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
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♦
•
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
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