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E Coosh EEWA: The W3y it is
Page 4-
Spilyay Tymoo March 21, 2012
Sovereignty Letters to the Editor
explained
---------------------------------------
By Duran Bobb
Congressw om an E lizabeth
Furse delivered a lecture last
week on tribal sovereignty at
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort.
“The federal government has
w hat is called a
fiduciary respon
f
/fyd.-’.;.A
sibility, to th e
Spilyay
tribes, more than
Speaks
J
for any other sec \ _______
tion o f the popu
lation,” she said. “This flows
from the treaties.”
She continued: “Treaties are
the supreme law o f the land. AU
judges are bound by treaty, state
law notwithstanding.
“The U.S. Constitution says
clearly, the states may not sign
treaties. Therefore, it is my view
that tribes are m ore sovereign
than states. A treaty is a com
pact or a contract between two
sovereigns. I ’ve heard people say
that treaties are old, they don’t
mean anything anymore. Well,
the U.S. Constitution is not that
m uch older. We hve by that.
O ur treaties in the N orthw est
are stronger than anywhere else
[in the U.S.].
“Tribes agreed to give up cer
tain portions o f land, b u t re
served rights. The U.S. would
protect those homelands from
encroachm ent by non-Indians,
and prevent non-Indians o f the
state from interfering.”
Ms. Furse spoke o f U.S. vs.
Winans, where an individual put
up a fence that prevented the
Yakama Indians from reaching
their fishing places.
The court upheld the tribe’s
right, even when the “usual and
accustomed places” were outside
re s e rv a tio n b o u n d a rie s and
were owned by non-Indians. The
court noted that the right to fish
and to access traditional fishing
grounds were n ot a special right
g ra n te d th ro u g h th e treaty.
R ather, the treaty simply ac
knowledged a right the Indians
already possessed.
The 1950s brought on Pub
lic Law 280, which said the U.S.
would transfer its pow er o f res
ervation to states.
O regon is one o f the states
where Pubhc Law 280 is m an
datory. “It also says, specifically,
th at W arm Springs is n o t af
fected . T h e g o v e rn m e n t o f
Warm Springs has been extraor
dinarily sophisticated in making
sure that it knew its Congres
sional delegation... I have found
it h earten in g th a t the tribes
would come to see me, govern
m ent to government.”
“Sovereignty is as sovereignty
does... It has to say they’re do
ing the rig h t things fo r th e
people, and make clear what the
rights are. Warm Springs seems
to be a great example o f that.”
From Lincoln’s
The Lincoln’s Birthday Pow
wow Committee would like to
thank the following:
The Confederated Tribes o f
Warm Springs, Tribal Council,
K ah-Nee-Ta High D esert Re
sort, Indian H ead Casino, and
Warm Springs Composite Prod
ucts Industries.
T h an k you W arm Springs
C redit B oard, W arm Springs
Ventures, Three Warriors Mar
ket, Natural Resources, Utilities,
the Warm Springs Police Depart
ment, and Fire and Safety.
Thank you Nola Queahpama
and family, Cassie Rhoan, Cap
ta in M oody, C ena W olfe,
P resto n T om , Carlos Calica,
drummers, dancers and specta
tors.
W ithout your gracious sup
po rt and help, the 2012 Lincoln’s
Powwow would n o t have been
successful. We look forward to
next year.
Lincoln’s Birthday Pow
wow Committee.
Our direction
I would like to encourage our
tribal m em bership to rem ain
positive about the direction our
tribe is going.
I would like to encourage our
people to let our leaders know
we support them. Just hke any
o th er tribal w orker, they are
working towards building better
tomorrows for ah members.
Each Tribal Council member
and our Chiefs sacrifice every
day to be a pubhc servant to the
people. They tolerate political
attacks, regardless o f w hether
they are true or not. They have
to have thick skin to continue
their work to make better tomor
rows for ah o f the membership.
Recently, a person w ent to
my elderly m om and gave her
inaccurate and negative attacks
against our leadership and got
her so upset about things that
weren’t even true.
This is very upsetting to me,
especially w hen our elders are
being used to spread negativity
on false information. D o n ot
take your politics to our senior
building, My m om goes therfe
to eat and relax and enjoy her
Correction
In the previous Spilyay,
the caption o f the H onor
Song Dance at Lincoln’s
Birthday Powwow was in
accurate. Jolene Switzler
should have been identi
fied in the photo.
The Spilyay apologizes
for the mistake.
retirement.
W hen I inform ed her the in
formation she received was not
accurate, she felt bad because
she had said harsh words.
To those w ho continue to
abuse their membership status
by creating and spreading nega
tive hostility, and continuing to
attack our leadership when our
leadership is trying to remove
politics from our organization,
I w o u ld re c o m m e n d you
disenroll and just see whether
other tribes would tolerate your
behavior.
My Yakama relatives shared
with me, “D o n ’t send them over
here because we will throw them
back,” because o f w hat appears
on Facebook for ah the world
to see. You who post ugly things
on Facebook, you have shamed
your people by your ugly tactics,
then turn around and collect ah
our tribal benefits or pay checks
p ro v id ed by o u r tribe. You
ought to be ashamed o f your
selves.
O ur leaders have feelings and
o fte n tim es th eir spirits get
heavy because o f people who
spread hostility and hate. I would
encourage our membership to
look at the good our leadership
has done. For instance, the won
derful growth o f our casino and
the hope it brings to our com
munity and membership. Many
families have incom e and our
young people are growing be
cause o f the employment at the
casino. They have hope in their
eyes and confidence because
th ey
feel
good
about
themselves. These are the types
o f things we need to spread and
talk about. T hat is how we are
going to heal as a community,
• Recently, a group tried to re
cruit me for one o f their nega
tive Facebook websités and I re
buffed them out o f respect for
my people and our leaders. I
shared with this group, to spread
hate and hostility is allowing an
evil force to dwell in our com
munity and this can cause hard
ships on our people. I cannot
go against my traditional teach
ing and against the teaching o f
our Creator. I hope and encour
age all o f you w h o are ap
p ro a c h e d by th ese negative
people to tell them the same as
I did. Let’s move on to better
tom orrow s, for o u r children’s
sake.
We, and our leaders, have
m ore im p o rtan t w ork to do.
Publisher Emeritus: Sid Miller
Editor: Dave McMechan
Reporter: Duran Bobb
Advertising Director: Yvonne Iverson
Media Advisor: Bill Rhoades
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the Confeder
ated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our offices are located at
4174 Highway 3 in Warm Springs.
Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo
should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR
97761.
Phone: 541-553-2210
Advertising: 541-553-2307 or 541-325-1089
E-Mail: dave.mcmechan@wstribes.org.
Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $15.00.
sta n d a rd s as J u n io r W ater
Rights? To date I have n ot seen
anything being operated differ
ently by the state agency, m u
nicipalities, any Junior W ater
Rights to even accept our Se
nior Water Rights status. I f any
thing, water levels only are get
Leona A. Ike
ting lower and lower since we ’
entered into the Water Quanti
fication Agreement. In my life
time I have seen the river level
“A good heart is better than drop a m inim um o f five feet
since I was 12 years old. T hat’s
all the heads in the world.”
The saying above is printed a god awful am ount o f water
on my calendar for the m onth right that we enjoyed in the late
o f March in 2012. I love hav fifties that we can longer enjoy
ing my calendar hung up on the because o f the plausibility and
wall in the kitchen area in my m alfeasant m anner in w hich
apartment I hve in over here in O regon has adm inistered the
D uck City, Eugene.
w a te r re s o u rc e s • in th e
I can always remember what D eschutes Basin, a watershed
day and m onth it is. Time seems where we possess Senior Water
to go by fast. I m ark o ff the Rights status.
day that has just passed.
How malfeasant and plausible
H a p p y b irth d a y to my has the state administration and
y o u n g er siste rs S arah P a tt, oversight been? Consider how
Dawn Roland and my oldest son many times over the past ten
Floyd C. Frank! They are ah years we have read articles in
the papers o f water resources
March babies.
May you ah in my family who having been over allocated in the
have spring birthdays have a Deschutes Basin as Junior Wa
wonderful birthday this year!
ter Rights.
Evette Patt, 50 K ourt Dr.,
T was enlightened as a new
water board m em ber by serv-
apt. 3, Eugene, O R 97404
About time
Water law
Water, the m ost sacred ele
m ent o f hfe for the Columbia
Plateau tribes, has our Senior
Water Right actually protected
let alone secured after quantify
ing our water rights? I beheve
not, having served briefly on the
Warm Springs Water Board o f
Commissioners!
There are a num ber o f un
resolved legal issues that to date
have n o t b een addressed by
Oregon and the Oregon Depart
m e n t o f W ater R eso u rces.
T h ere has b een n o tim eline
whatsoever o f establishing wa
ter quality standards that upriver
Junior W ater Rights ah enjoy,
after ah Western Water Law spe
cifically m andates the highest
strictures o f protecting w ater
resources consumed by humans.
I haven’t seen any fine print that
s ta te d ' “ E x c e p t fo r N a tiv e
Americans” published as West
ern Water Law. So I ask our
Tribal Council, W arm Springs
Water Board, O regon, O regon
D epartm ent o f Water Resources
when will Warm Springs Tribal
M em bers enjoy th e identical
ing m em bers th a t o u r w ater
rights have not been disregarded
by the state but only being held
back behind the two dams. Are
we so naive that we do not un
derstand that this water has been
so contaminated by human ac
tivities carried on by Ju n io r
W ater Rights holders that we
have to accept such blatant dis
regard o f federal Indian law,
W estern W ater Law and laws
against humanity. I f I were a
state representative I would not
w ant to have quoted some o f
the statem ents that w ater re
source departm ent employees
cannot even verify the Junior
Water Rights diversions that it
currently issued as Junior Wa
ter Rights nor that threats o f
physical harm have actually been
made towards state employees
trying to verify comphance to
the very rules and regulations
they are supposed to uphold!
I ’ve heard “ignorance o f the
law” an indefensible argument
in courts or is there another ex
ception when it pertains to N a
tive A m erican S enior W ater
Rights that I am not aware of.
Thank you.
Randy Smith.
Birthday wishes...
To my p retty daughter,
Happy 19th Birthday Kendra
D eA nne W olfe. Love you
very much, have a great day!
F ro m M a & P a, K en d all
Florez, the Weaselheads, the
Wolfes.
H appy birthday to our
grandsons, to our Daeron
Weaselhead. Hove you grandson,
always, gramma & gramps
Dlores^ the Weaselheads, from
the Point, auntie Kendra Wolfe,
uncle Kendall Flores^
To our beautiful daughter,
Kendra D. Wolfe, Happy 19*
birthday. We wish you a spe
cial day today. L ove you
m u ch . M a & P a F lo re z ,
K e n d a ll
F lo re z ,
th e
Weaselheads, the Wolfes.
To our son Waylon M.
Weaselhead, We love and
miss you, always in our
thoughts and prayers,
son. From Ma & Pa
Florez, the Wolfes, the
Florezes,
the
Weaselheads.
To our grandson, D evon
W easelhead, aka D e v o n
Greene-Boise, H appy Birth
day. Love you, from gramma
an d g ram p a F lo re z , th e
Wolfes and the Weaselheads.
To m y son D evon
Weaselhead, from your
d ad
Waylon
M.
W easelhead.
H appy
birthday, love you, son.
To our grandson Devon
Weaselhead. Love you and
H a p p y B irthday. H ave a
g o o d day today! F ro m
gram m a & gram ps Florez,
the Weaselheads, the Wolfes,
the Florezes.
T hank you for w riting to the Spilyay Tymoo. T he next
deadhne for subm issions is Friday, M arch 30. T hank you!
W O
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Indian Business Talk
Predatory lending offer would cost borrower thousands
By Bruce Engle
Spilyay Tym oo
(Coyote News, Est. 1976)
Like working on solutions to our
alcohol and drug problem in our
community, or job creations and
preservation o f our cultural and
traditional teaching. We have so
much to do. This is w hat is im
portant to our people.
Ho an officer
W.S. Credit Enterprise
This example o f predatory
lending com es from a lender
called Western Sky Financial.
According to its website, it is
a m em b er-o w n ed “ ...N ativ e
A m erican Business operating
within the exterior boundaries
o f the Cheyenne River Sioux
reservation....”
Apparently, payday lenders
are partnering with tribal mem
bers around the country so they
can avoid state court jurisdic
tions and state limitations on
interest rates and fees.
I called the Western Sky num
ber and was transferred to an
o u tfit called Cash— (‘Call’ or
‘Cow,’ I think, but the message
was a bit garbled) from Anaheim.
I f that’s a reservation, the tribes
m ight be the Disney and the
K nott’s. Maybe it’s one o f the
outfits partnering up with tribes.
W ho knows?
I w o n d e r if th e W arm
Springs tribal code limitation on
interest rates might offer some
rehef for Warm Springs mem
bers who have borrowed from
either Western Sky or Cash— ?
C ash’s m an Chris said the
W estern Sky loan program is
really for short term loans and
that nobody is expected to use
the full num ber o f m onths in
their example to pay o ff the
loan. Yeh, sure!
Would you beheve Christmas
comes 12 times a year? D o n ’t
go near this outfit or any like it.
Here is what they are offering:
• A $5,075 loan with a loan
fee o f only $75. You get $5,000.
You sign up to make 84 pay
ments o f $486.58 for a total o f
$40,872.72 plus the $75 loan fee
they deducted from the original
loan amount. Wow!
• A $2,600 loan with a loan
fee o f only $75. You get $2,525.
You agree to make 47 payments
o f $294.46 fo r a to ta l o f
$13,839.62, also plus the $75
loan fee. Also wow!
•A $1,500 loan with a loan
fee o f $500! You get $1,000.
You com m it to make 24 pay
ments o f $198.19 for a total o f
$4,756.56 plus the $500 loan fee
A nd wow again!
I asked w hat my payments
would be if I took the $5,075.00
loan and paid it back in a year.
The answer was, “A bout $340
prorated for the first m onth and
$700 a m onth for the next 12
months.”
So, I ’d pay back $8,740 to
b o rro w $5,000 fo r one year.
T hat’s $3,740 interest plus the
$75 loan fee. Can we all say 76
percent!
The interest and fees West
ern Sky Financial expects to
collect would pay for an apart
m ent on Park Avenue in New
York with enough left over for
an 11-m o n th v a c a tio n in
D isneyland— year by year by
year by— .
H ow do these loan products
com pare w ith W arm Springs
Tribal Credit Enterprise offer
ings?
• The payback to Credit E n
terprise for the loan in the first
example would save you over
$34,400.
• Y ou w o u ld save over
$10,800 w ith a C redit E n te r
prise loan in the second example.
• Y ou w o u ld save over
$4,100 w ith a Credit Enterprise
loan in the third example.
All that saving w ithout hav
ing to burp a buffalo; w hat a
deal! Maybe we could go to
D isneyland or K n o tt’s B erry
Farm .