Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 2010)
E Coosh EEWA: The W3y it is Page 4 Spiiyay Tymoo January 27, 2010 Letters to the Editor Terrible incident O n Thursday evening, Nov. 19, 2009 my sister N ancy Switzler, Frankie Switzler’s wife, was walking home in Madras, between 6-6:30 p.m. She was walking east from Aherns grocery store to the bike path w hich goes tow ard her home. This is all she remembers. Someone brutally beat her face and choked her and left her for dead. We now know a stick was used in the beating. By the grace o f G od, she somehow managed to get to her daughter’s house at 10 p.m. with both o f her eyes swollen shut. We believe this assault happened by the bike trail that goes from McDonald’s restaurant east to ward the hospital. H er daughter called the am bulance and my sister was taken to Mountain View H os pital. X -rays and cat scans showed her injuries were very severe with a concussion, frac tu red eye socket, and frac tu re d u p p e r jaw and b o th cheek bones shattered. N ancy was taken to St. Charles in Bend and then trans ferred to OHSU H ospital in Portland for complete recon structive surgery on the right side of her face. The person or persons re sponsible for this horrendous crime need to be taken off of the streets o f Madras and held accountable for this horrific beating. A fter speaking w ith Madras police about releasing this information to the press, my sister the victim and her family feel the community of Madras should know what’s going on in their community, and it’s a dis service not sharing this incident with the public. T he family hopes that by making this public knowledge the community of Madras will be safe and that someone might remember what happened on Nov. 19 and notify the Madras police at 475-2396. I am Nancy’s sister and I can be reached at 541-350-4772. Becky Brunoe MLK Jr. Day Today is Martin Luther King Day and I am at home. I am talking to my grandma. I asked her, because I noticed the tribe office was open but school was closed and the clinic was closed. W hy was trib a l open? My grandma, always ready with an swers, was quiet for a while. Grandma, I said, Why? She started talking very slowly, qui etly. She said, I don’t know just how to answer this son, but sev eral Tribal Councils ago the Council decided to honor not Martin Luther King, but to use his day to work and take their own birthdays off. I thought for a minute, To honor themselves? No, I don’t think so. When I grow up, I will respectfully take his birthday off and work on my own birth- day. Wesley Wesley, 9. Redhouse Salmon, rights I am starting some lectures p ertain in g to th e T reaty o f 1855, our salmon issues, court decisions that made a difference in our reserved rights to harvest salmon, talk about our tribal rights, getting to really know each other as people, talking over the issues pertaining to our culture, beliefs, and real tradi tions, and find out where is the voice o f the people? I will not only share what I’ve learned, but I will listen to you. Let’s all make a difference for the better o f us all and those yet to come. Thank you. Terry Courtney. Happy birthday and other wishes... Congratulations Many Happy Years! Happy birthday to Jaren R. Wallulatum,you are on the right tracks. Keep doing what you do. Love, your bro,. big Gunner. Happy Valentines Day to Tyson and Holly, and all my grandchildren. Love, Mom. Happy belated birthday to Bryce M. Wallulatum. Love you, lil bro. Keep you r head on straig h t. L ove, you r bro G unner Wallulatum. Happy birthday to Gib and Carl Kalama - From your sis Whoops. and TifEney Henry & Emery Yallup. Married - January 2, 2010. Happy Valentines Day to Mercedes and Joydee. From Dad. Happy Valentines Day to Dean Sohappy. Love and kisses, you’re my Valentine. From Marge. H appy Valentines Day to Cheryl. Love, from Dave. Tribal sovereignty depends on tribal members By Bruce Engle don’t count as many votes. Few votes, little clout. W.S. Credit Enterprise This article is about how tribal econom ies and sover eignty relate to each other. The more important message is at the end; it’s about the chil dren. Sovereignty is perishable. It can be extinguished by conquest and by federal law. We Klamaths know this to be true; it happened to us—we call it “termination.” Fifty-five years ago Congress decided to go out of the Indian business; they had been talking about it for years. They passed a law. We were one o f the four tribes Congress selected to show Indian Country how to do It. Boy, did we show them. Even the government now admits it didn’t work! N evertheless, it could happen again— with the same result. Indian Country needs to be prepared. Sure, there are stimulus mon ies available now for a lot of different projects. So much for the short term; as the federal budget gets tighter, some mem bers of Congress will surely res urrect the concept of termina tion. A few o f them already look at tribes as having vast resources and only a small minority o f the population. In their world, we Spiiyay Tymoo ("Coyote News, Est. 1976) Publisher Emeritus: Sid Miller Editor: Dave McMechan Reporter: Terri Harber Advertising Manager: Sam Howard Media Advisor: Bill Rhoades Spiiyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the Confeder ated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our offices are located at 4174 Highway 3 in Warm Springs. Any written materials submitted to Spiiyay Tymoo should be addressed to: Spiiyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR 97761. Phone: (541) 553-2307 or 553-2210. Advertising: 749-0424 E-Mail: spilyay@wstribes.org. Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $15.00. Our best defense A thriving economy is our best defense. It is not just about jobs; it is a sovereignty issue. Economies and sovereignty have som ething in com mon; each needs the other and nei ther can endure long without the other. I know that may be con trary to what some o f us have been taught but I think it’s worth considering. Tribal ability to assert sover eignty depends much upon tribal economic strength. The same can be said for preserving, pro tecting, and defending tribal sov ereignty. In other words, N o cash, no clout! Indian Country is similar to human groups throughout his tory. Nations and empires have appeared, become strong, be come weak, and then disap peared. Sometimes the people survived the loss o f control; usually, they suffered. Total dependence inevitably leads to subjugation to another’s self-interest. Tribes might do well to evalu ate their dependency situation. The answers will vary. Remedies may or may not be needed. The less dependerit we are, the more self-determinant we are. I suggest that is a worthy goal. That brings us back to eco nomics and my belief that eco nomic strength enhances our ability to be tribally and person ally self-determinate and able to preserve, protect, defend and assert sovereignty. Self sufficiency Here is how I see it for our tribes: Complete self-sufficiency is a myth for our people. We are a couple hundred years beyond that. Most people and nations are somewhat dependent upon oth ers. Co-dependence may lead to acknowledgment of, and accom modation for, common interests and needs. That can be wonder ful, but there are risks. Some Co dependents are stronger than others and may not be so ac commodating. Model of success Let’s tie those comments in to what I think Indian Country can do to take advantage o f our economic opportunities. As I see it: The strength o f the U.S. has been, and is, in its people, its laws, and in its organizational structure. Our successes at home and on the world stage are the con sequence o f an enterprise sys tem that has b o th freed and harnessed the energy, the drive, the foresight and the inventive ness o f our people to produce goods and offer services that meet our needs and the needs o f others. Tribes that have embraced similar visions o f economic suc cess and have instituted work able economic systems that are culturally compatible have pros pered and seen their members become successful. Group success depends upon individual success and vice- versa. That road goes both di- Apologies Napyer. I am sorry I broke tribal law on 11-18-09 by getting a DUII, recklessly endangering times three, and child neglect. I apolo gize to my family and mainly to my two sons. I apologize to the community for driving under the influence, also to the Warm Springs police and the court. It won’t happen again. Larrissa I am sorry I broke tribal law by driving under the legal drink ing age. I know it was a wrong thing to do. I regret my actions. I am sorry to the arresting of ficer for any problems I have caused. I apologize to the Warm Springs community. I am going to stay out o f trouble and bet ter myself. Aaron Hart. Tribal members make tribes successful. Tribal systems can enable or hinder those efforts. rections. I believe we strengthen our selves, our families, and our tribes when we do not depend for our basic income upon trans fer funds from the federal gov ern m en t a n d /o r p er capitas from casino or other tribal en terprise revenues. To do so in excess is to sacri fice our individual potential for success and feelings o f self-suf ficiency, self-determination, and self-worth. Relying on our people Our national systems o f gov ernment and economic develop ment were designed by previous subjects o f totalitarianism from abroad who rejected kings and made royalty o f the common man. Citizens were left relatively free to do business. Many did so, and successfully. H istory has show n those “royal commoners,” as a group, to have b een econom ically pretty successful. Indian Country has produced individual and tribal successes. Members who have taught those concepts and the work ethic to their children have seen many o f them succeed. E co nomic success has then become a generational thing. How do we do that? We must rely on our people. I am sorry I broke tribal law on June 4, 2009 by drug para phernalia and allowing it in my home. I apologize to my family for the shame my actions have brought to our family name. Further, I apologize to the fol lowing: my place o f employ ment that was impacted by my actions. I also want to say that I will follow through w ith the court orders to better my life, I rem em ber elders asking about others, “Is he doing well?” and “Are they doing well?” Those same elders encour aged their kids and grandkids to do well in school. Also, the chil dren worked in the family busi- nesses— m ostly farm ing and ranching. They had chores. They were made responsible for get ting them done correctly. They w ere m ade to feel th a t the chores were important. As the children grew, their responsibilities and contributions to the success o f the operation also grew. So, the children learned the “business” and a work ethic. Parents were role models for the children. Parents and elders set the standards. They made the rules. T hey m o n ito re d the children’s progress. They cor rected inadequate behaviors when necessary and a recogniz able percentage o f those chil dren became successful. So, what do we get from this? Raising an economy Tribal members make tribes successful. Tribal systems can enable or hinder those efforts. Raising an economy is simi lar to raising successful children: It takes commitment, a clear vi sion o f the final product, and a lot o f work. Preparation is ev erything. Coaches and athletes say that. G ood preparation pre vents piddling p o o r p e rfo r mance. We and our parents share some responsibility for our suc cess. We and our children will similarly share responsibility for their successes. That is our load to carry— and theirs. and I will make every effort to follow our laws in the future. Winona Stwyer. I am sorry I broke tribal law on 8-17-09 by getting a liquor violation. I apologize to the tribal court for having me in court. This will never happen ag ain . F rederick Jam es Wallulatum. Apologies continue on page 5
