Page 12
Spilyqy Tymoo, Wqrro Springs, Oregon
November 24, 2005
Drug abuse:
court considers
prevention
measures
(Continued from page 1)
"We see violence in the
courti On my third day on the
bench I was conducting a crimi
nal arraignment. We had per
son there, a tribal member, who
I've known all his life. lie's a
relative of mine. I couldn't tell
if he was coming down off
mcth or if he was still under the
influence. He became very an
gry. We have these big, heavy
defense tables, and he got up
and he picked up the table to
throw at me. It was really amaz
ing that he was strong enough
to do that," she said. "I was a
judge in the '80s, and I had never
experienced anyone that angry
or violent in Tribal Court"
Jackson said she recently
asked for protection from a
bailiff at a juvenile case, be
cause a youth, apparendy under
the influence of methamphct
amine, was being abusive and
disruptive in the courthouse. She
said that never used to happen
before.
"We see people that are agi
tated, and they're very verbal and
nervous and uptight, edgy,"
Jackson said. "Either they're on
it, or they've been on it and
they're coming down off it, and
it's pretty sad."
Meth abuse has been the cen
tral topic of discussion for the
Justice Team, a wide-reaching
group made up of the tribal
judges, law enforcement offi
cials, Child Protective Service
(CPS) workers, Indian Health
Services, the Bureau of Indian
: j
Chief Judge Anita Jackson addresses the conference on the
prevention of methamphetamine abuse on the reservation.
Affairs, among others tribal ser
vices. The purpose of the team is
to identify the issues related to
drug abuse, and to do something
about them. The Justice team
recently has been primarily edu
cating itself through various
media and conferences on meth
abuse and prevention.
In the courts, Jackson said
one goal is to amend the tribes'
criminal code to expand its drug
enforcement. There is currently
only one available drug charge
- for possession, use or the sale
of anything from narcotics to
hallucinogens - and only one
charge dealing with possession
of drug paraphernalia.
"It doesn't specifically ad
dress anything that may be more
dangerous, or the idea that if
you've been convicted three
times, then maybe you should
have a stiffer sentence," said
Jackson. "We're looking at
changing that."
Additionally, she said the
Tribal Court is looking at mak
ing it a separate crime to use or
sell drugs with minors present.
"We have a lot of that," she
said. "I know CPS is working
with all those kids, and it is very
sad we have so many."
Issue of bail
Also in the works is a plan to
raise the cash bail amount for
defendants charged with crimes
involving methamphetamine.
"We had a tribal member that
had been charged with selling
drugs, and the judge set a $2,000
bail," she said. "The bail was
posted in 20 minutes." Bail is
usually no more than $50 to
$100, $250 at the highest.
"Another thing we're doing is
interpreting the bail and bond
laws liberally," she said. "We
have the ability to set the bail at
two times the fine amount, so
the fine amount is $5,000 maxi
mum for each criminal offense
in Warm Springs. We're looking
at $10,000."
Another measure would be
restriction of "signature bonds,"
where defendant charged with
a criminal offense can be let out
on bail if two adult tribal mem
bers sign a bond, thereby accept
ing responsibility for his appear
ance in any ensuing court pro
ceedings. "If they don't show up, then
the bondsman is also responsible
to pay the fine. We're careful
about accepting those, because
we want to make sure the
bondsman actually knows what
they're doing," she said.
Or the defendant can be held
with no-bail and no-bond, Jack
son said.
Stricter Jail sentences
She said the court can issue
stricter sentences for defendants
in drug-related cases by impos
ing consecutive sentences in the
cases that involve multiple
charges, so if the defendant is
found guilty, he or she serves
the time for each of the charges
separately, one after the other,
instead of concurrendy, all at the
same time. And the jail time
would be served in straight time,
meaning without time off for
good behavior or for work re
leases.
Jackson said CPS would
have a greater role in the en
forcement in meth-related cases
by taking juveniles from homes
where someone has been ar
rested for possession and placed.
The child would be placed ei
ther at the CPS center or with
another family member, but
away from the defendant.
"Juvenile court also has con
tinuing jurisdiction over children
until they are 18 years old," she
said. "So if the parent doesn't
comply with the court order,
then it would not mean that af
ter 30 days or 90 days the child
" What we're trying to
do is show the commu
nity and the people
who are involved with
drugs, and especially
those selling drugs, that
we are taking this
seriously, and we're not
going to sit by. "
Anita Jackson
Tribal Court Chief Judgt
would just go back.
"If the parent or guardian is
not complying, then we can con
tinue to keep custody of that
juvenile until he is 18 years old."
In such cases, the court
would also hold onto any bonus
or per-capita funds the child
would receive, and ensure those
funds' use only for the child.
Jackson said the tribes, in
particular Tribal Councilman
Raymond Tsumpti, director of
Public Safety, are negotiating
with the U.S. Attorney's office
in Portland to lower the thresh
old dollar amount of drugs for
which the federal government
would prosecute.
For the U.S. Attorney to pros
ecute a drug case, the threshold
amount of drugs involved has
been in the $10,000 range.Jack
son said.
"But of course we have
small dealers. Even a relatively
small amount, such as $2,000,
is going to impact our commu
nity much more than it would a
place like Pordand."
Jackson said Tsumpri is ne
gotiating with the US. Attorney's
office to have the federal gov
ernment prosecute any drug
case in Warm Springs.
"So defendants will be in the
federal system," she said. "And
if you think the Tribal Court is
rough, try federal prison."
Jackson said that tribal mem
bers would likely hear com
plaints about these new steps
being taken by the courts. But
with methamphetamines tearing
families apart, and creating a cli
mate of violent crime, Jackson
said she and her fellow judges
are not overly worried about
such complaints.
"I'm sure you'll hear feed
back, if you haven't already
from the community. A person
might say, 'Oh, they're violating
my civil rights. The court can't
do that. They're picking on me.
Boo hoo hoo,"' she said. "But
what we're trying to do is show
the community and the people
who are involved with drugs, and
especially those selling drugs, that
we are taking this seriously, and
we're not going to sit by. We're
not going to let them get out on
a $50 bail or a recognizance bond
and then be out there the next
day selling methamphetamine to
the community. We're not going
not going to allow that to hap
pen." The afternoon seminar also
featured KWSO radio Will
Robbins, who recounted his own
well-documented battle against
methamphetamine addiction
that ended in 2001.
There was also a talk on the
effect of methamphetamine on
pregnant women and babies, a
talk by Madras I ligh School jun
ior Nic Katchia, and an intro
ductory talk from Mitzie Allen
of the Indian Health Service
pharmacy.
Language:
j visit was j f
inspiring for
teachers
(Continued from page 1)
The revitalization began in
earnest in the 1970s, when
Higgins began teaching.
"When I came on the late
70s, we had devised methodolo
gies that were easy for our
people to adapt to, and the re
sults were quite overwhelming
and successful. We decided that's
one of the messages that we're
sharing. We hear the stories from
the local communities here, the
Native communities here, about
the struggles they have just get
ting their youth involved," she
said.
The revitalization followed a
period when the Maori language
was starting to show signs of
being lost.
"The greatest impact on our
language was education and the
urbanization of our people,"
said Higgins. "Once they left the
tribal homelands to work in the
'50s, the language started to dis
sipate. People were no longer in
the traditional area where it was
the first language. They became
integrated with the rest of soci
ety. There were also negative
aspects, with people being told,
'It's rude to speak another lan
guage.' Our language was not
encouraged. We were strapped
at school for speaking the lan
guage, and all of these things
impacted the demise of the lan
guage." But with the introduction of
new educational methods in the
late 1970s, the Maori language
took on a resurgence, and by the
1980s, the Maori community
was ready to challenge the New
Zealand government to allow
the teaching of the language of
an ethnic group that makes up
15 percent of the nation's popu
lation of 4.5 million.
"We took the government to
tribunal, and the tribunal found
against the government By gov-
Y "V' JEE?
t i , - .'-wrv
Brian MortenunSpilyay
Maori language teachers TeRipowai Higgins and Tonga Karena (second and third from left), from Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand, visited Warm Springs after speaking at a language revitalization seminar in Salem the weekend of
Nov. 5-6. They were the guests of Warm Springs language teacher Rosie Johnson, left, and language coordinator Val Switzler,
right.
ernment we mean the education
department, the justice depart
ment, the broadcasting corpora
tion, the whole system, and we
had them account for their part,"
she said. "Then they had to
make some restitution toward
the language."
A national Maori language
commission was formed, as
well.
"That was one of the things
we were aiming for, not just the
constitutional change," Higgins
said. "We needed a body that
actually was the lobby, and the
group that would maintain and
ensure that there was a coordi
nated language plan, so we have
a language strategy."
The end result is that Maori
is now an official language of
New Zealand. The national an
them of New Zealand is now
sung in both English and Maori
at all sporting events, even in
ternationally. But even with the backing of
an entire national government,
The whole point
about language is
that it ties up with
your identity, it ties
up with self-esteem,
jour spirit.
Te Ripoway Higgins
Maori language teacher
Higgins said language revitaliza
tion, especially at the local level,
needs financial resources to per
petuate teaching the language
and re-educating adults who had
not spoken the language while
it had been "lost" in the '50s and
'60s.
For a culture with traditional
languages like Warm Springs,
Higgins said she sees at least two
positive assets: the interest of
tribal ciders and dedicated lan
guage teachers.
"You can have all the won
derful buildings, and all the won
derful resources, and your ma
jor resource is actually your
people," she said. "Your major
resource are your fluent speak
ers, and in the case here, I know
that many of the speakers are
elders."
"At our conference, we were
honored to have so many elders
there. It just shows the commit
ment they have. It's part of their
identity, and allows us to encour
age them to keep going, particu
larly the teachers."
She said it can be a daunting
task staving diligent in teaching
the language to one's own
people, if the people turn skep
tical and don't see the need to
learn the language.
"The whole point about lan
guage is that it ties up with your
identity, it ties up with self-esteem,
your spirit," she said.
What's more is that in New
Zealand, the Maori language has
created such a sense of cultural
pride that it has spread through
and fueled young people's very
ambition.
"It's amazing how it's
changed our young people," she
said. "There were particular
families that were already well
educated anyway. Now they as
pire to be lawyers and teachers
and things like that. Our chil
dren now, when you ask them,
they say they want to be astro
nauts, they want to be things we
would never even think of.
"The aspirations are totally
different, and they've been
turned around by our language."
Ambition and hope haven't
always been part of the Maori
history, since the British colo
nized the country in the late
1800s. But revitalizing the lan
guage and restoring the Maori
cultural identity has changed
things.
"It's part of a human need
to have identity," Higgins said
"Once the children get that, their
whole world turns around. We
know this because our people
were in the worst statistical rates.
We had bad health, we were
poorly educated, and socially at
the bottom of the heap. :0
"That was always constantly
heard from the policy makers
as well. Maori was bad. Jails were
too full of Maori."
"And we see that, internation
ally, we all have a common his
tory of colonization of our
people. We feel we have a duty
to share with our indigenous
peoples."
Val Switzler, language coor
dinator at the Warm Springs
Culture and Heritage Depart
ment, said that listening to
Higgins and Karena speak in
Salem, and having them around
in Warm Springs, was helpful.
"When we went to the con
ference, just to have that energy
back again helped," she said.
"Sometimes you get worn out
and feel almost defeated. Going
back to meet with other teach
ers and with elders gives you all
the energy back. You remember
why you're in this, for our kids
and our kids' kids."
The Culture and Heritage
Department hosted Higgins and
Karena at a dinner that included
traditional Warm Springs danc
ing. Higgins said many ideas for
teaching the Maori language
came from other cultures that
sought the perpetuation of their
own languages and cultures.
"We went out and saw the
Irish experience. We learned
from the Irish experience. We
learned from the Welsh experi
ence and their own language re
vitalization. We looked at Que
bec," she said. "Whoever was
doing something out there, we
went. We went to share ideas with
them. We wanted to know their
programs, what was successful.
We didn't just do this in isola
tion down in New Zealand."
"On some of the tours we
learned there's a difference be
tween teaching children and
teenagers and adults. Ideally, you
start when they're born. Then
they grow up learning the lan
guage," she said.
V
4