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CouncilCORNER>
HutchinsonReport
By Margie Hutchinson
Happy Safe and
Healthy New Year
In December I attended the Intertribal Agriculture conference in
Las Vegas. One of the Keynote speakers was Chris Stainbrook of
the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. His presentation consisted of
an overview of the foundations goals and objectives of returning
as much former reservation land back into trust.
Another topic covered in great detail was by the attorneys
representing the case Keepseagle, ET, AL, V Johanns lawsuit.
This is a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of Native
American Farmers and Ranchers against the United States
Department of Agriculture. This case is about treating Natives
fairly on farm loans, and the USDA’s failure to maintain a Civil
Rights office, and their refusal to investigate complaints filed
by Native Americans. These are some of the same lawyers who
successfully represented the Black Farmers, in their lawsuit.
The lawyers don’t expect to solve all of the problems, but to
just “get a piece of Justice”. For whatever reason the Federal
Government is fighting this case, and unwilling to settle like
they did in the black farmers case. One of the reasons this case
is so important is because many Native Americans are losing
their land to foreclosures, and the government does not want to
wait for the trial. During the black farmers case, the
government stopped all foreclosures until the case was settled.
The success of this case will depend heavily upon the Court
hearing testimony from Indians who have suffered discrimination
by the USDA. Please call 1-888-822-0844 for more information on
this case.
And also covered at the Agriculture conference was the National
Animal Identification System. This is a system to help protect
American animal agriculture from foreign or domestic disease
threats. The intent of this system is to track animal disease to
its source. Dr. Roy Webster has been very helpful with this
system, in tagging some of the animals on the CCT, in a pilot
project.
Then on December 13th, we attended the Affiliated Tribes’ Trust
Reform Summit in Portland. Joe Garcia, the newly elected
President of NCAI, as well as Tim Martin, of the United South
and Eastern Tribes. Staff representing Senator McCain, Senator
Dorgan, and representative Pombo, was also in attendance. This
was a very productive meeting, the small group we have wastes
little time, in attacking the crucial points we need to address
for a possible legislative fix to Trust Reform. Eric Eberhard,
and Alan Parker, two extremely knowledgeable attorneys from the
Seattle area always provide important input to the discussions.
Brian Gunn our DC lobbyist gives the CBC, a political analysis
of Trust Reform and communicates often with the Senators’ staff
on behalf of the Council. The bottom line is we need to settle
the Cobell Case or Tribes will cease to exist. This
administration is questioning every right we have; they feel
they don’t owe us anything. They continually cut our funding for
all our most basic needs, i.e. health care, education, law
enforcement, etc. They don’t want to help settle this case but
to question our rights. They have set up a company called Office
of Special Trustee that started out with a budget of $39
million, and has now reached $226 million, and this is money
that could be budgeted for our basic needs.
WE met with Chelan Douglas Trust and Trust for Public Lands, to
discuss former lands of the Wenatchee Band. These companies are
interested in assisting us find lands in our usual and
accustomed territories. The discussions provided some hope and
excellent leads in addressing former allotment lands. Hopefully
the council will step up the efforts and place this issue on a
higher priority.
Paul Moorehead, and Brian Gunn, gave the CBC a presentation on
the Legislative Process in Washington D.C. They gave an overview
of the Federal Appropriations, Process, Capital Hill Protocol
and Communications, and how to develop our legislative process.
This was extremely helpful information, because of the many hill
visits we make a year. They pointed out those Senators,
Representatives, and Staff people, who have significant
knowledge of Indian Law, and issues, and those who support us.
The University of Washington, and the Colville Confederated
Tribes, awarded the following graduates with Management
Certificates: Brett Black, Gary Joseph, Kary Nichols, coach,
Billy Nicholson, Ted Piccolo, John St Pierre, and Grant
Timentwa. The tribe signed a MOU with the university, with the
goal of improving business management skills. We were honored
with the presentations of their research on our Gaming
Enterprises, CIPV, and Target Industry Analysis. This new
knowledge and research has already proven to be of enormous
value to the tribe, with our other works in progress. I would
like to express my gratitude to Lynn Holder, because she was the
tribal liaison with U of W, and played a huge part in making
this happen.
Lim Limpt
Margie Hutchinson
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MosesUPDATE
By
Harvey Moses, Jr.
Greetings:
I hope each of you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Safe
New Year’s. Further I hope that the New Year’s resolutions
each of you make come to be.
In mid November I attended the National Congress of American
Indians (NCAI) convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was active in
the NCAI’s Culture Committee getting their support on an ATNI
resolution that supported the NAGPRA re-write that would never
again allow what happened to the “Ancient One”; I also was
responsible for getting NCAI’s support on requiring federal
agencies to contract with local “Tribal Governments” when it
came to cultural resource surveys. I also had the honor of
escorting Ms. CCT, Shaylene Marchand, in the Ms. NCAI pageant.
Another major activity was election of NCAI officers. Joe
Garcia from New Mexico is the new President. He made mention
that the support of the ATNI Tribes helped him attain this
position. He also mentioned that he would work effectively
with all areas on federal issues. I also attended a program on
Thursday night at Quapaw, Oklahoma, which honored Chief
Joseph. There was a Friday program at Quapaw that I could not
attend. I left Tulsa to fly home.
I traveled to Olympia for a dinner meeting the following day
with the Governor. The items we discussed at the meeting were:
water rights issues, gaming issues, health and welfare issues,
educational issues and jurisdictional issues. I also reminded
the Governor that the CCT is the largest employer in North
Central Washington and that we don’t only employ tribal
members, but non-members alike. It is my belief that this
governor is attempting to work more closely with Washington
State Tribes; we need to keep hammering on the State in
regards to all the aforecited issues and any others that are
important to the CCT. I will say this for the current governor
– that this dinner hosted by her was a first in history and I
sat at her table.
I again traveled to Olympia to meet with the Governor’s Chief
of Staff to talk about land issues between the Tribes and
State, e.g., taking land into trust for any purpose. The
Colville Tribes leads the 29 state tribes in this endeavor.
The Western Washington Tribes are mostly concerned about
losing the lands to developers/developments or just trying to
get their reservations back or established. I brought up water
rights on this reservation. The Chief of Staff said in no
uncertain terms that water issues on the reservation are our
concerns and not theirs. I must say that the Democratic Party
seems to be the most amenable to Indian Tribes and our issues.
I traveled to Portland taking part in a Trust Reform meeting
and an ATNI Think Tank meeting. As stated previously, the
Northwest Tribes leads Indian country in the trust reform
movement. Trust reform is our (Tribes) attempts to keep a
federal government presence and to stop the attempts of the
present administration from abrogating its trust and fiduciary
responsibilities to Tribes. We were told at a meeting with
OST’s Ross Swimmer that he believes the only way tribal
governments will survive is to become like states and become
common ordinary citizens with no sovereign right to self
govern. In essence, the present administration is attempting
to “terminate” all our rights. They are slowly doing away with
the BIA and turning back the clock by creating another
bureaucracy titled Office of Special Trust (OST).
I have been active in the Wenatchi’s fishing issues at the
Icicle and Wenatchee Rivers. The Wenatchi Advisory Committee
decided to go back to court. The Yakama’s have not been
meeting with us in the mediation process as they were supposed
to and blocking every attempt to move forward on the
Wenatchi’s fishing rights issue.
I will end with that. However, I ask that each of you take
very serious the present threats of termination. The present
administration cares nothing about its own citizens, and cares
even less about us, American Indians. The only way I know of
to make a change is to vote. We have the ability to control
Okanogan and Ferry Counties if we only voted. We could have a
greater say in state politics if we voted, we would have more
say in Washington, D.C., if we voted.
Harvey Moses, Jr.
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Indian COUNTRY
By Michael E. Marchand
Trust Reform:
The Cobell IIM moneys case and the national trust reform
efforts are starting to heat up.
The Cobell plaintiffs have experienced some adverse rulings in
the federal courts. Up to now, the assumption was that the
government was going to be held to the highest fiduciary trust
responsibility. In this case, where the government has lost
and misplaced accounting records, and sometimes possibly
destroyed records, it was most people’s understanding that if
there was missing information, then the government was
automatically liable. This had major implications so long as
this was the law.
But the government has contended that it is not responsible
for a full accounting and it contends that it can satisfy the
law by sampling and statistical analysis of the missing books.
Under the strict interpretation, the Cobell lawyers contended
that the government would owe tribes over 100 billion dollars
and they came up with a settlement figure in the 27 billion
dollar range. Of course, the Senate leaders said this was
totally unacceptable and unrealistic. The federal government
introduced testimony stating that the price to do a full
accounting would be enormous, something in the 12 billion
dollar range.
Pressure had been building up and there was some national
sentiment to make a settlement with the Indians. But now with
the bad rulings from the courts, the federal government
believes that the final settlement figure will be much less
than prior guesses. Instead of billions, they are now thinking
in millions.
Of course, the Plaintiffs do not agree at all with this
interpretation. Until recently, many federal officials were
seeming to get ready to look at reforming the BIA systems to
come more into line with the wishes of tribal governments. Now
that the courts have ruled on the government’s side, the
pressure to settle and reform the federal trust systems have
decreased and forces of status quo are getting stronger.
In fact, federal officials have become emboldened and are
digging into tougher stances. One of the words being thrown
about now is termination of federal responsibility. It is the
contention of some federal officials that the actual federal
trust responsibility owed to tribes is very minimal with
respect to what tribes think is owed to them.
Many tribes view the big picture as one where tribes traded
millions of acres of land in return for diminished land bases
on reservation, wherein the federal government made many
promises for education, health care, economic development
assistance and many other things. These were ratified through
treaty and executive orders and through decades of federal
policy.
The new federal view is that there are two types of federal
trust responsible. One part is that there is an inherent
federal fiduciary trust responsibility and the other category
are contractual federal trust responsibilities. The latter
category is dependent on congressional appropriations and is
essentially an optional trust responsibility unilaterally
dependent on the will of congress. This is a major shift in
policy. Many of us have expressed concern about the piecemeal
steps toward what amounts to termination. But now the federal
officials are blatantly confirming these suspicions.
The federal reaction to the Cobell case has also been a
problem. For almost a decade, the Cobell plaintiffs have been
essentially winning on every issue. In response, the federal
government has been diverting more and more resources into
fighting the case. Millions of dollars have been diverted into
litigation and into the new agency called the Office of
Special Trustee. This would not be so bad if there were new
money put into the system, but the government has been funding
this by cutting back on other existing tribal programs. For
example, the school construction program has taken major hits
and there are many other examples. The federal government has
also had a shut down of most of its computer systems. This
came as a result of problems with security brought forth in
the court proceedings.
Rather than fix the problems with security, the BIA has
instead shut all systems down for several years and seems
unable to comply with any of the wishes brought forth by the
court. So as standards seem to get raised by the courts, the
federal response has not been to improve its systems, its
response has been to try to narrow the scope of its
responsibilities so that it is less liable in the future. For
example, tribes are having a hard time getting fee lands
purchased placed into trust by the BIA, because the BIA is
saying that it cannot even manage the lands that it has now,
and they point to the Cobell case as proof. So even the court
victories in favor of the Indians are being twisted around and
used against us now. Many people are concluding that this is
pointing to the need for a settlement of the case, but this
consensus is by no means unanimous.
In the northwest, a coalition of some tribes has taken on this
trust policy and is spearheading a movement to put a stop to
this. We have developed our own trust reform legislation. Last
week we called in some of the congressional staffers and some
of the key national Indian organizations to a trust reform
legislation meeting held in Portland.
We are looking to fix several key issues. One is to settle the
Cobell case. Whether this is possible remains to be seen, but
we are proposing a settlement. We are also looking at
consolidating fractionated interests that mire down land
systems on reservation. There are many parcels of land in
Indian country that have thousands of owners. This is
unworkable. We are looking at the creation of a special
commission to oversee the trust reform. We are also looking at
putting the federal Indian programs back under one agency
again, no split between the BIA and Office of Special Trustee,
which has been unworkable. This is where everything is at in a
nutshell and it is too early to tell which way things will
work out.
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Moomaw UPDATE
By Cherie Moomaw
Report to the Membership,
Hope your holidays went well and I hope the New Year is all
you wish it to be. It has been another busy time for me and I
am really enjoying the job you have elected me to.
I would like to remind anyone interested in a home of their
own of the 184 housing program. This is a federally backed
housing program for tribal members. This is not funded with
Tribal dollars and can provide homes at a low interest rate
with a low down payment, on or off the reservation. (Call
C’Ann Kariores, 1-888-881-7684 for information about banks
that are qualified to lend).
We are in the process of establishing a road safety program
with the help of the State of Washington. They have the
dollars and we can prove the need. This will help us in all
areas of traffic and road safety. Please drive with care and
remember that many of the travelers you meet on our roads and
highways are your fellow tribal members.
I traveled to Denver in November for an energy assistance
conference. We have the possibility of producing wind energy,
solar, hydro and bio-generation here on the reservation. We
just established an energy department which should be able to
fund itself. The new energy bill recently pasted by congress
will give the tribes the ability to develop their own energy
programs. I am really enthusiastic about the possibilities we
have in this area. (If you have questions on this, please call
me).
The proposed Mt. Tolman mining projected will be presented to
the membership in late February and early March, with a vote
of all eligible voters on March 18, 2006. We will be
presenting in all four districts and Seattle, Yakima and
Spokane. Absentee ballots will be mailed to all eligible
voters and we will have poll voting. You will be receiving a
packet of information shortly about the proposed project. This
Project will have a huge impact on the reservation and the
tribal membership, please take the time to be informed and ask
questions before you vote.
My council travel costs to Denver (Energy Conference) and
Spokane (meeting with new CTEC board) for November and
December was $2,271.82. If you have any questions or concerns
please call, I will make every effort to return your call.
1-888-881-7684 toll-free
509-634-2215
E-mail
cherie.moomaw@colvilletribes.com
Cherie Moomaw
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Its Tribal
By
Virgil Seymour
To my fellow Lakes and Colville Tribal
people:
I hope this letter finds you all in good health and I would
like to wish everyone a prosperous and Happy New Year.
I have received a lot of questions about the Wells Dam
settlement and its annual payouts. First of all, for reasons
unknown to me, because I was not involved in the negotiation
process, some of the money that comes out of this settlement
is not considered trust money. Therefore, if it is distributed
to the people, it can be considered income and it will be
taxed. This puts our elderly and some of our more needy
members in jeopardy of losing the benefits of not only some of
the services we provide but some of the federal government’s
services as well. This is because it can put their income over
the limits to qualify for these services. Through a specified
“ one time only “ deal with Ross Swimmer, who is head of the
Office of Special Trustee [OST], the tribal council was able
to avoid this situation with the initial ‘lump sum payment’
that was received in October. But it was made clear to us that
this would not happen to the annual payment. Considering the
annual payments will be much smaller than the lump sum
payments and will be considered reportable income and eligible
for taxation, council decided to put the annual payment in
three separate accounts that would benefit the tribe as a
whole. One third will go to education, elders and youth; one
third to land purchases and one third to community
development. By doing it this way, the council is accountable
for the money and Uncle Sam gets nothing.
I would like to thank everyone who turned out for the district
meeting in December. The topics that were discussed were:
youth violence, youth partying in HUD homes, the drug problem
in Inchelium and the frustration with our legal community.
This gave everyone a chance to air their feelings and it
showed the council what the community was willing to support.
Right now, we are working on a Zero Tolerance Program that we
can present at a later meeting for more discussion. This is a
big step and in order for it to work, we need the support of
not only the community but also the whole reservation. We all
share the blame for the trouble our youths are getting into
and I believe that if we look at the problem with this in
mind, we can all come up with a sustainable solution. I would
like to take this time to thank our Inchelium Community Center
staff for hosting our meetings and giving our children a drug
free environment to just be kids. We appreciate your
assistance Mona, Gloria and Mel.
As Election Chairman, I have been working to bring the Mt.
Tolman mining issue to the people. I think it is a big step
and should be decided on by the membership. We want the voters
to have an informed opinion on what they will be voting on, so
we have set up educational meetings in the four districts,
Spokane, Yakima and Seattle. A schedule of events with dates,
times and places will be printed in this issue of the Tribune.
All meetings will be mediated with a strict set of courtesy
rules to follow. I hope to see as many people as possible
attend these meetings.
I realize that there are a lot more issues to be dealt with
and that we, as council, have a lot of work in front of us.
With your input and support, I feel strongly that we are
headed in the right direction.
If anyone wants to talk to me, I can be reached at home
722-3142, office 634-2211 or cell 631-0482.
Lim Lim
Virgil J. Seymour
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