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.
In the end, Kalama said, “Ev
eryone has their own story, and
I ’m just glad that I ’m able to
share right now.”
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