Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
January 18, 2017
New superintendent on board at BIA
F loy Lori Anderson is the
new BIA superintendent for
the Warm Springs Agency.
Floy brings several of ex-
perience to the position, hav-
ing worked at the Warm
Springs Agency for a num-
ber years.
She first worked here
starting in 1984, and for
three years was the secretary
to the superintendent. She
then worked for the BIA in
the Portland offices, return-
ing to War m Springs in
1995.
Most recently she was the
administrative officer, be-
fore being named this
month as superintendent.
Lori is a member of the
Seneca Cayuga Nation of
Oklahoma.
The War m Springs
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
W.S. BIA Agency Superintendent Floy Lori Anderson.
Agency superintendent over-
sees BIA activities for the
Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs, the Klamath
and Burns Paiute tribes.
On the Warm Springs
Reservation there are 18
BIA employees: five in BIA
Roads, four in Social Ser-
vices, three each in Realty
and Administration, and two
with Facilities.
Cowlitz looks to hire 1,000 for new casino
January 27—only seven
days after Trump is sworn
into office as the 45th presi-
dent of the United States—
his incoming team won’t
have much time to make a
mark. But the expected re-
sponse would be to defend
the BIA’s acquisition of the
152-acre site.
Non-Indian groups
aren’t the only ones inter-
ested in the case either. Four
tribes from California sub-
mitted a friend-of-the-court
brief that goes against the
BIA and the Cowlitz.
“The Cowlitz Tribe will
be permitted to build and
operate a casino outside of
its historic reservation and
aboriginal territory,” the
November 28 brief states.
“Other Indian tribes that
played by the rules estab-
lished by Congress are ad-
versely affected by this type
of federal action, especially
when land is taken into trust
outside the homelands of
one tribe and within the ab-
original territory of another.
This creates a double stan-
Around Indian Country
Tribe makes history
with trust land approval
The Bureau of Indian
Affairs last week approved
the very first tribal land-
into-trust application in
Alaska.
The acquisition only
covers a 1.08-acre site, but
it marks a major milestone
in the state and federal his-
tory.
Up until a few months
ago, tribes in Alaska weren’t
even able to follow the
land-into-trust process.
“The journey to this deci-
sion has been a long one.
Today the federally recog-
nized tribes in Alaska have
the same opportunity as
those in the Lower 48 states
to maintain a permanent
homeland for them-
selves,” Larry Roberts, the
de facto leader of the
BIA.
The Craig Tribal Asso-
ciation submitted the ap-
plication last October. The
1.08-acre property in-
cludes a building in the
city of Craig that houses
tribal headquarters, a
community hall, a Head
Start, a business and other
programs that provide ser-
vices to tribal citizens.
A lawsuit finally forced
the BIA to remove the so-
called “Alaska exception”
from its regulations.
Union Pacific Railroad sues to exempt
itself from Columbia Gorge protections
Around Indian Country
The Cowlitz Tribe is pre-
paring for a big year as it
debuts a long-awaited casino
in Washington.
The ilani Casino Resort
is due to open on April 17.
The tribe is hiring more than
1,000 people to work there.
A legal cloud, though,
hangs over the project. Non-
Indian interests, and some
tribes, are hoping the U.S.
Supreme Court will derail
the project on the grounds
that the Bureau of Indian
Affairs should not have ap-
proved the land-into-trust
application for the casino
site.
A group called Citizens
Against Reservation Shop-
ping, non-Indian card rooms
and three local property
owners filed their petition in
October.
But the Department of
Justice has yet to file a re-
sponse, leaving open the
possibility for the adminis-
tration of Republican presi-
dent-elect Donald Trump to
weigh in on the case.
Since the brief is due by
In recent weeks BIA
Roads has been especially
busy. The department is re-
sponsible for maintaining
roads on the reservation, and
in January the task has been
to keep the roads as clear as
possible, an accomplishment
to be commended.
“I really enjoy working
with the people here,” Lori
says of Warm Springs.
One of the positive
changes she has seen over
the years has been the tribes
taking over the 638 pro-
grams, “giving the tribes a
chance to run their own pro-
grams,” she says.
And the future will no
doubt be interesting, she says,
as the new administration
takes office in Washington,
D.C.
Page 7
dard for tribes.”
The
Mooretown
Rancheria of Maidu Indi-
ans and the United Auburn
Indian Community signed
the brief, along with the
California Tribal Business
Alliance, a small group that
represents the Pala Band of
Luiseño Indians and the
Picayune Rancheria of
Chukchansi Indians. All four
operate casinos in Califor-
nia—three of them in fact
were opened on land re-
cently acquired in trust.
Once the Supreme Court
receives the federal
government’s brief, the non-
Indian interests will be able
to file one last reply before
the justices take the petition
under consideration. After
that happens, they will an-
nounce whether or not they
have agreed to hear the
case.
Given the rapidly ap-
proaching opening date for
ilani, it’s possible the Cowlitz
Tribe will have already de-
buted the casino by that
time.
Union Pacific, just
months after it caused an
oil train derailment and
fire in the Columbia
River Gorge National
Scenic Area in the town
of Mosier, filed a lawsuit
in federal court seeking
to exempt itself from
laws that protect this fed-
erally designated Na-
tional Scenic Area and its
communities.
The Friends of the
Gorge are planning to
oppose the action.
Last
November,
Union Pacific’s rail ex-
pansion application was de-
nied by Wasco County, due
to violations of its National
Scenic Area ordinance and
infringement on Native
American tribal treaty rights.
The Wasco County deci-
sion is currently under ap-
peal before the Columbia
River Gorge Commission.
“This action is predict-
able, as they do not wish to
respect local, regional and
National Scenic Area pro-
cess. We urge for justice at
this level and protection of
our communities,” said
Arlene Burns, mayor of
Mosier.
The Federal Railroad
Administration deter-
mined that Union Pa-
cific caused the oil train
derailment and fire in
Mosier last June by fail-
ing to properly inspect
and maintain its tracks
in the Columbia River
Gorge.
The Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs,
and other Columbia
River tribes, have op-
posed large-scale oil
transportation by rail.
Calif. county limits marijuana near tribal land
Officials in Yolo County,
California, approved an in-
terim marijuana ordinance
that bars cultivation within
1,000 feet of tribal lands.
The Yocha Dehe Wintun
Nation asked for the limits,
The Davis Enterprise re-
ported. The tribe is con-
cerned about outdoor mari-
juana farms close to its res-
ervation.
“The tribe requested the
proposed buffer to ensure
the continued use and en-
joyment of tribal lands is
not impaired by nearby out-
door medical cannabis cul-
tivation,” a memo prepared
for the board of supervisors
reads. “This is a valid basis
for county regulation and, as
explained further below, the
buffer is neither arbitrary
nor unreasonable.”
The issue was not with-
out controversy, though.
The board voted 3-2 at a
public meeting on Tuesday
to include the buffer in the
ordinance after some ques-
tioned the tribe’s reasoning,
The Enterprise reported.
Cultivation of medical
marijuana is permissible in
the county.
Free family days at High Desert Museum
The Warm Springs com-
munity is invited to the open-
ing of a new exhibit, A Com-
munity Forgotten: Uncovering
the Stor y of The Dalles
Chinatown, at the Columbia
Gorge Discovery Center and
Museum.
The exhibit opens
on Saturday, January 28. For
the opening, doors open at
5:30 p.m. Dinner will be
served at 6 p.m., followed by
the 7 p.m. program. Meet
the exhibit curators
For tickets or information,
call 541-296-8600 x 201 be-
tween 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily,
or visit:
www.gorgediscovery.org
A Community Forgotten:
Uncovering the Story of The
Dalles Chinatown tells the
tale of the largely forgotten
community of overseas
Chinese immigrants who
once populated First (Main)
Street in The Dalles.
The exhibit features ar-
tifacts from the time, and
shines a light on the discrimi-
natory laws once used for
racial exclusion.
The Chinese came to
The Dalles, Oregon, begin-
ning in the 1850s on the heels
of the gold rush, and the
overseas Chinese community
grew with the 1860s railroad
expansion.
By the 1880s, The Dalles
was a community dominated
by Chinese stores that served
a multitude of functions be-
yond just selling goods:
They served as home to
both transient and established
residents, engaged in labor
contracting and laundry work,
and provided social diver-
sions including gambling, and
opium consumption.
Free family days at High Desert Museum
The High Desert Mu-
seum will offer free admis-
sion on two upcoming Sat-
urdays, January 21 and Feb-
ruary 25, thanks to a spon-
sorship by Mid Oregon
Credit Union.
Added attractions, open-
ing January 28, at the mu-
seum are the B u z z s a w
Sharks of Long Ago, and
WWII: The High Desert
Home Front.
The Buzzsaw Sharks of
Long Ago exhibition ex-
plores the relationship be-
tween artist Ray Troll and a
300 million-year -old bizarre
“whorl-toothed” creature
known as the buzzsaw
shark.
To commemorate the
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary
of the United States’ entry
into World War II, the exhi-
bition W W I I : T h e H i g h
Desert Home Front explores
contributions from the High
Desert to the war effort and
the war’s lasting effect on
the region.
Legendary Landscapes is
an exhibition which will
open February 18, just in
time for the February free
day. It features breathtak-
ing images of the High
Desert landscape taken by
the public, and explains the
stories behind how these
places got their names in
this community-curated
exhibition.
A special schedule of
wildlife programs will be
held throughout the day.
The museum is open
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in-
cluding the Rimrock Café
and Silver Sage Trading.