Spifygy Tymoo, Wrm Springs, Oregon
November 14, 2002
Kalamas play flute in Germany
Tribal member Foster Kalama and his two sons, Titus, 13, and
Simeon, 12, boarded a plane for Germany on Sunday, Nov. 3 with
their flutes in hand.
Foster Kalama is scheduled to speak at a university, high school,
and three museums while abroad. He will share the tradition of
flute playing and other aspects of tribal culture.
Kalama will speak of the changes from the old ways to the
present culture, the Confederated Tribes longhouse traditions, and
education at the Jefferson County Middle School and Madras High
School.
Christian Carstenson, a German visiting the area, invited Kalama
and his family while he visited the area.
Carstenson offered to pay their airfare and the Kalama family
is covering their other costs. The Kalama family returned from
Germany on Nov. 14.
Boys & Girls Club keeps busy
The third basketball season for the Boys and Girls Club, grades
third to sixth, starts this month.
A basketball clinic took place Nov. 11-14 at the Community
Center, teaching potential team members the fundamentals and
rules of the game.
Frank Smith, director of the Boys and Girls Club, hopes to
have 3-4 teams this year with 3-4 volunteer coaches. Smith hopes
to have a basketball tournament with at least four teams on Dec.
21-22.
The Flag Football season finished in October, also for grades 3
6. There were only two intramural games this year, due to Redmond
and Terrebonne changing coordinators.
Smith thinks next year will be more exciting with more games.
He acknowledged a special thanks to volunteer coach, Otis Iverson,
who "taught the kids the fundamentals and sportsmanship."
On November 15 at 5 p.m., Boys and Girls Club is sponsoring
a Powwow for its participants. Smith has invited Tribal Council and
invites all community members.
Also, a community sweat lodge is being built near the Warm
Springs Jail as part of the club's Outreach Program. Community
members are encouraged to participate in activities surrounding
the sweat lodge or donate materials needed for sweats, like blan
kets. The sweat lodge is for Boys and Girls Club participants and
juvenile and adult inmates.
The Boys and Girls Club is planning a fundraiser, called "Evening
of Elegance," on Friday, Dec. 6. The fundraiser will include a full
dinner and an auction. To purchase a ticket or to ask any ques
tions contact Frank Smith at 553-2284. Tickets are $35.50. All
proceeds go the Boys and Girls Club.
Housing
Employees from
various housing depart
ments join forces and try
to find the means for
everyone to have a
home.
By Shannon Keaveny
Last year 2.5 houses were
built on the Warm Springs
Reservation. Meanwhile, 150
tribal members wait to either
buy a home or rent a home. At
the current rate, all the people
on the list would receive a home
in 60 years.
Most agree, that's a little too
long to wait.
Forty-four tribal employees
involved in various housing de
partments met on Oct. 31 at
Kah-Nee-Ta for a housing sum
mit to discuss how to make that
wait just a little shorter.
Don Harker, private consult
ant and employee of non-profit
Communities by Choice, was
hired by Warm Spring Commu
nity Action Team (WSCAT) and
directed the housing summit.
Before the summit, Harker
interviewed 20 tribal community
members who have either tried
to get a house or received a
house. The result revealed the
tribal housing application pro
cess was extremely complicated
and intimidating.
"I literally interviewed people
who were lost in the process for
years," said Harker.
"Even people within housing
jobs on the reservation did not
even have consistent answers,"
added I Iarker about the confus
ing housing process.
Harker identified a need to
summit singles out
clarify the housing process as
crucial. Most attendees of the
summit agreed.
The idea of putting a hous
ing advocate on the front end
of the process was brought into
the discussion.
"I think people were pretty
supportive of the idea of hav
ing a person who could do it
and walk you through it," said
Harker about making the hous
ing process more accessible.
The other idea at the fore
front was making it clear who
qualifies for what kind of as
sistance, based on their income,
said Harker. The waiting list
could be broke up into finan
cial and rental categories ac
cording to each individual's in
come, he said.
"Let's figure out who these
people are and get more infor
mation than their name and
phone number. Let's find out
how many are credit-worthy and
construct a list according to a
person's eligibility. Let's keep the
demand side in a framework
that is understandable." ex
claimed Harker.
Attendees at the summit
broke up into groups and tack
led issues, such as housing
credit, housing restoration, con
struction, and home mainte
nance. "A number of ideas came
out of these discussions that are
very important," said Harker.
Some results were more lu
crative ideas for house designs.
Often on the reservation manu
factured homes are installed as
a quick option.
But, said Jack Quinn, hous
ing commissioner and coordi
nator for Individual Develop
ment Accountability (IDA),
manufactured homes are not a
long-term option. They don't
gain equity but instead lose value
over the years.
r" " .:"""' . .-J;. ,- ,:r. - . .... I -vJ
L, .iV.'"': '.i
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Photos taken at the Museum at Warm Springs Powwow exhibit.
LEFT: Photo of Warm Springs beaded bag displays similiarities to
photo of Native American woman at a powwow (R), from another
tribe.
Powwow exhibit portrays
By Shannon Keaveny
Two Warm Springs vibrantly-colored
and
intricately-beaded
heirloom bags, two
pairs of hide moccasins with flo
ral patterns, and a feather fan
offset 54 color photographs at
the Museum at Warm Springs.
The traveling photo exhibit is
known as Pow-wow: Native Ameri
can Celebration,
Natalie Kirk, curator for Mu
seum at Warm Springs, thought-;
fully included the heirloom pieces
with the photos to display the
cultural connection.
In the photos, the viewer sees
beaded bags, feather fans, and
other resemblances to the Con
federated Tribes own Powwow
tradition. ' ', . " . ' ' '
.1:1 "'! ! "i
Also many people think the
homes are not attractive so it is
difficult to feel pride in your
home.
Credit and housing on the res
ervation is the only option for
tribal members.
At this point, explained
Shawnele Shaw, Community Ad
vocate for WSCAT, tribal mem
bers do not develop credit in the
current system.
"Members don't have good
credit, but they don't have bad
credit." she said.
Issue of sovereignty
The summit discussed sover
eignty and the idea of a uniform
community code, which would
enable outside lenders to use the
reservation's court system.
A uniform community code
would open up the off-reservation
lending world to the Confed
erated Tribes. Outside lenders are
deterred from lending money to
people living on the reservation
because they don't have legal pro
tection. This idea of a uniform com
munity code is controversial be
cause many tribal members feel
it would compromise their sov
ereignty. "This is a legitimate concern."
said Harker, "but it's an impor
tant enough of an issue that I say,
let's address it. Let's figure it out
so we can move on."
Shaw, a supporter of a uni
form community code, hopes
Tribal Council will improve com
munity knowledge about what
she perceives as a misconception
about the code.
Another idea was to provide
financial literacy classes to tribal
members to help create an un
derstanding of what it means to
have good credit.
"It would address the need for
personal accountability and re
sponsibility." said Shaw.
The difference, explained Kirk,
is in the colors and design. The
clothing style is very similar.
The exhibit is meant to show
people other aspects of Native
American cultures, yet display the
similarities between Native Ameri
can cultures, said Kirk.
Native Americans throughout
North American are in the photos
ranging from Crow to Lakota to
Navajo. Native Americans of all
ages in regalia and without regalia
capture traditional life and every
day life. Each photo is accompa
nied by quotes and text that elo
quently capture the heritage, en
joyment, and colorful display of
tradition in a variety of tribes.
Most of the photos were taken
in Montana, South Dakota, New
Mexico, and Oklahoma. , , , ,
biggest problems
Currently timely mortgage pay
ments and monthly rental pay
ments is an issue. Each year ac
counts receivable carries over
$500,000 on the books due to lack
of payments, according to what
Shaw heard at the summit.
The summit addressed the va
riety of reasons for some tribal
members not paying their rent or
mortgage.
The reservation housing depart
ment acts as landlord to its ten
ants. Due to insufficient staff and
lack of qualified staff, tenants
home maintenance needs are of
ten not addressed or they endure
a long wait.
"I've heard stories of people
waiting years to get their tub fixed,"
Shaw used as an example.
Harker said the summit helped
him recognize that some tribal
members believe a house should
be provided for them and other
members have a more main
stream financial attitude towards
acquiring a home.
Currently, there is not a penalty
for those who make mortgage or
rental payments late.
Discussion of creating a viable
financial niche for housing on the
reservation and what that would
entail surfaced.
"Additional housing could be an
opportunity to train plumbers."
I Iarker explained the summit's
break-out groups discussed the
possibility of creating a reserva
tion economy that could support
a construction industry.
"I low many houses would need
to be built every year and how
many electricians and plumbers
would Warm Springs need to sup
port a hardware store?" he asked
rhetorically.
Sometimes, said Shaw, it's hard
to get off-rcscrvation construction
companies out here.
"The profit margin for them is
less on the reservation due to the
distance they need to travel. The
similarities among tribes
The photos were taken by
Scottish Artist Andrew
Hogarth and include over
135,000 miles of "Indian
country", featuring exclu
sively powwows, between the
years 1985 and 1999.
Hogarth believes Native
American history is a living en
tity and not a thing of history
books. He feels it is felt rather
than viewed and embraced as
a part of a strong oral and
dance tradition rather than
held at a distance, as a mere
part of the western written
tradition. He hopes to reveal
how Native Americans draw
strength from their past with
every evolving tradition of the
powwow. " ' "
' ' Kirk thinks the exhibit helps
ability to get supplies on the
reservation would help reduce
costs," she said.
According to Shaw and
Quinn, the financial resources
to pursue a healthy housing in
dustry on the reservation are
there.
Presently, funds are pro
vided by the Native American
Housing and Self-Determina-tion
Act (N AHASDA), passed
in 1996 and funneled through
Housing and Urban Develop
ment (HUD).
The reservation also hosts
programs like IDA, Home Im
provement Plan (HIP), the
Demo-Down Project and
more.
"And there are many other
monies we can begin to ac
cess." said Shaw, " There are
federal grants and state mon
ies we hope to try to get."
The report from the sum
mit will be available to the pub
he early next week. WSCAT
will eventually present the re
port to the Tribal Council.
Harker made clear the sum
mit was only the beginning of
solutions.
"It is clear we need a
broader conversation but I am
very excited about what I saw
come out of the conference."
he said.
"We want to hear from in
terested parties with positive
and constructive ideas for
changes. I absolutely believe
we will make a change, I saw
an incredible momentum at
the summit. We just need to
over come some hurdles." en
couraged an optimistic Shaw.
For copies of the bousing summit
report or questions contact Shawnele
Shaw at 5S)-)I4S. WSCAT
has meetings the first and third
Thursday of every month from 4
S:)() p.m.
I f .rl" i
H :
Win
explain the way of the pow
wow and the significance for
tribes."I encourage tribal mem
bers to come take a look." she
said.
The English word powwow
comes from the Narrangansett
word, pauwau and means
cojurer. As it passed to the
English language, it became a
name for any Indian gather
ing and as a verb, in English,
means "to confer in a coun
cil." Powwows were banned by
the U.S. government in 1884
and went underground. In
1933 the ban was lifted. The
featured exhibit will be at the
Museum until Nov. 30.
- Tribal council sponsored
' the exhibit. ,
Bush proclaims
November
Indian month
WASHINGTON- In an
official proclamation issued by
the White House, President
George W. Bush has declared
November "National Ameri
can Indian Heritage Month."
Pres. Bush praised Ameri
can Indian heritage and Indian
role models who serve as a
central part of America's his
tory, including Sakajawea and
the Navajo code-talkers of
World War II.
"These examples of our
true American spirit reflect our
shared history and serve as re
minders of the unique heritage
of American Indians and
Alaska Natives," Bush said in
his proclamation.
"Upon its completion on the
National Mall, the Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum
of the American Indian will
help educate all Americans
about the lives, contributions
and cultures of our Native
peoples."
Assistant Secretary of the
Interior- Indian Affairs Ncal
A. McCaleb says the
president's announcement
serves as a clear reminder of
this administration's efforts to
improve the quality of life for
American Indian and Alaskan
Native people.
"We arc working to focus
the efforts of government to
create new jobs and new op
portunity for American Indian
entrepreneurs and tribally
owned businesses," Mc Caleb
said today.
"Our goal of building sus
tainable tribal economies and
vibrant businesses is beginning
to bear fruit, but there is much
more work to do, I will con
tinue to work with President
Bush."