Pge 8
Spilyay Tyrooo, Wrrr? Springs, Oregon
M3rch 17,-2005
Report: Tribal casinos add $1 billion to Oregon economy
(Al) - The stale's nine tribal
casinos add more than $1 bil
lion to Oregon's economy, ac
cording to a report to be issued
Tuesday.
The study was commissioned
by the tribes and authored by
Robert W'helan, a Portland
economist for the
1 ,C( )orth west consulting firm
who has followed the gambling
business in Oregon for years,
The report, a copy of which was
obtained early by The Orego
nian newspaper, says tribal
gambling's impact extends be
yond the 5,300 casino-related
jobs to include additional spend
ing for tribal services and more
business for suppliers and con
struction companies,
"We have a place in this
economy," said Gary George,
chairman of the Oregon Gam
ing Alliance, a consortium of
nine tribes that operate casinos,
"We're trying to raise the aware
ness of Indian gaming and what
it is all about."
The nine tribal casinos across
the state generated a reported
SI 89 million in profits in 2003.
Although tribal gambling has
grown rapidly since the first ca
sino was established in Oregon
in 1994, it is still a distant sec
ond in gambling revenue to the
Oregon Lottery. In 2003, the
year the study focused on, bet
tors lost $638 million playing the
lottery, compared with $384
million at tribal casinos.
The tribes have become con
cerned that their share of the
market is vulnerable to compe-
'i ;o ,A.m?-cW
Bnan MortentenSpilyay
Visitors from three Native bands from Saskatchewan, Canada, appeared in Warm Springs
February 21 . The group included, from left, Vice-chief Delbert Wapass, Rodney Venne,
Lester Lafond, Tribal Chief Richard Gladve, and Harold Jimmy.
Canadian Indians visit Warm Springs
A group from the First
Nations Bands of
Saskatchewan, Canada, were
in Warm Springs recently as
part of a tour of business and
industrial sites around the U.S.
The group, from the Flying
Dust, Muskeg Lake, and
Thunderchild first nations,
visited the Museum at Warm
Springs and Warm Springs
Forest Products Industries.
The group included Tribal
Chief Richard Gladve of the
Flying Dust First Nation of
Saskatchewan, and Vice-chief
Delbert Wapass of the
Thunderchild First Nation.
"This particular trip, they
went to San Francisco, then they
came up here," said Susan
Guerin, a consultant from First
Indigenous Depository Com
pany, who, along with Charles
Tailfeathers of Warm Springs,
led the touring group.
"The museum was the first
stop, to give them a feel for us,"
Guerin said.
The Flying Dust, Muskeg
Lake, and Thunderchild first
nations are among 32 nations
in one of the six areas in
Saskatchewan divided by trea
ties. All three nations are in
Treaty Six, which covers the.
middle part of the provincepJ
stretching from its western
border almost to its eastern
border.
Livestock: area
tested for chemicals
(Continued from page 3)
"Urea is a protein supplement
for cattle in a molasses base,"
McFarland said last week. "If
they're salt-hungry, cattle will
drink motor oil."
As a supplement, urea is usu
ally served to cattle in hard
blocks they have to lick, the
veterinarian said. The hardness
of the block also keeps the
cattle from ingesting too much
of the supplement and getting
sick.
"Certain things control con
sumption," McFarland said.
"But if it snows so the urea
block is liquid, then they could
drink it or lick it," McFarland
said.
A dead cow found at the
dumpsite and one that had been
poisoned and was still alive were
both tested. The one that had
been alive died after it had been
transported to Cascade East
clinic in Madias within a few
hours, but not before
McFarland had been able to take
a blood sample. After it died, he
was able to perform a necropsy,
as well as take tissue samples
and a sample of its ocular fluid
from its eye.
The samples indicated lethal
amounts of ammonia within the
cow's system.
"Urea is a protein supplement
that converts to ammonia in the
rumen, or first stomach depart
ment," according to a report
from McFarland to Smith. "If
registered in sufficient quantities,
this can cause death.
"The ammonia levels in the
ocular fluid, the clinical signs
present in the live cow, and his
tory of exposure to urea con
firmed death due to ammonia
toxicity," McFarland's report
continued.
McFarland said some
samples from his tests were
sent to a U.S. Department of
Agriculture lab at Ames, Iowa.
Soil samples taken from the
dumpsite, both by the tribal sci
entists and a hazardous materi
als crew had tested negative for
heavy metals and for both so
dium fluoride and magnesium
chloride, Dee Sehgal, Environ
mental Office manager for the
Confederated Tribes said.
"My crew went out and tested
the water and soil on the day
(the dead cattle were discov
ered), and we took a sample to
Bend," Sehgal said. He said the
tests concluded there was "noth
ing of concern."
He said his department
checked for fluoride in the wa
ter, after empty sacks marked
as having contained sodium
fluoride were found at the
dumpsite. He said his depart
ment had also looked for mag
nesium chloride in the water, as
it is sometimes used as a dust
deterrent.
"We thought it may have
leached and run onto the
ground in high concentrations,"
Sehgal said. "Fluoride is nor
mally used in drinking water, but
high concentrations of it can be
harmful, just as anything can."
A hazardous materials team
tested the area, which had sev
eral puddles of standing water
from snowmclt at the time, for
heavy metals and nitrates, and
those tests were negative as well.
The area where the cattle
came in contact with the urea
has been used as a dumpsite for
years, where area residents had
discarded items as large as old
appliances for years.
Refuse transfer stations,
where large dumpsters will be
in place to collect garbage for
transport to the reservation
landfill at Dry Creek, in the
Sidwalter area, as well as in
Simnasho and Seekseequa,
Herb Graybael, Tribal Public
Utilities Director, said.
"They're almost finished," he
said. "As soon as they're finished,
we have the funding to close the
illegal dumpsites."
Until they're finished, it
wouldn't do much good to clean
the dump, "because we'd have
to do it all over again."
When Publics Works does
clean up the dumpsites, it will
separate recyclable materials
such as metals and plastics from
non-recyclable items that would
be transferred to the Dry Creek
landfill. Once the refuse is
picked up, the dumpsites will be
leveled with heavy equipment.
"The new facility will keep
people from using the
dumpsites," Graybael said, as the
dumpsters in place at the trans
fer stations are 40 cubic yards
in size. The dumpsters will be
moved once a week or more, if
needed, Graybael said.
"Maybe at different times of
the year, like spring clean-up, we
may have to go there (to trans
fer the dumpsters) two or three
times a week," he said.
The dumpsters are moved
with the use of a special truck,
which has already been used at
the Dry Creek landfill. People
who have tried to deposit refuse
at the Dry Creek landfill may
notice they were not allowed to
dump their items at the landfill
grounds but have been limited
to using the two dumpsters,
much like the ones that will soon
be at the three transfer stations,
that are in place. Those
dumpsters are emptied five days
a week. Allowing the public to
use the dumpsters, he said, al
lows his crew to control what
goes into the landfill.
tition from an expanding lottery
and new casino proposals, in
cluding one close to the Port
land market. George said he
also worries that gambling op
ponents may try a ballot mea
sure that would curtail legal gam
bling in the state.
The study concluded that the
casinos have had a positive ef
fect on tribal members and
nearby communities. From
1990 to 2000, the poverty rate
among the state's American In
dians dropped by 7.5 percent, a
Museum
hosting Easter
Treasure Hunt
The Museum at Warm
Springs hosts its annual Easter
Treasure I lunt at the west field .
of the museum at 1 p.m. Satur
day, March 26.
Children and youth are in
vited to seek Easter treasures in
the hunt, and a fund-raising
Cakewalk is scheduled for non
hunters, moms and dads and
other relatives.
Children are asked to bring
their own baskets for the trea
' sures they find. The Easter
Bunny will be present at the
hunt. The Easter Tjeasure Hunt
is free and open to the community.
far greater decline than for Or
egon as a whole, the study
showed. Income and educa
tional gains among American
Indians also grew more rapidly
than among other Oregonians.
The report also found that
casino workers on average
made more than twice the wage
of leisure and hospitality work
ers in the eight counties where
the casinos operated in 2003.
They also typically received
employer-paid health care and
retirement benefits.
Unlike the lottery, which
turns over its profits to the state,
tribal gambling does not produce
any direct revenue for the state
or local governments. But the
economic activity did generate
almost" $43 million in state and
local taxes in 2003, the study
said, and the tribes contributed
more than $7 million that year
to community projects.
George said some of the ca
sinos have spurred an important
flow of money from the state's
urban areas to more rural parts.
Class teaches weaving
A beginning "Wapus" or weaving and twining class is open
to youths who are Warm Springs Tribal members or Natives
of the Columbia River Plateau at The Museum of Warm
Springs.
The one-on-one class is open to the first six who register
and is open for anyone ages 12 and up at the museum con
ference room March 22-24 from 5 to ,8 p.m. The class is
free. Contact the museum to register at 553-3331, ext. 412,
to register.
Drum-making for youth
Emerson Squiemphcn will lead a spring drum making class for
Warm Springs tribal members and natives of the Columbia River
Plateau for 10 people March 21-24 at The Museum at Warm
Springs' Education Room.
The class is for anyone ages 14 and older and is from 6 to 8:30
p.m. each night.
Call the museum to register for the class at 553-3331, ext. 407.
Master Gardeners ready to start season
The Master Gardener Pro
gram at Warm Springs is gear
ing up for the spring and sum
mer. Edith McBean and Tina
Burnside will return for an
other year. In addition, Exten
sion is welcoming two new train
ees - Brigette Whipple and
Kathy Danzuka.
The Master .Gardeners are
sending an invitation to all tribal
members interested in having
their craftwork entered in the
Spring Gardening Seminar
and Garden Market on April
16. For information call the
Extension office at 553-1520.
Deadline to submit is March 31.
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