S moke S ignals
MARCH 15, 2019
9
‘The United States has not lived up to this obligation’
FUNDING continued
from front page
2016 and 2018, respectively, on the
same issue.
“The Confederated Tribes of
Grand Ronde has suffered severe
injustices,” Kennedy said in her
five-minute oral testimony before
the subcommittee. “Back in the
treaty-making era in the 1850s,
the government approached us
and entered into seven treaties.
We have seven ratified treaties. We
are a strong people. We occupied
the area of western Oregon, a vast
land area. … I wanted you to know
that through that treaty-making
era, in exchange for our lands we
pre-paid for certain things through
those treaty obligations. And those
were to have a homeland; they
were to have health, education.
We were to have a place where we
could live and raise our families.
A place where we could remain
self-sufficient.”
Kennedy outlined the issue that
Terminated Tribes, like Grand
Ronde, Siletz, Coquille and Cow
Creek in Oregon, face after being
Terminated and then Restored.
Those Termination years denied
the Tribes benefits allocated to
other Tribes through federal fund-
ing, such as BIA monies for police
services.
“Due to the unavailability of
recurring public safety funding,
Grand Ronde and other restored
Tribes must apply for grants, pri-
marily those from the Department
of Justice,” she said in her writ-
ten testimony. “These funds have
helped, but they are not available
every year nor are they sufficient.
Grants pit Tribes against each
In 2011, the Tribe started its own police
department and a year later assumed
primary responsibility for
enforcing criminal law on Tribal lands.
other for limited funding and come
with restrictions that condition how
funds can be used.”
Kennedy said Terminated Tribes
face special circumstances, espe-
cially Tribes in Public Law 280
states, such as Oregon, where the
state was given the authority to
prosecute crimes in Indian Coun-
try. However, because of “slow
response” by police to incidents on
the Grand Ronde Reservation, the
Tribe entered into an enhanced ser-
vices agreement with Polk County
in 1997. Under the agreement, the
Tribe through Spirit Mountain
Community Fund allocated more
than $6 million for increased police
coverage by the Sheriff’s Office in
the area between 1997 and 2014.
In 2011, the Tribe started its own
police department and a year later
assumed primary responsibility for
enforcing criminal law on Tribal
lands. In addition, passage of Sen-
ate Bill 412 granted Tribal police
officers the ability to enforce Ore-
gon state law, which means Tribal
police are now supplementing
county and state law enforcement
efforts instead of vice versa.
Currently, Grand Ronde’s annual
police department budget is $1.1
million with the Tribe supplying
more than 70 percent of the cost.
“Relying on grants, however, is
not a viable long-term strategy for
the Tribe,” Kennedy said in her pre-
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pared testimony. “Grants are not
always available for the equipment
and personnel the Tribe needs and,
when available, provide funding for
no more than a few years.”
Kennedy said that adequate
Tribal police funding also would
be one of the most effective ways of
preventing violence against Native
women.
“Our Tribal police are sensitive
to our culture and ways of living,”
she said. “As such, they are easily
approached by residents who know
of situations that may soon lead to
violence.”
Kennedy also cited the other
Terminated and Restored Tribes in
Oregon. She said the Coquille Indi-
an Tribe spends $700,000 annually
on its police department, which has
four sworn offices. Sixty-six percent
of the Coquille’s calls are for cases
not on Tribal lands.
In addition, the Cow Creek Band
of Umpqua Indians contract with
Douglas County for 2.5 officers and
the Siletz Indians could use Bureau
of Indian Affairs funding to assist
in providing adequate public safety.
The BIA does not recognize a fed-
eral responsibility to fund Tribes in
Public Law 280 states.
“The United States has not lived
up to this obligation,” Kennedy
said. “The funding available for
Tribal police and courts is grossly
inadequate, spread across multi-
ple federal agencies with different
requirements, and primarily dis-
tributed through short-term com-
petitive grants that cannot be used
to fund basic operations.”
In closing, Kennedy said a “ro-
bust” Tribal police force is critical
to the health of Reservation com-
munities.
“Tribal police forces are terribly
underfunded and Tribes nation-
wide are suffering from staggering
violent crime and victimization
rates,” she said. “PL 280 Tribes
and those facing the challenges of
Termination and Restoration are
disproportionately impacted by this
underfunding. As Congress deter-
mines how to best allocate funds,
Grand Ronde asks that increased
and targeted funding for these
Tribes be given a high priority.”
Kennedy also touched on two oth-
er funding issues in her submitted
and oral testimony – more funding
for the Indian Health Service to
improve health care for Native
Americans and for the Army Corps
of Engineers to improve habitat for
winter steelhead.
Ranking Republican Rep. David
Joyce of Ohio thanked Kennedy
for pointing out that the General
Accounting Office found that the In-
dian Health Service spends $4,078
per patient while Medicaid spends
more than $8,000 per beneficiary
and Medicare spends more than
$13,000 per person annually.
Other Tribal leaders who testified
along with Kennedy included Puy-
allup Vice Chairman David Bean
and National Congress of American
Indians President Jefferson Keel.
Kennedy was joined by Tribal
Council Secretary Jon A. George,
Tribal Council Chief of Staff Stacia
Hernandez and Tribal Attorney
Rob Greene on her trip to testify.
Before testifying, they visited
with several members of the Or-
egon congressional delegation,
including Sen. Ron Wyden and
Reps. Kurt Schrader and Suzanne
Bonamici. 