J SMOKE SIGNALS
Tribes should face Means Testing initative...now
Dear Tribal Members:
As you may recall, Smoke Signals re
cently printed articles regarding Senator
Slade Gorton of Washington state, who in
troduced two amendments to the Senate
Appropriations bill, which provides BIA
funding. The first amendment was to re
quire the BIA to institute "means testing,"
which is a method to look at the amount of
annual income all Indian tribes are earning
from gaming and other economic ventures.
If instituted, it would no doubt affect tribes
who are receiving substantial amounts of
federal funding.
Another amendment would have required
tribes receiving federal funding to waive
their sovereign immunity.
On September 3rd and 4th, Grand Ronde
Tribal Council members met with Oregon
Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon Smith to
ask them to oppose these two amendments.
While in Washington D. C, Council mem
bers met with other Senators, asking them
for their help as well. The feeling I person
ally got from many of the Senators we spoke
with was that they didn't support the sov
ereign immunity waiver, but indicated that
means testing was something of interest to
them. Tribal leaders from throughout the
U.S. were in Washington D.C. to lobby the
Senators from their respective states against
these amendments.
On September 16th, tribes "dodged the
bullet" so to speak, since Senator Gorton
reluctantly agreed to drop these particular
amendments. However, Gorton vowed to
continue the fight on these two issues in
the near future. I wish to include excerpts
of the September 16th Congressional
Record which are actual transcripts of state
ments made by Senators who were in the
Senate Chambers when this matter was ad
dressed. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska
who is the Chairman of the Senate Commit
tee on Appropriations stated:
"Let me state at the outset that I believe
that in this country there is a period of ris
ing expectations on the part of our Alaska
Native and Native American peoples that
there will be more assistance coming to
them from the Federal Government. The
great difficulty is that this is not just an
expectation but an increasing demand for
additional money to enable these peoples
to carry out the legitimate roles that they
have in their own tribal and Native orga
nizations. This comes at a time when we
are living under a budget ceiling with di
minishing resources. (He refers to federal
funds.) We are paying on the national debt,
which is literally squeezing out a lot of
items that we were able to afford previously.
We are working on that in connection with
the balanced budget process. But it is hard
to understand for many people on the res
ervations in the contiguous States and
small villages throughout my State, and
throughout our Nation, to understand
there is a limit on the amount of money we
have available to put into such funds like
the Tribal Priority Allocation. "
The message I wish to convey is this:
Beginning in 1994, the voting populace of
this nation elected a Congress which has
committed to a balanced budget for the fed
eral government, something that they are
currently pursuing. If tribes are earning
substantial amounts of money, they may
want to strengthen programs they currently
operate. The Confederated Tribes of Grand
Ronde currently receives approximately
$8,000,000 of federal funding. Although
means testing won't be an issue in 1997, it
definitely be looked upon in 1998. Many
Senators we spoke with seem to support
this concept. It will behoove this tribe to
put gaming monies away for programs such
as housing assistance, education, commu
nity and economic development.
Otherwise, the long term outlook for the
Tribe's future may be bleak.
Mark Mercier, Tribal Council member
From the Editor: We want to hear from you! Letters
By Tracy Dugan
CHANGES, CHANGES, AND
MORE CHANGES. WeasaTribe
reach another crossroad in our
journey of growth. It seems the dreams our
Elders had for us all those years ago are
happening at last. First the Tribe was re
stored, allowing hundreds of members to
claim their birthright as Native American
people recognized in the eyes of the federal
government. Then the reservation started
growing. Services were being provided to
our people. The building of the Community
Center. Spirit Mountain Casino. Grand
Meadows Home Park. Health and Wellness
Center. And now, as the Tribe prepares to
break ground on its new Administration
building, the days when all programs were
housed in the tiny cemetery building seem
like a long time ago.
But it wasn't that long ago at all.
Smoke Signals has grown, too. Still, it is
becoming more and more of a challenge to
keep up with these changes. Quite often,
we are led to important news stories that
either originate from, or have some connec
tion to the Casino. We decided last year to
devote one page per issue to Spirit Moun
tain Casino news and information, but the
news keeps coming. There is always some
thing interesting happening. And it has
been exciting. We never realized how many
thousands of folks would be stepping foot
inside the Casino every week, or that the
. Casino would generate so many newswor
thy items through its charitable gifts and
contributions to the people of Oregon.
However, lately we have been receiving
some comments about the Casino's news
coverage. Many of our readers feel Smoke
Signals is turning into the "Casino's news
paper" rather than a paper that should be
covering all entities of the Tribe and its pro
grams. But consider this: revenue from the
Casino has allowed tribal programs to ex
pand their services to members. When we
write a story about the new Health and
Wellness Center, for example, it is important
to mention that the Life Flight Helipad was
funded through the Community Benefit
Fund the Casino and Tribe set up in accor
dance with its agreement with the State of
Oregon.
Also, the Tribe is now in a position to
host large gatherings and events like the
Common Ground Conference, because the
Casino has become a popular and practical
destination spot for conferences. People in
Oregon and the Pacific Northwest are be
ginning to think of Grand Ronde when plan
ning their retreats and tribal functions, and
it is largely due to the Casino.
Last year we met with the Casino's Hu
man Resources Department, and decided to
run an "Employee Spotlight" in every is
sue, featuring a Casino employee who is
also a tribal member. It was our intention to
promote the Casino as a place where tribal
members can find rewarding and gainful
employment. The Casino is very interested
in finding placement for Grand Ronde tribal
members, and Native people as well.
Recently, we have been asked to include
more national Native news in SmokeSignals.
People seem interested in, those national
Native issues that affect all Indian people in
general, as Americans. Many times we have
been asked questions like, What is happen
ing with tribes in other states? Are there
Native American organizations I can learn
about or become part of? What are the cur
rent political issues facing Native people?
These are questions we would like to ex
plore in Smoke Signals. And we want to
hear from you. We receive feedback from
our supervisors, Tribal Council, and mem
bers who live in the Grand Ronde commu
nity. Now we want to know how we are
doing from tribal members who live outside
of town, or even outside of the state. Do
you find the news in Smoke Signals useful
and helpful? Is there a program you want to
know more about, or want to see featured in
an upcoming issue? We are asking all inter
ested tribal members to write or call us with
their ideas and suggestions. After all, we
are not unlike every other tribal program
we are here to serve tribal members.
Here at Smoke Signals, it has always been
our intention to provide comprehensive
coverage of all tribal events and stories. The
Casino is but one entity within a very large
organization. We want to keep you updated
on Health, Education, Housing, Natural Re
sources, and Small Business Development.
But most of all, we want Smoke Signals to
be a newspaper you look forward to receiv
ing and reading.
NOTE: Smoke Signals welcomes sub
missions and Letters to the Editor from tribal
members. As editor, part of my job is to
read everything that is submitted to us, and
make any changes that may make a story
more readable or easy to understand. Some
times we have a small amount of page space
to work with, and many times I edit articles
or "cut" certain sentences or paragraphs
from a story to allow it to fit in the space we
have. When this becomes necessary, I make
every effort NOT to cut out words or sen
tences that illustrate an important point, or
give valuable information. I will only cut
out those words that don't really add any
thing to a story, or change the meaning of
the message it is trying to convey. Please
keep this in mind when submitting letters or
articles for publication.
Dear Smoke Signals,
Thanks to you and your editor, our family
had the best surprise ever for my dad, Will
iam McKinney. He is 72 years old. He was
raised in an orphanage with his brother John
McKinney and his two sisters, Ivy and
Susie McKinney. Our dad and John have
always stayed close to each other, but they
lost contact with their two sisters. For years
we have believed they were both dead. But
with the help of your staff and Smoke Sig
nals, Susie and Bill had a great reunion. She
and her children came to visit our dad in
Texas last week. He has been very ill and
this was his biggest wish.
Thank you all very much.
William M. McKinney's kids
Kathy, Carolyn, and Lynda McKinney
Tribal members:
I would like to thank all those who sup
ported me in the last Council Election. I
look forward to serving you.
Bob Mercier
Tribal members:
I want to express my appreciation for all
the support I received during this last elec
tion. It was a very close race, and I am grate
ful so many of you wanted to see me serve
another three years. The past three years
have been truly a learning experience for
me. I enjoyed serving on Council, and I
wish the new Council continued success.
Again, thank you for your support.
BobHaller
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