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CouncilCORNER>
MosesUpdate
By Harvey Moses, Jr.
Greetings:
This past month has been a busy one with the mining hearings and
finally the vote; the drug busts, (2) totaling approximately $2
million; the 181D money payment and the certification of both
the mine vote and candidates for this year’s election which
total 18 candidates, not including the incumbents. This is quite
a field. Keep in mind that you can only vote for one per
position number and once by poll vote or absentee; please vote.
I was talking with an individual about voting and the
possibilities if “we” all voted in every election. We could
control Okanogan and Ferry Counties; we could get qualified
tribal members elected into the State House or Senate; we would
have more control of the federal legislatures. In the end, we
would have more control of our fate as a sovereign. There are no
strings attached to your vote. It is your right given to each of
you by your forefathers.
I am glad that the Mining issue is settled and the “no” vote
prevailed. I voted “no” and will continue to do so at every
opportunity. I believe mining would have been our downfall as a
people and a Tribe. It would have destroyed our environment, our
culture and traditions. I believe there was no thought of such
things as the influx of people on the reservation, of all
nationalities, causing all sorts of problems with our
infrastructure, e.g., court system, police services and
emergency services to name a few.
There are other ways that we could increase the revenues and
jobs for our Tribal membership. The power producing area is
opening up to Indian County. There is potential for bio-fuel
production on the reservation. This could improve your
livelihood if you are faring or have land that could be
irrigated. Electrical power production is a real possibility.
Electrical power production possibilities exist from small dams,
the power plant at CIPV, possible wind energy and using the
slash from logging on the reservation. The power arena will
create good long term jobs for our membership and reduce the
cost of heating our homes without destroying our eco-system. We
here in the Nespelem area have 2 of the largest energy producers
in the US and are paying among the highest for electrical power
usage. This has been going on for over 60 years without any
attempt by the Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative to lessen
the financial pain this has caused the membership except to
blame the price of our high electrical power on salmon.
Here are some more possibilities for earning some income and
creating jobs. I always thought the housing construction area
was always a viable industry for the reservation. The reasons I
think it would be a good enterprise is because of our 2
sawmills. One makes dimension lumber and the other makes
plywood. There are no great costs for shipping to speak of. We
have enrolled members who have been trained as carpenters,
electricians, plumbers, etc. that could be employed for a long
time considering the housing shortage across the reservation and
perhaps other reservations and non-reservation communities.
There are opportunities out there that would allow large
companies to set up plants on the reservation for little to
nothing because of tax breaks they would get and other depressed
area incentives which could provide good jobs that pay livable
wages to our members. All we need to do is look for these
opportunities and proposals.
A number of other council members and myself are involved in
“Trust Reform” and we are prevailing. The Affiliated Tribes of
Northwest Indians has joined forces with the Southern and
Eastern Tribal Organization and NCAI in rewriting the McCain
bill to settle the Cobell case and take care of the government’s
creation of another bureaucracy to control us Indians. They are
trying to abrogate the U.S. Government’s trust responsibilities
to Indian Nations.
In another arena, we are still awaiting word from a 3-judge
panel on the Wenatchi fishing issue as to a court date. The suit
is still proceeding for cleanup of the Columbia River. We are
talking with the state on Columbia River water issues and on
jurisdiction on the Columbia River where it borders our
reservation.
Another ongoing problem facing the Tribes and its membership via
our children is problems with local school districts. The school
boards, administrators and teachers appear to be totally
ignorant of the problems our “Indian students” are having at all
levels, from the administration, down through teachers. I’ve
been told time and again that our children are troublemakers. I
say no. It’s not a troublemaker who wants to be treated like the
non-Indian children are treated. It’s their right. They are
called troublemakers when the teachers don’t teach. They are not
troublemakers when the school doesn’t follow the student’s
Individual Education Plan and the student fails.
I will close with that. As with every letter, I ask that each of
you take time to exercise your right to vote and do so. By this
act we can do many things such as get the federal responsibility
back to where it is supposed to be; we could get CTEC headed in
the right direction; we could get IHS headed in the right
direction.
Harvey Moses, Jr.
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HutchinsonUpdate
By
Margie Hutchinson
Spring
Greetings:
This past month has been busy, but exciting and productive
work. On March 28, Brian Gunn, and I attended the Senate
Committee on Indian Affairs hearing on Trust Reform. This
hearing is important to the Colville Tribe, because of title
II and VI, of the bill to eliminate the Office of Special
Trustee, and other concerns we have. On this same day, we met
with Pete Modaff, Legislative aid to Representative, Norm
Dicks. This meeting was to seek their support for the
restoration of $630,000 for Lake Roosevelt, and to update them
on the Colville Tribe’s work on Trust Reform. Then on
Wednesday, we met to review my testimony. We met with
Representative, Cathy McMorris, to let her know how important
the Trust Reform legislation was to the tribe. In addition,
informed her about the Float Planes, and the drug smuggling
from Canada. We also met with Jean Bumpus, the top Republican
staff person for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and
her boss is Senator John McCain. We provided a full account of
the drug activities happening on the reservation, with the
floatplanes, and drugs. We asked for homeland security funding
to go directly to the Tribe, and not pass through the State,
or at least earmarked for tribes. Thursday, we met with
Representative, Jay Inslee; I was very impressed, because he
came out of a hearing to meet with us. We very briefly
educated him on the tribe’s interest on the settlement of the
Cobell litigation. Then, finally, that afternoon I got my
chance to testify. The Chairman, asked me to represent him in
Washington, D.C, to testify before the House Interior
Appropriations Subcommittee, on March 30. My testimony was for
the restoration of Lake Roosevelt Management and Enforcement
Funds, and direct access to Homeland Security Funding, and
Border Security. I would like to thank Brian Gunn for the
wonderful work he does for his tribe, and for the contacts he
maintains in D.C. We met with his friend David Mullon, who
works for Senator McCain, a very powerful staff person, on the
Cobell hearing, and what it meant, and this was not even a
scheduled meeting, so contacts are so very important.
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