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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Team with experience at dispatch center
The Warm Springs Fire
Management dispatch center
becomes a busy place during
the fire season. Extra per-
sonnel come on board when
a wild fire is burning on the
reservation.
Fire Management dis-
patch is fortunate to have an
experienced team to rely
upon during fire season.
Bob Medina is the dis-
patch center manager, work-
ing with Chuck Hudson, who
worked previously as a po-
lice dispatcher.
Lee-Ann Tufti and
Annette Polk also come on
board during summer, along
with Harry Phillips.
“There is a lot of experi-
ence here, and we appreci-
ate that,” Medina said.
Harry Phillips worked for
several years at the Warm
Springs Elementary School,
starting in the 1960s, and
worked during summer at dis-
patch. So he brings many
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Lee-Ann Tufti, Charles Hudson and Harry Phillips with
Bob Medina.
years of experience in fire
dispatch.
During a wild fire, the cen-
ter coordinates the response
of multiple agencies, from
Fire Management and BIA
Forestry, to law enforcement,
the State Fire Marshal, air-
craft, etc. There are up to
19 channels in operation dur-
ing an incident.
The main focus is safety,
followed by containment of
the fire. The response tech-
nology is always being up-
graded.
A new development will
be installing GPS devices in
the fire response vehicles, al-
lowing them to be tracked by
the dispatch team.
The tribes are working
toward development of fire
applicants of unmanned
aerial systems, and Fire
Management and dispatch
will be key partners in this
effort.
Last week, Fire Manage-
ment made a gesture of ap-
preciation to the dispatch
team, presenting shirts with
the tribal fire response logo,
and Fire Management hats.
From the Office of the Special Trustee
Reasons to avoid ‘do-it yourself ’ wills in Indian Country
Estate Planning in Indian
Country can be puzzling for
the general practitioner. The
puzzle can be even more
daunting for someone with-
out legal training, or who is
unfamiliar with the laws that
surround Indian land held in
trust by the federal govern-
ment.
Indian land held in trust is
distinctly different from land
held by non-Indians in fee
simple. Non-Indians can sell
or give property to whom-
ever they choose. Indian
lands are heavily regulated
and must follow strict guide-
lines to preserve trust land
for future generations.
For that reason, tribes have
taken it upon themselves to
offer estate planning services
for their members. They did
this by contracting with out-
side attorneys in order to
avoid potential conflicts of
interests with their members.
However, due to limited
resources, some tribes are
unable to provide these ser-
vices for their members year
round, or can provide them
on a limited basis. As a re-
sult, some Indian people are
turning to “do-it-yourself ”
wills. Here are the reasons to
avoid DIY forms:
Do-it yourself (DIY)
forms do not consider fed-
eral and tribal law.
In 2004, Congress passed
the American Indian Probate
Reform Act (AIPRA). It cre-
ates a unified federal probate
code for Indian trust land in
the United States.
Many considerations must
be made when preparing a
will for Indian landowners
because they may need a will
drafted to comply with fed-
eral, tribal and state law. It is
also not uncommon for an
Indian landowner to own
property on several reserva-
tions. Thus, each tribe’s pro-
bate code will need to be re-
searched and applied when
drafting a will.
DIY do not constitute
legal advice.
DIY ser vices provide
forms, not legal advice. In
fact, they clearly state they
are not giving legal advice
and if that is wanted, a user
must retain the services of a
qualified professional.
At the same time, they try
to convince the consumer
that an attorney is simply not
necessary. This provides a
false sense of security.
Your property may be
taken out of trust or sold
to the tribe.
To preserve Indian lands
trust status, AIPRA contains
special rules on who can in-
herit land in trust. It can even
change a will.
In order to carry out
someone’s last wishes, it is
important to understand
these rules.
Under AIPRA, a person
may leave property to any
“lineal descendant” (children,
grandchildren, great-grand-
children), or to any Indian. If
the person names a non-eli-
gible heir, then the property
will be taken out of trust and
pass in fee.
Some DIY wills fail to
include a self-providing
affidavit.
A self-proving affidavit is
a statement attached to a will
that swears that the informa-
tion is true and correct to the
best of a person’s knowledge.
AIPRA requires that the
self-proving affidavit be
signed by the person making
the will and two witnesses.
The witnesses must be “dis-
interested,” meaning that they
are not taking any property
under the will. Otherwise, the
will can be deemed invalid.
Family identification
information is essential to
inherit trust land.
To transfer trust property
by will, a person must desig-
nate how the trust land will
be transferred in trust (Ten-
ancy in Common or Joint-
Tenancy with the Right of
Survivorship – the default) to
an Indian or descendant even
if they are not tribal mem-
bers. Accurately listing a
person’s personal and family
information–such as date of
birth, tribal affiliation, tribal
enrollment number, place of
residence, marriages, di-
vorces, children, etc.–is criti-
cal because eligibility may
determine who can inherit In-
dian trust land.
(This article will continue in
the next edition of the Spilyay
Tymoo.)
For more information on
having a will, contact the Of-
fice of the Special Trustee,
541-553-2409.
October 28, 2015
Hip-hop spreading a
message in Indian Country
Indigenous Youth
in Oregon tell a
different story
about rez life
Last March in Seattle,
a small group of young
Native American musi-
cians met for a three-day
songwriting retreat.
This was led by legend-
ary recording engineer
Uncle Rick Clifford,
former chief engineer at
Death Row Records.
The musicians wrote
and recorded what would
become the first single on
the new project by Blue
Flamez, Rez Life, coming
out on Portland-based
Ibori Records this month.
Scott Kalama (aka
Blue Flamez) has been a
mentor in training with
the music empowerment
program Beats Lyrics
Leaders.
On R e z L i f e , youth
from the program join
Scott to tell the world about
life on the Indian Reserva-
tion, strictly from their per-
spective.
“It’s a hard-core West
Coast hip-hop song remi-
niscent of Too Short,
punctuated with flute,
drumming and Native hu-
mor,” Scott says.
The five minute music
video draws on footage
from all over the Pacific
Northwest, keeping with a
cultural vibe that could only
exist somewhere between
contemporary West Coast
hip-hop, and thousands of
years of Indigenous wis-
dom and history.
As copies of the debut
EP wait to hit on-line dis-
tribution centers like Apple
Music and Spotify, the
video is spreading like wild-
fire on Youtube, Scott
says.
The songs can be
streamed and downloaded
for free during the pre-re-
lease on Soundcloud.
Creative oversight on
the video was left to Eat
Cho, one of Portland’s
most revered visual artists.
The video features act-
ing by a rising star, Talia
Reasoner, also based out
of Portland.
Music production was
led by Yamio263, and in-
cludes session work by
Tony Ozier, Portland’s
“king of funk.” The
project was recorded at
Orbit Audio in Seattle,
where Macklemore cut his
biggest record.
Rez Life gained momen-
tum when, after a year of
artist development training
through Beats Lyrics Lead-
ers.
This was made possible
through the Oregon Arts
Commission’s World of
Work program, the North-
west Portland Area Indian
Health Board, and PDX
Pop Now!
The youth were encour-
aged to take their vision
into fruition through sup-
port from the Meyer Me-
morial Trust.
The young MCs on the
song were able to involve
close and extended fami-
lies while the production
team travelled all over the
state to capture the artists’
vision on film.
Scott Kalama says,
“The most significant thing
about this project to me is
the message in the lyrics,
which tell the truth of res-
ervation life and the situa-
tions we as a people are liv-
ing. I love how the video
shows us in a fun, positive
atmosphere.”