FEBRUARY 15, 2003
Smoke Signals 5
Oregon Tribes Closer To Forming An Oregon Gaming Alliance
Differences exist but common interests seem to hold.
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Tribes Meet In Salem, Talk Issues Warm Spring's Chief Delvis Heath
(right) attended the Oregon Tribes meeting in Salem that was hosted by Grand
Ronde on Thursday, January 30 and had some strong words for the Grand Ronde
Tribe and in particular Tribal member and Intergovernmental Affairs Director Jus
tin Martin. Martin responded to Heath's comments by saying that the important
issues facing Tribes in Oregon aren't about Tribe vs. Tribe and go beyond gaming.
By Ron Karten
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde hosted six
of nine Oregon Tribes at the end of January in the
latest step in an effort "to find ways to better work
together," as Tribal member and the Tribe's Inter
governmental Affairs Director Justin Martin said.
Tribal Council members Ed Larsen and Valorie
Sheker-Robertson represented Grand Ronde at the
meeting.
Impetus for moving forward with the alliance came
in part from Terry Springer, Chairman of the Gam
ing Commission for the Coquille Indian Tribe, and
veteran of the Oregon State Police Department's
Criminal Division, who said, "The one thing the state
fears the most is that the Tribes work together and
share information."
"I think it's a real good thing that the Oregon
Tribes are talking together about gaming issues,"
said Sheker-Robertson after the meeting.
"When Tribes work together, we get laws passed,"
said Barbara Sam, secretary of Tribal Council for
the Burns Paiute Tribe.
Differences continue to threaten to drive a wedge
between Tribes. "This is the third or fourth time
we've tried to organize," said Joseph Moses, Paiute
Chief and Tribal Council member of the Confeder
ated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation. "I
think we need it but I question the extent when we
have two Tribes, Grand Ronde and Cow Creek, that
are opposing us (on casino issues)."
Martin responded to Moses' comments by saying
"This is not about Tribe versus Tribe. This is about
a policy that affects all nine Tribes and ultimately
the future of Indian Gaming in Oregon."
For the Burns Paiute, a small Tribe in the rural
southeast corner of the state with relatively few
machines, Dean Adams, Vice President of the Burns
Paiute Tribal Council, said that in four years, the
Tribe was earning next to no profit because it was
paying the Oregon State Police (OSP) the same as
large operations pay for their watchdog functions.
On more mundane matters, Jessie Davis, Vice
Chairwoman of Confederated Tribes of Siletz, sought
an informal framework for the group. Previous ef
forts had stalled, she said, by wrangling over by-laws.
In the past, the state has taken the operations of
one Tribe's gaming efforts and made it a boilerplate
for all Indian gaming operations in the state, accord
ing to Siletz's Davis. It was important for the group
that each Tribe be honored and evaluated based on
individual characteristics, including geography and
casino size.
At the end of the day, however, neither everyday
nor lifeblood issues stopped the group from moving
forward with the idea. The group sought sample
mission statements, by-law documents and informa
tion describing possible future public relations cam
paigns. Warm Springs' Director of Tribal Relations
Rudy Clements pushed for a "philosophy statement"
describing the group's "values and beliefs" to keep
everybody in "the same spirit." In addition, Tribal
representatives will seek resolutions from their re
spective Tribal Councils delegating power to those
representing the Tribes in the emerging group.
Grand Ronde lobbyist Martin voiced a number of
possible benefits in forming the association: D a bet
ter voice on a regional basis; 2) collaboration between
Tribes; 3) information sharing; 4) making prepara
tion possible for potential and future problems and
conflicts; 5) better prevention efforts through a uni
fied voice.
The focus, said Martin, could go beyond gaming
to economic development in general. The challenge,
however, is "how can we be effective without letting
personal politics seep in?"
Discussion of possible Tribal response to the re
cent Time magazine series on Indian gaming foun
dered on the news from the Cow Creek Band's lob
byist Ted Hughes, who said that the series had failed
to stir even a comment in the capitol, whether from
legislators, reporters or citizens.
Though the authors of the Time articles had con
ducted interviews in Oregon for the story, Grand
Ronde lobbyist Martin considered it a sign of how
well run the Oregon operations are that no mention
of Oregon was made in the often negative series.
In the end, Burns Paiute's Dean said, "It sounded
like we were heard. We're on the right track here."
"Like Jessie Davis says, it's going to be a good
thing, but we're not going to agree on everything,"
said Grand Ronde's Larsen.
Arkansas Tribal Member Takes Team To State
6'6" senior has sights set on playing college football after stellar high school career.
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Big Man On Campus - Tribal member Josh Gamel
By Ron Karten
From almost the opposite corner of the nation,
Grand Ronde Tribal member Josh Gamel has been
quietly carving out a career for himself. At 6'6",
360 pounds, the "Big Geasy" plays center on the of
fensive line for his Batesville Arkansas High School
football team. This season,, Gamel made all-district,
all-conference and all-state titles at the position.
"He's exceptionally gifted for a man of 6'6"," said
his coach and the school's athletic director, Dave
King. "It's a funny thing to say, but for a guy 360
pounds, he's really light on his feet."
Gamel is soft-spoken but pleased about his accom
plishments. "I don't think anyone from Batesville
has gotten all-state from the line in maybe four
years," he said.
Two defensive players from the team also got the
nod this year as all-state in their positions. The
team itself went to the state championships but
ended at third in its district.
In his spare time, he likes "to hang out with
friends, play video games," he said.
Older sister Candy initially called Smoke Signals
to advise us of her brother's success. "I just know
that a lot of kids at school really look up to Josh.
He's a big boy, and it's not just because he's my
brother, but he's really nice. He doesn't pick on
people, and if somebody is, he'll say, you don't need
to be doing that. I just think he's great," she said.
"He's got a big heart," said his coach. "He's very
popular with his teammates. A lot of guys take
advantage of their size, but he's a big, loveable kid
and others care a lot for him. Real personable."
Gamel has been playing football since 7th grade.
He has played right tackle and left guard, but moved
to the center position last year as a junior, and the
team has gone to the state playoffs in both of the
years since.
"He has to make a lot of line calls and does an
outstanding job," said King.
He throws the shot and discus for the track team
and used to play basketball just for fun, but now
"there's not enough time with football practice."
When he works out, he does bench press repeti
tions with 320-330 pounds. And a lot of his other
activities, as you might imagine, revolve around his
great strength and agility. He joined a team that
won a 70-yard truck push. He was part of a team
that won a "Tough Man" championship, a
weightlifting and agility event sponsored by the lo
cal White River Medical Center.
During a game against nearby Newport High
School this year, Gamel won a $500 scholarship as
"Outstanding Senior" of the game.
Gamel also is a serious student. He's looking for
ward to a 3.0 grade point average at semester's end.
In his future: "just to go to college. I hope to be
playing football somewhere." Specifically, he's seek
ing a football scholarship from his first choices, Ar
kansas Tech and Conway University.
The family is originally from Texas. "My mom
moved to Arkansas. My grandma (Tribal Elder
Shirley Snell) and aunt (Andrea Bickie) and my
aunt's kids (Christopher and Jennifer) moved to Or
egon McMinnville." he said, which encouraged
the Gamel's to make a trip to the Northwest.
Although he doesn't see the Northwest end of the
family much, (except that Snell recently moved back
to Arkansas), Candy said she calls them a couple
times a week, and both remember, as Josh said,
"We went up there two to three years ago. We went
to the restaurant and the casino and then drove
down to California to see Disneyland."
is a big prospect at 6'6" and 360 lbs., but according to
his family and coach, his heart is even bigger. Gamel has
his sights set on playing college football now that he has
finished his high school career.