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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2007)
E Coosh EEWA: The way it is Page 4 . Spiiyay Tymoo April 26, 2007 Letters to the Editor Vote controvery To the tribal membership, This is in response to the unsigned article labeled “Reasons why T ribal Council election needs to be invalidated.” Since I am referred to as the “chief statistician,” I feel 1 have the right to set things straight in the eyes of the people. In the first place, I only rec ommend a date. I recommend a date based on the fact that when the Tribal Council ap proves the nominations, they set the date for the election. They approved the nominations in Pocatello, Idaho, on March 13. When I asked if a date was set they said, “We’ll talk to you on M onday.” On M onday the March 19, I went in to Tribal Council and I have always them, I need at least three weeks to get the absentee ballots out, and time for them to be returned. The memo that I wrote on the 13th was brought out and the date of April 2 was set. My staff o f three had to scram ble around to get the absentee bal lots together and sent. All of the out-of-state were sent out on March 21 and 22, the in-state were mailed out on the 23rd. The following Monday, we received a ballot back from Georgia. This shows that there was sufficient time for a ballot to be returned. Ballots were re turned from as far away as Wis consin, New Mexico, Montana, Texas, California and Washing ton, D.C. Up to this date, only 32 ballots came in after the elec tion. The people who requested lists had both labels and a list. I asked that the list with children on it be brought back so we could look at it. If we had mailed out ballots to children, it would have been sent back. Up to this date, none have been re turned, and we have never seen this list with children on it, so I believe this is a gross misstate ment. The rum ors are flying. I heard someone say there were up to 400 people left off the voters list. This again is a gross misstatement. I wrote 72 people to let them know that they showed up without a district. Twenty-three of those people returned their forms, and many of them showed up at the polls to vote, and were allowed to vote. Beulah Tsumpti was in structed ahead o f tim e that these people just needed to pick what district they wanted to vote in, and sign the book. I went into the book after the election and loaded a district for those who voted. W hen review in g the book, I found that people did not give their married names, or they gave the wrong name, as a result, could not be found. But they signed the name that they were using. The Agency ballot does not say, “Vote for two.” Because of the short timeline we had to get the ballots out, the ballots had already been printed when Bruce Brunoe Sr., decided to withdraw his name. He did not want people to waste their vote on him, so this was why his name was marked out. It did not ruin the ballot, and has been done before when people withdrew after the fact. Regardless of the relation ship to the candidates, the elec tion and the Counting Board have always taken their job on the board seriously. They are appointed by the Tribal Coun cil, and m any o f them have worked for years. I have worked with 12 Tribal Council and 12 elections. Never in that time have I tried to in fluence voters in any way. The fact that I relieved Shirley Sand ers so that she could take a break, was all I was doing, and all I did was write down the names of the people coming in the door. I was not at the count ing table. I was told of Eugene Austin Greene Jr., helping Arlita carry the ballot box to the back room where the counters are. The ballot boxes are big and bulky, so Austin was being a gentleman by carrying the box for the counters, who are all ladies. As far as Wilson Wewa Jr., carrying a box, I do not know. If this is true, they could have been help ing the committee again after the polls close, because the boxes w ere d elivered to the superintendent’s office. Again, if a list had children’s names on it, it should have been returned to Vital Statistics for proof that this statement is valid. The vote made to accept the results at Kah-Nee-Ta was a vote of the full Tribal Council, with one member out of the room . Six voted for; three against, with one out o f the room, and the Chairman not voting. It was made prior to the presentation by Lori Anderson, acting superintendent, so it had no b earin g on w hat the superintendent’s decision was. She had her statem ent done prior to the meeting, and she said it still would have been the same. But it was said that based on 72 members for the election, and four (not 44) against, she would have gone along with the Tribal Council’s decision. Ordinance 44 allows the BIA sup erintenden t to keep the boxes for three days after the election in the event of a dis pute. This is in section 16 of the ordinance. In order to do away with the districts, it would have to be a secretarial election to amend the Constitution and By-laws. Isn’t it an abuse or misuse of tribal property in using e-mail? If the person who wrote this, and those people who supported this unsigned document do not have the courage to sign their document, then they should not be slandering people by naming names. Each district was given the chance to question a candidate at each of the respective district meetings. The Tribal Council just approved the choices. M adeline Q ueahpam a- Spino, Director of tribal Vital Statistics. The election Thought I would say a few things about what happened during the certification of the election results. When the results were revealed, Tribal Council members present, including myself, all voted to certify the results. Tribal members who wished to challenge the election were allowed into Council Chambers. They expressed three areas of concern: 1. Time was not allowed for absentee voters to receive and return their ballots by Election Day that amounted to over 500 votes. 2. Tribal members between the ages of 21 and 24 years were not on the voter list, the num ber of them unknown. 3. The relationship between the Election Board members and the candidates constituted a conflict of interest. After some discussion the tribal members were told that they could submit their challenge concerns to the BIA Superinten dent within three days of the election. The Tribal Council members who were present, further dis cussed the issues of the tribal member concerns. The Chief Statistician was called into the Tribal Council Chambers and was asked if the concerns were true. The Chief Statistician re sponded in saying that many errors were made, including ab sentee mail out, and 21 to 24 age group being left off the voter list. The Chief Statistician took a stance in support of all Election Board members and Counting Board. T ribal C ouncil m em bers present were given four options. The last option being to undo the election and have another election. As a matter of record, I stated that if another election was to be held that it will be done without my name as I would withdraw from the elec tion. Soon thereafter a motion was made to undo the election and have another election. Not all Tribal Council members agreed with the motion, but the motion passed. Reason for the motion: absentee voters, especially those that lived out of state, were not given sufficient time to partici pate in the election, and an un known number of tribal mem bers between the ages of 21 and 24 were not on the voter list and not given the opportunity to participate in the election pro cess. There were also names of minors included on the election list. Each of the Tribal Council members including the Chiefs took an Oath of Office to up hold the U.S. Constitution and the Tribal Constitution in the best interests of the tribal mem bers before their term begins. I took this oath very seriously for all tribal members. Tribal Council as a whole and by a m ajority vote, chose to overturn the Tribal Council members that thought re-elec tion should have been in order. Having said that, one would have to w onder w hy two Seekseequa members would vote to overturn, when they asked Tribal Council to support them to withdraw from the elec tion because of an error in the election process. “Hey go fig ure.” In closing, those 500 people that were not given the oppor tunity to participate in this pro cess, even though they lived off the Reservation at this time, I would venture to guess that at least one family member living on the Reservation would agree that an injustice had been done. This could be 1,000 votes to impact the next tribal referen dum, not to mention those be tween 21 and 24 years of age. That’s going to be interesting. I mentioned earlier that I withdrew my name if a re-elec tion were to happen; I was soundly convinced to re-submit my name back on the ballot, even after I tried to convince my supporters to enter me in as a write-in. I thought I’d mention that, to address any “rumors” out there. Fifteen years ago I had said that I would represent the Dis trict as long as they wanted me to, and when they thought my work as a Representative was done, they would let me know at the polls, when that time came I would walk away without look ing back. It’s been an honor and a privilege to have been a District representative these past years. I thank those that had confi dence in me, without me hav ing to “campaign.” If I were to campaign, I would never do it at a Memorial. Respectfully, R aym ond C a lic a Tsumpti, Sr, Auxiliary To the following people, busi nesses and community, On b eh alf o f the Ladies Auxiliary Elliott Palmer Post 4217 in W arm Springs, we would like to thank you for your support: The soldiers, officers, and members of the Elliott Palmer Post 4217; Elton Greeley, Warm Springs Senior Program for the use of the Senior Building and copier; the Museum at Warm Springs for use of the building. Buddy Poppy sales: Black Bear D iner in M adras, Case Equipm ent in Bend, Madras Pioneer newspaper, DMJ Auto motive in Warm Springs, Warm Springs Forest Products in W arm Springs, N issen and Meyer Accounting in Redmond; $120.56 raised through these sales! Buddy poppies are the VFW’s official flower and represent the blood shed by American military service members. The flowers were made by disabled, hospi talized and aging veterans in VA hospitals, dorms, and state vet erans’ homes. The money sup ports the Relief Fund to help members, veterans and their dependents. If you would like VFW La dies Auxiliary information, or to donate to the Buddy Poppy sales for Warm Springs, contact us at PO Box 248 in Warm Springs and thank you. Support our upcoming blood drive in Warm Springs through the American Red Cross — watch for the date in early summer. Pinky Beymer, president, and Auxiliary members. Appreciated I want to personally thank all the people that voted. Your vote is very important. Thanks to all that supported me as a write-in candidate. Change is needed, but change will be slow. My grandfather once shared with me, “Sometimes, you might have to give up something to get what you want.” Thanks to my family whom have always rallied for me and my endeavors in life and espe cially to my wife Cheryl for al ways being here for me. Terry Courtney. Traditions “Living a good life,” that is what our ancestors wanted to preserve for all of the tribal members. That is what our trea ties are all about. Most of us have grown up learning a lot about our cultural needs and the traditional ways of life. We are the caretakers o f not only nature’s gifts, but also of the children in our lives that are the future. We all live in one world and we all need to work together to keep the ways of life in balance with nature. Our ancestors knew how im portant it was to be ever thankful to the Creator of all things and not just on Sunday. We never had Sunday or Wednesdays. Every m orning was worship time every day. Alcohol or drugs never were a part of our traditional ways o f life. Indian pride? Life is tough all over. Why do our people some times prefer alcohol over the salmon, the deer, the roots, even the welfare of their families? Why? Did you forget what your grandfather or grandm other used to say? Have you passed on the customs and traditions that our ancestors preserved for us back in 1855? Are we self- destructing or do we even ap preciate life? T erry Courtney. Seniors Day A ttention to all com m unity members: The Warm Springs Senior Department is requesting your help, by making any type of donations possible for this year’s Honor Seniors Day. The theme for this year’s Honor Seniors Day is “A Dream Come True,” and is to be held at the Agency Longhouse in Warm Springs on Friday, May 11, 2007. If you are unable to make any donations, you can be a volunteer helper. Any and all donations will be gready appreciated and can be delivered to the Senior Depart ment building at 2331 High Lookee. Donations can also be picked up by a staff member of the Senior Department. For more information, please contact the Senior Department by either a phone call to our of fices at (541) 553-3313, or by stopping by the office located at 2331 High Lookee St. We, here at the Senior Dapartment would like to thank you for your time and consid eration on this matter. Sincerely, The S ta ff at the Senior Depatment. ing. It is not easy. It is very ex pensive nowadays. We should be happy for what one person has. We all don’t have what oth ers have but it doesn’t mean we work hard for it too. So it shouldn’t be like that. We’re all humans, and we do want to learn if they teach us and there are those who really want to. And the other concern is court issues that do arise to us as clients. Whatever happened to just playing fair or just equal opportunity. We do also do what they call hearsay and not a whole lot listen to both sides and only want to hear and say just a fraction of what is really being done and the attitude and rude behavior and cut out the gossip and what happened to confiden tiality and be there to do their job and not for what they call when you want. We do want to be treated as clients and be treated how they would like to be treated. Okay, it is gladly ap preciated, and it’s all good but comes with time and respect that would also be nice. And whatever happened to our cul ture and heritage and our lan guage. What are our tribal lead ers doing to improve if anything should arise. Some of us would like to learn these, such as fish ing, hunting, root-digging, berry picking, and culture for our fu ture generations. And our treaty rights as tribal members. One day a younger generation might be Tribal Council or office. We are seriously losing a lot or miss ing a lot. The younger genera tion needs to be taught that re spect and listen to elders and parents. Don’t let children rule. Teach and they will listen or talk. Speak up. Make a stand and represent the C onfederated Tribes of Warm Springs Or egon. No one can take that away from us. (It is called pride and respect and trust and loyalty.) Thank you for your time. One day we m ight be our future leader. Thank you community. Sincerely, Rachel Saludo. Concerns In Montana To our community of Warm Springs, This is a concern we will call “Equal opportunity, and fair ness.” For all that read or who choose to listen and think the same as well do think out loud but never say anything. Well I am a tribal member here and would like to take time to share how we feel about some con cerns or issues and fairness. Well here are our major ones, for example we have overcrowded housing, too many in one home. We should do what some people call sweat equity or assist with homes and help clean or basi cally get homes done sooner. Help out, it’s better what people say, “One hand w ashed the other,” and we are all humans, want to make it better for ev eryone. We need to make a stand and listen not only hear but lis ten to who is talking. And we can resolve these if a commu nity will stand as one. And the other concerns are jobs for us as tribal members. Whatever happened to taking time to teach or train us. There are still some people willing to learn and want to work. But we all think we cannot do it, there is no such thing. We walk side by side not in front or behind. We should improve job fairness, training or at least give that per son a chance and take a good look at what we all should do. It is hard to have one family work Hello, everyone. I’m just writing to let every one who’s wondering how or where I am. Well, I’m physically better than before, everything else is so-so. Be living in Mon tana for a litte longer. Probably be back maybe next summer, who knows? I don’t. Anyways, I sure could use some mail from anyone curious, won dering, bored, whatever. So if you so desire, I will re turn all, so don’t be scared. H ope to hear from you soon. A n th o n y J. G o n za le s, AO2108412 2340 Mullan Rd. Missoula, MT 59808. Spiiyay Tymoo (C oyote News, Est. 1976 ) Publisher Emeritus: Sid Miller Editor: Dave McMechan Management Succes sor: Selena T. Boise Reporter: Leslie Mitts. Advertising Manager: Sam Howard Media Advisor: Bill Rhoades Spiiyay Tymoo is pub lished bi-weekly by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Spiiyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR 97761.
