Pa ge 12
Spilyqy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
June 25, 2005
Letter: seen
as unwise
(Continued from page 1)
The charge that we would
"trash" the very place that we
arc from and where we have for
a millennium gathered the tra
ditional roods that form the
basis of our Indian way of life
is deeply offensive. We are sure
that the non-Indian residents of
Cascade Iocks and I lood River
County feel the same.
We do not challenge your
right to object on legitimate
grounds to our Cascade I-ocks
casino project, although our
policy on such inter-tribal dis
putes is different from your!1. We
did not object when the Grand
Rondo Tribe made several pro
posals in recent years for ca
sino in Portland, once in ex
change for a baseball stadium,
once in exchange for a conven
tion center hotel and most re
cently in connection with the
Portland Meadows Race Track.
Our view is that it is inappro
priate for one tribe to criticize
another tribe's efforts at achiev
ing economic self-sufficiency
and addressing the pressing so
cial needs of its people. We be
lieve that all tribes are inevita
bly hurt by such pubic criticisms
that we find most disturbing.
Moreover, we think it is un-
Work crew:
experience
and motivation
(Continued from page 1)
Soliz had managed crews
like the Community Work
Crew as part of the
Workforce Education Devel
opment Department
(WF.DD) program, and con
tinued until she was promoted
to her current position as
manager of the Community
Employment office.
There arc 10 members of
the crew at any one time, with
new members joining as oth
ers graduate.
The crew has a foreman
who stays on for two years
and learns valuable manage
rial skills, like supervision,
maintaining a budget, and stay
ing on top of reports. People
in die crew with a driver's li
cense can earn an additional
$1 an hour because of the
added responsibility of driv
ing the crew van to each of
its locations.
Anyone interested in join
ing the crew can visit Soliz in
her office at the Administra
tion Building between 7 a.m.
and 4 p.m., or call her at 553
3298. Soliz said she sees her mis
sion as being able to provide
jobs, and help people to get
their own jobs in today's mar
ket, rather than waiting for the
next big tribally created con
struction project.
She said she also sees a
need to make employment
"simple" again.
"Over decades and de
cades, we've become more
policy and process driven than
we have become effective at
quality service," she said. "No
matter where we turn, we've
got to get X number of sig
natures, fill out X number of
papers, go through this
humongous chain of com
mand to accomplished what
needs to be done.
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Brian MortenMTVbpilyay
Missy Wolfe, left, and Tia Wheeler gather grass clippings
during the Community Work Force's project at the Warm
Springs Rodeo Grounds last week.
"So we need to make it
simple again," she said, "for the
person on the street who doesn't
have a car, who doesn't have a
license, doesn't have a job or a
home."
She said it takes a long time
to set up the big projects that
employ a lot of tribal members.
And once these projects are set
up, the people are employed for
a limited time. "We need a
buffer for our people, one that
responds to our immediate need
for jobs," she said. "We can't
afford to keep waiting and wait
ing. We need jobs right now."
Soliz has presented her con
cept of a day labor program, an
interim work force, to the
Warm Springs Tribal Council in
April. The day labor program
would include 20 male workers
and 20 female workers, overseen
by one administrator. Soliz said
she already has a list of 58
projects lined out. Each prospec
tive worker would undergo an
interview to determine his or
her aptitude, skills and training.
"This is going to be a job
bank where we can match
people and jobs," she said. "And
it will be a situation where an
employer can call me up and
say, 'Marcia, send me 10 work-
ers today.'"
Those workers would stay in
the program for a maximum of
346 hours, or 43.25 eight-hour
days.
A project like the day la
bor program, or an active
group like the Community
Work Crew is about motiva
tion. "You can take anybody,
and all they really need is mo
tivation - motivation in life
to get sober, to want to come
to work, to get training," said
Soliz.
Angela Martinez is part of
the Community Work Crew.
Last week, the group was cut
ting and raking tall grass by
the Warm Springs Rodeo
Grounds in preparation for
Pi-Ume-Sha. While she raked
the cut grass, Martinez joked
with foreman Michelle Th
ompson in the warm morn
ing sun. She said being part
of a group that works every
day has been a motivating
experience, because it pro
vides her a pay check, and
because it helps her focus on
a more personal need: taking
care of her young family.
"I have kids and I have to
get them to the baby sitter
early," she said, putting em
phasis on the "early." Six or
seven o'clock in the morning
"is an early start for me, but
it's a challenge, too. It's some
thing I want to be able to do
every day - take my kids to
the babysitter, make it to work
on time, and be there every
day," said Martinez.
wise for the Grand Rondo Trilw
to align itself with organizations
that may not support tribal
rights and sovereignty in an ef
fort to block the Cascade 1icks
casinu While such organizations
may oppose the Cascade I.ocks
casino today, in the future they
may oppose all tribal gaming in
Oregon.
We also note with some sad
ness that your action in associ
ating the Grand Rondo Tribe
with these inaccurate and offen
sive ads is likely to have a last
ing effect on what has been a
special relationship between our
two tribes. Warm Springs
worked hard to help your tribe
regain its federally recognized
status in 1983, an effort the
(rand Rondo Tribal Council
acknowledged by presenting us
with a plaque thanking us for
our efforts on your behalf. Per
haps the best way to help restore
our relationship is to disassoci
ate the Grand Rondo Tribe from
such ads in the future.
Finally, as you know, there is
an established and thorough fed
eral review process for taking
the Cascade Locks Industrial
Park property into trust, which
will include an Environmental
Impact Statement prepared un
der the National Environmen
tal Policy Act that will examine
all of he environmental issues
presented by the project. The
Grand Rondo Tribe will have
every opportunity to make its
views and concerns known in
the course of the Federal review
process.
Accordingly, Grand Rondo
should disassociate itself from,
and cease support for, the
"coalition's" misleading media
campaign. Its ads are a disser
vice to all of Oregon's tribal
community. Sincerely, Ron
Suppah, Chairman, Warm
Springs Tribal Council..
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