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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 2006)
SCA O r C o ll E 75 .S6 8 v . 31 n o . 19 S e p te m b e r 14, 2006 Spilyay Tyrnc P.O. Box 870 Warm ^ ""n g s , QR 97761 \ k ìiv e r a ity o f Oregon L ib r a ry R e c e iv e d o n : Q 9 -2 1-0 6 S p ily a y Coyote News, est. September 14, 2006 tymoo ECRWSS ’ostai Patron J.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Voi. No. 19 Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Former housing director indicted A form er director o f the Warm Springs Housing Authority is facing charges o f theft, and making false or fraudulent claims. Patrick Prow, director of the Hous ing Authority for several months in 2004, was indicted by a federal grand jury in July. According to the indictment, Prow owned construction equipment — con crete forms and concrete blankets — at the time that he was executive direc tor o f the Housing Authority, which receives funding from the U.S. Depart ment o f Housing and Urban Devel opment (HUD). Prow wanted to sell the equipment to the Warm Springs Housing Author ity, but could not due to the conflict o f interest, the indictment says. Prow contacted a building company to serve “as a front for selling the mer chandise,” and “was able to conceal the true owner of the property, himself,” according to the indictment. In exchange for allowing him to use the building company as a front in the sale, Prow “agreed to give the company certain concrete business from a HUD funded project in Warm Springs.” The HUD concrete contract was worth between $11,000 (phase one) and $42,000 (three phases), according to the indictment. Prow, acting as Housing Authority executive director, then “initiated a re quest for quote (RFQ) process for the personal equipment he wished to sell, and sent the RFQ to three businesses,” including the one he had contacted to serve as a front, the indictm ent says. The front company responded to the RFQ with “the prices Prow had pre-determined for his personal equip ment.” The company was awarded the con tract, and the Housing Authority paid $4,193, the indictment says. A review o f the contract by the tribes’ chief financial officer “revealed that the Housing Authority was over charged on the contract, w hich in volved used equipment.” “Prow then determ ined that he wished to sell his 30-foot container trailer to the Warm Springs Housing Authority,” and once again planned to use the front company for the sale, the indictment says. Following another RFQ process, the front company once again received the contract, even though the company’s price quote was higher than that of two other bids, according to the indictment. On this contract the Housing Author ity paid $2,850, although the trailer was never delivered, according to the in dictment. Based on these allegations, the theft charge states that Prow “did knowingly embezzle, steal, obtain by fraud, inten tionally misapply, and otherwise with out authority convert to his own use $5,000 or more in funds” o f the Warm Springs Housing Authority. The false or fraudulent claims count is based on Prow’s preparation o f the contracts for the sales, the indictment says. A trial date in the case has been set for Oct. 10, but there is the possibility the trial date may change, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The tribes’ chief financial officer Ray Potter said he could not comment on the case other than to say, “I’m sure justice w ill be served.” Survey reveals strengths, weaknesses B y M aren Cohn f o r the Spilyay Tymoo Results are in from the opinion survey conducted in Warm Springs earlier this summer, and they speak to several important areas o f inter est to the Confederated Tribes. With tribal membership respond ing to questions about values, poli tics, and the economy, the survey offers a wealth o f information and guidance to tribal leaders and policy makers. “One of the most remarkable as pects o f the survey is how much consensus there was among differ ent segments o f the tribal commu nity,” said Adam Davis, partner in the opinion research firm that con ducted the survey. “We broke the results down into several categories based on various criteria, such as roles w ithin the tribes, district, age, sex, residence on or off the reservation, and so on, and the results came back very close in almost every case.” Warm Springs Secretary-Trea surer Jo d y C alica agrees. “Even when the tribal leadership is criti cized, the same leadership generally accepts the criticism as valid rather than being defensive,” said Calica. “The survey shows that nobody is being fooled. We’re all aware of the reservation’s strengths and weak- O v e rv ie w o f re s u lts Question: What is your understanding of the economic health of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs? 100% 93% 90% ■ 78% 80% Chart 1 ____ OOÙL 70% 60% □ Membership ■ Influential Leaders ■ T rlbal Council 50% 40% 30% (B x c ftik n t: 3% ) ? fiO / ____ 20 % 7% 8% 9% 10 % 0% — 2 2 % Good Poor, Very Poor, or Crisis Don't Know Courtesy of Warm Springs Ventures and Kah-Nee-Ta. Graph illustrating survey response on the local economy. nesses. It’s just that we need to know on which opportunities we should fo cus our attention and resources, and the survey helps provide that direction.” The opinion research firm of Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall (DHM) developed the questionnaire in consultation with Warm Spring Ventures and Kah-Nee- Ta, which jointly sponsored the project. DHM then mailed the survey to the 2,900 tribal members aged 18 or older, and interviewed influential tribal lead ers and Council members over the phone or in person. Twenty-six informal leaders (consist ing o f elders, business leaders and gov ernment officials) and nine of the 11 council members participated. Once DHM collected the responses, it processed and analyzed the data. In reporting the results, DHM broke the responses for each question down into the three constituent groups: general membership, influential leaders, and Tribal Council. Twenty percent of tribal members responded to the question naire, with many writing answers at considerable length. “That’s a great response rate for this kind of instrument,” said Davis. “It’s better than what w e’ve had from other N ative organizations w e’ve worked with. People clearly took the survey seriously and gave it the time to write thoughtful answers to questions that weren’t always easy to unpack. We were very impressed at the care and com mitment shown by the membership.” The survey questions were organized into four main headings: 1) values and vision; 2) priorities and concerns about the economic situation; 3) internal en vironment (covering governing institu tions, politics and culture); and 4) use o f assets. Results from each o f these areas yields insight into general principles shared by nearly all who participated. Under values and vision, for in stance, there is broad consensus con cerning the paramount importance of tribal sovereignty. Members frequently mentioned feeling pride in their iden tity as a sovereign people, and strong m ajorities oppose any reduction o f sovereignty. Wide consensus also occurs in plac ing a healthier economy at the top of the tribes’ list o f priorities. In an open- ended question asking about their vi sion for the future, 35 percent of mem bers and influential leaders, along with 44 percent of Tribal Council mentioned economic issues such as development, prosperity, employment, and new busi nesses. (See table 1 on page 11.) O ther top priorities for members were creating trust, m utual respect and harm ony on the reservation, in tegrating and m odernizing the com munity, and im proving schools and education. See SURVEY on 10 Casino open houses, Festival of Nations coming up in September Tragic drowning accident B y L e slie M itts S p ilya y Tym oo Rescue workers recovered the body of a drowning victim on September 5 after a rafting accident Labor D ay weekend. Thirty-year-old Eligio Santos o f Warm Springs was thrown from a ra ft in the D esch u tes R iv er near Maupin while rafting with nine other people. Santos’s father, Albert Santos, alerted authorities that his son was missing. Authorities said the rafting trip was a non-guided excursion. The accident occurred near the W apinitia Rapids area—-the third accident in that area this summer. Santos worked for the Department o f Natural Resources. Wasco County Search and Rescue teamed with volunteers from the De partment of Natural Resources, Bureau o f Land Management and other tribal members in order to recover the vic tim. Lieutenant Stoney M iller o f the Warm Springs Police Department said the search included divers, additional rafts, body nets and people watching the water from shore. See DROWNING on 9 In recent gaming news, tribal mem bers attended a General Council meet ing on the Bridge of the Gods casino. During the meeting, held Tuesday, Aug. 29 at the Agency Longhouse, gaming board members answered questions about the casino project. Representing the gaming board were m em b ers A u ro ly n S tw y e r, C eC e Whitewolf, Ray Potter and Lynn Davis. Also, Tribal Council members Buck S m ith , B e rn ic e M itc h e ll, R ita Squiemphen and Earl Squiemphen at tended the meeting. M any o f the questions concerned the study of an on-reservation site. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has required the study of an on-reservation alterna tive as part o f the current environmen tal impact statement (EIS) process. The EIS is a major necessary step toward bringing the Cascade Locks site into trust. In other recent gaming news: The Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Re sort and Casino will be hosting a series of open houses around the reservation for the Bridge of the Gods Columbia River Resort and Casino. The open houses were previously scheduled for the month of July; however, most of those were cancelled for various rea sons. The B ridge o f the G ods casino project team will be available to meet with tribal members and answer any questions. The schedule of gaming open houses for the month o f September is as follows: Tuesday, Sept. 19: Tribal Adminis tration, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday Sept. 21: Three Warriors Market, noon till closing. Monday Sept. 25: IHS Clinic, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 27: M acy’s Mar ket, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anyone with questions or comments can contact Margie Tuckta at 553-4883, or Floyd Calica 553-1112 ext. 3420. Festival o f Nations All tribal member are invited to the Second Annual Festival o f Nations at the C ity o f C ascade Locks M arine Park. The festival will be Friday through Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1. The Confedered Tribes o f Warm Springs and Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino will be co-hosting the event with Cascade Locks. This year’s festivities have tripled in size from last year, and will feature a variety of food and live entertainment such as Fillipino dancers, a mariachi band and Japanese drummers. The event kicks off the morning of Sept. 29 with the first annual salmon run that will have a 10K run and one- mile fun run/walk. The event com m ittee is seeking tribal member vendors. Anyone inter ested can contact Margie Tuckta, Lena Ike or Floyd Calica at 553-4883 or 553-1112 ext. 3420. 30-year sentence for murder Aaron Wewa was sentenced last week to 30 years in prison, accord ing to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland. Wewa, 24, had earlier pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Tara Tufti. The death happened in August 2005 at a house in the West Hills area.
