February 15, 2007
Spily^y Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Council:
(Continued from page 1)
The picture at right, distrib
uted and much-discussed at the
meeting, illustrates the problems
that have led to the need for
Council reform, along with the
idea that good governance is es
sential in forming the basis o f a
healthy community.
“I f we’re really going to lis
ten to the membership,” said one
councilor, “the change has to
come, whether we like it or not.
It’s going to be a personal deci
sion— it’s up to each individual
whether we want to make the
change for our people.”
Proposed committee struc
ture
As a way to start doing what
it can, Council considered a pro
posal to adopt an internal, three-
com m ittee system to help it
manage responsibilities more
effectively and monitor its own
performance through a limited
system o f checks and balances.
Under the proposed system,
a G o v ern an ce C om m ittee
would recommend policies and
procedures, an Audit Commit
tee would track compliance with
those policies, and a Rules Com
mittee would recommend disci
plinary action in cases o f non-
compliance. In addition, the
Governance and Audit Commit
tees would have responsibilities
to oversee certain other areas
o f Council business.
reform measure would be significant change
Society
in Future
Accountability
Effective polici
^ductive meetings Leadershi
Integrity
ommunication
Tribal Council
Reform
rsonal conflict
k of trust Instabili
Weak performance
Inefficiency Perceptions of self-deàting
adequate housing Need for education Poverty
Cultural loss
Substance abuse
Tack of opportunity
Inadequate healthcare Need for jobs
Government
Now
Society
Now
For details on the committees,
how they would work, and why
they would help Council become
a m ore effectiv e leadership
group, please see the accompa
nying article in this issue o f the
paper.
Council response to com
mittee proposal
Council members posed nu
merous questions and made sev
eral observations in an active
discussion about the committees
and whether they could help
Council do its job more effec
tively. Many spoke to the need
for greater trust and account
ability on Council and in the
tribal organization. Members
were unsure whether the pro
posal would work, but they also
showed willingness to give the
idea a serious try.
“Somebody’s going to have
to start following some rules
around here,” said one o f the
chiefs. “Right now, if somebody
loses a job, they come to Coun
cil; if somebody loses a court
case, they come to Council. We
and substance abuse systems in
Native America country face
substantial obstacles in their tre
mendous fight against meth,”
Udall said in a news release.
“This legislation seeks to pro
vide assistance in the fight by
allowing tribes, consistent with
tribal sovereignty, to apply for
these grants just as states can.”
In New Mexico alone, Udall
said the state Departm ent o f
Public Safety handled more than
400 cases involving meth in
2004.
But he said the situation can
be worse in American Indian
communities where the use rate
is more than double that o f
other ethnicities. Additionally, he
said when the U.S. Bureau o f
Indian Affairs surveyed tribal
law enforcement officials, more
than 70 percent o f them said
meth is the drug that poses the
greatest threat to their reserva
tion.
American Indian filmmaker Phil Lucas was 65
B E L L E V U E , Wash. (AP) -
Phil Lucas, an award-winning
film producer and director who
made a career o f telling the sto
ries o f American Indians, has
died at age 65.
Lucas, a Choctaw, died Sun
day, Feb. 4 o f complications fol
lowing heart surgery.
In his four decades as a film
maker, Lucas wrote, produced
or directed more than 100 fea
ture films, television series and
documentaries in an industry that
often stereotyped Indians.
“He's definitely one o f the
pioneering creative forces in
A m erican In d ian life ,” said
Hanay Geiogamah, a professor
o f theater and American Indian
studies at the University o f Cali
fornia, Los Angeles.
symptoms. I f you address this
one you don’t do a whole lot
because we have other problems
that are bigger.”
The member’s statement cap
tured widespread sentim ent.
Throughout the day, several oth
ers also said they wanted to be
doing more to address major
problem s in the community.
But m em bers acknowledged
that strong leadership on Coun
cil would translate into doing a
better job o f tackling commu
nity issues.
“We need to make ourselves
more accountable to the people,”
said one. “This same council has
been on a long time. It’s got to
be accountable; if we make a
change, we need to be account
able for that; i f we make a
change and are accountable,
people will see it and respect
that. I think it [the committee
system] would make us more
accountable.”
Another member, who said
he thought the committee sys
tem would be a step in the right
direction, also said that, “We
haven’t made a dent in that yet,
what we’re supposed to be do
ing” to move our community
forward. “Once we get there
maybe we’ll get the trust o f the
people. We’re a long ways away.”
O verall, recep tion o f the
committee structure was posi
Cultural growth
Trust
Opportunity
Healthcare
Education
Housing
Income
Community development
U.S. House committee approves
bill to combat Indian meth use
(AP) - The U-S House Judi
ciary Committee has approved
legislation to make federal grants
available to help combat meth-
amphetamine in Indian Country.
The measure sponsored by
Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., now
heads to the House floor.
Udall said larger meth legisla
tion passed by Congress last year
' 'unintentionally left out" Indian
tribes as possible applicants for
some grant programs.
“Our criminal justice, welfare
Page13
Among his films were “The
B ro k en C h ain ,” abou t the
Iroquois Confederacy, and “The
Honour o f All,” a documentary
about how the Alkali Lake Indi
ans in British Columbia became
alm ost entirely sober in the
1980s after being 100 percent
alcoholic 20 years before.
Lucas also co-produced and
co-directed the PBS series, “Im
ages o f Indians,” about Holly
wood stereotypes o f American
Indians, and directed the 1994
television documentary series,
“T he Native Americans,” for
which he won an Emmy.
He was also nominated for
an Emmy for his film “Dances
for a New Generation,” a docu
mentary about the American
Indian Dance Theater.
Lucas, who lived in the Se
attle suburb o f Issaquah, also
consulted on television shows
such “Northern Exposure” and
“MacGyver.”
Lucas was born in Phoenix
and grew up seeing racism, which
helped inspire his film career,
said Gary Robinson, Lucas' pro
duction partner and friend.
Lucas received a visual-com
munications degree from West
ern Washington University in
Bellingham, and had taught at
Bellevue Community College,
east o f Seattle, since 1999. He
ran the school's annual Ameri
can Indian Film Festival.
He is survived by his wife,
Mary Lou, and five children.
have to close the loopholes. I f
the loopholes are closed, if there
are some rules people followed,
it could be a lot better.”
A nother coun cilor stated
concern that forming new com
mittees to improve the opera
tion o f Council wasn’t address
ing the big picture o f problems
on the reservation. “Yeah, this
is workable,” he said, “this is
doable. But it [problems on
Council] is only one o f many
tive, n o t becau se anyone
thought it would improve the
Tribes’ situation all by itself, but
because it would strengthen
leadership and lay a better foun
dation for meeting challenges in
the future.
“It’s a way to measure our
performance as leadership,” re
marked a member. “It helps with
the need, to follow up, to be ac
countable. M em bership has
asked us to look at checks and
balances on what we do. The
three committees would help
im plem ent those checks and
balances. They would help us
operate in way that’s feasible,
that’s right. The key point I wish
would happen is to build a more
cohesive group on Council, to
address the problem o f us un
dermining each other.”
Council was supportive o f
looking into the committee idea
further. N ot wanting to move
too rapidly, however, one o f the
chiefs asked for more time to
study the matter. “We’re taking
a major step here in trying to
meet Tribal Council reform,” he
said. “We ought to make sure
we understand it and help the
people understand it.”
A m o tio n was made and
passed to continue working on
the idea and address it again in
a later session.
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