Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2001)
Spilygy Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon November 1, 2001 Page 3 Adoption Continued from Page 1 Enrollment in the tribes also allows a person to participate in elections, anJ to receive per capita payments anJ bonuses. Tribal members have the right to medical care through Indian Health Services. New enrollments into the tribes can be controversial among some tribal members, as the last two elections - the one in 1996, and the one last month - have demonstrated. In the 1996 election, 137 new tribal members were enrolled. This vote drew some criticism because the residency require ment for the candidates had been relaxed. As a result, some people were enrolled who do not live on the reservation. The residency requirement was applied to the election last month, which is one reason why the list of 76 candidates was shorter than the list of 162 can didates on the '96 ballot. Even with the residency re quirement again enforced, some tribal members were not in fa vor of the adoption election. Some commented that the elec tion failed because a good num ber of people refused to vote on principal. Tribal member Ellen Th ompson, for instance, said that too many candidates with low Confederated Tribes blood quantum were being nominated. For this reason, Thompson said, some people refused to vote as a way of voicing their disagree ment. In the list of 76 candidates on the Oct. 16 ballot, only one per son had one-quarter blood of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The other candidates to varying degrees had less than one-quarter Confederated Tribes blood. Other factors may also have contributed to a low voter turn out. Tribal Councilwoman ferenda Scott said that recent deaths in the community 'prob'' ably resulted in some people not feeling like going to the voting station. Scott also said that there might have been concern on the part of some tribal members about the ability of the tribes at the present time to provide for new members. "I heard from people who felt that if we adopt these new members, then how are we going to take care of them and provide more essential ser vices.?' " She said, though, that there is support in the community for the candidates: Had the election seen a 50-percent turnout, all the candidates would have been elec tion, Scoft pointed out.' ; ' ' Having the election resched uled for January .2002, will be a benefit in that tribal members will have more time to get to know the candidates, said Scott. Ways to become enrolled Adoption is one of two ways - the other being automatic en rollment - that a person can be come a member of the Confed erated Tribes. The general guidelines for both of these enrollment proce dures are set out in the Tribal Constitution of 1938, as amended in 1966. The process has been further clarified by Tribal Council resolution. In regard to automatic enroll ment, the . Tribal Constitution says, "Every child of one-fourth or more blood of the Confeder ated Tribes of Warm Springs born... to any member of the Confederated Tribes who main tains a residence upon the Warm Springs Reservation at the time of such birth shall automatically be entided to membership in the Confederated Tribes." The Tribal Council deter mines the automatic enrollment process, and by resolution ap proves petitions filed under the automatic enrollment provision of the' Constitution. People who do not meet the automatic enrollment standards - if a person is less than one quarter Confederated Tribes blood, or if the person was born and lived off the reservation -can become enrolled through the adoption process. Regarding adoption, the Tribal Constitution says: "The members of the Con federated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation may by a majority vote adopt as a mem ber of the Tribe any person of one-eighth or more Indian blood who is a descendant of a member or former member of the Confederated Tribes." Further adoption require ments arc, "That any person adopted into membership must have resided at least three years upon the Warm Springs Reser vation, and shall not be a mem ber of any other tribe of Indi ans. Vital Statistics Director Queahpama-Spino and her staff use a variety of documents - al lotment and census rolls are two main sources - to determine an cestry of people who wish to be adopted. Past elections The first adoption election of the Confederated Tribes was conducted in 1951. In that election, 26 people were adopted into the tribes, and 18 candidates did not receive the necessary number of votes. At the time there were 447 tribal members eligible to vote. Some of those who did not receive enough votes were later enrolled automatically by coun cil resolution. Many of the can didates on 1951 election ballot had full blood of the Confeder ated Tribes, but had lived off the reservation. Two years after the 1951 elec tion, the Confederated Tribes conducted the second adoption election, this time bringing seven candidates into the tribes. In that election, 25 candidates were not adopted. They either did not see a 50-percent turnout in regard to their candidacy, or they received more no votes than yes. Some candidates were later enrolled automatically. In the third adoption elec tion, held in April of 1959, five people - all those on the ballot - received enough votes for tribal adoption. By this time the num ber of eligible voters was 555. In the 1966 vote, only one person was adopted, while three did not receive enough votes. In the 1971 vote, twelve can didates were adopted, while 15 did not receive enough votes, although a good number of these were then automatically enrolled by resolution. The next election, held in August of 1975, failed for lack of participation: A turnout of 457 was needed, but only 432 cast their ballots. Eighteen can didates were on the ballot. In the 1977 election, 13 can didates were adopted, while five did not receive enough votes, but were later adopted by resolution. In 1979, eight candidates were adopted by election ballot. Seven others did not see enough votes regarding their candidacy, and eight were voted down. In 1982, twenty-one candi dates were adopted. Seven did not see enough votes regarding their candidacy, and 20 were voted down. The May 1986 election was invalid for lack of participation. The vote was held again in No vember of '86, and 27 candidates were adopted out of 67 candi dates. The list of 162 candidates for the 1996 adoption election was larger by far than any previous list. The number adopted - 137 people - was also much larger than the number adopted in any previous election. Regarding the current list of 76 adoption candidates, the Tribal Council has set Jan. 14, 2002, for the next election. Officer Interest in fight against fire goes back many years ly Mike I 'an Meter Spifyrif Staff The best time to snuff our a fire is before it even starts. That's the idea behind a freshly created position at Warm Springs Fire Manage ment - fire prevention techni cian. For some time the fire pre vention message has been spread by people who have other duties as well. "I want to make people more aware of what's happen ing, particularly in the urban interface," said Suzi Macy, the woman who has been spread ing the fire prevention message1 around the Warm Springs Community since September. Macy started in the fire ser vice in 1986, a few years after she and her husband, tribal member Vinson Macy, lost their Tcnino area home to fire. She began as a volunteer for Warm Springs Fire and Safety, becoming a paramedic and firefighter. She worked full time for Fire and Safety for 12 years before joining Fire Man agement this fall. "This is kind of new for Deadline Tribal members who are registered voters within the 509-J School District are re minded that Tuesday, Nov. 6 is the deadline to cast ballots regarding the $15.8 million bond levy proposal. The ballots must be re turned to the clerk's office by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Bal- . Title IX committee.meets. The Title IX Parent Advisory Committee will ' meet at"" the Warm Springs' Elementary Nov. 13. At this meeting the committee will write criteria for Tide IX funding of student attendance at conferences. Tide IX meetings are open to all members of the public. The Committee meets at 7:00 p.m. at the Warm Springs Elementary Library on the second Tuesday of each month. If you have a disability, please advise the District 509-J Sup port Services office about special arrangements that may allow you to fully participate in the meeting. Please call Georgia Sosa at 475-6192. i - ' 1 . 7rade cooking and cleaning for dining and winning at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert ;vResort & Casino, the ultimate high desert escape, &?hcre slots, video poker, blackjack and more are all part of the fun. rnd fine dining, championship golf, a world-class spa, . and dozens of other resort activities make everyone a winner, dill 1-800-554-4SUN ' today. Zfiu'W love cleaning up at our house. USi, ( focuses on fire prevention ,7- " - " - , X . sCA , , ' i ' . - ' ' u 1 ' ! I '"'nil' mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm II 1 III Folks can expect to see a lot me," she said. "All along I've been putting fires out ... now I'm helping to prevent them." Macy will be visiting homes, schools and other ar eas - "basically seeing what the needs of the community are." Macy, who was a sous chef at Kah-Nec-Ta before entering the fire service, will hand out brochures, suggest ways of making homes and property for school lots can be returned by mail, or hand-delivered. For convenience, a ballot box is located at die Confeder ated Tribes administration building, at 1233 Veterans Street in Warm Springs. The box will be there until approxi mately 6 p.m. on election evening, Nov. 6. Library at 7 p.ml Tuesday A ii ii niiws3ay-fefe! ini.i "t: iff 1 , - ill '-''A r HIGH . 1-800-554-4SUN of Suzi Macy as she carries the safe from fire, and develop fire prevention plans from recipes that already are in place. "If people don't realize what fire can do, it's hard to prevent it," she said. A major part of her work will focus on children. "Working with kids - with the help of Smokey the Hear, of course - is a real important part of the prevention mes bond ballots is Nov. 6 The bond levy would pro vide the school district with funding for significant im provement and expansion of Madras I ligh School as well as other construction. For people on the reserva tion, passage of the levy would have no financial impact, as the levy would be funded through Rainbow f.IUI ' ili ' I. M I; .,, I ,. . I I Continued from Page 1 I Important factors favoring the purchase are that the prop erty is adjacent to the reserva tion, and a part of the land bor ders the Deschutes River, said Patt. "We have not yet deter mined how best to use the property," he said, "but we do think it has potential." He pointed out that the DESERT RESORT & CASINO Warm Springs, Oregon Photo by Mik Van Malar fire prevention message. sage," Macy said. In addition to advice on the basics of fire prevention - keep ing a buffer around the house that is free of brush, grass and other fuels, and of course not playing with fire - Macy can come out and do an evaluation of anyone's property. To contact Macy for more information, call Fire Manage ment at 553-1634. property tax off the reserva tion. Of the $15.8 million pro posed revenue, $11.2 million would be spent on Madras High School. The money would allow for construction of approximately 48,000 square feet of new space at Madras High School. tribes, have .an Economic De-' velopment Department, and an Economic Development Corporation, both of which are focusing on improving the reservation economy and job opportunities for tribal mem bers. Economic development staff will work on coming up with proposals for the best use of the property, said Patt. r