Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 15, 2004)
Spily3y Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon April 15, 2004 Pqge3 Report says Indian children not 7 adequately protected at boarding schools (AP) - American Indian chil dren at government-run schools were entrusted to workers who had been convicted of child cn dangerment and manslaughter, federal investigators say. The Bureau of Indian Affairs supports 1 87 schools, including 54 boarding schools and 14 dor mitories that serve 48,000 chil dren. The Interior Department's inspector general concluded BIA's "background investigation process is not sufficient to pre vent Indian children from po tentially being in danger." In one case, an assistant at a New Mexico dormitory had been convicted of 26 offenses, including battery and endanger ing the welfare of a child, but worked at the school for nearly two years before a background check was completed and the worker was fired. An education aide in New Mexico was on the job for seven months before an FBI check revealed battery and child cn dangcrment convictions. "These cases and the other cases highlighted in this report show an unacceptable and po tentially dangerous level of non compliance with this back ground investigation process," Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said Wednesday. Udall's district in cludes several Indian schools. Since the inspector general conducted its audit, the Interior Department has consolidated its education and security opera tions, wrote Woodrow Hopper, deputy assistant secretary for Indian affairs, in the department's response to the report. I Ie said the examples the in spector general cited happened between two and five years ago, and the department has made improvements since then, in cluding wiping out a backlog of 800 security files awaiting adju- The BIA should strengthen its screening process, the 1G said. dication and agreeing to run fin gerprint checks within two weeks. The inspector general said the BIA has improved its screening of school employees since it did three audits on the Navajo res ervation and in the Phoenix and Albuquerque area offices in 1998. Still, the BIA should strengthen its screening process, the IG said, laying out several specific changes that should be made. "When you're dealing with the safety of kids and having unsuitable people around kids, I think these recommendations should be carried out immedi ately, and I would underline 'im mediately,'" Udall said. Few of the screenings un cover problems. Just 50 of the 7,664 employees screened were found to be unsuitable - less than 1 percent. But the BIA process allows applicants to be hired and work in the schools before the screening is complete. In Oklahoma, for example, a counselor technician was hired three months before being cleared by security officials, and in Arizona a teacher was on the job 212 months before the clearance was granted. In a sample of cases, it took eight months for the law en forcement checks to be com pleted. And in some cases, it took months for employees who failed the background checks to be removed from their posi tions. In a New Mexico case, a school secretary remained on staff for nine months after her background check revealed that she had been convicted of vol untary manslaughter. Veterans, family healing gathering set for April 30 The Annual Veterans, Family I lealing gathering will be Friday, April 30 to Sun day, May 2 at the Helle Ixmghouse. The event this year has the theme, "Healing Circles in Circles of I lealing." Opening ceremonies will be at 6:15 on Friday. Closing ceremonies will be 10 a.m. Sunday. Sunrise sweat Friday and Saturday. Donations spon sorship appreciated. Leave message at (541) 553-1577, No Credit applications Attention to all applicants: of April. Credit will not be accept- Funeral and medical cmer ing applications for the month gencies only. On lint catalog PRINTING Tribal Business Cards Business Forms EnvelopesLetterheads Raffle Tickets ron graphics 8i promotions Call 923-6377 for Conventions, Workshops Sports Awards, Pow-wow, Golf Tourn. Child Awards, Giveaways, Gaming caps, pens, Hhirts, mugs, bags, etc. (Embroidery screen priming) Hand-painted murals and designing. Signage: Wood, plastic, metal, & vinyl Tourism plan meeting April 21 There will be a meeting on the Warm Springs Sustainable Tourism Action Plan on Wednesday, April 21, at the Museum at Warm Springs. The meeting will be from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to review the information from the last meeting on mar ket trends and opportunities, to select key markets to pursue that are consistent with the overall goal of the tribes, and to pri oritize, products and potential m- products! for implementation. -; -'This discussion yijl provide the necessary information for action planning at the next meet ing. The April 21 meeting will be the fourth of the Sustainable Tourism Action Plan team. The following is a brief sum mary of how the plan has pro gressed so far: The first meeting on the tour ism action plan was held in Janu ary. Key issues identified in cluded: Tourism is of interest as the means to the end of generating more jobs for tribal members. Many community members have a negative perception of tourism that must be acknowl edged and addressed. Controlling the impact of tourism on quality of life and the environment is a critical con cern. Tourism could provide a ve hicle for increased community pride, and increased apprecia tion by outsiders of tribal val ues and culture. The development of tourism in a beneficial way will require close cooperation of many en tities within and outside of tribal government, and it will require a champion to succeed. The six principles of sustain able tourism as presented at the first meeting are: Sustainable tourism serves a target market that is profitable, with promising long term viabil ity. It is integrated with and re spectful of the culture, home land, heritage, and people of a place. Sustainable tourism generates localized economic development benefits. It generates develop ment that has a balanced and beneficial impact on the envi ronment and community. It generates revenue that is invested in conserving and en hancing the unique features of the community. And sustainable tourism en courages diverse parties to work together to create synergy and to address challenges that emerge. . , , v ...,., . - The second meeting on the Sustainable Tourism Action Plan . was held at Warm Springs Power Enterprises in February. The agenda included sharing what participants had heard from other community members about tourism and the potential for increased sustainable tour ism, and an introduction of as set mapping as a planning tool. The group spent time discuss ing perhaps the greatest chal lenge to success in developing increased sustainable tourism -engaging the interest and partici pation of the broader commu nity, who are likely to be am bivalent about tourism. The group also discussed spe cific plans for expansion and refocusing of activities at Kah-Nee-Ta and the museum that would enhance opportunities for cultural tourism and entrepre neurship. The third meeting was held at the Agency Longhouse in March. Data was presented re garding trends in tourism, im- i pacts on Warm Springs, and choices of future direction for i developing tourism. While the state of Oregon i markets heavily to in-state and , regional travelers, the market for some of the potential products , that Warm Springs has to offer 1 is international. There is a lot of competition with Warm Springs ' for the in-state traveler: both for the visitor seeking a "resort" ex- J perience, and for the traveler seeking outdoor recreation. A detailed market report was dis- tributed at this third meeting. , V DDDDDU (sale ends April 31st) iJM 525 S. 5th Sheet, Madmi, 631 97741 (541)475-2578 SUPERMARKETS! We're Back Arthur Landscaping A re you feeling sorry for you r yard ? I j Tlten you should call: Beveny Annur (541) 553-0426 home or (541) 410-9228 cell 5 $5.00 Off Any cake with this coupon. Not to exclude price of cake 561 SW 4th St. 475-3637 4521 Madras Store Only
