or
less, must be signed by
the author and need to
include a phone number
for verification or ques
tions. Letters will not be printed
unless signed. All letters
are the opinion of the
author and do not reflect
in any way the opinion of
Spilyay Tymoo.
Spilyay Tymoo reserves
the right to edit all copy
or decline publication
of material that exceeds
length guidelines or
contains libelous or
malicious statements.
7
Photos by Mike Van Meter
re
changes in the brain, medicine may
be able to find more tools to help
people break the chains of addiction.
VERY COOL
A story from Paul Dawson,
Pendleton. While visiting Coulee
Dam, my family and I were sur
prised to see that the visitor's center
was dark, even though it was a sunny
day. As we got closer we saw there
were no lights on. We went in and
saw that none of the displays was
working. Suddenly it became clear;
We've got
By Mike Van Meter ,
Spilyay Staff
Why does one letter get printed,
in whole while another is edited or
filed away? What's with that big pic
ture of the white girl and her boy-
friend on the back page and why
aren't there any Indians in the pic
ture? ,
These are good questions.
The second question, regarding
the full page submitted to the
Spilyay by the state of Oregon's
Adult and Family Services division,
is easiest to answer: It's a paid ad
vertisement. Now, just because someone pays
for an ad doesn't mean they get to
run anything they want - the
Spilyay won't be accepting advertis
ing for gct-rich-quick schemes any
time in the foreseeable future, for
instance. Scurrilous accusations
against other people won't be ac
cepted. However, we give fairly wide
latitude and only rarely could con
sider controlling content of adver
tising. This particular ad and its
message is scheduled to run for sev
eral issues.
The questions of cultural sensi
it
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there was no power to the center.
The visitor's center that sat only a
few hundred feet from a hydroelec
tric dam had no electricity.
How could something be so close
to the power source, yet not be
plugged in the power? Read
Phillipians 3:10 and 2 Timothy 1:7.
Okay Warm Springs, here is my
world famous list of things to do out
of your life. Hug someone you love.
Hug someone you dislike. No alco
hol or tobacco for children. One day
mail, and we want more, but be respectful
tivity that the AFS teen pregnancy
prevention ad raises, though, are
worth bringing to the attention of
those who produced the ad. People
may wish to call the number in the
ad or write: Adult and Family Ser
vices, 500 Summer St. NE, Salem,
Ore. 97310, or the producers of the
ad, Neiworth Media Group, 3563
Aldous Ave. S., Salem 97310.
The advertisement was produced
to run in both the Madras Pioneer
and the Spilyay, so it may be worth
considering that creation of an ad
that is reflective the broad range of
culture in Jefferson County poses a
significant challenge. (Hang out at
Collage of Culture in Madras this
weekend if you have any doubts
about the human richness of this
region.)
Advertising is something folks
will see more of in the Spilyay in
coming weeks, months and years.
Traditionally, the newspaper has not
accepted paid advertising but has
survived almost solely on funds al
located by Tribal Council. As the
tribal budget overall becomes
tighter, the demand for outside rev
enue sources has risen. Spilvay staff
at a time. Buckle up the kids and
yourselves. Don't hit or beat on
yourself . Pay your bills before gam
bling, and then stay home. Read the
Bible for its effect on your heart.
Pray to God to the point of your
hearing Him. Honor someone. Love
yourself. Like yourself. See you in
church. Worship at 11 a.m. Warm
Springs Presbyterian Church on the
campus.
P.astor Rick R. Ribeiro
(541) 553-1237
and advisors are endeavoring to cre
ate an advertising system that main
tains or strengthens the editorial in
dependence that is the long-held goal
' of the newspaper.
Letters policy is a much less fo
cused topic. A good starting point
is the note printed on this page
pretty much every issue - hold your
letters to 350 words and don't libel
anyone. That's simple enough.
We sincerely want people to keep
sending us letters - they have been
and will continue to be a backbone
of the Spilyay's content for many
years.
Generally, free speech rules apply
- folks are free to speak, but they
(and this publication, when it prints
letters) must also be responsible for
what is said.
Things you CAN do with a let
ter you want printed: Criticize
Tribal Council. Criticize the Spilyay
Tymoo and its letters policy. Pick
on high-level tribal administrators.
Write about how pretty the wild
flowers are in the high country. Say
nice things about your neighbors,
Tribal Council, Spilyay staff and
tribal administrators. Throw out a
Participants thanked
To the editor:
We'd like to take the time now to
thank everyone who participated in
the workshop during the month of
March called "Honoring Good
Medicine," and for the rap concert
with BRUTHAZ GRIMM. Wc re
ally hope It was beneficial for you
all in some way.
The All Nations Fellowship and
support group would like to offer
you spiritual support in our prayer
gatherings on Thursday nights, our
youth night, ages 12 years and older.
We meet at 6327 Sunnysidc Drive
from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
We would like to offer this to you
because you mean a lot to us, and
much more to Jesus Christ who
loves you. If you feel you'd be inter
ested and need a ride please call us.
Billy Joe and Wanda Berry
553-5938 or 410-7227
Grateful for volunteers
To the editor:
The Museum at Warm Springs
would like to send a great big
"Thank You" to the following vol
unteers: Albert Comedown, Randall
Wallulatum, Nicholas Heath,
Buford Johnson Jr., Justine
Wallulatum, Elmina Johnson, Wacy
Wallulatum, Cameron Wallulatum
and Norman Libby.
We appreciate your service
in helping assemble the large project
of 1,000 name tags, for the 2001
"Honor Senior Day." Assembling
the nametags included cutting, past
ing, decorating and stringing beads.
Each nametag was uniquely deco
rated by the volunteers. Again,
thank you for your help and sup
port. Sincerely,
The Museum Staff
Drug test 'top clean' f ,
To the editor: , i(
This letter is to inform you that
if I take this drug test that I have
compiled with the Drug Free Work
place Policy and if I'm told again
after this test that I'm too clean and
that my sample specimen is diluted.
I'm going to press charges on Mt.
View Hospital cause the last time I
took this test the nurse or person
that give me my test told me that
my specimen was clean and diluted
before my test was even sent in to
be analysis. I didn't receive my job
that I'll be unable to start working.
I was so upset that I told my job
(Construction Department) within
the tribal organization that I'll take
my next test when their major
project start up this season. I've
worked for this department almost
.every year since 1988 off and on with
different companies and with the
Warm Springs Tribal Construction
Department. I had failed some test
but didn't do nothing about it cause
I was in the .wrong until now. Since
I've been clean and off of drugs I feel
hug. (Pastor Rick will probably like
that.)
Things that WON'T do if you
want a letter printed: Accuse people
of embezzlement, theft or other
crimes. Be malicious for the sake of
being malicious. Direct personal
criticism toward a relative or other
individual.
If you submit a 900-word letter,
it's not going to run. We'll file it
away. If the substance of a letter is
libelous or malicious, the action will
be the same. Those are easy calls.
Sometimes, though, decisions re
garding letters are much less cut-and-dried.
If a letter is 450 or 500 words
long, there's a good chance we'll pare
it down a bit and run it. If a letter
has a couple of sentences that are li
belous, we'll probably cut them out
and run the rest of the letter.
If we've edited or filed your let
ter and you have questions about it,
please feel free to call
Both length and a few words of
libel were the case in a letter we re
ceived for last issue.
It would have been easy to shelve
the letter, but instead we edited out
the libelous statements and in the
that I better start receiving personal
assurance on my integrity regarding
this test. I know my urine sample is
clean and has been clean since my
last test I took for the Construction
Department. I lost over a months
work at the cost of $14.50 per hour
this time and I want them to pay
for my lost time for not starting on
my livelihood. This is my job that I
do good at and that I'm a seasonal
worker. I don't want to work for no
one else except for Tribal Construc
tion. I enjoy all the people, my
bosses, and co-workers at work.
I've been asking questions to fel
low workers that have taken the
urine test and had to take over at
least two times or three times before
they could go back to work. I've
found out that this test cost the tribe
about $17 a test from the Mt View
Hospital. If you add the cost this is
no cheap price to start back to work
for the tribe. If you add all the other
departments that have to do retakes
on the urine test that's a lot of tribal
money going out to Mt. View Hos
pital. Since we cut them out on pay
ing their high price on being in the
hospital, are we being charged to
fund them in another way? I never
had a problem with Mt. View Hos
pital until now. I'd like to see a bet
ter way on handling this problem.
Sincerely,
Lloyd G. Smith Jr.
New name questioned
To the editor:
All my life since I can remember
I have been very proud of our Kah-Nee-Tah
Resort. Even when the
Freelands owned it. Just the name
Kah-Nee-Tah is a landmark and has
a legacy of why an Indian name tra
ditionally cannot be destroyed. First
the boards, Gaming and Kah-Nee-Tah
board takes it upon themselves
to merge the two enterprises then
they.,takf jtiupon themselves., to, call
it High Desert? In our neighboring
town, Bend, the citizens are asking
why? They are concerned because
they claim the High Desert name for
a museum and other businesses and
they have n right to question it.
What is it going to cost us now
to change the Indian Head Casino
neon signs? And the Kah-Nee-Tah
signs. Not to mention the ugly bill
boards along the highways and Port
land. We the people are constantly re
minded of the budget cuts and we
should be involved at all times so we
wouldn't be suspicious of unneces
sary travels by the full Council and
the actions done by the gaming
board and the High Desert Resort
board?
We certainly need better commu
nications with both boards, Tribal
Council and the people. We defi
nitely need a system to improve com
munications and you can start now
by proving to the people how you
are going to make the budget cuts.
Neda Wesley
process brought the length down.
The result was a letter that remained
harsh in its criticism, but meets our
letters guidelines. While I personally
found the letter offensive (I would
like to know whether I'm Larry,
Curly, Moe or Shemp), and public
officials were stung by its criticism,
those aren't reasons to refuse publi
cation. Letters policies are nothing new
at the Spilyay, nor are questions
about what is printed in the Spilyay.'
Twenty-five years ago, during the
first year of publication, a reader
raised questions about administra
tive appointments by Tribal Coun
cil. In opening the letter in the May
14,h edition, she wrote: "I don't
know how strictly the Tribal Ad
ministration censors your articles,
but ..." A note from the editor in
the same issue discouraged "the use
of the paper as a means of exposing
personal grief, slander or harm to
the tribal organization."
Questions will continue to be
raised, and we'll continue to try to
find answers. In the meantime, keep
those cards and letters (and faxes and
e-mails and telephone calls) coming.