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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2011)
r n News from Indian Country P^ge 13 Spilyay Tymoo ‘ February 9, 2011 Chairm an calls for economic boost Tribes ask for bigger share o f N .D . oil tax HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The chairman of the Blackfeet Na tion called for an increase in economic development for Na tive American tribes in the an nual State of the Tribal Nations address last Thursday. Increasing tourism by dispel ling the stereotype that reserva tions are lawless places is impor tant for economic advancement of the Native American tribes, Willie Sharp told state lawmak ers. Native Americans make up 6.5 percent of the population in Montana, and Sharp said they could soon make up the largest m in o rity in the state. T hat makes cooperation between the L eg islatu re and the N ative American reservations very im portant, he said. “I say together we can work and strive for economic sover eignty for each of our nations. We can work together, work to improve and enhance the qual ity of life for our nations,” Sharp said. He acknowledged difficulties facing Native Americans, includ ing poverty, unemployment, a short life expectancy and high death rates. He also highlighted the need for improved education investment, strong tribal leader ship and an easing of racial ste reotypes between Native Ameri cans and other Montanans. Ariz. governor targets planned casino PHOENIX (AP) — Gov. Jan Brewer has signed into law a bill intended to derail a Southern Arizona tribe's plan to build a Las Vegas-style casino-hotel in the core of the Phoenix metro area. Brewer signed the bill Tues day, the day before the deadline for her to act on the bill ap proved by the Legislature last week. Once it takes effect 90 days after the current legislative ses- sion ends, the bill would allow the city of Glendale to annex the 54-acre site purchased years ago by the Sells-based Tohono O'odham Nation. Casinos in Arizona must be built on American Indian reser- Tribe honors Code Talker WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — Navajo President Ben ■ Shelly has ordered flags flown at half-staff in honor of Na vajo Code T alker joh nn y Alfred. Tribal officials say the 91- year-old Alfred died last Sat urday. Flags w ill be low ered across the Navajo Nation for five days starting Wednesday. Alfred enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942. He was one of hundreds of Navajos who used a code based on their native lan guage to confound the Japanese during World War II. Shelly says Alfred was a hard w orking and com passionate man who served the country well. Alfred is survived by his wife, five children, 20 grand children and 30 great-grand children. A memorial service is scheduled Wednesday morn ing at the Assembly of God church in Tuba City. Burial will follow at a family plot. Vancouver opposes Cowlitz plan VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The city of Vancouver is join ing Clark County in a lawsuit seeking to block The Cowlitz Tribe from building a casino near La Center, a few minutes drive from Portland. The Oregonian reports the Deaths investigated RIVERTON, Wyo. (AP) —Authorities are investigat ing the deaths o f two people found in different parts of the Wind River Indian Reservation. A 53- year-old homeless woman was found dead alongside the road in Fort Washakie. A 19-year-old was also found dead in his home. appeal filed in federal court Monday in Washington, D.C., argues the Bureau o f Indian Affairs doesn't have authority to approve the tribe's plan. Two property owners, four La Center card rooms and the group Citizens Against Reserva- tion Shopping also oppose the casino. The project is backed by the M ohegan T ribal Gaming Authority. The Cowlitz Tribe won federal approval in D e cember. Man accused of stealing from tribe MINOT, N.D. (AP) _ A man is accused of stealing money from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Anthony Keplin is charged in federal court with em bezzle ment and theft from an Indian tribal organization, and false statements. Keplin was scheduled to be arraigned in Minot last Friday. Authorities say Keplin failed to report changes in employ ment and income while receiv ing general assistance benefits. vations. The tribe is seeking to have the federal government add the site to the tribe's reservation. A legal challenge is pending in fed eral court. Grants program to help Indian students PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - Federal money w ill be used at South Dakota's public universities to in crease the retention rate and success rate of In dian students. The U.S. Department of Education w ill pro vide $216,000 for the six universities. South D akota o ffi cials say it’s an expan sion of the College Ac cess C h allen ge G rant program. The program is a l ready used at the South Dakota’s technical insti tutes and at tribal col leges and tribal univer sities. The state Education D e p artm e n t said I n dian students make up 1.9 percent o f the stu dent population in state u n iv e r s it ie s and 3.5 percent o f the en ro ll m ent in the four tech nical institutes. BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota’s Three Affiliated Tribes should get a larger share o f tax collectio ns from the reservation's oil production, which is needed to pay for road repairs and other consequences of oil development, the tribes’ chairman said Friday. “For lack of better words, it’s almost like this could potentially overtake us,” Tex Hall said dur ing a hearing of the North Da kota Senate’s Natural Resources Committee. “If we don’t get on top of this, this can overtake us.” Hall asked committee mem bers to support changes in a money allocation formula that would boost the tribe’s oil tax collections by about $22.5 mil lion during the next two years. T he p an e l’s chairm an , Sen. Stanley Lyson, R-Williston, said the panel would review the leg islation again Monday. Tlfe Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is at the center of an oil drilling boom in western North Dakota, as companies com pete to extract oil from shale rock known as the Bakken formation. Former Gov. John Hoeven and Hall’s predecessor, Marcus Levings, signed .an agreement in June 2008 that specifies how reservation production is regu lated, and how oil tax collections were to be divided between the state and tribe. Hoeven and Levings signed a permanent extension of the accord in Jan u ary 2010. Its terms allow either the tribe or state to terminate the agreement with 30 days’ notice. It says the state of North Dakota gets 80 percent of tax collections from “fee land” on the Fort Berthold reservation, and 50 percent o f the taxes from tribal trust lands. Fee land is privately owned. Trust lands are held in trust by the federal government to ben efit the tribe and individual tribal members. Hall said Friday that an 80- 20 split in the tribe's favor of oil tax revenues from trust lands would be fairer, instead of the present 50-50 division. Sen. John Warner, D-Ryder, whose district includes the Fort Berthold res ervation, has introduced legisla tion to make the change. “This is not a windfall, this is not a profit thing,” Hall said dur ing Friday's hearing. “This is for our governm ent, to build its roads, its health care and its in frastructure. If we don't have the necessary monies, this will slow (oil production) down. We cannot be overrun. Our people’s safety and health come first.” North Dakota Tax Depart ment data show the state has collected $47.8 million in oil taxes from reservation produc tion from Septem b er 2008 through December 2010, while the tribe has received $21.3 mil lion. The state collected just over $4 million in taxes in both No vember and December, while the tribe received more than $2 million, Tax Department data shows. Should the allocation for mula be changed, the agency estim ates N orth D akota w ill collect $19.6 million less in taxes during the 2011-13 budget pe riod, which begins July 1. The state would also trans fer almost $2.9 million of its collections to oil-producing counties, to make up for what they would have had if the dis tribution method had remained the same. Hall appealed directly to law makers for changes in the tax allocation formula in a speech last month, and he has pressed Gov. Jack Dalrymple on the is sue. Dalrymple has said his bud get recommendations include spending on state highways that would benefit the reservation. Ryan Bernstein, the governor’s deputy chief of staff, said Fri day that Dalrymple was neutral on the legislation. The Fort Berthold reserva tion has about 1,500 miles of roads, including about 150 miles of state highway and 660 miles of county roads. Hall said about 56 miles of reservation road that is heavily used by oil industry trucks needs urgent reconstruction this year, and more roads need sim ilar attention in the future. Grant energizes battle to stop Indian suicides SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Morgan Pourier’s wrists carry the scars of a child beaten down by bullying, trauma and family struggles on the Pine Ridge In dian Reservation. Though just an eighth-grader at Wolf Creek School east of Pine R idge, she already has courted death in a bottle of pills and the edge of a blade. But the culture of death that often grips reservation life did not kill Morgan. If anything, it transformed her into an impor tant voice of hope in the fight against suicide across Indian Country. And now, a newly awarded $50,000 U.S. D epartm ent of Education grant could give her and other crusaders a helping hand as well. The department’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools has awarded more than $27 million in Project School Emergency R esponse to V io len ce — or SERV - grants since 2001 to L help school districts and higher- ed institutions respond to suicide and other traumatic events. In Shannon County, that money will pay for a case man ager to follow up with students who have attempted suicide or voiced thoughts of it. “We want to make sure they are receiving services,” said Allie Bad Heart Bull, who manages dormitory and residential life at Pine Ridge School. “We’ll work with their parents. We’ll do pre vention, like peer counseling. The thing is, so many times, they get lost in the system. There is no follow-up. Hopefully, this will help change that.” National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statis tics indicate that tribal youths are much more likely than other American youths to kill them selves, especially in this region. In 2009-10, nine students in the Shannon County School District killed themselves. Pourier attem pted suicide Kids are fiv e times more likely to think about sui cide i f they're being bullied... within that time frame. Family trauma at home and bullying outside the home led her first to try overdosing on pills, then to cut her wrists, she said. “I was a bad cutter,” she said. “Most of last year, whenever I felt depressed, I sliced my wrists to relieve some of the pain.” Bullying is particularly prob lematic on the reservation, said Tiny DeCory, a community ad vocate involved in after-school and summer programs. Again and again, children are made fun of because of their size, the way they look and the way they dress, DeCory said. “Even little kids are bullying other kids for the way they look at them,” she said. “Bullying leads to suicide ideations. Kids are five times more likely to think about suicide if they're being bullied.” That’s not all. Eileen Janis, a suicide outreach worker for the trib e's Sw eetgrass suicide project, estimated that half of the cases of suicide on her res ervation involve sexual abuse. The bullying and sexual assaults lead to depression, Janis said, which in turn lead to alcohol and substance abuse. The Project SERV grant runs six months and has to be applied for again, Bad Heart Bull said. But it is by no means the only suicide prevention effort taking place at Pine Ridge. Indian Health Service’s be havioral health department in Pine Ridge is a key player in dealing with troubled youths. So are Janis and the Sweetgrass Project, which is an arm of the tribe’s health department and helps to get screenings, early identification, referrals and fol low-ups for at-risk youths. And then there's M organ Pourier. She and other Oglala youths are part of a program called Be E xcited A bout R eadin g, or BEAR. Coordinated by DeCory, the group uses singing, dancing and storytelling skills to put on skits, role play and educate youths about how to deal with the ugliest realities of reserva tion life. “If I could afford to take these kids out of school, I’d be doing it every day in Indian Country,” DeCory said. “I kid you not... North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana... we could do presentations every day.” Some group members such as Pourier speak personally to the dynamics of suicide. The skits then get to the issues of taunting others, of teens hav ing babies, of children going hun gry. Afterward, Pourier and the others are there to listen. “I know we are connecting,” she said. “The kids in the lower grades, you can tell they look up to us. And the ones in the upper grades, they talk to us. When they feel depressed, they text us about how they’re feeling. “If they get to the point where they say they’re going to do something, we get them help right away. I go to Tiny DeCory, and she gets them help.” It is a good therapy program, DeCory said, adding: “People have been in denial about this for generations. We’re trying to end the silence. That's what BEAR does.” Now the U.S. Department of Education is joining the fight, too, and spurring hope across a landscape that sees too much senseless death. “Everything is kind of buzzing,” Bad Heart Bull said. “We’re doing a lot of pre vention. You know, there’s a lot of negativity out there. We have to bring that spark back up.”
