6 NOVEMBER 1, 2005
Smoke Signals
Governor Walks Out On Tribes;
Tribes Walk Out On. The Summit
SUMMIT continued
from front page
"I would imagine that it would have
been appropriate for the governor to stay
through the entire presentation," said
Umatilla Tribal member and Executive
Director Don Sampson, whose Tribe
stayed when others left. "I understand
he's busy but so are all of these folks."
"We have students here," said
Sampson. They had come all the way
from Pendleton for the meeting.
"(They) want to share their successes
with other Tribes."
The Grand Rondes' decision was
made, said Blackwell, "in conference
with our executives who were present
and with several other Tribes."
Asked what the move might mean
for state-Grand Ronde relations,
Blackwell said,
"I hope that it
means the Gov
ernor will take
us seriously in
the future, and
recognize that
means government-to-government."
"The Gover
nor was there
for the majority
of the day,"
said Anna
Richter Taylor,
his spokes
woman, "and
he believes it
was a great op
portunity to ex
change information, to
Chairman Ron Suppah had left early,
also because the governor had left.
"With the governor leaving," said
Sahme, "it was a statement in and of
itself. We certainly recognize on one
hand that Tribal Chairmen and the
governor are very busy people, but the
seriousness of the relationship and
policy should be on the forefront of
everyone's agenda."
The format of the event, new this
year, was as troubling to Tribal lead
ers as the fact that the governor left
early. A leadership panel consisting of
the Governor and Tribal Leaders lis
tened to reports from each of six "clus
ter" groups that included staffers from
both Tribal and State agencies, and
then asked questions, but with this be
ing the one time each year when Tribal
leaders sit face to face with the Gover-
ernor and Tribal leaders, but none
from the audience. The speaker setup
in any case made it very hard for
most in the audience to hear the give
and take, though when keynote
speakers presented, the amplification
system worked fine.
At one point, the Governor said that
the Education cluster was focusing too
much on two- and four-year college
programs and not enough on trade pro
grams that also prepare the young for
family wage jobs.
The Economic Development cluster
described the $1 billion impact that
Tribal casinos have on the state
economy, a subject taken up again later
by Keynote Speaker Wilma Mankiller.
In Oklahoma, where Mankiller calls
home and where she long served as Prin
cipal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, the
stories are abundant. Education suc
cesses cited by the Grand Rondes in
clude Indians in Oregon Today, a
middle- and high school-level book that
has been accepted into the statewide
curriculum. A revised statewide In
dian Education Plan has been endorsed
by Schools Superintendent Susan
Castillo, who was scheduled but re
portedly broke her foot the day before.
A new law adds Tribal libraries to the
types of libraries eligible for grants
from the State Library.
In addition to the statewide meeting,
many Tribes, including the Grand
Rondes, meet separately with staffers
from the state agencies.
"My key issue," said Grand Ronde
Tribal Engineer Eric Scott, "is I
wanted the state agencies to accept
natural resource mitigation on Tribal
Trust property,
-j . I Hi U
it r
if'y; v
:1
Top Ten (L to R) Warm Springs Tribal Chairman Ron Suppah, Klamath Tribal Chairman Allen Foreman, Coquille Tribal
Chairman Ed Metcalf , Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Tribal Chairman Ron Brainard, Umatilla Tribal Chairman Antone
Mmmorn,BurrisPaiuteTribalQiairmanDeanAd
Tribal Chairwoman Sue Schaffer, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and Grand Ronde Tribal Vice-Chair Angie Blackwell.
maintain rela
tionships and establish new relation
ships between the state and the nine
Tribes."
The Tribes didn't know it but, at the
same time that the Governor left his
agency heads and members of his per
sonal staff behind, he had already
planned to be elsewhere in the afternoon.
The Governor left before lunch for a
meeting with Wilma Mankiller, the
University of Oregon's Wayne Morse
Chair for 2005-06 (See Smoke Signals,
101505 issue), said Taylor, the
governor's spokeswoman, followed by
"a meeting with the Attorney General
on a legal issue, and then he had an
other speaking engagement at the
Portland Art Museum about the im
portance of preserving of Oregon cul
ture and history."
"It would have been nice if he had
stayed for the whole meeting," said
Wanda Johnson, Vice Chair of the
Burns Paiute Tribe which stayed
through the day. Burns Paiute Tribal
representatives were off in a side meet
ing that stretched to 2:30 that after
noon, said Johnson, and did not even
know that others had left.
"When I did come back, I was aware
of a lot of empty seats," she said.
When Warm Springs Director of
Enterprise Development for the Tribe's
Business and Economic Development
division Sal Sahme left at 2:30, he said
that only about 20 people remained in
the hall. While some Warm Springs
Staffers had stayed, .Warm Springs,-
nor, many were hoping for a more di
rect give and take.
"You can't possibly get down to the
meat and potatoes at these meetings,"
said the Umatillas' Sampson. The
Umatillas have been meeting monthly
with the governor's staff in recent
years, and bi-monthly in the last ten
months, he said.
"We call in department heads where
we need to. That's our most effective
means to get ahead of problems," he said.
But some Tribal leaders thought
more could be made of this opportunity.
"It would be nice if he set aside some
time for (face-to-face meetings with)
the Tribes," said Burns Paiute Vice
Chair Wanda Johnson.
"I always feel that the Tribal story
should be told first," said Sue Shaffer,
Chairwoman of the Cow Creek Band
of Umpqua Indians. "Addressing In
dian issues is the purpose of these sum
mits. If Tribal leaders spoke first, then
(state) agency heads could respond to
the problems raised."
"I don't think there should be fin
ger pointing from either side," said
Warm Springs' Sahme, "but we
should work on a way of creating an
environment where there's serious
dialogue going on, and some incentive
for both the Governor and the Tribal
Chairs to stay throughout the meet
ings. You need to structure it in a
way that facilitates that."
The format allowed questions from
JO. permanent panel including the gov.'-,
Tribe put together 15- and 30-second tele
vision advertisements with the theme:
common valuescommon ground, to keep
the public advised about Tribal contri
butions to the state economy.
"There's a misperception that Na
tives don't pay taxes," she said. "And
public perception has a direct impact
on public policy."
Tribes get very busy counteract
ing court decisions and legislation
that work against Tribal interests,
she said, but they should also con
sider counteracting negative public
perceptions.
One area of common ground resulted
in a program to cross deputize Native
and Oklahoma police officers. With
complex and confusingjurisdictions in
the state, a lot of time was wasted when
crimes were committed just trying to
figure out in whose jurisdiction the
crime took place.
"One of my fondest memories (of that
effort)," she said, "was seeing a red
necked sheriff swearing allegiance to
the Cherokee Nation."
The Tribe also forged a cooperative
agreement with the state's motor ve
hicle department to provide separate
license plates for Tribal members. The
state uses license plate funding for
public schools, and the Cherokees have
been able to improve funding for pub
lic schools with significant Cherokee
populations under this plan.
Tribal issues with the state are wide
ranging, and in many areas, success
in some cases
where they don't
have jurisdic
tion." The state
agreed during
sessions held the
day before to con
sider it under an
a promise to
"promote"
partnering op
portunities in
stead of just
"explore" oppor
tunities, said
Scott.
Such is the
special language
of bureaucra
cies, the place
where much of
the important
work gets done,
no matter how
incremental and
whatever else public speeches endorse.
For Grand Ronde Tribal member and
Indian Child Welfare Unit Supervisor
Dana Ainam, the state-Tribal partner
ships have produced "good progress in
child welfare agreements." The Tribal
department is now able to access Title
IV-E federal funding because of this re
lationship. The department also has
access to state databases as a result.
On public safety issues, however, she
said, "we struggle."
Also outstanding as a continuing is
sue for the Tribes is that "the state has
decided to put Tribal members at risk
in terms of fish quality," said the
Umatillas' Sampson. "Their policies
are allowing Natives to be at much
greater risk (because of the Department
of Environmental Quality's water qual
ity standards). We are disposable and
that's acceptable to them."
Early in the conference, Secretary of
State Bradbury said, "We share the
sacred space. We share a respect for our
surroundings. We share a commitment
to improving the lives of all Orego
nians. We're here to learn how we can
better cooperate and collaborate."
"Let's build on the success that
we've got," said Warm Springs Sahme.
"Let's try to create an incentive for
everybody to stay to the end. Other
wise, we fall short of what we're all
trying to achieve.
By the time the Grand Rondes and
others had left, the sun was out and it
was looking like a beautiful day.