4 OCTOBER 15, 2007
Smoke Signals
Hatfield Fellow dazzles Congress with taOents
U.S. Rep. David Wu's office woos Dennis Worden to accept full-time legislative assistant position
By Angie Sears
Smoke Signals staff writer
Dennis Worden, a Coeur d'
Alene Tribe member, has been
so impressive that he has turned
a temporary assignment be
ing the 2006-07 Hatfield Fellow
in Oregon Congressman David
Wu's office into a full-time
job in Washington, D.C.
"I felt very fortunate to re
ceive the fellowship," Worden
said. "I was in a position of al
ready being in an office and had
an opportunity to stay. I think
that being in the fellowship and
having established a relation
ship with the office definitely
helped me."
The 23-year-old Fellow now is
a full-time legislative assistant
for Wu.
Kris Pratt, Wu's legislative
director, said that her experi
ences working with Worden
were incredibly positive.
Pratt said Worden has gained
more responsibilities as a per
manent staffer, but she is not
sure that her expectations of
him have changed due to the
high quality of work he has al
ways delivered as a Fellow.
"Dennis has an incredible
ability to learn and obtain infor
mation like legislative process
and procedure, which can be
really arcane," Pratt said.
"Lots of folks don't learn it
while they're up here; they
just kind of skim by, but he
wants to know, and knows
everything. He is really is an
amazing guy.
"In Congress he's been very
good with creating ideas that
help Oregon and Tribes back
home as well. He's a really
good generator of great ideas.
And many of his ideas have
passed; they're now in bills
and things like that."
Wu represents Oregon's
First Congressional District,
which includes territory from
Portland to the Oregon coast.
Worden is the eighth Fel
low to complete the program.
He focused on Indian affairs,
agriculture, telecommunica
tions and foreign affairs.
Worden said one of the high
lights of his fellowship experi
ence on Capitol Hill was helping
to draft a resolution acknowl
edging the 50th anniversary
of the flooding of Celilo Falls
on the Columbia River.
Worden said he was par
ticularly proud because he drafted
the resolution's language and Wu's
floor statement. The resolution
passed the House of Representa
tives by a voice vote.
The Mark O. Hatfield Fellow
ship, established by the Confed
erated Tribes of Grand Ronde
and Spirit Mountain Community
Fund, is a tribute to Hatfield for
his accomplishments as Oregon's
governor and U.S. senator.
The purpose of the fellowship is
threefold: To provide opportunities
for growth and development for
young Native Americans who wish
to learn about the political system
at a federal level in Washington,
D.C; to provide a congressional
A
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Photo courtesy of Dennis Worden
Dennis Worden
liaison for Oregon Tribes who can
produce long-term benefits for
Native Americans and the Pacific
Northwest, while seeding Indian
Country with knowledgeable and
capable Native Americans; and
to provide members of Congress
with an opportunity to better un
derstand the culture, heritage and
needs of Native people.
"Dennis Worden is a shining ex
ample of how the Hatfield Fellowship
can work to benefit Indian Country
as well as the federal government,"
said Shelley Hanson, director of
Spirit Mountain Community Fund.
"After serving nine months in
the program, working in Con
gressman Wu's office, Dennis was
a valuable asset.
"He was continually ap
proached with job opportuni
ties, but the one he selected was
to stay working with Congress
man Wu and his staff.
'This is a strong testament to
Dennis' skills and abilities, and
is an excellent reflection of how
the fellowship is an entree to an
excellent opportunity."
Worden received support
from Spirit Mountain Commu
nity Fund staff, as well as the
Grand Ronde Tribal Council
and members of his family
during the fellowship. He said
he was thankful to those who
supported him through a try
ing but rewarding experience,
and would like to offer future
Fellows advice.
"Working hard while in the
fellowship is very important
because you are represent
ing yourself, but you are also
representing Spirit Mountain
Community Fund and Tribes of
Oregon in general," he said.
"You have a lot to achieve
and there is a certain level of
performance you should work
for. So I think working hard is
number one. Be willing to listen
to people, learn from people
and watch other people because
there's a lot to learn.
"Even after transitioning to
a staff position, I still have a lot
to learn about the process; there
are people I still meet and things
I still need to learn about
"Never feel that sitting down
and learning from someone is
beyond you." D
EiifpamiSDoirD Dmccfeases Casaimo PaDrkoirog
CASINO continued
from front page
In response to a Tribal member's
question, Rhode said that even
though the new Playworld is in
a separate building, parents in
the casino can still check on their
children by going to a security
station and viewing their children
via closed-circuit TV. Having
Playworld in a separate building
also moves children away from the
gambling environment and ciga
rette smoke, and it is guarded 24
hours a day by a security guard,
he said.
Rhode said that the southern
expansion will increase the casino's
parking by 700 spaces to 3,600. He
also said that the expansion will not
substantially increase casino employ
ment because people will be "chang
ing hats" and moving around.
Currently, Rhode said, the casino
employs 129 Tribal members and
40 percent 52 are in profes
sional or leadership positions.
After the southern expansion
is complete, Rhode said casino
management will look at moving
the arcade to the events center to
create a youth activity area, turn
ing the old buffet site into gaming
and remodeling the gift shops. Still
undetermined, he added, is what
to do with the current Legends
restaurant site.
The main contractor on the south
ern expansion is S.D. Deacon of
Portland.
Tribal Finance Officer Larry Ko
vach also gave a presentation on the
Tribal Endowment and Tribal Re
serve. Since it also dealt with finan
cial matters, the presentation was
held in executive session and cannot
be reported in Smoke Signals.
Kovach said the presentation's
slides will appear in the Tribal
Council's November edition of Til
lixam Wawa.
Door prizes winners were Jody
McCue, Buddy White and Jim
Bigoni, $50; and Gloria Engelson,
$100. Elders' Committee raffle win
ners were Denise Harvey, Cookie
Jensen, Ruby Bigoni, Reyn Leno,
Carinna Kistler-Ginter, Engelson
and Barbara Feehan.
The next General Council meet
ing will be held 11 a.m. Sunday,
Nov. 4, in the Tribal Community
Center in Grand Ronde. B
0 Q Q P
Q O
Spirit Mountain Casino Facilities Director Ron Reibach, left, gives
of the Polk County Sheriff's Office a tour of the new events center,
still under construction.
Photo by Toby McClary
members
which is