SCO
OrColl
E
75
.S6B
v. 3B
no.
November
24, 3
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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ymo
Tribes comment on proposed gaming law
By Dave McMcchan
Spilyay Tymoo
Tribal Council Chairman Ron
Suppah testified recently in Washing
ton, D.C before a I louse of Repre
sentatives committee regarding a draft
bill that could affect the tribes' gaming
expansion plan.
Suppah said the draft bill being cir
culated by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Ca-lif.,
could hurt the Confederated Tribes'
chance of building a casino at Cascade
Locks. Tribal leaders say, though, that
the Cascade Locks proposal is unique
among Indian gaming proposals, and
for this reason should be exempt from
'fc( L J
There are seven tribal members this year who are coaching either at
Madras High School or Jefferson County Middle School. "It's the
most I've seen since I've been here - the most Indian coaches I've
seen in a school district," said Butch David, Warm Springs liaison at
the middle school, who this year helped coached high school
football.
Lana Leonard, liaison at the high school, this year was head coach
of a basketball team at the middle school.
Luanne Foltz, who teaches seventh grade at the middle school, was
head coach of a volleyball team and a basketball team at the middle
school.
Mackey Begay, who works at parol and probation in Warm Springs,
this year coaches the freshman girls basketball team at the high
Language gathering
inspiring for teachers
By Brian Mortensen
Spilyay Tymoo
While teachers of the Confederated
Tribes' languages work to keep the spo
ken word of their ancestors alive, they
have an example from the other side
of the world.
Te Ripoway Higgins and Tonga
Karena are members of the Maori tribe
of New Zealand, and teachers of the
Maori language at the Victoria Univer
sity of Wellington. Before they visited
Warm Springs Nov. 7, they were guest
speakers at a language revitalization
conference in Salem.
Their visit coincided with the appear
ance of an exhibit called "Toi Maori:
The Eternal Thread," at the Hallie Ford
Museum of Art on the Willamette
University Campus in Salem.
"The Eternal Thread," which in
cludes the weaving of current Maori
artists, will be at the Museum at Warm
Springs beginning June 4. It is consid
ered the most significant exhibit of
Maori weaving to leave the country.
Higgins, Head of the School of
Maori Studies at the University of
Wellington, said the circulation of ex
the proposed bill. The Cascade Ixcks
proposal, for instance, is endorsed by
the state and the Confederated Tribes
through a gaming compact.
Congressman Greg Walden, of
Oregon's Second Congressional District,
is a supporter of the tribes in regard to
the Pomlo bill. The local communities
that would be impacted the casino -mainly
Cascade Ixcks and I lixd River
County - arc also largely in favor of
the tribes' proposal.
Strong local and state support put
the Confederated Tribes in a unique
situation with regard to any potential
new legislation, tribal leaders say.
hibits like "The Eternal Thread" have
come along with the revitalization and
mainstreaming of the Maori language
in New Zealand.
"The revitalization of our language
also means the revitalization of our art
- the performing arts and the material
arts - and a huge renaissance that's
been going through New Zealand," said
Higgins.
She said the hope is one day for all
of New Zealand to be bilingual, in
Maori and English. "We're making
major inroads toward that," said
Higgins. "These are some the reasons
we came. Tonga and I have always been
part of the language movement."
Language teachers from several
Northwest Indian tribes attended the
revitalization conference, including the
Umatilla, Grande Ronde, Makah in
Washington, as well as Warm Springs.
"I think we were brought here to
give a historical account of how Maori
people have pursued a pathway of their
own language revitalization, and per
haps to provide some examples that the
tribal people of Oregon can follow"
Higgins said.
See LANGUAGE 12
Moreover, the tribes have already
invested much time and resources into
the gaming expansion plan. The tribes
exerted this effort based on current fed
eral law and regulation, said Chairman
Suppah.
If enacted, the Pombo bill "would
unfairly terminate our tribes effort to
pursue vitally necessary financial self
sufficiency through a gaining facility on
our aboriginal, treaty-reserved lands,"
Suppah said at a I louse hearing on the
proposed legislation.
Pombo, who chairs the I louse Re
sources committee, has not formally
submitted his bill, but said he hopes to
j j '
school.
Andy Leonard, sports athletic coordinator at the Warm Springs
Recreation Department, this year is the head coach of the junior
varsity baseball squad at Madras High School.
Gorkey Mitchell, who works at Forestry in Warm Springs, is the
junior varsity volleyball coach at the high school.
T.J. Foltz was a coach of a traveling boys basketball team at the
middle school.
"The school district is doing a good job of keeping Warm Springs
involved," said Butch David.
Pictured, the school district coaches are Butch David, Luanne Foltz,
T.J. Foltz, Mackey Begay, Lana Leonard and Andy Leonard (from .
left; Gorkey Mitchell was not available for the picture).
r W-lipir-
P-
P 4t-':
, . 1 -
vv i-
Niyallee Cochran joins the circle dance at the Early Childhood
Education Center powwow at the Agency Longhouse last Friday.
tighten restrictions on off-reserva-ti
n gambling - particularly for plans
that cross state lines - and give lo
cal communities more say in ap
proval of casino projects.
Pombo hopes to submit a bill by
January, but is being deliberate be
cause of the complexity of the is
sue and concerns about Indian sov
ereignty, said spokesman Brian
Kennedy. "This affects different
tribes in different states in different
ways," Kennedy said.
(I'irAI' helped with this story. See pag
1 6 for an esttmlal esxerpt of Chairman
Suppah's testimony.)
Dave McMschanSpilyay
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Budget
decision
at hand
Tribal Council this week was ex
pected to make a final decision on the
2006 tribal budget. The final budget
must be posted by the end of Novem
ber, before going into effect Jan. 1.
Council this week was scheduled to
meet Monday through Wednesday on
a variety of budget issues. Once these
issues are discussed and resolved, a
decision on the final budget will be at
hand.
The print schedule for the Spilyay
Tymoo this week was moved up be
cause of the holiday, so news and de
tails on the final budget will be in the
next papct
Court
addresses
drug abuse
By Brian Mortensen
Spilyay Tymoo
The Warm Springs tribal
government's tolerance for metham
phetamine abuse on the reservation has
run out, a tribal judge said last week.
Stiffer jail sentences, restrictions on
work release programs, and proposed
measures to protect children in homes
affected by meth abuse are steps being
taken by the Warm Springs tribal court
and law enforcement, said Chief Judge
Anita Jackson.
She spoke during a presentation at
the Conference on Methamphetamine
Prevention at the Warm Springs Com
munity Center Social Hall Nov. 14.
Jackson said that through Oct. 6, the
Tribal Court had overseen 186 crimi
nal cases directly related to illegal drugs,
including use, possession and sales of
drugs or paraphernalia, as well as 28
juvenile cases for similar charges. The
court also had 79 cases of neglected
juveniles, and 10 civil cases filed against
non-tribal members.
"So that's a total of 303 cases that
have been directly related to drugs, and
most of those are methamphetamine,"
Jackson said.
The Tribal Council has addressed the
urgency of the problem by officially
recognizing methamphetamine abuse as
a top priority in a recent meeting, Jack
son said.
"This is going to be our No. 1 prior
ity and we're going to do something to
get this out of our community and to
help our families and our people work
through this," she said. Beyond the
sheer numbers of criminal cases related
to meth abuse is the devastating effect
the drug has had on people who have
appeared before her in court.
See DRUG ABUSE on 12
Thanksgiving
powwow
at Simnasho
The Simnasho community will host
a Thanksgiving powwow this Friday and
Saturday, Nov. 25-26, starting at 7 p.m.
There will be contest dancing for
youth 17 and under (three age groips
in three categories), and youth team
dancing (three to a team). Other dance
specials will be announced.
Drummers are asked to bring their
own chairs. For information call Cap
tain at 553-7014, or Carlos at 553
3513 or 553-0471.