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
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