Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2008)
Hopeful news for the mill B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo T he W arm Springs Forest Products Industries mill could benefit from an agreem ent with a w ood products firm that focuses on the Japanese lum ber market. T he company is V anport Interna tional, which w ould manage the opera tion o f the W SFPI mill, according to an initial agreem ent between the com pany and the tribes. T he focus o f the mill w ould be on p ro d u ction o f m ore specialty w ood products, targeting the Japanese m ar ket, w hich values fine-grained lum ber from Oregon. The change at W SFPI could result in the return o f many jobs lost at the mill, said Tribal Councilwoman Aurolyn Stwyer. Pl-Ume-Sha Traditional Parade riders on the way to the powwow grounds. Council resolution Earlier this year, the Council was forced to partially close the mill, reduc ing employm ent from over 150 to 60. T he partial closure was necessary, as the U.S. lum ber m arket continued to decline. W ithout a long-term and un sustainable subsidy from the tribes, the mill could n o t operate as it had in the p ast, an d th e em ployee lay o ff was im plem ented in February. Tribal Council, acting as the W SFPI b o a rd , directed th e sta ff to co n tin u e th e sea'r'ch to r a w a j ^ o b rin g m e ^ m n l Dancer (left) and Black Lodge drum group (above) at Pl-Ume- Sha. back into production ^.m ore employ m ent in the comm unity being a C oun cil priority. W S F P I h ad d one business w ith Vanport International in the past; so the tribes w ere fam iliar w ith th e firm . T hrough negotiation, the tribes and V anport came to a preliminary agree m ent resulting in the Tribal Resolution W SFPI 08-02, directing the Secretary- Treasurer to negotiate a final and com prehensive agreement. Japanese m arket P art o f the problem at the mill has been the production o f w ood products that do not take full advantage o f the quality o f the tribal timber, said Stywer. High-quality w ood was being used to produce lum ber that did n o t require such high quality, she said. T hrough V anport International, the situation could be corrected w ith jobs restored at the mill. V anport M anufacturing began in 1967 as log broker and m anufacturer o f construction lum ber, active in the American and Japanese markets. T he com pany’s specialty was sort ing and producing for the best value from high quality tim ber in the region. V anport eventually change its em pha sis from log exporting to m anufactur ing lumber for Japanese hom e construc tion. Custom er dem and in Japan rapidly grew, outpacing increases in the capac ity o f V anport’s sawmill, according to the com pany website. “In order to supply its growing Japa nese customer base, V anport established m arketing arrangem ents to sUlTufflbgf" from other producers in the U.S, Pa cific N orthw est and British Columbia in exchange for its knowledge in m anu facturing and quality co n tro l,” the website says. Many lessons learned in victory over addiction B y L e s l ie M i tt s Spilyay Tymoo The first thing Merle Kalama likes to share about her story is that she is grateful. The second is that she is sorry. Kalam a, 55, often speaks o f her battle w ith addictions, through w ork w ith local organizations like the M eth Task Force. Today she is a dedicated teacher at E arly C hildhood E d u catio n w ith a strong pride for her com m unity and culture, b u t for decades Kalama spent her time dealing drugs and clashing with law enforcement. H er eventual success is som ething that she credits to help from G o d and family. Sober since 2004, Kalama has spent time in and out o f jail, had her chil dren taken away and gone th ro u g h treatm ent twice. “I p u t my family through a whole lot o f trauma, sadness and hardship for other family mem bers,” Kalama said. A somewhat shy woman with a sweet dem eanor, Kalama hardly seems to fit the description that she gives o f her self in prior years. The m other to a 36-year-old son, 26 year-old daughter and 20-year-old son, Kalama is also a grandm other o f five (with one m ore on the way). Kalama was b o rn in W arm Springs on March 13, 1953. H er father, N ick Kalama, w ho was the late Paiute C hief Paulina, and her m other Viola Kalama raised her in the comm unity along w ith Kalama’s older siblings E dna Johnson, I 1 i v » jB | H a w LT I . Courtesy photo. Merle Kalama Is now able to share her newfound love for her culture with young students as a teacher at Early Childhood Education. Byron Kalama, Brenda Kalama-Scott and younger brother “Spunky” Kalama. “I was fortunate to have a m other and father that did a really good job o f giving us the positive things in life,” Kalama said o f her happy childhood. Raised in a religious household and baptized in the Presbyterian Church, Kalam a said, “T h at’s my basis is my spirituality and my thankfulness that I • ♦ • I • I am here today.” Kalama’s siblings were sent to board ing school and she rem ained the only child in her household until she was 10 years old. “I g ot to have M om and D ad to myself,” Kalama said. “I was spoiled.” As a child in a part o f tow n called “O ld Hollywood,” many o f her neigh bors didn’t have running w ater or elec tricity in their hom es, Kalama said. She considers herself fortunate to have had b oth in her hom e growing up due to a father that she calls a “jack o f all trades.” Still, Kalama added, “I never con sider myself any better or any differ ent than anyone else.” A t a young age, Kalama’s drug and alcohol use escalated, mainly due to w hat she describes as simply curiosity and experimentation. Cigarettes became the first object o f curiosity in Kalama’s life. Because she grew up surrounded by ra n c h e rs a n d fa rm e rs w h o o fte n smoked, Kalama explained, “I never thought it was a bad thing.” W hen h er fath er discovered her smoking, however, he ordered Kalama to smoke the entire pack. T h at w asn’t the end o f her experi m entation, however. Because her fam ily actively attended fairs and rodeos throughout the region, Kalama found opportunities as young as 10 or 11 years old to sneak her first drink o f alcohol. “I liked it,” Kalam a said. “It wasn’t the taste. It was just the feeling I guess. T he feeling o f euphoria.” T h e first drink led to a hab it o f sneaking alcohol along w ith other kids her age during time spent at fairs and celebrations from the time she turned 13. A t that time in her life, Kalama said, “It was just kind o f a w eekend thing.” H owever, around the time Kalama turned 15 or 16 she began to experi m ent with mind-altering drugs and con tinue to push the limits o f her lifestyle. “I started running with older people,” Kalama added. “I w asn’t hanging w ith the teenagers.” A t the age o f 16 Kalama found she was able to get into bars, and started selling bootleg alcohol in high school. “I don’t know w hat I was looking for,” K alam a said. Because o f her desire to “grow up in the fast lane,” Kalama missed out on the traditional teenage experience, she added. T hough Kalama spent years rebel ling, it isn’t something that she feels was caused by her family life. “My parents were very strict w ith me, just w ith my older siblings as well as myself,” Kalam a said. “We had to w ork for w hat we got.” T h at m eant doing chores at hom e to earn things like television privileges and spending summers working in berry fields to earn extra money. In part that’s how Kalama learned a lesson that w ould follow her through out life and p rom pt her to continue selling drugs: “Behind it all is the al mighty dollar,” Kalam a said. As for n ot attending boarding school w ith her peers, Kalama said, “I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.” See KALAM A on 2
