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Spilyqy Tyrooo, Wwm Springs, Oregon
June 10, 2004
Pqge3
Some Indians switch tribes to escape poverty
(AP) - Charles Icno worked
a dead-end job dealing Cfirds at
the Chinook Winds casino on
the Oregon coast, earning mini
mum wage and not much in
fringe benefits.
I le saw little in his future, so
he was casting about for a
change - and the change he de
cided on was his tribe.
Last year the 28-year-old
moved from the tribe of his
mother's ancestry, the Silctz, to
his father's tribe, the Confeder
ated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
- operators of Oregon's most
successful casino.
"They help you more here,"
he said.
As a tribal member, he re
ceives between $4,000 and
$5,000 a year in per-capita pay
ments. I le had hiring priority for
a higher-paying job at Spirit
Mountain casino. And his new
born son, Future Warrior, re
ceives the same benefits ever)'
year in a trust - a solid invest
ment of tens of thousands of
dollars by the time the boy turns
18.
American Indians are discov
ering that one possible route out
of poverty is joining a tribe with
a successful casino, a transfer
that's allowed if they can show
they have blood ties to that tribe.
"We're experiencing people
enrolling in one tribe, and relin
quishing from another," said
Lynn Holder, an Indian demog
rapher and director of the Uni
versity of Washington tribal
community partnership pro
gram. "Typically, this happens
around the tribes that have
been economically stronger and
provide more housing and ser
vices." National statistics on switch
ing are not available because of
the sovereign nature of tribal
governments, according to Bu
reau of Indian Affairs spokes
man Gary Garrison. Tribal of
ficials stress that switching tribes
is a decision not made lightly,
and sometimes is done for per
sonal reasons unrelated to ca
sino payouts or job opportuni
ties. Hut the movement opens a
window on the disparity of
wealth among tribes in the 16
years since the passage of the
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act
in 1988.
Bob Tom, 66, a retired pow
wow announcer, transferred into
the Grand Ronde because of
benefits from the casino and to
gain access to tribal archives list
ing religious sites of his father's
tribe, the Shasta Indians of
northern California.
I le now has access to docu
ments revealing the location of
spirit quest sites, prehistoric
circles of boulders where men
fasted and performed religious
rites.
"It's a lot easier for me to do
that at Grand Ronde. They have
the archives," he said.
It is not uncommon in the
Pacific Northwest for Indians
to have tics to more than one
tribe. It is the legacy of 19th
century policies that split fami
lies and collected multiple bands
and tribes onto single reserva
tions - some now close to cities
and development, others remote
and still grindingly poor.
Tribal officials say even those
who change tribes for economic
reasons don't make the move
frivolously.
Madeline Queahpama-Spino,
director of vital statistics at the
Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs east of Portland,
said some people mull the deci
sion for years before filing pa
perwork to switch.
"It's a very personal deci
sion," she said. And switching is
not frowned upon if a person
has the heritage to qualify for
more than one'tribe, she said.
Two members of her tribe
have relinquished enrollment
this year, she said, including one
It's a very personal
decision.,, and switching
is not frowned upon if
a person has the heri
tage to qualify for more
than one tribe.
Madeline Qutahpama-Splno
Vital Statistics Director
Confederated Tribes
ot Warm Springs
who headed to the affluent
Kalispell tribe in Washington,
leaving behind the trailer homes
and horse pastures of Warm
Springs in the high desert.
The Umatilla in eastern Or
egon, the Puyallup, Coeur
d'Alene and Muckleshoot, all
operating relatively successful
casinos, also have become mag
nets for people who wish to
transfer, Holder said.
Under the 1934 Indian Re
organization Act, tribes set the
rules for their own membership.
They usually require a one
fourth blood quantum for mem
bership, but the requirement
sometimes is as little as one
32nd. Some tribes measure to
one-256th.
There are 1.8 million enrolled
members in 562 federally rec
ognized tribes in the United
States. Vet far more people - 2.5
million - identified themselves
as primarily Indian or Alaskan
native on the 2000 Census. A
total of 4.1 million people re
ported on that federal form that
they have some Indian heritage.
Some people of mixed In
dian background from multiple
tribes do not qualify for mem
bership in any one tribe, said
Gary Garrison of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs. The bureau
offers a generic Indian identity
card to such people if they are
at least one-quarter Indian.
At the Grand Ronde, a con
federation of 26 tribes and
bands forced onto a single res
ervation in the 19th century, the
leadership welcomes all who
qualify under its one-quarter
blood quantum rule, said tribal
spokesman Brent Merrill.
The casino is helping the tribe
recover from decades of with
ering poverty and a steady exo
dus of ambitious young people.
Until it regained recognition
in 1983, the tribe's holdings had
dwindled to seven acres occu
pied by the tribal cemetery.
Tribal members left the area
looking for work, sometimes
settling on other reservations
and starting families.
Most who remained eked out
a living as loggers, until the ca
sino arrived in 1995.
It was an overnight success.
The parking lot off Oregon
Route 18 is a panoramic expanse
of recreational vehicles and
cars, full even on weekdays. The
casino nets roughly $65 million
annually.
That success, Merrill said,
has helped rebuild the Grand
Ronde tribe from between 600
to 900 members when it re
gained federal recognition in
1983, to more than 5,000 to
day, including tribal members re
turning from other reservations.
"It's no different than leav
ing logging to work for an up
and coming industry with better
pay and benefits," said Tom, the
former powwow announcer.
"This tribe is doing a fabulous
job."
Museum exhibit features Native
artwork from the Pacific Rim
An exhibit opens this month
at the Museum at Warm Springs
featuring works by 71 artists
from 38 nations.
The indigenous cultures rep
resented at the exhibit are among
those of the Pacific Rim, includ
ing Pacific Northwest, Hawaii,
Tlingit-Haida, Onondaga, Santa
Clara Pueblo, Nez Perce, Maori,
among others.
This cultural exchange exhibit
will be unveiled on June 19 at
the museum. There will be an
opening reception with tradi
tional dancing from 1 1 a.m. till
3 p.m.
The exhibit is called,
"Hiteemlkiliilsix, Within the
Circle of the Rim," and contains
works of carving, weaving, pot
tery, painting and printmaking.
"Hiteemlkiliiksix" is a Nez
Perce term referring to "being
within the circle."
The exhibit will be on display
at the museum through Septem
ber 6, in the Changing Exhibits
Gallery.
The show is a reflection of
these words by Skokomish tribal
member and artist Bruce
Subiyay Miller:
"Why is art important to
those who are artists? Because
it allows us to sing without a
song, to give our true spirit into
something we create out of
something nature has given us. . .
That is important at a time
when many of us have lost our
languages, our customs, and
many of the things we look
upon as comprising a complete
culture. We still have our art
work." Artwork by Miller is included
in the upcoming exhibit. After
leaving Warm Springs in Sep
tember, the exhibit will travel to
Pacific Rim country of New
Zealand.
Summer at Boys & Girls
Club begins next week
The Warm Springs Boys
& Girls Club begins Monday,
June 14, and ends on Aug. 13.
The regular club hours are
Monday through Friday,
10:30 a.m. till 5:30 p.m.
The club is also offering
"early bird" hours for chil
dren that would like to come
to club before the regular
time. The early bird time be
gins at 7:30 a.m.
Children must be 6 years
and older to attend the Boys
& Girls Club. Annual cost is
$10 per member.
Cost of using the early
bird hours is $5 per day; $25
per week; or $225 for the
summer. Call June, Alice or
Binky at 553-3161 for infor
mation. Or stop by the club
at 1 1 22 Wasco St., next to the
kindergarten mudular.
The Spilyay reaches more
tribal member
households than any other
newspaper in Oregon.
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