JULY 15, 2002
Smoke Signals 5
Tribal Council Candidate Forum Held, 15 Show
By Peta Tinda
There was no shortage of tough questions for the 15 Tribal Council candidates at the annual
candidate's forum, a chance for Tribal members to ask the candidates about issues facing the
Grand Ronde Tribe.
The event was held on July 6 at the Community Center. Coffee was served, and the annual
candidate forum got under way.
Each of the candidates stood up and addressed the Tribe, called out their roll number and gave
his or her reasons for wanting to be on the Tribal Council.
Then the questioning began. Many Tribal members wanted to know what exactly each candi
date was going to do, should they get elected. They also had many questions for the Tribal Coun
cil members seeking re-election.
The questions being asked reflected the concerns facing many Tribal members today. The
questions were about sovereignty, enrollment, benefits, and other issues that are of importance
to Tribal members.
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New View A new, el
evated viewing area for Tribal
Elders was put up at the Tribe's
pow-wow grounds in Grand
Ronde. Maintenance Techs
Duke Olson and Lenny Logan are
shown here working on the plat
forms. The platforms will be
handicapped accessible and
provide shade from the sun and
a good view of the events.
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Natives Sell Summer Catch To Public On Columbia River
Catch continued from front page
lie land at the river's edge, which
is reserved for Native fishing.
"We can be here as long as we're
fishing but then they run us off.
I don't even know who governs
these sites," he said.
Indians have treaty rights to
fish all year around for subsis
tence, and can always sell their
catch to other Indians. When it
comes to selling to the general
public, however, they are be
holden to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission, run
by four Columbia River Basin
Tribes Yakama, Warm Springs,
Umatilla, and Nez Perce. The ar
bitrary nature of these seasons
contributes to the difficulties in
making them pay.
"The week before the season
started," said Sutterlict, "we had
to check the nets every thirty min
utes, and they'd be filled with ten
or so fish."
In the middle of the commercial
season on Saturday (July 6), af- jg
ter two hours of non-stop custom- 3
ers, Sutterlict's son took a run
down to the platform net but now g
the net held only two fish, a sock- g
eye and a lonely steelhead. js
Sutterlict sounded, neverthe
less, like a man building a busi
ness. He asked his customers,
many of whom he said are re
peats, to "order in advance," for
the second summer season slated
for later in July.
"We're going to have three fla
vors of smoked salmon," he said.
To make the most of the unpre
dictable situation, Sutterlict had
arrangements with other fishers,
along the river to sell him fish
wholesale to keep his own outlet
stocked for the public.
The public, like the fish, came
in waves. They were a mixed bag
of diehards like Steve Orgel, a da
tabase manager for a Portland util
ity, who said he drives out for all of
the Natives' commercial seasons.
He usually buys between 25-50
pounds of fish for fillets and for
smoking. And then there were the
family guys like Erik Nilson, also
of Portland, who said, "It's just fun
for the kids. We're also going to the
Bonneville Dam."
With authorized commercial sea
sons as sporadic as fish runs, Indi-
gers shook as he repaired the net
ting he had been using on the plat
form. He had no more fish to sell.
Early in the morning, when the
dams were open, the fish were more
plentiful.
"Every time I pulled up my net,"
he said, "I got five or six. I bring
'em back and sell them right out.
After about nine (in the morning),
I can't keep up with it anymore."
Likewise said Sutterlict around
noontime.
"I never get ahead of the knife.
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Business Unusual Native American fishermen have the treaty right to fish
on the Columbia River, but irregular seasons and tricky fishing conditions make earn
ing a living hard. This summer, for the first time in two generations, Native fisher
men, like Frank Sutterlict and his son Willard were allowed to sell their Summer
Chinook catch to the public. Willard, 14, is shown here pulling a fish and loading up a
customer's bag at Fort Rains on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
ans serving this public divide their
time between the fishing, cleaning,
smoking, and selling. On the Or
egon side of the river, Nathan Dick,
a Umatilla Indian, said he rose at
sunrise each morning to make the
weekend pay. He was just about
all in by noon on Saturday. His fin-
We've been here since sunrise and
nobody's had anything to eat or
even a pop."
Tom Nelson, now retired, also
played a part in this brief commer
cial season. He cleaned fish for the
Sutterlicts for free, he said, in trade
for the entrails that fueled another
enterprise. Bonneville Power Ad
ministration pays for Northern
Pike Minnows, a predator of baby
salmon, as a secondary way to
strengthen decimated salmon
runs. Nelson uses the salmon
entrails to catch the minnows,
which last year was worth about
$9,000 to him.
"It's a good second income," he
said.
Sutterlict grew up fishing on
platforms alongside his uncles. A
few years ago, he learned to fil
let a fish to provide better service
to his customers.
That better service can be seen
not only in terms of all the cool
ers lined up to keep the catch for
the hour or so they last while cus
tomers pick and choose, but also
in the way he chewed the fat with
customers while filleting their
fish. He talked about his knives
and answered questions about
where he got them, which was
best for cutting what, and how
much he paid for them.
Sutterlict's top front teeth are
gone. Maybe that was more no
ticeable when he talked about the
bones he broke awhile back, and
the $300 the Fish Commission
fined him recently for "giving
away a fish."
When he moved on to the sub
ject of the heart and strength of
fish, you might have thought he
was talking about himself and his
heritage as well.
"I never seen nothing tougher
than these," he said. "You see a
steelhead with its head bashed or
its tail broken and they'll still be
going."
A second commercial season is
scheduled for July 19-31.
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