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.
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' 1 . 7rade cooking and cleaning for dining and winning at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert
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and more are all part of the fun. rnd fine dining, championship golf, a world-class spa,
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today. Zfiu'W love cleaning up at our house.
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focuses on fire prevention
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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
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. 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