Smoke Signals
12 AUGUST 1,2011
Martinez takes over as Tribe's Fonarace Officer
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Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Julio Martinez is the Tribe's new Finance Officer.
Veteran moves cross
country from south Florida
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signalt $laff writer
After 20 years in the Everglades
with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indi
ans of Florida, ending as chief of
staff and financial officer, Cuban
born Julio Martinez, 46, was look
ing for a change.
He said he wanted to use what
he had learned while with the Mic
cosukee in other places.
He started with the Miccosukee
right out of college, the year before
Indian gaming took off, and soared
with the once poor, 600-member
Tribe as it grew into a major en
terprise with $1 billion in annual
revenues.
The Miccosukee Tribe, located
just on the edge of the lucrative
Miami population center, offered
Martinez a front row seat among
Natives who live in "hammocks," or
tiny communities of thatched roof
huts, way out in the Everglades.
Hammocks is the Mikasuki word
for these small encampments, each
a family outpost.
These hard-to-reach hammocks
kept the Tribe alive and together
during the time of European en
croachment, he said.
When Martinez arrived at the
Miccosukee Reservation in 1989,
it was funded 90 percent by gov
ernment grants. Today, it is a very
wealthy Tribe funded 90 percent
by a casino and other enterprises
they run.
"I wanted to take what I'd learned
there to other places," Martinez
said.
The biggest of those: "I learned to
listen," he said.
"When I first started, I wanted
to talk, to tell what I knew, but
they are taught to listen. They
don't talk over one another. They
still speak Mikasuki and most also
speak English. They use a lot of
allegory. They communicate im
portant points using short stories.
Historically, that's how they teach
their children."
Since his arrival in Grand Ronde
in July, Martinez has been evaluat
ing Tribal portfolios and reported
to Tribal Council. "There is no
urgency to change anything. The
investments are well-structured
and well-documented."
"Diversification," he said, "is a
need for all Tribes that are going to
survive. Relying on a single source
of revenue is dangerous.
"I'm very happy to see that this
Tribe is actively pursuing this."
Martinez said he anticipates
working in partnership with the
Executive, Legal and Economic De
velopment offices in safeguarding
and building Tribal assets.
Gaming revenue, he said, has
enabled Tribes "to organize a true
government and fight for their
rights,"
Coming from a life near the ocean,
Martinez and his wife, Marcie,
found a place on the Oregon Coast,
near a golf course (he's a golfer)
and, of course, the ocean. Though
in Miami, the ocean is 80 degrees.
He said he is planning on playing
golf, but not on swimming in the
Oregon Pacific anytime soon.
On the other hand, working in the
Everglades, he said, a snake once
came through the porous wall of his
office, and other deadly Everglade
creatures also came knocking from
time to time, creatures he won't
have to worry about in his office
here.
He said he loves a lot of outdoor
activities, including fishing. Ore
gon's reputation for great outdoors
played a part in his decision to
move cross-country.
"I was warned about the rain, but
in south Florida, we have torren
tial rains. Maybe I've been spoiled
because since I arrived, there have
been a lot of beautiful days.
"I'm here to take what you have,
which is working, to protect it and
make sure your assets continue to
be invested properly."
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Photo by Ron Karten
Tribal member and Cultural Protection Coordinator EirikThorsgard
(center) answers questions as PGE cameraman Craig Cunningham (left) and
independent soundman Phil Gerke (right) record the session.
LAMPREY continued
from front page
The project was the first long
distance transmission of electricity
in the country, Gersh said, and it
drew industry to the site, much of
which has now moved on.
"It's a hidden gem," said Gersh,
"a secret. It's the second largest
waterfall in the country by volume,
behind Niagara Falls. It's a magi
cal, deeply powerful place."
"Holding on to traditions is really,
really difficult," Grand Ronde Cul
tural Protection Coordinator Eirik
Thorsgard told Lindsey Grayzel,
field producer for NarrativeLab
Communications, as the camera
rolled, "but through the annual
lamprey collection, the Tribe keeps
this tradition alive."
Especially these days, when the
numbers of lamprey and the num
ber of Indians who still eat lamprey,
have dwindled. The Tribe collects
lamprey each year to make it avail
able to the Tribal community. El
ders may find it difficult to collect
lamprey the way they used to and
Tribal youth may know little about
this part of their culture.
Thorsgard called the collecting
and preparation of lamprey an im
portant part of Tribal culture.
The catch was better this year
than last. The first look at a spot
at the foot of the Falls yielded only
a few, but Thorsgard found a cache
in a small pool he had sat down
by while waiting for the camera
crew.
"I saw something move, and I
reached in and pulled out five of
them," he said. Then he reached
back in for more.
"No matter how many we catch,"
said Tribal Fish and Wildlife Co
ordinator Kelly Dirksen during
his interview with NarrativeLab,
"they're always all gone in the
first half-hour (of the giveaway to
the community). There's a huge
demand, but if you've ever eaten it,
you might wonder why."
He described the taste of lamprey
as a cross between "burnt tire and
fish."
"My grandfather called them
'slave food,' " said Thorsgard,
"which is ironic because he ate
them himself."
The interviews covered Thors
gard's and Dirksen's early experi
ences with lamprey. They included
public disinterest in preserving the
lamprey runs, ("They suffer from bad
p.r.," said Dirksen) and some of the
reasons that the public should care.
Beyond their cultural importance
and ancient origins, Dirksen said, if
other predators don't have lamprey
to eat, they'll probably be dining on
fish that humans do like to eat.
Tribal member and Natural Re
sources staff member Torey Wake
land was thrilled, as he always is,
by the experience. He has been
participating for years, he said.
"I really enjoyed it. It's fun and
it's exciting. I always like it. It's
something I look forward to every
year."
The interviews also touched on
some concrete cultural history. An
"eel man" petroglyph still is visible,
when the water level is low, on one
of the rocks seen as the boat ap
proaches the Falls.
Back in the day, said Thorsgard,
"When the water went down, the
eel man showed up and our ances
tors knew it was time to fish for
lamprey."
The history "is alive" in Thors
gard, Gersh said.
While the mostly deserted mills
and factories across the river from
the Falls detract from the cultural
scene, Dirksen said, once you're
under the Falls everything else
disappears and the feel of the his
tory and culture return.
There will be two versions of the
video, due for completion in the
first quarter of 2012, Gersh said.
One will be a 10-minute, You Tube
piece, and the second, for distribu
tion to community groups, schools
and others, will be 30 minutes
long.
"At Willamette Falls," Gersh
said, "we can reach back deeply
into Oregon's history. The Falls is
a touchstone for who we are, where
we come from and perhaps where
we're headed.
"People who know the Falls are
passionate about it."
"Stay tuned," he added. "We'd
love to do a screening in Grand
Ronde." D