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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.”