E-Coosh EEWA: The wy it is
Page 4 Spilyay Tymoo September 29, 2005
Spilyay
Speaks
Day of bowling
fun for Warm
Springs team
By Selena Boise
Management successor
llow'rc your bones? 1 am
fine, thank you.
I recently attended a
fundraiser held at Tigard, where
1 met and bowled with Gov. Ted
Kulongoski. I was anxious and
nervous to actually attend, but
once I arrived with my daugh
ter Tonya we began
our practice and
had a good time.
But as it always
docs, the same thing
happened to me like other times
I've bowled. I used up my good
bowling during practice and
couldn't pick up a spare for any
thing. My daughter wasn't expect
ing to bowl, but when Michael
Mason, our teammate, asked
her to, she said yes. ( )ur other
teammates were editor Dave
McMechan and Chief Pelvis
I leath. And we were fortunate
to take third in the tournament.
Kulongoski was bowling a
few frames for us and at times
he would bowj the first ball and
we would try to pick up the
spare. Of coiirse, I couldn't but
the others could. Delvis was our
high scorer for the team, then
Dave, then Tonya, mc, and fi
nally Michael Mason.
We met a lot of people there
and had a good time, I'm glad
that I went.
Letters to the Editor
BPA, clean air
1 am sick and tired of always
hearing about BPA and the
"wasted" water issues. BPA,
NOAA and COH do not own
the Columbia River and that's a
fact. BPA will bash all projects
related to salmon even when
more salmon are returning.
The four Treaty Tribes of the
Columbia River are supposed to
have federal trust responsibili
ties that protect the tribal way
of life.
The Northwest Power Act of
1980 calls for equitable treat
ment between power and
salmon.
BPA's budgets are set through
rate cases every five years, but
so far the rate cases are not bal
ancing, so the ratepayers are
favored. Then BPA goes into its
brainwashing of the public with
its $67 million and $80 million
loss tied to wasted water for the
salmon. BPA did this 2000-05
and guess what's up for 2006.
I am glad to hear that there
are a lot more people that ob
ject to field burning here in Cen
tral Oregon. We are all headed
into a global warming trend that
cannot be reversed.
Field burning adds more pol
lution to the atmosphere besides
contamination to people's pos
sessions and their bodies. This
process has caused highway ac
cidents and I believe just one
accident is one too many.
Central Oregon is basically
dry land farming, and water is
icing on the cake. I've seen fields
covered with white chemical
after being burnt.
I do not appreciate the pol-
Imagine paradise!
2005 is the year that the Nez
Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs
and Yakama Tribes commemo
rate the 150,h Anniversary of
the Treaties of 1 855. Join us as
we honor and show our respect
to the river and the River
People long ago.
We can't turn the world
about, but I believe my
daughter's people are still fish
ing at the falls. I believe their
salmon are always running. I
believe they are still happy and
laughing. Peel their joy and lis
ten to their merry shouts.
By the river, for the river
and from the river. . . The River
People Forever!
Edison Yazzie, Black
Mesa Dine.
Selena and Tonya Boise, Chief
Heath and Gov. Kulongoski.
-A
Casino
Long before the Europeans
inadvertently found our ances
tors, we occupied a vast and rich
territory oriented toward the Co
lumbia River where we tradi
tionally fished for salmon,
hunted game, and gathered
roots and berries as an ancient
egalitarian partnership society.
However, the newcomers mis
understood our way of life, and
unfortunately, they recognized
the value of our land.
With colonization, our people
experienced cultural genocide;
our population was decimated
when the European diseases
transpired in this region and
killed hundreds of thousands of
Indians, who had no immunity
to the foreign diseases. Our an
cestors experienced forced re
moval from our lands, board-
lution to my vehicles and in my ing school, missionaries, new
l, r liffifcsTlVlftettnaf. actions "ncej systems 6AgpteinmwtJlsM
to be taken soon. Write your on the western paradigm.
representatives and the gover
nor. Terry Courtney.
Toe Ness
Did' you 'hear about the
cross-eyed teacher? r
She couldn't keep control of her
pupils.
Why did the. .boy eat his
homework?
Beiafs'i Ms feucfSer said it was a
. . V"'z 1 " : - '
piece oj cake.
Forever
Regarding letters
Thank you for writing to
the Spilyay Tymoo. Please,
when writing, keep in mind
that letters should be of no
more than 350 words.
Also, no statements that
are libelous against another
person can be published in
the paper.
. Deadline to submit items
is late in the afternoon of
Friday of the week before
publication.
I'd like to take you back in
time, to the ancient lands of the
River People.
Imagine no dams, no bridges,
no highways, no railways, no
towns or crowded cities.
Imagine and endless ever
green forest and pristine moun
tains. Imagine harvesting various
roots and berries from the
slopes and mountains.
Imagine hunting the deer and
elk in the plateaus and moun
tains. Imagine a wild raging river,
churning rapids and falls.
Imagine thousands and thou
sands of salmon migrating up
the river.
Imagine people fishing and
the fish drying.
Imagine happiness and
laughter everywhere.
My grandfather Lollimaash
Herbert Stwyer Sr. spoke to my
high school class about the
lengthy dialogue that took place
before the treaty was signed.
Our 'ichiishkinwit' dialogue in
which culture is possessive is die
mutual respect and honor of a
holistic dialogue that is beyond
the tip of conscious knowledge
because our life ways involve
the set of natural laws diat gov
ern the relationship between
man and the natural world
around us. In other words, our
Elders taught us to regard the
land, the air, the water, all of
the animals, all of the plants, as
part of ourselves. That is the
unwritten law.
Then there was the forced
movement away from our lands
and, ultimately, the negative fed
eral policies and bureaucracy
whose sole purpose was to main
tain the power structure that
continues today. Perhaps, 150
years later, the dynamics of
bureaucratic violence and op
pression has taught us all too
well the horrifying power of 'Pa
triarchy'. Patriarchy refers to
male-centered and male-dominated
system based on control
and fear. Patriarchy encourages
men to seek security, status, and
other rewards through control;
to fear other men's ability to
control and harm them; and to
identify being in control as both
their best defense against loss
and humiliation and the most
sure route to what they need and
desire. Patriarchy is grounded in
a Great Lie that the answer to
life's needs is disconnection and
control rather than connection,
sharing, and cooperation. The
web of patriarchal culture is a
compromise to our Plateau
value system, which has a strong
emphasis on the family, the cen
trality of grandmothers and
mothers.
This is the introduction to
my viewpoint of how our tribes'
are going about the slow road
of development of a mega-casino
in Cascade Locks. The
gaming task force delivered a
referendum for a casino in
Madras. They neglected to ask
the tribal membership for our
opinion on the best location, so
that referendum soundly failed.
V This was,quickly followed by a
strong campaign for a casino in
Hood River, 'the family events
and get-rich scheme proved to
sell us on the referendum for
the casino in Hood River. A
highly reputable Alaskan firm
was paid $1.5 million for the
architectural design. For some
unknown reason they were fired
and a non-Indian firm was
brought in to design a casino in
Cascade Locks. The compact
with the state of Oregon was
signed, even though the Tribes
didn't own the land. Wow. How
backwards is that? Where is the
accountability for such an expen
sive, negligent process?!
The patriarchal leadership
has held much of this slow-track
development in secrecy from
the tribal membership. We had
a joke of a Simnasho district
meeting on gaming where we
were addressed like we were dif
ficult children. We were advised
not to 'editorialize.' We requested
a general council meeting 'with
a budget report'. Why all the
secrecy? We finally learned of
the $10 million expenditures
between the years 1997-2004
and the plans to expend $15
million more during the next
three or maybe four years be
fore construction and opera
tional costs. "Our" Power En
terprise transferred $5 million
with plans to transfer $2 million
more to the MadrasHood
RiverCascade Locks casino
development.
The casino development re
port shows millions of tribal
dollars spent on public relations
at Cascade Locks and Hood
River, and I compared it to the
$700 spent on district meetings
for the tribal membership. Mom
held up her bag of peanuts that
she got at the Simnasho District
meeting, saying "This is what we
get." I love her sense of hu
mor. Besides the millions for
public relations consultants, the
tribes' attorney is double-dipping
and collecting millions for
legal and public relations. Don't
get me wrong, I understand the
need for legal advice, but let's
pay attention and learn how to
temper the brazen, oudandish
legal billings.
To learn about our compact
with the state of Oregon, I had
to read the Grand Ronde
Smoke Signals newspaper "fbr"a"
full report. Why did we foolishly
pay a consultant $84,000 to de
termine that we should give up
15 percent of the profits to the
state of Oregon? I actively serve
on the National Indian Gaming
Association advisory board for
business networks. I observed
the southern California gaming
tribes tell Governor (Arnold)
Schwartzenegger that they
refuse to pay any more than
corporate America, that is eight
percent - our 15 percent is
nearly double that amount, for
goodness sakes! Let's see the
math for the $580 million pro
jected revenue in 10 years, 15
percent of that is $87 million
dollars in comparison to eight
percent that totals $46 million
dollars.
I attended the first BIA En
vironmental Impact Assessment
hearing at Cascade Locks and
was disappointed in the lack of
ichiishkinwit dialogue that our
people once revered. Everyone
was herded to the seating area
to listen to BIA bureaucrats in
form us that if we have any
thing to say, we could speak to
the two court reporters located
on the side of the room, we can
write on a flip chart, or we can
mail a letter. It was a very well
orchestrated meeting and a
rather embarrassing public im
age - given the fact that we were
standing on sacred land. Once
again, I was offended that all the
information that tribal members
have been asking was available
for all to see outside the reser
vation boundaries.
The sleepy town of Cascade
Locks lacks the infrastructure
for a mega-casino. Who will
work in our casino? If a tribal
member decides to move to
Cascade Locks, housing isn't
available. What is the impact
of Cowlitz's mega-casino that
will be closer to the Portland
Vancouver metro area?
Our casino opponents, the
Restaurant Association 'and
Grand Ronde have deep pock
ets and they seem determined
to drag the legal battle on for
years.
I am proud that our
Simnasho Elders are virtuous in
their stance against casino de
velopment in general and they
are against alcohol beverage, ser
vice in the casino. That is whom"
weilisien-to in .times, of need. I
Why didn't they schedule a hear
ing within the 50-mile radius
near Warm Springs, may I ask?
It is very devastating that ;Our
'voice' is lacking in the first two
hearings. A bus ride to the hear
ings is disrespectful to our
people. In my observation this
process works well for the pa
triarchal system of control and
disconnection rather than con
nection, sharing and coopera
tion. Nye!
Nak'ishayat
Stwyer).
Blessings,
(Aurolyn
Contracting Community Health services
Spilyay Tymoo
CCoyote News, Est. 1976)
Publisher Emeritus: Sid Miller
Editor: Dave McMechan
Management Successor: Selena T. Boise
Advertising Manager: Sam Howard
Staff Writer: Brian Mortensen
Media Advisor: Bill Rhoades
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the Confeder
ated Tribes of Warm Springs.
Our offices are located in the white house at 1 1 00 Wasco
Street.
Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo
should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR
97761.
Phone: (54 1 ) 553-1 644 or 553-3274.
FAX No. (541)553-3539.
E-Mail: spilyaytymoowstribes.org.
Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $15.00.
By Jody Calica
Secretary-Treasurer
The Warm Springs Tribes'
proposal to operate the Public
Health Nursing Program under
a PL93-638 contract has been
discussed by and with the Tribal
Council for several years.
The discussions have taken
a much more earnest tenor over
the past year culminating first
with a letter and then a resolu
tion aimed at improving the
quality and quantity of direct
health services to our people.
Against this backdrop, the back
lash to the Tribal Council Reso
lution appears misguided and
misinformed.
It appears quite obvious that
self-serving motives are in mo
rion through a campaign of will
ful misinformation and engi
neered chaos. The news article
in the Madras Pioneer makes a
very clear disclosure of some
principals that are involved in
an act of sabotage against the
Tribal Council's decision and
action.
Under a more informed ex
amination, the services claims
made in that article shows a se
rious lack of honesty, respect
and sincerity. In particular, there
have been flat refusals to pro
vide professional health support
to both High Lookee Lodge and
the corrections residents.
The Early Childhood Educa
tion Department has a made a
valiant effort to regain compli
ance with both the state and fed
eral contract performance stan
dards. We appreciate the com
mitment of our staff to get
positive results. We do have a
concern about the chaos and
conflict being created at the
ECE and in the. community.
I Iorror stories are being created
to say that medical staff would
not be capable of working
across the street that separates
the two centers.
Outside of the Early Child
hood Education Department,
very few community members
are aware of the PI IN staff by
name or the services and ac
complishments being achieved
individually or collectively. Cur
rent employees are receiving
salaries diat are paid grossly over
market and we could have at
least six nurses for the same cost
that we are paying the current
four nurses.
The nature of the current
controversy and deteriorated
sense of PHN services is a dis
service to the dedication and a
standard of excellence achieved
by Virginia Forsthe and the late
Kathleen Moses. Much of their
efforts and accomplishments
were obvious because they were
constantly out in the community
among our people. Our health
services have moved away from
that community health delivery
model to operating like a pro
fessional medical group.
Members of die community
continue to express concerns
about the availability and acces
sibility of health care resources
and services. Constant sources
of criticism are the waiting time
for services, access to appoint
ments, prescriptions and follow
up. Community healdi services
could increase responsiveness,
as could access with the Field
Health Nurses as more active
points of contact for all clinic
based semces and medical re
ferrals. With the growing cost of
health care and pharmacy
prices, our community must
concentrate more energy and
resources at preventative health
care opposed to higher-cost
acute and emergency health care
situations. A better community
health system would ensure that
our people with health needs
would have better and more
assured access to appointments
and referrals for medical and
related health services. v
A few years back, the Tribal
Council authorized the dispatch
of feral dog packs and coyotes
caught attacking, maiming and
killing livestock and wildlife,
pregnant and juvenile animals
being die most vulnerable. That
produced another adverse pub
licity campaign of accusations
made against our community
and our leadership to the Ameri
can Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals. This cre
ated an impression that the wel
fare of stray dogs was equal to
or greater than matters of tribal
member health.
The Warm Springs Service
Unit is known as the place to
come for retirement. Federal
retirement benefits are based
upon the employee's highest
three-year salary history. We
have many dedicated health pro
fessional working at Warm
Springs, and w e do respect and
appreciate their commitment.
i