HutchinsonUpdate
By Margie Hutchinson
Dear Tribal Members:
The anti-Indian agenda these past few years has been to question
the rights of Tribal Members at every opportunity they get.
Instead of being the victims of mismanagement of our tribal
assets by the government, we are being pitted against one
another. The Government blames the Cobell litigation for our
short fall in Federal Funding. They have nearly extinguished the
BIA and it is funding, just so they could create a new
organization of Office of Special Trustee. We have been at the
table each step of the way, but this administration ignores
tribal input. Now with the Jack Abramoff, lobbying scandal, the
anti-Indian agenda is to disallow Tribes the opportunity to fund
those senators and representatives who understand our laws.
Folks you really need to stay alert, because termination has
raised its ugly head by the Anti-Indian proponents. These people
want to take away our rights and treat us like every other
citizen, so this is a very hard fight. Some profound questions
for each of us to answer are, what obligations we have as
members, how can we each help protect our land base.
I cannot help but respond to former councilman Richard Swan’s
comments in the last tribal tribune. First, each councilperson
had the opportunity to be a part of the Wells Dam Negotiations
Team. I choose to be a part of the team, and my main objective
was to get a settlement that has been long over due the Colville
Tribe. I knew going into the negotiations that there would be
difficult decisions to make, and with the team of experts we
had, I felt comfortable. I do not know why Mr. Swan choose not
to be a part, only he can answer that. This case has been on the
back burner since 1967, and with some urging from Mark
McDougall, we made Wells a high priority. We could have left $40
million dollars on the table by, litigating for another ten
years, and ending up with nothing. Oh, and by the way we also
received some excellent partials of property, in addition to the
money. I would never call the Youth and Elder Programs failures,
or the Land purchase program, or improving the Casino
facilities, this is where the money is going. We have already
created an Energy Program to seize more opportunities for the
Tribe.
On January 27, we had another Border Crossing meeting in Osooyos,
BC.
Excellent presentations were given on what to expect when
crossing into Canada, or into the U.S., discussions were very
positive, and the questions and answers were extremely helpful.
Some very encouraging Memorandums of Agreements, signed between
the Canadian officials, and the Kinbasket Tribal Council,
addresses several of the border crossing obstacles. The purpose
of the agreements were put in place to improve communications,
cultural training for border officials, and Issue and Problem
resolution. My special interest in this issue is because we have
relations on both sides, and perhaps some day we can open the
borders to Tribal Nation to Tribal Nation trading.
Then on February 3, we attended the Colville Tribal Enterprise
Cooperation, Board of Directors meeting in Spokane. They had
general briefings by Key Executive staff, Operations
presentations by Construction, Wood Products, Gaming, and
Support Staff. The previous Manager and his assistant in a
shameful fiscal deficit vacated the Construction Department. Now
in an effort to salvage the company, the tribe hired our tribal
member Ken Hopkins. The next day we held a retreat with the CBC,
and CTEC Board. Some very productive dialogue took place, and I
believe we are beginning the change to improve communications.
Everyone gave a summation of his or her expectations, and goals
for the Enterprises.
The National Center for American Indian Development held their
20th annual Business Trade Summit February 7 thru 9 in Las
Vegas. The national gathering attracts American Indian
entrepreneurs, government representatives, and diversity
representatives from Corporate America, all with an interest in
networking with American Indian suppliers and contractors. We
gleaned some very beneficial information on Information and
Communications technology, Department of Energy, and Government
guarantee programs.
Finally, we attended The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
meeting in Portland, on February 15. The Trust Reform panel gave
an update on Cobell litigation. The government wants to take
more of our funding to pay for the Cobell lawyers, because of
the order they received from the court. This is just criminal,
because they have a judgment fund that pays for these sorts of
orders. We are ready to provide testimony in Washington D.C. the
end of March on this very issue.
We can all begin to fight for our rights by registering to Vote
for the National elections in 2006.
Thank you,
Margie Condon Hutchinson
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MosesUPDATE
By
Harvey Moses, Jr.
Greetings:
Well, the 2006 campaign season is upon us again. This year and
every year since we became a government we are facing major
federal and state funding mandates that do not favor Indian
Tribes or our status as a sovereign nation. Things seem to be
getting worse because of the current administration whose only
agenda items are homeland security and the war. They are
attempts to put more controls on our gamin industry. The
Department of the Interior (DOI) is trying to abrogate its
trust responsibility to Indian Country via the Office of
Special Trust (OST). We have major funding problems with the
Indian Health Service; it has cut services to the needed and
infirmed to support the rich and the war. We have been on
priority one status for over 2 years now. There seems to be no
attempts with the present administration to look for
alternative or even make suggestions to this situation. We
have the state governments trying to pull funding from our
programs in order to keep their own programs funded. At our
own level we have an enterprise corporation at the edge.
A positive move by the current CBC was to appoint 4 new board
members to the CTEC BOD. In a couple of meetings with the new
board, the message from the CBC was loud and clear that the
honeymoon period is over we, they have a short time to
demonstrate that things can be turned around. That they need
to think of other income for us; both timber and gaming are
too volatile a market.
I traveled to Spokane to take part in a “5 party” management
agreement dealing with Lake Roosevelt. The participants
consist of the CCT, the Spokane Tribe, the National Park
Service and the Bureau of Reclamation. We decided on what and
how things will be dealt with on or near the lake from the
Canadian Border to the Grand Coulee Dam. The Park Service
seems to be the thrust behind the meetings; they are learning
of the sovereignty of the 2 Tribes involved. The USBR shows up
and doesn’t say much . It was an interesting meeting.
I recently attended an Education meeting with the Governor. A
number of Tribes including the Colvilles met with her about
the WASL testing requirements within the State. We didn’t get
very far; she stated that alternatives are going to be brought
forward in the near future. We asked that the Tribes be
included in any alternative education matters from the onset
as opposed to the current practice of talking with the Tribes
after the fact.
The current hot topic for the Tribes is mining. At this point
in time, the CBC is not in favor of Mining Mt. Tolman. The
subject was brought up because of funding problems that Tribes
is experiencing over the years. The CBC did not hire Don
Aubertin, the BIA did. The CBC did not give Mr. Aubertin $100K
to get support for mining Mt. Tolman. A number of education
meetings will take place this month, starting with District
meetings on February 21, February 22, February 23 and February
24, in Keller, Inchelium, Nespelem and Omak, all starting at 6
p.m. On February 27, we’ll be in Auburn; on February 28, we’ll
be in Yakima and on March 1, we’ll be in Spokane; all meetings
will again start at 6 p.m. These meetings will present both
sides of the mining issue.
There are some budget actions taking place within tribal
government that Tribal Administration is doing. These actions
are a result of the 6% reduction placed on Administration. We
can only sit and await the final results of these actions.
I’ll end here, but as with every report, I ask that each of
you seriously consider what is happening to not only us (CCT),
what is happening to the entire country. If we do not make
changes in the next coming election, we’ll be broke as a
country. We are in-hock to China; South American countries are
threatening to stop selling us oil.
Please vote, at every level of government.
Harvey Moses, Jr.
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Indian
COUNTRY
By Michael E. Marchand
Joint Hearing on Cobell Case:
Last week, the House of Representatives and the Senate held a
hearing in Washington DC on the Cobell case, which is the
lawsuit of the Individual Indian Money accountholders versus
the United States. The US has lost track of billions of
dollars, it has lost track of many accountholders, and has
admitted to loss and destruction of many of the IIM records.
The case has been in court for about a decade. As you might
imagine, the case has many issues and they are hotly
contested.
In 1994, the US passed a law stating that Indians have a right
to an accounting over their assets being held in trust by the
United States. These would seem to be fairly straightforward,
but it is not. Millions and millions of dollars have already
been spent in this litigation and there is nothing being
resolved and there is no agreement in sight.
The United States has been diverting dollars that are supposed
to be going into Indian services and programs and is instead
utilizing them to hire more attorneys and experts to fight the
very Indians that they are supposed to be serving. Though this
seems insane, it is in’fact happening right now. After
mismanaging and most likely stealing Indian money, the
government, or some parts of the government, are trying to
retaliate against the Indians instead of trying to make things
right.
Northwest tribes have taken the leadership in trying to bring
parties to a settlement. Senator McCain and Congressman Pombo
have introduced bills to try and settle the case
legislatively. Hearings were held last week. The first panel
consisted of settlement experts. Holocaust survivors reached a
settlement several years ago and one of the experts said this
situation was comparable. So many records are missing, that it
is virtually impossible to come up with any kind of accurate
number.
The President of ATNI was unable to go to DC, so I testified
for northwest tribes, along with the National Congress of
American Indians.
This next couple of months could be very critical in seeing
whether this settlement takes place. If there is no
settlement, the court battle could easily drag on for another
five or ten years in my opinion, and it will continue to drag
scarce dollars out of Indian programs and services.
Meeting with Department of Energy:
As a Board member of the Council of Energy Resource Tribes, I
was invited to a special meeting with the heads of the
Department of Energy at their headquarters in DC. Assistant
Secretary Garmin met with about four tribal representatives.
We are trying our best to get the new energy bill implemented.
The legislative process can be pretty slow, this bill has
taken years of work already. We have got the bill through the
Congress, but now we are trying to get the Administation to
implement its provisions.
Energy is big business for our tribe already, we get major
revenues from Wells Dam and from Grand Coulee Dam, and we are
looking at more projects in the future, particularly in future
energy production.
However, the Presidential priority at the moment is the war on
terrorism. This is swallowing up the lions share of the
federal budget.
We now have to convince the people in DC that supporting these
energy programs are good for the country. If we are
successful, the bill will have dollars for assessing energy
projects and for financing projects if they look feasible.
There is a big federal push to get less dependant on far east
oil. Renewable energy in solar, wind, biomass, and also coal
and gas expansion are being looked at very seriously right
now.
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DeLaCruzUPDATE
By
Gail M. DeLaCruz
An update on the budget for fiscal year
2006: From my last report there was a shortfall of
approximately 6.8 million, then as staff updated was over 9
million shortfall. After the budget retreat and two management
and budget meetings Council and staff have identified
additional revenues, transferred Tribal funded programs to be
funded by federal and State funds, and implemented a 6% cut on
Tribal programs, leaving a shortfall of $1,051,575.
Also directed administration to evaluate usage of cell phones,
vehicles, salary increases, and programs once funded by other
resources, and still working on other areas to cut (will
update when finalized).
As for federal funding, received a report that the federal
government is taking all carry over dollars and cutting
programs (Tribal and BIA) 5% across the board for fiscal year
2006, due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, only to have that
decision reversed due to the Federal Office of Management &
Budget having no authority to do so, but the threat of cuts
are still there for FY07.
There are various reasons for the budget situation, such as,
decreases in the gaming revenues (80% distribution to the
Tribe) and interest earnings. No receipt of gaming
reimbursements (commission) and CTEC dividends as was there in
the past.
Indirect cost revenues have increased and funding from
stumpage (new calculation, return to log). Costs that have
increased are the fringe (medical) and for the most part a
majority of program budgets are salary and fringe with very
little for operational expenses.
Also, there have been additional programs added that the Tribe
is funding. I have been working on a report analyzing fiscal
year budget expenditures for 2001 through 2006, which has
turned out to be more work than needed due to discrepancies
with the budget reports I have been working with. Hope to have
complete for next months Tribal Tribune.
The extent of my travel has been attending the BIA/Tribal
Budget consultation for FY07, a process to justify funding for
the Tribe’s 638 funding and cannot operate present programs
with cuts, in fact in need of additional funding.
Been attending the meetings for the Tribal Trust
Reconciliation Project and have completed methodologies to be
presented to the Office of Historical Trust Accounting, which
will be on February 21 to 24, 2006. If accepted then we will
go into phase II of the project and start figuring how much
the Federal Government owes the Tribe, due to the
mismanagement of the Bureau of Indian Affairs between 1972 and
1992.
Attended the meeting with the Department of Interior for
proposed regulations they are trying to impose on Indian
Country that are not good, for example charging fees for
managing IIM accounts, and Trust Fund Accounting and Appeals
(administrative hoops to jump through before filing a lawsuit
for mismanagement).
Also, the proposed probate code they have developed to help
reduce fractionated property, but has clauses that are not
acceptable.
Since moving the youth program under TANF, Inchelium Council
attended an assembly with the students, parents, and other
concerned community members to get input on what kind of
activities and programs the youth would like to participate in
rather getting involved with alcohol and drugs. I would like
to thank the Inchelium School District for their coordination
of these efforts. Hopefully, the draft zero tolerance policy
will be out for public review and comment soon.
Last, but not least, I have included the FY06 budget
information to be printed. It is my goal to continue to cut
waste and implement accountability in the Tribal Government.
If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to
contact me at 634-2208 (wk) or 722-6040(hm).
Until next time, Gail M. DeLaCruz.
CLICK
HERE FOR FY06 BUDGET INFORMATION
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The Eagle Review
By D.R. Michel
I hope this finds you all doing well. I
want to thank you for your continued support it means a great
deal to me.
We have some critical decisions to make in
the near future that will help define where we go as the
Colville Tribes. The Reservation Terminators are hard at it
again. With dwindling federal funds in all Tribal programs and
the current Administrations policies that continue to erode
its trust responsibility to Tribes and our sovereign right to
self-governance, we must take a stand and limit our dependence
on Federal funding to be truly sovereign.
By the articles in last month’s tribune,
elections must be around the corner. I want to address some
concerns I have dealing with responsibility, accountability
and consequences for your actions. I have some major concerns
with the misleading information presented to the membership.
All people must be held accountable for their actions. I will
address these issues now because of their content. In the
future I will focus on the positive things we are doing to
secure the future of our tribes.
These individuals have labeled me as a
bully because I continue to resist their attempts to bully me.
They continue to try and get us to follow their tired old
school politics. These people have had their chance to be part
of the solution, but for years have been and continue to be
part of the problem. They must be held accountable for the
things they print and say. They talk about change but if we
were to truly change and move forward, the old school politics
are gone, and they would no longer be needed. They feed off
the member’s fears with half-truths and continue to try and
lead us down the same old path. I have stood strong on the
issues I believe will make the changes necessary to move us
out of the past and in to the future. I will continue to stand
up and voice my concerns and inform the council the
consequences of our decisions as I see them. I believe that is
why you have put your trust in me as your voice.
Wells Dam Settlement was passed on April 7,
2005 by a vote of 10 for 0 against 0 abstained. I was a member
of the negotiating team and very proud of what we negotiated.
With the help of Mark McDougal, we took a project that sat on
the shelf for 30 years, dusted it off and in less then 2 years
came to an agreement with Douglas County Public Utility
District. We received a lump sum payment, 6 parcels of real
property, and annual payments, The annual payments will be
received as long as Wells Dam produces power and have been
valued at $450 million dollars over 75 years. During
negotiations there were updates and presentations given to the
Council about the settlement agreement. It is up to individual
Council members to participate in committee meetings where the
information is shared. Some members of Council chose not to
participate, vote on the recommendation sheet or vote on the
issue during the Special Session, but continue to criticize
those of us that did. Why did it set so long? I feel for years
the Council had to focus on the internal conflicts brought on
by these people who used and abused the Constitution and
By-Laws, the Council Code of Conduct the Oath of Office and
the Ethics Code, which is still in place by the way.
The comments about the Tribes losing money
on the helicopter logging are not true, if we were not making
money we would not move the project forward. Back in the early
1980’s we started Colville Indian Precision Pine (CIPP), today
the mill consumes approximately 54 million board feet
annually, employs 164 people with 79 percent Colville tribal
members, spouse of tribal members or descendents of a tribal
members, and 7 percent are from other tribes. In FY 2005 CIPP
had a net profit of $943,910. I want to commend them for over
20 years of operation. In 2001 we purchased what is now
Colville Indian Plywood and Veneer (CIPV) and Colville Indian
Power (CIP) for $5.8 million dollars. We have had to invest
approximately $2 million dollars from the Tribes and CTEC and
$2 million dollars from grants for a total investment of $9.8
million dollars, not the $30 to $40 million dollars some
people would like you to believe. It is true that the plant
has struggled in the past with retained earnings at a negative
$8.7 million dollars, but thanks to the hard work of everyone
involved they have seen major improvements in production. CIPV
consumes approximately 30 million board feet annually, employs
200 people with 57 percent Colville Tribal members, spouse of
tribal members or decedents of tribal members, and 5 percent
from other tribes. CIPV had a net profit of $260,775 in FY
2005. CIP employs 15 people and continues to struggle with a
loss in FY 2005 of $1.6 million dollars. This loss was due to
limitations at the plant and current market conditions; CIP is
minimizing that loss by producing steam for plywood and veneer
production only. We have contracted an individual to help
package our power assets; this will allow us to maximize CIP,
and Wells Dam, while looking at other opportunities in the
energy market.
Selling our timber on the open market
jeopardizes the operations of our own mills. If we export our
timber off the reservation the money and the jobs will follow.
We have looked at other markets in the surrounding areas; by
the time you cover the expense of getting the logs to say
Idaho it doesn’t net anymore to the Tribes then selling it to
our own mills. The other factor in exporting our timber is the
species and grade of the timber you are selling. We have a
very small percentage of this type of timber. A species we do
have that could generate that kind of price is cedar. We have
received bids of $650 to $850 for what little cedar we
harvest. We were in the export market in the early to mid
1990’s. The amount of money you receive for a log depends on
the species and grade. The purchaser determined that, we have
very little say in that process. What you thought would be a
$930 log when you shipped it, could be valued at a lower value
and we would have to eat the difference. This is what happens
when you give control to the outside. The timber industry is a
large part of our local economy and communities.
In closing, I have a responsibility to the
membership, and held accountable for all my decisions. There
are consequences for those decisions that I must live with on
a daily basis. I do not have the luxury of printing or telling
half-truths. I can back up everything I say, can they?
Until next time, take care. If you have any
questions you can call me at work, (509) 634-2217, cell (509)
631-0492, email me at donald.michel@colvilletribes.com, or at
home, (509) 722-3980.
Sincerely, DR Michel
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