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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2007)
P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 Spilyay Coyote News , est. 1976 March 29, 2007 V Voi. i Grand Ronde seeks recognition in Gorge act The Grand Ronde tribe is seek ing to amend the 1988 Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act to insert the Grand Ronde tribe in land management decisions in the Scenic Area. Sources in Oregon and Washing ton, D.C. have confirm ed that G rand Ronde has proposed an amendment to the law that would include the Grand Ronde tribe in the definition of “Indian Tribes” that have rights and interests in the Gorge. Such an amendment would give Grand Ronde consultation rights regarding how the Columbia Gorge Commission and the U.S. Agriculture Secretary carry out their manage m ent responsibilities under the Gorge Act. Currently, the Gorge Act recognizes the Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez Perce tribes as having rights and interests in the Gorge. This entides these tribes to a voice in management of the National Scenic Area. These rights are off-reservation 1855 Treaty fishing, hunting and gath ering rights, and certain interests in land within the National Scenic Area bound aries. Warm Springs and Yakama, for example, own thousands of acres of trust land in the Gorge. In addition, all four tribes have the right to use Treaty Fishing Access and In Lieu Sites along the shore of the Columbia River within the Scenic Area. In contrast to Warm Springs and the other three tribes now recognized by the Gorge Act, Grand Ronde has no treaty rights or land ownership inter- Grand Ronde representa tives insist that their p r o p osed amendment to the Gorge -Act has nothing to do with their opposition to the Warm Springs tribal casino at Cascade Rocks. ests in the Gorge. However, Grand Ronde represen tatives have asserted they have ances tral burial sites in the Scenic Area, which they believe entides the tribe to consultation rights regarding the man agement of lands in the National Sce nic Area. The Gorge Act has not been opened up for amendment since its enactment in 1988. The C onfederated Tribes o f Warm Springs actively participated in the drafting of the Gorge Act to ensure that the act properly recog nized the tribe’s Treaty and trust in terest in the Gorge. Grand Ronde representatives in sist that their proposed amendment to the Gorge Act has nothing to do with the tribe’s strong opposition to the proposed Warm Springs tribal casino at the Cascade Locks Indus trial Park. The site is w ithin the C olum bia G orge, but is not subject to the Gorge A ct’s land use restric tions. w* See COUNCIL on page 5 See EAGLES on page 5 Leslie Mitts/Spilyay Eighteen tribal members are part of this year’s Madras High School track team. Competing for the team this season are: Jordan Holliday, a 15- year-old sophomore; Emerson Culpus, a 15-year-old sophomore; Rolin Morningowl, a 16-year-old sophomore; James Scott, a 16-year-old junior; LaRonn Katchia, a 16-year-old sophomore; Terence Wolfe, a 16-year-old sophomore; Victoria Katchia, a 17-year-old junior; Nicholas Katchia, a 17- year-old senior; Red Sky Suppah, a 14-year-old freshman; Kelsey Haywahe, a 15-year-old sophomore; Wyatt Frank, a 15-year-old sophomore; Karlen Yallup, a 14-year-old freshman; Briana Stacona, a 16-year-old junior; Jacoba Smith, an 18-year-old senior; Jason Smartlowit, a 15-year-old freshman; Robert Main, a 16-year-old junior; Freddy Hernandez, a 16-year-old junior; and LexAnguiano, a 17-year-old junior. Council update on improvement initiative Room for improvement In the survey, members said they viewed tribal administration as unfair, inefficient, and difficult to deal with. They saw tribal policies and proce dures as too often unclear and incon sistent, and many felt that government officials were mostly looking out for themselves. To address these concerns, Council asked Secretary-Treasurer Jody Calica to assemble a tribal governance team to assess the administration and recom mend a comprehensive restructuring plan. In its charge, Council asked for pro posals on some specific issues, includ ing what administrative structure would best serve the tribes, what policies should be implemented, how the ad- Demand for eagle feathers creates black market financial documents, and compared fig ures with other governments in rural Oregon to get a sense of how the Con federated Tribes o f Warm Springs measured up. Although Decker’s report was pre liminary and did not include a detailed analysis, his presentation confirmed the membership’s sense that there is much to improve in tribal administration. “Many of our findings track the results from last year’s survey of tribal membership,” Decker said. “A big task ahead for the administration is to en hance its effectiveness by communicat ing high expectations for employees, improving teamwork and collaboration, and establishing accountability for re suits. By results, we mean better, time lier service to tribal members. The good news in our findings is that most people in tribal government are inter ested in improvement and finding bet ter ways to deliver these services.” H ,i IÜ Tribal Council spent an afternoon last week hearing a team from Warm Springs Ventures report progress on two major initiatives currently under way to improve the reservation’s ad ministration and economy. The presentation marked the first report back to Tribal Council since Council passed two related resolutions last fall. The first resolution charged several reservation groups to evaluate a series o f economic projects. The second asked for a similar evaluation of tribal administration. The resolutions required the differ ent teams to return to Council with proposals for specific action plans for improving both areas. Tribal Council set the evaluation process in motion in October, after • learning the results of the summer’s membership opinion survey. The Tribal Council election is Monday, April 2. Cast your bal lots at the Community Center between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Tune in to KWSO 91.9 FM for candidate interviews and in form ation. See page 5 for a schedule of candidate interviews on KWSO. The results of the election will be will be posted around the com munity on Tuesday., April 3. Fur ther election information will be in the next edition of the paper. The issue of eagle feathers being sold on the black market is gaining na tional attention—and it’s something that could potentially become a local prob lem. While it’s not a widespread problem locally, the poaching of eagle feathers and other parts is contributing to the establishment of a black market nation wide. According to Doug Calvin, acting wildlife and parks manager, “We’ve had some issues in the past with some eagles taken illegally.” Though it’s not necessarily a local problem yet, Calvin said, “It’s obviously a national issue.” But illegal trafficking of eagle feath ers and other parts isn’t something that has a long history, Calvin said—-it has only become a problem during the last 10 to 20 years. Nationally, the poaching of feath ers is being linked to the need for feath ers as decoration on costumes for pow wows—-though many are quick to point out that selling feathers on the black market goes against traditional practices. Because of an increased demand for eagle feathers, the method of legally obtaining the feathers has become a lengthy process. “That’s why I think that it’s a supply and demand issue, cur rently,” Calvin said. Federally recognized tribes can le gally possess eagles, eagle parts and feathers for religious and ceremonial use. To obtain legal feathers, tribal mem bers must file a request with the Na tional Eagle Repository in Commerce City7, Colo. At this point, Calvin said, the wait period can be as long as two to three years. The repository collects eagles that die naturally or accidentally—and in the past decade, requests have skyrocketed, causing a long waiting list. Calvin said they have sent several eagles to the repository in recent years. One eagle died from old age, and an other died while fighting with another bird. However, eagle populations are also currently growing steadily and the effects are something that can be seen locally. In this area, Calvin said, “We’re for tunate in that we have a handful of residential pairs.” In addition to eagles that migrate through surrounding ar eas, Calvin said, there are some that reside in local nesting areas. f Last week’s presentation, which took about two and a half hours, reviewed the current status of nearly five months’ worth of activity on the part of some 50 people. Election is Monday B y L eslie M itts Spilyay Tymoo W tr* B y M aren Cohn Warm Springs Ventures ECRWSS "’ ostai Patron U.s. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents ministration could better respond to the needs of the people, and how to focus better on performance and results. The secretary-treasurer put two teams together. The first included over a dozen members, most drawn from the administration. The second, a citi zens advisory committee, consisted of Terry Courtney, Frank Charley, Viola Kalama, Brigette Whipple, Russell Char ley, and D elford Johnson (though Johnson had to resign later due to scheduling conflicts). Tom Decker, a consultant working with the Portland turnaround firm Hamstreet & Associ ates, led the project. Decker gave the administrative part of the status report to Council. His report covered the assessment process and the findings about tribal administration that resulted from it. Decker conducted 18 extensive in terviews with senior-level administra tors, met several times with the gover nance team and the citizens advisory committee, examined tribal budgets and $