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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2001)
Spilyty Tymoo, -Warm Springs, Oregon September-6, 2001 Job openings Letters to the Editor Kah-Nce-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino are accepting applica tions for the following positions: Accounts receivable1 lotel-food and beverage auditor Responsible for accounts receivable, credit cards, group billings and hotel and food beverage audit. (iroundsMaintenancc respon sible for maintenance of Hamlet units and grounds Controller Responsible for day-to-day operations of the resortca sino accounting and ultimately re sponsible for cage and drop opera tions. Assists director of finance in es tablishing and maintaining controls safeguarding Tribal Assets and insur ing compliance with all State and Federal regulations including those related to gaming. Night Auditor Responsible for reconciling hotel cashier transactions and prepare reports. Will also per form front desk and reservation du ties. Industrial Mechanic Respon sible for preventative maintenance and repair of building equipment through out property. May require evening and weekend work. Training Coordinator Coordi nate and conduct training in identi fied areas of organization. Slot Technician Repair slot ma chines during a specific shift. Main tain preventative maintenance on all machines. Provide excellent customer ser vice to guests. Other duties as as signed. All applicants must be 21 years old to work in the casino. The only area that 18-year-old can apply for is the casino snack bar. All applicants must submit to and pass the drug and alcohol screening test prior to a job position being offered. All applicants need to complete an Oregon State Police background police investigation prior to begin ning work. encouraged to apply.Contact David White at 715 SW Street, Suite A. Madras, OR 97741 for County Ap plication or call (541) 475-4457. Case manager position available Jefferson County Mental Health is recruiting for position of case manager for developmentally dis abled persons. This is a full time position with generous benefit pack age. Requires a bachelors degree and two years work in human services or five years of equivalent training and work experience including knowledge of the service system for persons with developmental disabili ties. Persons familiar with Hispanic and Native American cultures are Education retention specialist needed An F.ducation Retention Special ist is needed at a progressive non profit organization. The Native American Youth Assocation is look ing to fill the position with a high energy, skilled candidate. Experience working with Native youth re quired. $26,000 to $32,000 plus ben efits. Closes Sept. 14. Call (503) 288 8177, or e-mail at rebeccapnayapdx.org. for a job description and application. 509-J job opening Jefferson County School District 509-J has an opening at the Jefferson County Middle School as a Tempo rary F.ducation Assistant, to work 6 hours a day (approximately 75 days). The salary range is $9.17 to 11.89 an hour to begin September 13. Interested candidates should con tact Jefferson County Middle School District 509-J, 445 SE Buff Street, Madras, OR 97741; phone (541) 475 6192; email cthorpe509j.net; Fax (541) 475-6856. GED classes start this month From Warm Springs COCC -Yep, the Fall Quarter is really only weeks away. Just like all the other back-to-school activities, GED classes here on the reservation are beginning again. Aside from the other details, we will shortly provide a very impor tant reminder. Remember that in January 2002 4 (that's right .the January that is only a few months away) will bring a change in the entire battery of tests that must be mastered to earn a GED. A preview of the new test set re veals that it is harder and longer. So, this upcoming Fall session is liter ally your last chance to prepare for and challenge the current set of test. The Fall Quarter is 12 weeks long and will offer 24 class meetings to work toward earning your certifi cate. September 18, Tuesday at 9:00 am is the first opportunity to register. It i also the first class session. Classes will meet Tuesday and Thursday mornings each week. Two important items to note: First - You must register in per son with the instructor. Second - State regulations restrict seating to 20 persons Availability is on first come first served basis. All persons registering will re ceive a confidential pre-test whish will provide immediate feedback about how much they must accom plish to be awarded a GED. . , To repeat: Registration - September 18th, i Tuesday - 9:00 am (in person only)! Location - Tribal Education Branch building (Old Boy's Dorm) top floor. Chiefs serve unique role for tribes Fiver since the landing of the pil grims on the east coast of this coun try, and even hundreds of years be fore that, tribal leaders have existed. The Natives lived in peace and har mony with their surroundings, meaning respecting the provisions that earth naturally provided. As more and more emigrants came across the ocean from Europe and put claim to Native land, it became necessary to put chiefs in place to lead their people. Most of the Euro peans entered the country on the east coast. As they did so, they at tempted to drive the Natives further to the west, against their will. This caused conflict. The Natives tried to protect their homelands, their people, and use of the land they had occupied since time immemorial. Through reading history books, most everyone is familiar with what took place after that. Wars with the cavalry, removal, displacement, dis ease, starvation, reservations, board ing schools, Christianity, attempts to "civilize" Natives, loss of culture and language. We are familiar with famous war chiefs. Some of the well known ones were Crazy Horse, Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Chief Jo seph. For every enemy a war chief killed, his recognition was an eagle feather placed in his war bonnet. There were not only war chiefs. There were individuals who were recognized as chief preservers of cul ture and tradition. These are now known as longhouse chiefs. Others were recognized as chief medicine men for healing purposes. Others were given the responsibility of over seeing the gathering and providing food such salmon, deer meat, roots, and berries for their tribes. Others became whip men to discipline ado lescents and children. Women were neyer, appointed as chiefs. Their role was raising family and taking ,care of the home. This is a fraction of a percent into taking a glimpse at what happened, and why. We look back hoping the worse of what we had to, and will have to endure, is a thing of the past. Since the landing of the pilgrims, times and the role of chiefs have changed. Clearly, there is no need for a head war chief. In another sense, wc do need different type of chief, one who is capable of dealing diplomatically with business matters in a white man's world. Know and respect tradition and culture, but also be educated enough to under stand and compromise with non Indians. Have some business know how. Know your Native family tree and understand that chiefs arc cho sen by heredity according to tradi tion and custom. Be an honest and respected member of your tribe, lis ten to your tribe's needs. Acknowl edge and respect your elders. Many of these comments came from a recent meeting regarding ap pointment of a Wasco sub-chief. They are not intended to be final and we would like to see more meetings scheduled with the appropriate per sons present to give their input. I Icre is my input that I did not express at the meeting, an afterthought: Lan guage is for communicating, not an anchor for culture nor a badge of belonging. (Native) language was used to earn a living and was not an introverted attempt to keep a culture pure. To keep a culture and language pure is to stop growing. Language and culture should be allowed to be dynamically evolving, for both are ever changing. The purpose of this writing is to bring attention to the fact our three chiefs are appointed to the council for life. Wc must always keep in mind they will have to be replaced one day because of death, resigna tion, or removal. Sub-chiefs need to always be waiting in the wings, and if qualified, ready and willing to fill those shoes. Ginger Smith Wasco Tribal Member Fire and Safety hopes to recruit volunteers Department looking for at least 6 new volunteer members The Warm Springs Fire and Safety Department faces the challenge of recruiting new volunteers. The department now has only half a dozen volunteers, but would like to increase that number to between 12 and 15. "The volunteers play a critical role in the Fire and Safety Depart ment. Quite frankly, the depart ment couldn't make it without them," said Dan Martinez, department chief. "Finding volunteers is very challenging," Martinez added. "Although the Warm Springs community has a high volume of ambulance calls, very few tribal members or other community members have become active volunteers." The Fire and Safety Depart ment has two full-time paid staff on duty at all times at the Warm Springs Fireball, and one person on duty at the Simnasho Firehall. At these staffing levels, prob lems can arise if more than one emergency happens at roughly the Story idea? Call Spiljay Tymoo 553-3274 same time. In those situations, the volunteers are essential, said Martinez. The volunteers at Fire and Safety include certified firefighters and Emergency Medical Techni cians (EMTs). The volunteers provide extra coverage, drive the ambulance, and otherwise assist the paid staff. In its current campaign to recruit new volunteers, the Fire and Safety Department is provid ing some profile information on the people who work at the department. This effort is intended to help the Warm Springs community become more familiar with the Fire and Safety personnel, said Martinez. Anyone inter ested in learning more about becoming a Fire and Safety volun teer should call 553-1634. The following are two profiles of current workers at Fire and Safety. Josh Evans Josh Evans is a full-time Fire Medic at Warm Springs Fire and Safety, where he has worked for two years. Evans hopes to become an officer at Warm Springs Fire and Safety, and to pursue the next level of Emergency Medical Technician, which is an EMT-Paramedic He currently is an EMT-Intermediate and a Firefighter I. He is also a Hazardous Materi als Technician, and has received specialized training in Search and Rescue, High Angle Rescue, and Wildland Firefighting. Josh became interested in Fire Medic work after witnessing, within a short time, an accident that claimed the life of a friend, and several other accidents. "I wanted to be able to do something to help," he said. Josh is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma. He is married to Jodi Evans, who also works at Warm Springs Fire and Safety. For Josh, the hardest part of his job is "dealing with children who have been involved in accidents, espe cially when they have no choice." The best and more rewarding part of the job, he said, is "being able to help people out, making their situation better." Before coming to Warm Springs Fire and Safety, Josh was affiliated for four years with Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, where he was a captain, a ranking officer position with the fire service. Jodi Evans is planning one day to become a Nurse Practitioner. Some more immediate goals include becoming a Registered hi: Jodi Evans 1 j (f, j ' f m ( - 1! Ll Nurse (RN), working in an emer gency care section of a hospital, and becoming a flight nurse with Air Life. Evans currently works part-time as a FireMedic at Warm Springs Fire and Safety. She has been with the department for a year and two months. Jodi is an EMT-Intermediate, and also certified as a Firefighter 1. She is a certified Nursing Assis tant, a certified CPR instructor, and she holds an Associates of Sciences degree. Jodi is a second year nursing student at Central Oregon Com munity College, where she will obtain her RN degree. She received her firefighter training at Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, one of the premiere Fire EMS training programs in Oregon. Explaining why she enjoys her work as a FireMedic at Fire and Safety, Evans said that she likes, "Helping people, being there and being able to something to help." The hardest part of the job is "being involved in other people's pain," she said. She and her husband Josh recently built a home at Crooked River Ranch. Jodi said she enjoys the people and environment in Warm Springs. Regarding casino, new school, tribal council Looks like it's time to get back into the swing of things and kinda' stir up the mush. Lotsa stuff hap pening that our members need to know about. Anybody remember being told about building a CA SINO on the Columbia River be fore it went into The Oregonian? Those who are making these de cisions don't realize they will put our young generation of people into a huge debt. The tribal voters made a decision by voting against build ing in Madras, and the decision to not build a casino anywhere for five years seems to be punishment for those voted against it. Whether they realize it or not, our governing are punishing the in other ways. Had we gone ahead with building a casino ON THE REZ, it would have helped create employ ment for our people, we wouldn't have to get the governor's approval to build here on our own trust land, and most important, would not have to incur an enormous debt for both the current and future generations. They are helping our people to stay in poverty and not be self-sufficient. Many tribal members were laid off work at the mill and very little was done to help them get other work.... Where have all the GOOD workers gone? Many were "laid off" because they chose to speak the truth. While all this is going one, where is the WSFPI Board looking? Is Council going to continue to stick their heads into the sand? Our people arc being replaced right and left by non-Indians. Hello. Hello. Is anybody out there listening or go ing to do anything about it? WSFPI isn't the only place we're being ripped off. How about ac countability of TRIBAL COUN CIL? They took a trip to Las Vegas recently costing us $14,000 to train 40 PEOPLE locally. Here is the real clincher in what the workshop cov ered: "Ethics, Nepotism, Conduct and Conflicts of Interest." How many times have these is sues come up in council in the last three terms? We will leave that up to the people to ponder upon. How many times has our Constitution and By-Laws been violated? Ethics, there's a good one for you - how many pecuniary interest topics came up involving personal gain and the person involved went ahead and voted? Most importantly, how much of this training did council absorb, bring home, and PUT TO USE? Hopefully, tribal members will see some improvement in all four areas since it was their money that paid for it. How about the 5-K passing? It will be nice for the kids but can we afford it? We don't even have enough money to START building it' Whidh family stands' to gam monetarily from the site it's being built on? How many of that family serves on council? There were less than 100 survey forms filled out for location, and other sites were even or close in number. Some of us are old enough to re member what is in that landfill and we wonder if the site would pass an EPA inspection for asbestos from old buildings, battery acid, etc. After all, the safety of the children comes first, right? Again, the people got rooked. Those promoting passage of that school were within a few feet of the polling place urging tribal voters to vote yes. A limousine was going WS picking up voters. Are we so rich that we can afford such luxuries? Enough stirring for now. You will be hearing more as time goes on. Rita Squiemphen Enterprise zone... Continued from page 1 The Confederated Tribes do not currently impose a property or in come tax on businesses; however, the Tribal Tax Commission has been studying options of taxation avail able to the tribes. Like other government entities, the Tribal Council may in the fu ture see the need for tax revenue to help fund police, fire and other es sential services, said Mason. A tribal tax on a business, he said, would apply to a business on the reserva tion owned by non-tribal members. If the tribes were to adopt such a tax, then this would raise the possi bility of double-taxation, as the state also imposes an income tax on the business. Under HB 2332 this situa tion is remedied, as the business can offset its state tax bill by the full amount of the tribal tax. In this way, new private busi nesses looking to locate in the region will find no tax disadvantage in choosing to locate on the reservation. Reservation enterprise zone The second part of HB 2332 cre ates a reservation enterprise zone, a common business incentive used by rural communities in Oregon. A new business that locates within a designated enterprise zone can qualify for a property tax exemp tion for three years. Prior to HB 2332, if a new pri vate business were to locate on the reservation and construct commer cial or industrial buildings, then these buildings, if owned by the pri vate party, would be subject to a county property tax. The new law provides for the cre ation of an enterprise zone encom passing all of the tribes' trust prop erty. New private business construc tion in the enterprise zone allows for deferral of this tax. "The hope is that this will lead to business develop ment," said Mason. The enterprise zone allows the tribes to compete for new businesses on more equal footing with neigh boring communities, which have long-established enterprise zones.
