CHASTA
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MOLALLA
KALAPUYA
ROGUE RIVER
A Publication of the Grand Ronde Tribe
APRIL 1,1999
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EA-ssks Tribe to wsmre payments
The request is
part of a government
attempt to divvy up
scarce program
funds among tribes;
tribes argue that
increased funding is
a better answer
By Oscar Johnson
The U.S. government recently
asked the Grand Ronde Tribe to
waive its right to more than $1 mil
lion in federal subsidies for tribal
programs such as forest manage
ment, education and social services.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
request comes on the heels of a Con
gressional mandate for the Bureau
and tribes to come up with an alter
nate way to allocate federal funds
owed to the nation's 557 federally
recognized tribes.
For Congress, that means divvying
up the annual Tribal Priority Allo
cations (TPA) dollars so less fortu
nate tribes can catch up with those
doing a little better.
For tribes, who already settle for
less than is needed, that means the
federal government is shirking its
obligations in order to pursue a
policy that tribes say will only make
them "equally poor."
"Federal appropriations under the
TPA budget system are the modern
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Head Start students of Grand Ronde's Twah Sunchako preschool are some of many tribal and community
members who count on tribal-run education programs. Last year the Tribe used dollars earmarked for
other tribal needs to cover part of the federal government's obligation to fund such programs.
embodiment of the continuing fed- "
eral obligation to Indian people," in-
sists Jahell Haller, the Tribe's self- ;
determination coordinator.
Every year tribes such as Grand
Ronde are forced to pay the differ
ence for unmet program needs out
of their own pockets, while other less
fortunate tribes simply do without.
"Do you feel the United States
should honor its treaties with
France?" asks Bob McElderry, the
Tribe's grants writer. "If so, then
why shouldn't they honor their trea
ties with us?" "
Treaties, Congressional acts, court
decisions, executive orders, lawsuits
and potential lawsuits all mandate
that the federal government fund
tribal programs, according to a draft
report last month released by the
BIATribal Workgroup on Tribal
Needs Assessments.
The workgroup formed in June to
develop data on underfunded pro
grams in Indian Country and to
come up with another way to distrib
ute the funds. Their findings and
recommendations will be submitted
to Congress this week.
The report is also part of a race to
counter plans by some U.S. lawmak-
; ers to examine tribal accounts in or
der to take federal dollars owed to
the most prosperous 10 percent of the
nation's tribes and give them to the
poorest 20 percent.
In the interim, Grand Ronde offi
cials say the Bureau called last month
to see if the Tribe would consider Vol
untarily" giving up $1,093,373 of fed
eral funding for 1999.
"We might give up something lat
ter but it's my understanding that
the consensus is we won't buy into
it," said Ed Pearsall, Grand Ronde
council secretary.
continued on page 2
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde
ltjSaj Community of Oregon
9615 Grand Ronde Road
Grand Ronde, Oregon 97347
Address Service Requested
Fox, Jari .'SrciJ Coll.)
Kni9ht Librarw. UofO
Eu9ene OR &7403
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Saving our FISH: A special section inside
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