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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2011)
Page 10 Gasification plant: lease being negotiated; Council in support (Continued from page 1) Manion made a presenta tion of the project to Tribal Council last week. C ouncilm an Raym ond T sum pti su ggested that other tribal trust land, such as at the Gorge, might also be suitable for a gasification plant. C o u n cilm an S co tt M oses asked if the plant would be available for mu nicipal waste from the res ervation. Manion said that it would be. Council indicated its sup port, and asked Manion to come back with the terms of the lease. Council approved a loan of $100,000 from the tribes’ Business Investment Revolving Fund (BIRF). The money will be repaid with in terest .The BIRF board rec ommended approval of the project. October- 5, 2011 Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon 2012 Tribal Budget Summary (See next page for details) 2012 R even u e E stim ates Timber Revenue 2011 A p p roved Interest/Investment Revenue 3,200,000 865,306 Enterprise Dividends 4,165,000 5,250,000 Other Revenue (Fees, Permits, Sales, etc.) 1,000,000 1,124,900 Support - Indirect 2,700,000 3,000,000 Working Capital as a Source Savings from 3,247,295 - Operations 1,000,000 ~ Federal Contract - % &ÆS ' 1 JgK Dave McMechan/Spilyay The development site is the tribal trust property at the Madras industrial park. Mere News from Inchon Country General Fund Operation Transfers 1,082,587 500 tribes across 35 states. It was released last Friday by Montana U.S. Sen. Max Baucus. The Democrat in 2008 had requested an investigation into problems with mental health care on reservations, which of ten are set in remote areas with struggling economies and where health care services of any sort are often in short supply. “The dem and for m ental health services outstrips capac ity at some IHS (Indian Health Service) and tribal facilities,” the report’s authors wrote, adding that American Indians and Na tive Alaskans “rank first among ethnic groups as likely to suffer mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression.” The consequences of those problems came into dramatic focus over the last two years on M ontana’s Fort Peck reserva tion. Five suicides and 20 at tempts in one year at the rural reserv atio n ’s Poplar M iddle School prompted tribal leaders last year to declare a crisis and the government to dispatch an emergency team from the U.S. Public Health Service. At least two more teenagers have killed themselves since and dozens of other children across the reservation have tried. The inspector general’s report says drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and unemployment also drive the need for better access to mental health services. Some changes have been made since Baucus first called for the investigation, including new programs promoting the use of telemedicine, in which doctors can speak with patients remotely. “In Montana, we’ve seen all too well the tragedies that result when folks don’t get the mental health care they need,” Baucus said in a statement. “It’s clear from this study that more needs to be done, and my staff and I will continue working with In dian Health Service and folks on the ground in Montana.” The inspector general’s office called for the Indian Health Ser vice to further expand the use of telemedicine and also link up with non-native mental health care providers. An Indian Health Services spokeswoman said no one from the agency was available yet to comment on the report. But in an August letter to the Inspec tor General Daniel Levinson, IHS director Yvette Roubideaux said she agreed with the recom mendations and would work to put them into practice. Judge tosses 1 of 2 suits over Cherokee freedmen but it was dismissed. The tribe’s chief and officials at the U.S. D epartm ent o f the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs, also were named as defendants. Last Friday's ruling doesn’t af fect a court order issued earlier that allows the freedmen to vote in the special election for prin cipal chief. A tribal supreme court order reinstated a tribal constitutional amendment that effectively kicked the freedmen out of the tribe and wouldn’t allow them to participate in bal loting. Kennedy also transferred a second lawsuit by the Cherokee Nation against another group of freedmen back to federal court in Tulsa, where it was initially filed. In that lawsuit, the tribe argued that federal statutes modified the 1866 treaty in a way that no longer provided the Freedmen rights to citizenship. Kennedy wrote that the law suit, Cherokee Nation v. Nash, offers the freedmen an alterna tive forum for the legal issues underlying the case to be ad dressed. “Unlike a potential judgment in this case, which would not bind the Cherokee Nation, the Cherokee Nation is the plaintiff in Nash and would be bound by any judgment rendered in that suit,” he wrote. Attorney Jon Velie, who rep resents the descendants, said he was disappointed with the rul ing but added the fight isn’t over. “It’s a technical ruling. It didn't determine whether the treaty was valid or whether the freedmen were or were not citi zens,” Velie told The Associated Press. Tribal attorney general Diane Hammons said Kennedy’s rul ing upheld arguments the tribe made more than two years ago. “The order from Ju d ge Kennedy was exactly what the Cherokee Nation had asked for: a full dismissal of the Vann case and a transfer of the Nash case, brought by the Cherokee Na tion, back to Oklahoma where it was filed and where it should be heard.” Chief Chad Smith, who was principal chief when the litiga tion was initially filed, praised the ruling. “Today’s ruling proves that w hen the C herokee N ation stands up and fights for its rights, it can win,” he said in a state ment. Marilyn Vann, the lead plain tiff in the dismissed lawsuit, said she isn’t sure if an appeal of the ruling will be sought. “All we ever wanted is our rights, the rights our ancestors were promised and we’re trying to defend.” Mummified hand from museum to go to Utah tribes IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Falls Police Depart ment has closed its investigation into a mummified hand found in a museum storeroom and officials said the remains will likely be turned over to Native American tribes in Utah. Officials with the Museum of Idaho said an unidentified man ap p aren tly dropped o ff the hand at the museum a few years ago. He had reportedly found it while cleaning out a deceased relative’s belongings and said something about it having come from Utah. But the box contain ing the hand was left on a store room shelf and forgotten until the room was cleaned earlier this year. The Idaho Falls Police De partment sent the hand to the Utah Division of State History Antiquities, where forensic an thropologist Derinna Kopp de termined it is between 700 and 1,000 years old. Kopp declined comment “out of respect for and at the wishes of Native American tribes.” Museum of Idaho director David Pennock said the hand was never part of the museum’s collection, but he was glad to finally learn the approximate age and to find that it is being dealt with appropriately. 9,100,000 16,200,000 Revenue Reserve (Rainy Day Fund) Report: Mental health care gaps in Indian Country OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A federal judge last week dis missed one of two lawsuits over w h eth er black slaves once ow ned by m em bers o f the Cherokee Nation have the right to tribal citizenship. U.S. D istrict Judge H enry Kennedy in Washington ruled that a lawsuit brought by the slaves’ descendants alleging that about 2,800 freedmen were dis enfranchised in violation of the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Treaty of 1866 could not proceed because the tribe was not a defendant in the case and couldn't be com pelled to abide by the court's ruling. The d ism issed suit also claimed the Treaty of 1866 gave the freedmen and their descen dants “all the rights of native Cherokees.” The tribe at one time was a defendant in the 2003 lawsuit $1,147,150 $1,500,000 Trust Fund Phase II Settlement BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) - A new U.S. governm ent report highlights serious gaps in men tal health care for many Ameri can Indians and Alaska Natives, groups that suffer from prob lems including a teenage suicide rate more than twice the national average. One in five hospitals and clin ics in Indian Country provide no mental health services, accord ing to the Inspector General’s Office o f the Department of Health and Human Services. O nly h a lf p ro vide drug therapy treatments, and at doz ens of facilities some drug treat ments are handled by non-li- censed social workers, counse lors and nurses. The inspector general’s report covers a government health sys tem that serves almost 2 million people, belonging to more than 2012 Proposed t 3,000,000 4,000,000 Total $36,012,295 $25,569,943 P roposed 2012 E xp en d itu res 2011 A p p ro ved 2012 Proposed Operations $18,985,009 $17,892,397 238,453 232,712 627,711 640,810 237,703 232,712 677,492 671,544 Community Assistance Debt Service Enterprises (Quasi) Capital Projects Transfer to Business Investment Revolving Fund 8,000,000 * Transfer to Senior Citizen Pension Fund Total 1,200,000 1,200,000 $29,924,695 $20,911,848 Estimated Per Capita 6,087,600 Special Per Capita - • 6,300,000 - Total U ses & A ppropriations $36,012,295 $27,211,848 Total Surplus (Deficit) Budget $ $(1,641,905) Tribal chairman Bailey plans run for Congress TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Derek Bailey, chair man of the Grand Traverse B and o f O ttaw a and Chippewa Indians, said last week he will seek the Demo cratic nomination to chal lenge freshm an U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek in northern Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. Bailey joins former state legislator Gary McDowell in the race to unseat Benishek, a tea party-backed Republi can from Crystal Falls elected last year. Benishek replaced Bart Stupak, a D em ocrat who decided against seeking re-election after serving 18 years in the House. Democrats consider the seat among their best pros pects for rev ersin g the G O P's tak eo v er o f the House in 2008, even though the district may be somewhat more GOP-friendly since its lines were redrawn following the 2010 census. It still takes in all the Upper Peninsula and a large section o f the northern Lower Peninsula. Bailey, 38, described him self as a bridge builder who would cooperate with mem bers of both parties at a time of fierce partisanship to re duce the federal debt and strengthen the economy. “W orking together re spectfully... is the basic expec tation for our representa tives,” he said. “I pledge, and stand by my past work ef forts, that I will bring this perspective to Congress and simply get work done.” Bailey was elected in 2008 as chairman o f the Grand Traverse band after serving four years on the tribal coun cil. The 4,100-citizen tribe operates two casinos and the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, and provides govern ment services in six counties: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Manistee. A Traverse City native who grew up there and in n eig h b o rin g L eelanau County, Bailey was appointed by President Barack Obama to the N ational A dvisory Council on Indian Educa tion.
