Pqge 10
Senator listens, advises tribal
' By Brian Mortensen
'.S pity ay Tymoo
Sen. Ted Ferrioli said he'd
come to Warm Springs on his
:way from Salem to his home in
John Day just to listen Nov. 23.
: The third-term Republican,
:who represents the expansive
District 30, in meeting the Tribal
Council of the Confederated
; Tribes of Warm Springs in the
afternoon and dining with about
;30 tribal members at Kah Nee
Ta High Desert Resort and Ca
sino that evening, did just that.
In an informal session with
tribal members following dinner,
he answered questions on local
.'issues such as recognition of
;Warm Springs Police by neigh
boring law enforcement agen
'cies, the rights of tribal mem
;bcrs to gather cultural foods on
Hands ceded to the tribes, and
'tribal members feelings on the
.Madras-based Jefferson County
;509-J School District,
t He told members he would
favor issuing a "report card" to
District 509-J to let school offi
cials know expectations are not
being met. The report card could
be used to improve communi
cation between tribal members
and the school district, which
becomes increasing important in
light of expected growth in Ma
dras due to the construction of
a Central Oregon Community
College campus and the growth
of Central Oregon in general.
The timber executive who ran
unopposed for his seat and was
recently named Minority Leader
Ipf the Oregon State Senate by
virtue of Democrats' new 18-
East Europeans observe Warm Springs
' By Brian Mortensen
Spilyay Tymoo
The last time a group from
Eastern Europe visited Warm
Springs through the American
Jewish Committee, they were
treated to a powwow.
This so enthralled the visitors
in 2002, another group from
Eastern Europe came to Warm
Springs during a recent 10-day
tour of the United States.
Representatives of three
Eastern European nations,
along with one American, toured
several sites within the Warm
Springs community during a
four-hour visit last Saturday af
ternoon. The visitors, Natalia
Kopelynskaya from Russia,
Tarik Potogija from Bosnia
Herzegovina, and Andrius
Romanvskis of Lithuania, along
with Katrin Eloseily from Wash
ington, D.C., met with officials
from Warm Springs over din
ner at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert
Resort and Casino.
Kopelynskaya, Potogija, and
Romanvskis are part of a larger
group of visitors from Eastern
Europe who were chosen by the
Friedrich Naumann Founda
tion, a political foundation based
in Germany. The larger group
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12 advantage as of the Nov. 2
election, met with the Warm
Springs Tribal Council for the
first time that afternoon.
Fcrrioli, whose district en
compasses the whole of nine
eastern Oregon counties and
parts of three others, described
the Confederated Tribes as an
integral part of his district, one
he takes heed of both when he's
in the district and in Salem. In
turn, he said he's encouraged by
the tribes' drive to work within
the system.
"Part of my encouragement
to the tribe is to become more,
not less, involved. When I first
came to the legislature (in 1997),
the focal point for the tribal in
volvement with state govern
ment was in the governor's of
fice," he said in an interview
prior to the catered dinner.
"Since then, they've become
well acquainted with legislators,
the legislative process, the hear
ing process, bills, and they're
becoming quite adept at lobby
ing." Additionally, he said the Con
federated Tribes have the op
portunity to be "one of the larg
est economic engines in the state
of Oregon.
"(The tribes') efforts for de
veloping a gaming center in Cas
cade Locks would make a big
difference, not only for the
Tribes but for the region," he
said. "Their land base, the larg
est and oldest continuously man
aged and occupied Indian lands
in America are significant."
Coming into the 2005 Legis
lative Session, which begins Jan.
10, Ferrioli said the state bud-
spent time in Washington, D.C.
and New York City before split
ting into four smaller groups that
each visited a U.S. city where the
American Jewish Committee has
a branch office.
The other groups visited
Phoenix, San Diego and San
Francisco. The larger group then
reconvened in Los Angeles Sun
day, and each participant re
turned to their homeland
Wednesday.
Kopelynskaya, a postgraduate
student at the Russian Institute
of Cultural Studies, is the pro
gram director of Project "Tol
erance Institute." Potogija, a law
student at the University of
Sarajevo, is president of the
board of the Liberal Student
Association of Bosnia
Herzegovina. Romanvskis. He
holds a Master's degree in po
litical science from Vilnius Uni
versity in Lithuania, is the direc
tor of the Kuminkacija, a pub
lic relations organization and a
former deputy secretary-general
of the Lithuanian Center Union
Party.
Eloseily works in the Wash
ington office of the Friedrich
Naumann Foundation.
Each participant in the tour
of U.S. cities was nominated to
and ultimately chosen by the
& Jloungc
Spilyqy Tymoo,
"5
Sen. Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day) greets (from left) Harry
Hintsala, Lauraina Hintsala and Alberta Comedown at Kah
Nee Ta High Desert Resort and Casino Nov. 23.
get is the No. 1 topic state law
makers will have to deal with.
"I think budget is just a driver,
overshadowing everything," he
said. "I can take you over to
Ontario. We can take a 10
minute circuit, and on one side
of the (Snake) river, we've got
six, seven, eight, nine-percent
unemployment depending on
the time of year, and then ride
right across the river and you'll
find two-and-a-half-pcrcent
lower unemployment.
"There's a lot of different
attitudes between our commu
nities, an aggressive attitude to
wards growth (in Idaho), cer
tainly a different taxation struc
ture. (Idaho) has a $5.35 mini
mum wage; ours is $7.15 and
going up - one of the highest in
the nation."
But the problem with the
budget isn't the numbers - it's
policy, he said.
He pointed to Vancouver, the
seat of the fastest-growing
Naumann Foundation, which is
active in several Eastern and
Central European nations, in
truding iwribns 'bflfie' former
Soviet Union.
The group met with Rudy
Clements, Director of the Tribal
Relations Branch and chairman
of the board of directors of
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Warm Springs, Oregon
members
r.
brio" Mwienwrvbpiiyay
county in Washington, Clark
County. He described many of
the citizens of Vancouver as
"refugees from Oregon, tax
refugees, or land-use system
refugees, or business-climate
refugees."
I le described the problem as
a failure to reach a balance be
tween the desire for growth and
the pressure to sustain Oregon's
resources.
"I think one has to (find such
a balance) or one's going to have
a bankrupt community," he said.
"And once you get a critical mass
tipped over into unsustainability,
you're in a death spiral and it's
real hard to reverse it."
He said the Democrats' re
cently stated resolve to priori
tize and reform the state's bud
get based on programs' effec
tiveness sounds familiar - much
like the aims of his own party.
"Live within your means, priori
tize, set reasonable goals, reduce
wasteful spending," he said.
Kah-Nee-Ta, native language
teachers Valerie Switzler and
Radine Johnson, Kah-Nee-Ta
General Manager Garland
Brunoe, and Tribal Relations of
ficer Nat Shaw, in addition to
touring The Museum At Warm
Springs and having lunch at
Kah-Nee-Ta.
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Chinooks boycott explorers'
bicentennial celebration
(AP) Their ancestors
helped the struggling Lewis
and Clark expedition stay alive,
but today's Chinook Indian
Nation says the tribe will not
participate in the official bicen
tennial celebration for the ex
plorers. The tribe says it will boy
cott events sanctioned by the
National Council of the Lewis
and Clark Bicentennial, saying
the council's decision to include
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A ROOM F0RV0UT00.
Pecerober 9, 2004
another tribe in the region,
threatens the integrity of the
Chinook Nation's identity.
Tony Johnson, Chinook cul
ture committee chairman, said
it became clear that the national
and local bicentennial organiza
tions are "not interested in a
historically accurate story."
The Chinook Indian Nation
includes 2,300 members, includ
ing five tribes.
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