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.