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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 9, 2011)
News from Indian Country Page 9 Spilyay Tymoo Tribe sues to protect ancient maze LOS A NG ELES (AP) - A Native American tribe has filed a lawsuit against a California agency over a g ro u n d w ater cleanup plan n ear N eed les, claiming it is harming an ancient maze that members believe is critical for spirits to get to the afterlife. The lawsuit filed in Sacra m ento last week is p art o f a years-long dispute between the F ort Mojave Indian tribe, the D e p a rtm e n t o f Toxic S ub stances Control and Pacific Gas & Electric. The utility is named as a real party o f interest in this latest suit. The tribe filed its original law su it in 2005 to p ro te c t the Topock Maze and a year later entered into a setdement agree ment with the state agency and utility. As part o f the agreem ent, the utility and state agency apolo gized for desecrating the sacred site and pledged to remove a $15 million water treatment plant as soon as another could be built. In exchange, the 1,200 member tribe agreed to drop the suit. Attorneys for the tribe say the agency is in violation o f the setdement agreement. The lawsuit is asking for the agency to remove the plant or justify why it must remain and to revise the cleanup plan’s en vironm ental im pact report to take in to c o n sid eratio n the tribe’s concerns. The tribe is also asking for the agency to provide mitigation measures for the po tential harm that the cleanup could cause. “Instead o f the polluter pay ing for the damage, it’ll end up being the tribe’s religious prac tices and cultural values that take the hit and that’s not right,” said attorney Courtney Ann Coyle. “PG & E and DTSC can do bet ter.” Charlotte Fadipe, a spokes w om an fo r th e state toxics agency, said they do not com ment on ongoing litigation. The ma%e forms a series o f lines that tribal ancestors are believed to have used as a place o f purification or a path way fo r their spirits to reach the afterlife. The maze, which is a pattern o f pebble berms and furrows, forms a series o f lines that tribal ancestors are believed to have used as a place o f purification or a pathway for their spirits to reach the afterlife.- The site which is located near Needles, about four hours east o f Los Angeles, is believed to be hundreds o f years old and is on the National Registry o f His toric Places. M uch o f it has been d e stroyed by developm ent but about a third o f it remains. The w ater treatm ent plant began operations in July 2005 and was built to clean ground- water under a natural gas com pressor station that had been contaminated with cancer-caus ing h ex av alen t chro m iu m . P G & E had dum ped an esti mated 198 million gallons o f contam inated w ater in to the ground from 1951 to 1969. S tate o fficials w ere c o n cerned that the contam inated groundw ater could eventually make its way to the Colorado River and the drinking water supply for millions o f people in Southern California and Ari zona. P G & E sp o k esm an J e f f Smith said their goal is to con tinue to work with the tribe to wards a solution. “Certainly we do regret our historical operations that caused the chromium 6 contamination in the Topock area and that’s w hy w e’re c o m m itted to remediating the area and clean ing it up,” he said. Luther enjoys film success on festival circuit PARK CITY, Utah (AP) - Excitement was in the air as hundreds filed into theatres at the Sundance Film Festi val for special screenings o f films directed and produced by Native Americans from the Four Corners region. J u s t h o u rs b efo re th e screenings began, Park City, U tah , was b u zzin g w ith speculation on how “Grab” and “The Rocket Boy” would be received by journalists' from around the world. Billy Luther, 35, who di rected “Grab,” said he grew up without seeing any images o f Native Americans on tele vision o r th e bid screen. Luther is part Navajo, Hopi and Laguna and has family members who live in Forest Lake, a small community west o f Chinle, Ariz., on the vast N avajo, reservation. “A lo t o f artists create from struggle, pain or suffer ing. N ot me. The film is about the ‘grab day’ celebration that happens year-round in pueblo com m unities,” L u th er ex plained just prior to a screen ing. “ My d o cu m en tary ex plores the Laguna Pueblo community. The film follows three families as they live and work around their community, preparing for this event.” “Grab” is Luther’s second in dependent film to premiere at Sundance. The film graduate o f Hamp shire College in Amherst, Mass., debuted “Miss Navajo” in 2007 at the festival. Luther said “Miss N avajo” was inspired by his mother’s life growing up during the 1960s. Luther’s mother, Sa rah Ann Johnson Luther, was Miss Navajo from 1966-67. T he film w en t on to win fam ed p ro d u c e r M ichael Moore’s Special Founders Prize. “Miss Navajo” also won Best Indigenous Film at the Santa Fe Film Festival and is the center- piece o f an upcoming stage pro duction called “Miss Navajo: The Musical.” “Miss N avajo w o rld -p re miered at Sundance in 2007. It was kind o f a different experi ence then. N ow I ’m much more calm and relaxed about it all,” said Luther o f the second time around. L uther said h e’s elated he chose filmmaking as a profes sion. H e said his relationship with Sundance started in 2006 when he was selected to partici pate in a Sundance In stitu te/ New tribal relations secretary pushes for unity RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota’s new secretary o f tribal relations says he wants to continue the process o f recon ciliation betw een the state's American Indian and non-Indian populations. Leroy “J.R.” LaPlante was appointed to the new Cabinet- level position by Gov. Dennis D augaard. LaPlante tells the Rapid City Journal that he was inspired by former Gov. George Mickelson’s “Year o f Reconcili ation” two decades ago. LaPlante is a 42-year-old na tive o f the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. He says his depart ment can look for partnerships and ways to maximize resources on impoverished reservations like Cheyenne River, which includes Z iebach County, the p o o rest county in the United States. D augaard said earlier this m onth that LaPlante’s appoint m ent is part o f a larger effort to connect with tribes. T he gov ernor says he has “a lot to learn” about American Indians. State may act on school nickname BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A N orth Dakota Senate commit tee has scheduled a hearing on legislation to require the Univer sity o f N orth D akota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname. T he bill w ould require the University o f N orth Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname and an American Indian head logo. The Board o f Higher Edu cation has ordered U N D to re tire the name and logo, and the school is planning to do that in August. The board is opposing the bill. Ford Foundation Fellowship. “I wouldn’t be doing anything else,” he said. “Sitting behind a desk and working from 9 to 5 would irritate me. I waited tables and did the retail thing through out college. I’d write a lot when I was working. Waiting tables with many creative people was a highlight. We (fellow filmmak ers) can now look back and think about how much more we were struggling back then. I think waiting tables also helps you see into people— good and bad. R ude, bad tip p ers, ego freaks and the fun outgoing ones, too. M eeting so many crazies gave me a lot o f mate rial to work with in my writing.” A t the Jan. 24 screening o f “ G rab,” L u th er th an k ed his mentor, N. Bird Runningwater, associate director o f Sundance's N ative A m erican and Indig enous Initiative, which provides a developmental platform for Native American filmmakers. “Grab” showcases the time o f the year when residents o f Laguna, about 25 miles east o f G rants, N.M ., pay tribute to family m em bers by throw ing food and gifts from the ro o f tops o f their homes to residents. The film follows three different Laguna families. Students to assist Lumbee PEM BROKE, N.C. (AP) - S tu d en ts from Wake F o rest University School o f Law are spending their spring break pro viding legal assistance to mem b ers o f th e L um bee In d ian Tribe. A group o f law students will travel to P em b ro k e startin g Monday, and will w ork w ith Legal Aid to help members o f the tribe and other area residents. The students plan to hold a legal clinic for an Indian mili tary veterans group along with other services. The spring break trip contin ues work began last fall, when th e law sc h o o l’s P ro B ono Project launched the Pembroke Legal Services student group. That group is committed to providing free legal assistance to members o f the Lumbee tribe. “I don’t make films to win awards. You never remember who won the year before and it only ends up in your bio or some image on your DVD cover,” Luther said. “I don’t th in k th e average film watcher goes to see films just because they won an award. Maybe they do. But I bet a lot o f them are disappointed after they watch it. “Sundance is fun because I get to reconnect with film m akers an d frien d s I ’ve known for the past 10 years since I ’ve been attending. There is nothing better than being cold and waiting in line at 8 a.m. to see a film with a group o f friends,” L uther said. “T he R ocket Boy” also screened at Sundance was cre ated by three young Navajo filmmakers and was one o f seven such films premiering during the festival’s Indig enous Shorts Showcase se ries. The film is directed by Donavan Seschillie, 22, the youngest N ative American director in Sundance history, festival officials said. The 30th annual Sundance Film Festi val, founded by actor Robert Redford, ended Jan. 30. March 9, 2011 Tribe’s investment since track purchase tops $15M O K L A H O M A C IT Y (AP) — A subsidiary o f the Chickasaw Nation plans to unveil its multimillion dollar refurbishment o f Remington Park on Thursday, a day be fore the start o f the track’s quarter horse meet, includ ing an infield video board with what track officials de scribe as the largest at any American racetrack with a casino. W hen R em ington Park opened in 1988, it was con sidered a crown jewel among U.S. horse-racing tracks, but it fell into disrepair before Global Gaming RP LLC, a subsidiary o f the Oklahoma- based American Indian tribe, bought it 14 m onths ago. When the company applied for a racing license, it prom ised the O klahom a H orse Racing Commission it would spend $12 million on refur bishment. G lo b al G am ing C E O J o h n E llio tt said the Chickasaw Nation’s gaming arm has spent more than $15 million on Remington Park since buying it in January 2010 from bankrupt Magna E n te rta in m e n t C orp, for $80.25 million. “We’ve approached it as an entertainm ent facility,” Elliott told The Associated Press. “The more amenities, th e m o re e n te rta in m e n t you’ve got for people, the m ore likely you are to get them out here.” State regulators and local horsem en had high hopes for Remington Park and its casino u n d er G lo b al Gaming’s ownership because o f the Ada-based tribe’s lo cal roots and its success in operating casinos elsewhere in Oklahoma. Those expec tations have been exceeded, said Constantin Rieger, the executive director o f the state racing commission. “I have to say, as a. regu lator, everything they told us they were going to do has already happened at warp speed,” Rieger said. “They are continuing to upgrade the facility, to make it as aes thetically pleasing to patrons as they can.” In 2010, Remington Park set an attendance record, drawing 1,756,616 fans. To tal wagering on thorough bred racing at the track last year w as $54,179,243, a jump o f 48.3 percent com pared to 2009. It’s no secret the racing industry is struggling in many parts o f the U.S. and Remington Park’s success under G lobal G am ing is gaining notice, Rieger said. Along with the new owner ship, he credited the passage o f State Q uestion 712 in 2004, w hich allowed for casinos at Oklahoma race tracks in an attempt to keep them financially viable. “People see the n um bers, obviously,” he said. “They call and ask, “What the heck is going on?’ I just said, ‘W hatever was sup posed to happen, it’s com ing to fruition.’ It’s taken somebody to say, ‘We’re go ing to make this happen.’ This group is strong enough and committed enough to get it done.” Remington Park’s suc cess “is an anomaly, but it's wonderful,” Rieger said. T he new video board touts a 30-foot-tall by 60- foot-wide main screen and a 17-foot-tall by 60-foot wide second screen, giving Remington Park more than 3,100 square feet o f video display space. Track offi cials say the big screen, made by Daktronics, is the largest at a N orth American racetrack that has a casino. “I t ’s g o rg eo u s,” said Scott Wells, the track’s gen eral manager. “It’s going to heighten the entertainment. In today’s world, people ex pect a video presentation to be part o f their entertain m en t w hen they go to a sporting event. We’ve been working for months on pro gramming and content and how to maximize its use.” As recently as this week, crews were pulling out tele vision sets that dated to the track’s opening, replacing them with large flat-screen models. Major renovations have started on the track’s clubhouse level and on the ground floor, the current concession area is being transformed into a Mexican fo o d eatery. E llio tt said plans still remain to build a hotel at the track within a few years, b u t G lo b al Gaming's initial concern was bringing the physical plant up to w hat the c©mpany deems an acceptable level. ws ievs.org Located at the corner of Warm Springs St. and Hollywood Blvd. Open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ph. 541-553-1041
