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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2012)
r» ' . More News from Inctian Country P^ge 11 Spilygy Tymoo Mgrcb 21, 2012 Wyoming tribe gets rare permit to kill bald eagles Spokane 2 CH EY EN N E, Wyo. (AP) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser vice has taken the unusual step o f issuing a perm it allowing an American Indian tribe to kill two bald eagles for religious pur poses. The agency’s decision comes after the N o rth ern A rapaho Tribe in Wyoming filed a fed eral lawsuit last year contend ing the refusal to issue such per mits violates tribal m em bers’ religious freedom . A lthough thousands o f American Indians apply for eagle feathers and car casses from a federal repository, permits allowing the killing of bald eagles are exceedingly rare, according to both tribal and le gal experts on the matter. . - “I’ve not heard o f a take per m it for a bald eagle,” Steve Moore, lawyer with the Native A m erican R ights F u n d , o r NARF, in Boulder, Colo.,,said last week. “I see it and NARF would see it as a legitimate ex pression o f sovereignty by the tribe, and respect for that sov ereignty by the Fish and Wild life Service.” : Federal law prohibits the kill ing o f bald eagles, the national bird, in alm ost all cases. The government keeps eagle feath ers and body parts in a federal repository and tribal members can apply for them for use in religious ceremonies. The bald eagle was removed from the federal list o f threat ened species in 2007, following its reclassification in 1995 from endangered to threatened. How ever, the species has remained p ro te c te d u n d e r th e federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protec tion Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service in 2009 stated in a report that it had never issued a perm it for die killing o f bald eagles to that time. The report states the gov ernment had issued permits for the Hopi Tribe in A rizona to take golden eagles since the mid- 1980s. Diane Katzenberger, spokes woman for the Fish and Wild life Service in Denver, said no one in the agency was available w ho cou ld say im m ediately whether a perm it allowing the killing o f a live bald eagle had been issued since 2009. It’s been nearly three years since the Arapaho tribe filed an application for a perm it to kill eagles, sstid Andy Baldwin, law- ... the federalperm it will allow the North ern Arapaho to kill up to two bald eagles o ff the reservation. yer for the tribe, adding that he believed the N orthern Arapaho w ould n o t have received the perm it without going to court. H e revealed in a legal filing this week that the federal agency had issued the perm it on Fri day. Federal lawyers filed a status report in the lawsuit on Tues day saying th a t th e E astern Shoshone Tribe had opposed the killing o f eagles on the W ind River Indian Reservation, which the two tribes share in central Wyoming. The report states that the federal perm it will allow the N orthern Arapaho to kill up to two bald eagles o ff the reser vation. A n a tte m p t to reach Jim Shakespeare, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and chairm an o f the N o rth e rn A rap ah o B usiness Council, for comment on Tues day was unsuccessful. It was Elected Navajo leaders removed FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) - A day after voters in one o f the Navajo Nation’s largest commu nities approved a local sales tax, its elected officials rew arded themselves with thousands o f dollars in bonus money. The payments came on the heels of a Christmas bonus and preceded bonuses for other projects. In all, the handful o f officials th a t serv ed on T uba C ity ’s Council o f Naat’aani, or coun cil o f leaders, received m ore than $80,000 in bonuses from late 2009 to 2011. As a result, eth ics cases w ere b ro u g h t against them by the larger tribal government, stripping four o f the five o f their jobs and requir ing all five pay back the money. Tribal ethics investigators and justice officials said elected offi cials are not supposed to be com pensated beyond stipends for meetings and legitimate travel. Investigators alleged that the of ficials engaged in favoritism and put themselves above thé needs o f the community, where the an nual per capita income o f $ 15,000 is less than the bonuses paid to individual leaders. However, a lawyer for one o f the deposed officeholders said the tribal law that gave res- Leadership Corner fl message from Rick molitor Superintendent ervation communities increased authority over local finances is vague and doesn’t prohibit the payments. “I don’t agree at all with start ing with the presumption that bonus equals bad,” said David Jo rd an , rep resen tin g council Vice President Robert Yazzie. The Tuba City Chapter was one o f the first to become cer tified under the trib e’s Local G overnance Act, which gives local communities the authority to issue business and h o m e site leases, contract with outside at torneys and develop local ordi nances. unclear whether issuing the per mit will prom pt the tribe to drop its lawsuit. A federal judge has scheduled a conference in the lawsuit for mid-April. Filed late last year, the law suit is essentially the continua tion o f a bitter legal fight that followed after tribal m em ber W inslow Friday killed a bald eagle without a perm it in 2005 for use in his tribe’s Sun Dance. Friday shot the eagle on the Wind River Indian Reservation. William Downes, then a fed eral judge in Wyoming, dismissed the charge against Friday in 2006 saying it would have been point less for him to apply for a per mit. D ow nes said the federal government generally refuses to grant permits to tribal members to kill eagles even though fed eral regulations say such permits should be available. “A lthough the governm ent professes respect and accom modation o f the religious prac tices o f Native Americans, its own actions show callous indif feren ce to su ch p ra c tic e s,” Downes wrote. Federal prosecutors appealed Downes’ decision and a federal appeals co u rt rein stated the criminal charge against Friday. A fter the U.S. Supreme C ourt ultimately refused to hear his case, Friday pleaded guilty in tribal court and was ordered to pay a fine. Baldwin said the tribe’s law suit against the Fish and Wild life Service was directly related to the government's prosecution o f Friday. “One o f the goals o f the cur rent suit is to prevent any young men like Winslow Friday from being prosecuted in the future for practicing their traditional religious ceremonies,” Baldwin said. S enior m em b ers o f the N o rth ern A rapaho Tribe ap peared at an appeals court hear ing court in Denver in late 2007 in support o f Friday. Nelson P. White Sr., then a mem ber o f the N o rth ern A rapaho B usiness Council, said after the hearing that the birds American Indians receive from a federal deposi tory, were rotten, or otherwise unfit for use in religious ceremo nies. “T h a t’s unacceptable,” White said after the court hear ing. “How would a non-Indian feel if they had to get their Bible from a repository?” i Exhibit to mark US-Dakota War ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - T he M innesota H istorical S o c ie ty is m a rk in g th e 150th an n iv ersary o f th e U .S.-D akota War o f 1862 with a new exhibit and other programs. The exhibit opens June 30 at th e M inn eso ta H isto ry Center in St. Paul. Visitors can view documents, images and artifacts, and add com ments about the war’s mean ing. The Historical Society also is launching an interactive website: www.usdakotawar.org The website is featuring oral histories, photographs, letters, new spapers and governm ent documents. Staff are recording oral histories from elders and set tler descendants. In May, the public can listen to stories told by descendants in a cellphone tour along the Min nesota River Valley. The U.S.-Dakota War broke out in August 1862, with fight ing lasting six weeks. Hundreds o f settlers and soldiers were killed along with an unknown num ber o f Dakota. A New K-8 School in Warm Springs O ur partnership between the District and the Tribes continues to grow. We are working together to support the recent M em orandum of Understanding and a new Interagency Education Agreement that will benefit our children. Both of these documents are available on the district website at jcsd.kl2.or.us. We are proud of the progress we are making and hope to share this information with our communities. Why do we need a new school in Warm Springs? ■ W arm Springs Elementary is currently the oldest operating school building in our district. It was built in the 1930s and needs major improvements to meet future safety needs and provide a positive learning environment for our students. to the guidance and expertise of our dedicated teaching staff. How will the cost of the new Warm Springs building be shared between the Tribes and other residents of Jefferson County? As you probably know, our district has placed a school bond on the M ay election ballot. The school bond is designed to maintain the current property tax rates while improving our schools. O ur goal has been to provide community members with as much information as possible to help them understand how the school bond will affect our district if passed by voters. Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing answers to some im portant questions we’ve heard from community members. ■ If passed, the school bond will fund 50% of the cost to build a new K-8 building and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs will fund the remaining 50% . This update will provide answers to questions about the new school building in W arm Springs. The next update will share information about proposed auditorium/community performing arts center. Please feel free to contact me or any one of our school board members with questions about the school bond. Jefferson County School District f l How do the Tribes contribute to the overall bond payoff and school operations? casino moving forward AIRWAY H EIGH TS, Wash. ( A P ) A big casino that the Spokane Tribe of Indians is proposing has cleared a major regulatory hurdle, but the project is drawing bitter opposition from a rival trib e and from some area business and political leaders. The Bureau o f Indian Affairs recently issued a draft environmental im pact statement that allows the Spokane Tribe’s pro posal to continue moving forward. The proposal is opposed by the Kalispel Tribe o f Indians, who fear th eir nearby N o rth e rn Q uest C asino will lose business to the new com petitor. A rea politicians and b u sin ess lead ers also w o rry a b o u t th e new casino’s impact on nearby Fairchild Air Force Base, and on the Spokane com munity. “We don’t want to be come Spo-Vegas,” said Irv Z ak h eim , a b u sin ess leader w ho co-founded Citizens Against Casino Expansion. “ I t w o u ld e x p a n d gambling and the p ro b lems. that come w ith it, th re a te n F airch ild , A ir Force Base, harm our lo cal economy.” T h e d ra ft e n v ir o n m e n ta l im p a c t s t a te m en t is now the subject o f a 45-day public com m en t p erio d and w hat is likely to be a co n te n tious public hearing On M arch 26. Harassment and Bullying O ur 509-J team believes that every single child in our school district has a right to be in school. We have a zero tolerance policy for any type of verbal, physical or cyber harassment or bullying. We ask our teachers and staff to watch for and report disrespectful behavior and we are asking for parents and family members to do the same. Bullying is known to have long-lasting and harmful effects for everyone involved. T hat’s why it is so im portant for parents to let us know immediately if they are aware of any disrespectful or inappropriate behavior. The district has specific policies and procedures to ensure that bullying and harassment are not tolerated in out schools. If you would like more information, please contact our district office at (541)475-6192. ■ The Tribes are one of the largest taxpayers in the district due to their ownership of Round Butte and Pelton Dams. They also own the land that would house the new school building. In addition, 509J receives federal dollars in lieu of property taxes. The district uses that money to support general operating expenses. Calendar Who will staff, operate and maintain a K-8 school in Warm Springs? 3/22 JGMS Science Fair; 6-8 p.m. ■ If the school bond passes, existing 509-J staff will become part of the new school. There is no anticipated increase in district-wide staffing. Students and staff will move within the district as needed and according to enrollment projections. In line with the construction phase of the K-8 project, the district will w ork with students, parents and community members — as well as certificated, classified and administrator groups — to ensure the best possible outcome. 3/26-3/30 Spring Break ✓ D o n ’t f o r g e t t o V O T E ! 445 SE Buff Street, IDadras, OR 97741 a (541)475-6192 March April 4/3 Budget W orkshop; 7 p.m. Support Services Bldg 4/9 School Board Meeting; 7 p.m. Warm Springs Elememtary Eibrary
