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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (June 29, 2011)
4 r “ I News from Indian Country Page 7 Spilyay Tymoo H o s p ita l, IH S a t o d d s o v er E R b ills MARTIN, S.D. (AP) - The director of a hospital in Martin warned it will have to close if the Indian H ealth Service doesn't pay at least some of the nearly $1 million in emergency room bills for American Indi ans who choose the community hospital over an IHS hospital. George Minder, chief execu tive officer for Bennett County Hospital and Nursing Home, said he has asked the Aberdeen A rea IHS to pay at least $425,000 in past due bills, or about half of what he says is owed by the IHS since 2009 for care for residents of the Pine Ridge Indian R eservation in southwest South Dakota. “If we d on’t get Indian Health Service reimbursements, this facility will close,” Minder said. “We’ll try to keep the nurs ing home open, but the hospital will close.” Minder, who took over as hospital CEO in October 2010, said the situation went unad dressed for years but the money is needed to help m eet a $135,000 bi-weekly payroll. The director of the Aberdeen Area IHS, Charlene Red Thun der, said her agency is not re sponsible for those bills because they do not meet IHS guidelines to pay only for priority emer gency care at non-IHS facilities. Minder said the hospital is required under federal law to treat anyone who seeks emer gency care and sees about 200 emergency room patients each month. He estimated at least 80 percent o f them qualify for medical care from IHS. When billed for those visits, IHS's practice has been to deny all but Priority I care claims un der a policy of paying for emer gency room charges at non-IHS facilities only for those typically defined as “threatening to life, limb or senses.” In denying other claims, the IHS said those patients could have sought care at the IHS hospital at Pine Ridge. Minder said many residents of the reservation live closer to Martin than they do to Pine Ridge and some don’t have transportation to Pine Ridge, which is about 50 miles away. In a prepared statement to the Journal, Red Thunder said IHS must ration its contract health service funds, which are used to pay for referrals or pri vate sector medical care. “If a patient goes to an out side provider without having a referral that is authorized and approved for payment by the CHS (contract health service) program, the patient is respon sible for payment for those ser vices and IHS is not liable,” she said. “By law, IHS is the payer of last resort, so patients and outside providers must use al ternate resources first.” Service’s decision to cancel the agreement under which Native craftsmen and artists demon strate traditional techniques in a wing of the park’s visitors cen ter. The protesters called the Cultural Center a vital commu nity resource and said the deci sion to close it down with just 10 days’ notice was disrespect ful, and lacked an adequate pub lic process. But there were indications that a deal was in the works to reinstate the Cultural Center, with Sitka Tribe of Alaska tak ing part in preliminary discus sions with SNHP on a new agreement and examining the possibility of providing admin istrative support for the facility. Cultural Center board presi dent Gary Lang said the Park Service had agreed to let the center stay open temporarily while talks about its future man agement continue. basin in A rizona and settles claims made by the Hopi Tribe. As part of the settlement, In dian communities would have access to new pipelines carrying more than 600,000 acre-feet of water each year. New Mexico State Engineer John D’Antonio said the project avoids expensive litigation, pro tects non-Navajo agricultural rights, prohibits the Navajo Nation from selling water out of state and w ill create jobs while the infrastructure is being built. H ow ever, the San Ju an CATOOSA, Okla. (AP) - Cherokee Nation Businesses says it will buy a Nowata- based engineering and manu facturin g com pany w ith plans to double the company’s workforce during the next three years. C herokee C h ief Chad Smith says the purchase of D isan E ngineering Corp. will help the American In dian tribe create jobs for its citizens. The company now em p lo ys 35 p eo p le and tribal officials say hiring for the new positions will start CLAREMORE, Okla. (AP) — How many jobs are being pro duced by the Cherokee Nation and who holds those positions has become a central issue in the campaign to see who will lead Oklahoma’s largest American Indian tribe for the next four years. The contentious campaign will end Saturday, when voters decide whether to keep 12-year incumbent Chad Smith as the tribe’s principal chief or elevate once the sale has been com pleted. Disan designs and manu factures electronic and me chanical equipment for the Federal Aviation Administra tion and the Department of Defense. It’s been in business since 1968. The Cherokee Nation has long had defense manufac tu rin g con tracts. D avid Stewart, the CEO of Chero kee Nation Businesses, says the acquisition of Disan gives the tribe a key engineering component it had lacked. longtime tribal councilman and T ahlequah businessm an B ill John Baker to that position. Smith touts the creation of more than 5,000 “stable jobs” during his tenure and says al most 60 percent of those have gone to Cherokees and about 10 percent have gone to mem bers of other tribes. Baker disputes those num bers and says the tribe needs to ensure Cherokees who want to work can find a job. Crow ceremony links disparate cultures in Wyo. Duran Bobb/Spilyay Tymoo Students from Madras Dance Arts Unlimited (20 from Warm Springs) held their ballet recital at Prineville High School on June 17 and 18. Assistant teacher Sunmiet Minnick said the classes are a great way for parents to be involved “They even help with their child’s attire.” Classes begin in September and continue until the recital in June. Meetings focus on Navajo water rights FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — A proposed project that would divert hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water from the San Juan River is the focus of a se ries of public meetings in north western New Mexico. The first meeting on the Na vajo water rights settlement was scheduled for W ednesday even in g in Shiprock. M ore meetings were planned over the next several days in A ztec, Farmington and Bloomfield. The settlement quantifies the Navajo Nation’s rights to water from the lower Colorado River Cherokee Nation buying Nowata engineering firm Jobs issue at center of Cherokee chief campaign Negotiators hope to save crafter’s space SITKA, Alaska (AP) - More than two dozen protesters gath ered outside the visitor center at Sitka National Historical Park last Thursday afternoon to chal lenge the National Park Service’s recent decision to shutter the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center. Led by G erry H ope and Isabella Brady, the respective presidents of the local Alaska Native Brotherhood and Alaska Native Sisterhood camps, mem bers of the local Tlingit com munity and others called on the Park Service to reinstate the cu ltu ral cen ter, w hich has housed Native carvers, artists and other cultural exhibits for more than 40 years. The C ultural C enter was founded in 1969 through an agreement between the National Park S ervice and ANB and ANS. Both of the Native orga nizations adopted resolutions last week that challenge the Park June 29, 2011 County Agricultural Water Us ers Association is opposed to the settlement in its current form. “We believe it will do irrepa rable harm to the basin,” asso ciation president Mike Sullivan said. The group’s attorney, Victor Marshall of Albuquerque, ques tioned whether the state engineer would be able to stop the Na vajo Nation from selling water to other states and if the river could support water users off the reservation after diverting so much water to other commu nities. POWELL, Wyo. (AP) - Na tive culture says Heart Moun tain contains an energy, and members o f the Crow Tribe tapped into that energy recently at the mountain to engage the 30 or so people present at a Crow Pipe Ceremony. Crow trib al elder G rant Bulltail presented the ceremony. While people may have dis similar convictions of what is spiritual, religious or sacred, a link was nonetheless established between people of diverse cul tures. Mary Keller said the Crow people and what she refers to as the “settler culture,” came to gether June 11. Keller teaches history of religions at the Uni versity of Wyoming’s Northwest Regional Center in Cody. Swinomish tribal leader passes LA CO N N ER, Wash. (AP) — Sw inom ish trib al Chairman Robert Joe Sr., has passed away. The 7 3-year-o ld , also known as Wa-Walton, died on Wednesday, June 22, his sleep. He suffered complications from diabetes. Joe served on the Swinomish Indian Senate for 26 years from 1976 to 2000, with 18 of those years as chairman. He was known as a spiri tual man and an influential leader who advanced com mercial development. Remains found in Oak Harbor OAK HARBOR, Wash. (AP) — The finding of three sets of American I ndian remains in Oak Harbor is delaying a $7 million construction project while tribes, the city and the state decide how to move forward. But the state’s Department of Archaeology and Historic P reservatio n says the delay could have been avoided if the city had followed their sugges tion to employ an archaeologist. The construction site sits near a known archaeological site. The skeletons could be hundreds of years old. The Herald o f Everett re ports that construction has been stopped for two days after the rem ains were discovered on June 16, but city officials can’t say how long the delay will be. The project is meant to make Oak Harbor more pedestrian- friendly to attract more foot traffic. Mayor Jim Slowik says he has asked for a review of why the recommendation was not followed. US attorney in ND wants to tackle Indian crime PIONEER ROCK & M O N U M EN T Specializing in Native American Design r 201 Crafton Rd PO Box 348 Goldendale, WA 98620 509-773-4702 LET US SAVE YOU TIME & MONEY DESIGN & ORDER OVER THE INTERNET www.pioneerrock.com www.betterheadstones.com Find MAP To Our Shop Under 'CONTACTS' FARGO, N.D. (AP) - The U.S. attorney for North Dakota has unveiled his strategy to try to improve the safety o f the state's tribal communities by cracking down on violent crime, though he acknowledges that the effort could take years to have an impact. “The statistics involving vio lence on (American Indian) res ervations are unacceptable,” Timothy Purdon said Wednes day during announcements in Fargo and Bismarck following months of talks with tribal lead ers “Native Americans in North D akota, and the rest o f the country, are not going to be able to overcome decades of isola tion and poverty until they first feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods.” Purdon said he wants to use both vigorous prosecution and prevention initiatives such as school outreach programs to address high rates of substance abuse, domestic violence, drug trafficking and assaults. The U.S. attorney’s office has jurisdiction over serious crimes on reserva tions, and Purdon’s strategy em phasizes even greater in volvement. An assistant U.S. at torney is being assigned to deal with each of the state's four res ervations, he said in stories pub lished by The Forum and The Bismarck Tribune. “This will not solve all of our public safety challenges in tribal communities. Rather, our hope is that the strategy is the first step,” he said. “I do not think this is going to be easy. I do not think these challenges will be solved by simple solutions. It’s going to take many years. . But just because this is hard, doesn’t mean we shouldn't try.”
