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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 3, 2008)
July 3, 2 0 0 8 Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Pzqe 2 Hauling services remove abandoned vehicles B y D a ve M c M e c h a n Spilyay Tymoo Property owners in the Warm Springs area who wish to have abandoned vehicles removed from their property should call Anthony “Tiger” VanPelt. VanPelt works with Ira’s Tow ing, ow ned by Bobby McDonald, to help property owners with the removal of the unwanted vehicles. Working in the Simnasho on removing abandoned vehicles is Carriage T ansport from the Portland area. Rodney Guerin is working with Carriage, oper ated by Wendy Mayer and Daren Martin. People wishing to reach Van Pelt can reach him at 419-7379. Ira’s can be reached at 475- 3861. To reach Guerin, call 977- 6981. Carriage can be reached (360) 980-0855; or (503) 577- 5742. Tiger Van Pelt and tow-truck driver Trevor Durgan are available to tow abandoned vehicles. Business procedure Companies that are in the business o f rem oving aban doned vehicles from the reser vation must follow certain pro cedures. A company that fails to comply with the procedures can lose its authorization to do busi ness on the reservation, said Urbana Manion, of the tribal Land-Use office. T he issue o f rem oval o f abandoned vehicles has come up in recent months, as the price of scrap metal has gone up, cre ating more demand for the ve hicles, said Manion. Currently, there are just the two companies that are autho rized to rem ove abandoned vehicles from the reservation: Ira ’s Towing, and C arriage Transport. For a company to have per Rodney Guerin, Wendy Mayer and Daren Martin are helping homeowners remove abandoned vehicles in the Simnasho area. Dave McMechan/Spilyay mission to tow or haul vehicles from the reservation, the com pany must provide a certificate of liability insurance, and obtain a privilege tax permit from the tribal Vital Statistics D epart ment. Also, the company must ob tain written permission from the Land-Use Planning Committee. There are several more re quirements that also apply: The companies are required to ensure that no such fluids leak from the towed vehicles, according to the tribal proce dure. Also, the old tires cannot be removed from the vehicles and left on the property. The salvage operators should w ork only during business hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a copy o f the procedure, stop by the Land-Use office in the administration building. from vehicles prior to hauling. And the company must no tify tribal departments when the salvage operator enters the res ervation with the date o f entry and the location of the salvage operation. The salvage operator must obtain consent from the titled owners authorizing the release of the vehicles. Tribal member owners who wish to be compen sated for their vehicles must be paid the agreed upon price be fore the owner’s vehicle can be hauled for salvage. Also, the company must en sure that the vehicle owner re moves all personal belongings Environmental damage A concern fofthe tribes with regard to the towing operations is the environment. For instance, the abandoned vehicles may contain fluids that are hazardous to the environ ment. Kalama: ‘Whatever it takes to say the battle can be won’ After awhile her rebellious ways did cause her to be sent to boarding school, but not the type she might have hoped. “I fooled myself,” Kalama but she also almost lost her life. While going through treatment she was hospitalized several times and eventually underwent heart surgery because o f the alone— Shawn Cartney, Kalama’s significant other, also entered treatment. “The day I came home we met at the door and he was off,” said w ith a laugh. “I got sent to Hillcrest, the reform school in damage th at drugs did to her body. she explained. F rom that point the two have strived to rebuild stead.” From there, Kalama’s parents sent her to boarding school in Oklahoma where she quickly returned to her old ways. Because o f her time spent with older people in the local community, Kalama said, “I al ready knew my way in the world.” “It was business,” Kalama said. “To me it was business. I was making money.” Her business sense led to a long period of dealing drugs. A ccording to Kalama, “ I think I sold about every drug there was back then.” At times Kalama would stay in her house for months— not looking out the window or an swering the door. “That’s where the drugs took me too— just complete darkness and com plete seclusion,” Kalama said. “N ot only myself b u t took my daughter and younger son with me to where later on my daughter had also taken to using and selling drugs.” “As young children, my song and daughter thought selling was my job since that is all they knew of it,” Kalama added. A final clash with law en forcement is what prom pted her to enter treatment for the second time. Though she went to treat m ent in the 1980s, Kalama didn’t succeed in treatment un til she had no other options. W hen she was b usted in 2004, Kalama said, she was faced with mass jail time and confiscation of her home and possessions. At the time, Kalama felt as though that would mean having her life taken away. “I was going to lose my free dom,” Kalama said, but she chose to challenge the courts and worked out a plea bargain. N ot only that, Kalama added, Kalama said she knew her fighting spirit would help her succeed. “You can’t teach this old dog new tricks was my favorite line” Kalama said. However, she was able to change her ways after several months in treatment. “It wasn’t like throwing in the towel,” Kalama said. Instead it meant standing up for herself as a strong Indian woman, she explained. She went to treatment, paid a fine, and was given five years o f probation and community counseling. Even after returning from treatment, Kalama chose to live with her mother for six months before returning home in order to be able to handle facing her old life. Kalama credits her mother with sticking by her throughout her life and her struggles. “She’s the best,” Kalama said. As part of the 12-step pro gram, Kalama has spent quality time on the step directed toward making amends. “I was a real terrible and mean person,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of physi cal harm, verbal and emotional harm.” “I still haven’t made my com plete circle with that,” Kalama added. She continues to strive toward making amends, and said one of the most difficult things involves repairing her relationship with her children. Still, Kalama said, “Forgiving myself has been the hardest thing.” Some have expressed doubt that her five-year sobriety is something Kalama plans to con tinue. However, Kalama said, there isn’t anything that could make her give up the life she has now. The journey toward a clean lifestyle isn’t one that she’s taken their lives and serve actively in the community to help others. Through involvement with Community Counseling, Kalama has remained active in the Meth Task Force, Alcoholics Anony mous, and Narcotics Anony mous in addition to cultural ac tivities, Washat and medicine singing. “If it’s sharing my words, if it’s sharing my story—whatever it takes to say the battle can be won,” Kalama said. Helping others in the com m unity is som ething th at Kalama strongly believes in— especially after receiving help while she strived for a better life. “I very, very much give credit to our elders,” Kalama said. “They accepted me back with open arms.” Everyone has their own story, and I ’m ju s t glad that I ’m able to share right now. 99 Merle Kalama In fact, she added, it’s the community that has helped her succeed. “I have something to come back to and be a part of,” Kalama said. “That’s been one o f my biggest strengths.” As a teenager she quit danc ing at powwows but now Kalama enjoys her participation in as many as possible. “I was kind of in and out of that way o f life, my true Indian nature,” Kalama said. Now, she added, “Its as if I’d never been gone.” Her love for her culture is something she hopes to pass on to the children she teaches at Early Childhood Education. In Kalama’s opinion, “Its just such a fiilfilling feelings and a satisfying feeling to be able to direct them in a positive way.” The Early Childhood Educa she added, “Our Indian people are accepting people.” ■ “Meth has touched every life in our community,” Kalama said. “Alcohol is the same.” tion, staff ga,vg her a chance tp earn her life back when they gave While Kalama sgid giving up, addictions is a scary thing, she her a job, Kalama said. N ow K alam a offyrs her phone number, 553-0478, for anyone seeking help with an addiction problem. “Anybody is welcome to call me or talk to me,” Kalama said. As for advice for others, Kalama said, “You’re not alone. You’re never alone in this fight to be clean and sober, or clean and straight.” “We have our Creator who blessed us with a spirituality to seek help from elders, longhouse, sweat, Washat, medi cine songs and th e Shaker Church,” Kalama added. “I challenge my old, using friends or anyone out there to try it— you’ll like it.” “D o not be afraid,” Kalama advised. While it is a scary thing, added, “That’s the fear o f say ing goodbye to the drug.” “I was too scared for so many years,” Kalama said. “I was too scared to go straight.” Kalama is currently attending college to earn her associate’s degree in early childhood edu cation (something she originally began in 1972) and taking two classes in addition to working at ECE. She maintains a 3.5 grade point average. In the future, Kalama said, she looks forward to enhancing her life further. “It’s never too late,” she said. 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