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S. HRG. 111–790 

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING THE 

NORTHWEST TRIBES 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

AUGUST 12, 2010 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs 

( 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 

BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota, Chairman 

JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming, Vice Chairman 

DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii 

KENT CONRAD, North Dakota 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JON TESTER, Montana 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma 

MIKE CRAPO, Idaho 

MIKE JOHANNS, Nebraska 

ALLISON C. BINNEY, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

DAVID A. MULLON JR., Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Page 

Hearing held on August 12, 2010 ........................................................................... 1 

Statement of Senator Cantwell .............................................................................. 3 

Statement of Senator Dorgan ................................................................................. 1 

WITNESSES

Allan, Hon. James, Tribal Chairman, Coeur d’Alene Tribe ................................. 16 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 

Abrahamson, Hon. Greg, Chairman, Spokane Tribe ............................................ 44 

Cagey, Hon. Henry, Chairman, Lummi Tribe ....................................................... 46 

Cladoosby, Hon. Brian, President, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians ........ 10 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 13 

Dillon, Sr., Hon. Herman, Chairman, Puyallup Tribe; accompanied by Chad 

Wright, Director of Marine View Ventures ........................................................ 6 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 

Finley, Hon. Michael, Chairman, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation ........................................................................................................................ 21

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 22 

Forseman, Hon. Leonard Chairman, Suquamish Tribe ....................................... 45 

McCarty, Hon. Mikah, Councilman, Makah Tribe ................................................ 48 

McCoy, Hon. John, U.S. Representative from Washington .................................. 48 

Sheldon, Hon. Mel, Chairman, Tulalip Tribe; accompanied by Glen Gobin, 

Board Member ...................................................................................................... 39 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 41 

Stewart, Hon. Leo, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, Confederated Tribes 

of the Umatilla Indian Reservation .................................................................... 25 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 26 

Tom, Hon. Kathleen, Tribal Council Secretary, Confederated Tribes of the 

Grand Ronde Community of Oregon .................................................................. 28 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 30 

APPENDIX

Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, prepared 

statement .............................................................................................................. 79 

Iyall, Hon. William, Chairman, Cowlitz Indian Tribe, prepared statement ....... 53 

James, Jewell, Master Carver, House of Tears Carvers, Lummi Nation, prepared statement ................................................................................................... 55 

Metcalf, Hon. Edward L., Chairman, Coquille Indian Tribe, prepared statement ...................................................................................................................... 75 

Pigsley, Hon. Delores, Chairman, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, prepared statement ................................................................................................... 77 

(1) 

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ISSUES AFFECTING 

THE NORTHWEST TRIBES 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2010 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS, Fife, WA. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m. in the Emerald Queen Hotel Building, Hon. Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman of 

the Committee, presiding. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA 

The CHAIRMAN. Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to call the 

hearing to order. This is the hearing of the Indian Affairs Committee of the United States Senate. I’m Senator Byron Dorgan, 

Chairman of the Committee, and I’m accompanied by Senator 

Maria Cantwell, the Senator from the State of Washington and a 

very active member of the Indian Affairs Committee. 

I’m really pleased to be here today in the State of Washington 

and here at this facility. I’d like to begin today by calling on the 

President of the Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest Indians from 

Portland, Oregon, Brian Cladoosby to offer an opening prayer. 

[Opening prayer was given.] 

The CHAIRMAN. President Cladoosby, thank you very much. Let 

me thank the Honorable Herman Dillon, the Chairman of the Puyallup Tribe. The Puyallup Tribe is our host today, and thank you 

so much for allowing us to be here with you at your wonderful facility. 

Let me also start by saying how pleased I am to be able to work 

with Senator Maria Cantwell and also Senator Patty Murray from 

the State of Washington. And I know we have some folks from Oregon here, and the Senators from Oregon, Ron Wyden and Jeff 

Merkley, work very closely with us as well. In fact, I think we have 

some legislation pending right now in the Senate for a unanimous 

consent request dealing with leasing opportunities for Indian tribes 

in both states, the States of Washington and Oregon. 

This hearing was originally scheduled to be held at the Chief 

Leschi School, the Puyallup tribe’s Chief Leschi School which is one 

of the largest and most diverse Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in 

America. Unfortunately and tragically, a young tribal member, 

Canaan Pluff was killed in a motorcycle accident at 21 years of age, 

and I know this is a very difficult time for the tribe and for this 

young man’s family, and I know that there’s a funeral in that facilVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
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ity and so our hearts and our prayers go out to them as well, and 

Mr. Chairman, I hope you’ll pass that along to them. And I thank 

you for allowing us to use these facilities in these difficult circumstances for the Tribe. 

I thank very much Senator Cantwell for finding time in her day 

to come here and participate. She participates very actively on this 

Committee, and I want to say that she and I and other members 

of the Committee, including Senator Murray of the State of Washington, I think it is the case to say that we have perhaps accomplished more legislative success for American Indians in the last 12 

months than existed in the past three decades, and let me explain 

that. 

We finally at last, at long, long last have passed the Indian 

Health Care Improvement Act. And we not only passed it, we made 

it permanent. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. So it was not only reauthorized, but it is made 

permanent which is a big, big deal. You know, it’s the first time 

in 18 years that the Congress has successfully dealt with this subject, and in no small measure due to the work of Senator Cantwell 

and Senator Murray. I’m really pleased. We said look, we are going 

to focus like a laser to get this done. We did. 

Now, just weeks ago we also passed the Tribal Law and Order 

Act. That is a big, big deal. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. And I want to tell you what we did. Senator Barrasso, the Vice Chair of the Committee, myself, Senator Cantwell 

and others, we sent staff around the country to consult with tribes. 

First and foremost we have always believed consultation is critical 

in order to understand how we need to legislate. We consulted for 

a couple of years all around the country: What are the needs, what 

should we do, how do we address this. And then we put together 

the Tribal Law and Order Act, and finally at long last, just weeks 

ago, Senator Barrasso and I and others were at the White House 

and the President signed the Tribal Law and Order Act, and it’s 

going to make a big difference. 

It allows for so many new approaches, including cross-deputization with law enforcement authorities on and off the reservation, 

access to the National Criminal Database for—I won’t go into the 

details, but let me just say that we have made major progress, and 

again, in no small part to the work of the Indian Affairs Committee, and I’m just really pleased to be here to describe that. 

Let me make one other point to you: When the President proposed an Economic Recovery Act, we supported that Act, Senator 

Cantwell and I supported the Economic Recovery Act, but we insisted that there be some investment for American Indians. There 

was not in the original proposal by the President a body of money 

that would go to create jobs and invest money on Indian reservations across the country. 

We got them to include $2.5 billion, $2.5 billion dedicated to Indian reservations to build and construct and create jobs, and it’s 

making a big difference with respect to the building and rehabilitation of health care facilities, detention centers, roads, school construction, housing, and much more. And all that is going on now 

3 

across the country on Indian reservations. It is the single biggest 

investment that has ever been made at one time on Indian reservations in America. I think we’ve made so much progress and I’m so 

proud of the work, as I’ve said, that particularly the two Senators 

from the State of Washington have made with Senator Cantwell 

being a member of this Committee. 

I don’t know much about fishing and, you know, all the things 

that you do up here, but I know a lot about the Plains Indians and 

those needs, but now I know a lot about everything because Maria 

Cantwell has described to me all of the challenges that come with 

your tribes and your needs, so what we wanted to do today in the 

shadow of having passed this legislation, we wanted to hold a hearing in this region to talk about the economic and social challenges 

and needs going forward now that we’ve passed a health care bill, 

now that we’ve passed the Tribal Law and Order Act. 

We are working on a number of other issues such as housing and 

education, and so we want to find out what’s on your minds, what 

do you see as the priorities that we ought to take a look at moving 

forward, and especially the priorities with respect to the implementation now of this new legislation. 

We have six witnesses, and we very much appreciate their willingness to be here. We will also at the conclusion of the witness 

statements ask some questions, and I will also have a brief open 

mic so that if there are those that come and wish to say a few 

words and add their voice, we’ll be happy to hear that. We don’t 

have unlimited time, but we will be happy to hear that and we will 

also extend for two weeks the opportunity for anybody to submit 

formal written testimony to be included in the hearing record for 

today. 

Let me call on my colleague, Senator Cantwell from the State of 

Washington who just does such a great job on these issues. Senator 

Cantwell? 

[Applause.] 

STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL, 

U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. And thank you Senator Dorgan 

for bringing the Indian Affairs Committee to a field hearing in the 

Pacific Northwest. We thank you for continuing to pay attention to 

these important issues, and we certainly believe in the Northwest 

that we have very creative ideas as it relates to the economic success of Indian country. So thank you for allowing everyone here to 

be able to share those with you today. I want to recognize the 

Chairman’s great efforts at that legislative agenda that he just 

mentioned. I don’t think that there has been a more effective or efficient chairman in the passage of Indian legislation in the last 30 

years. So thank you for your leadership as Chairman of that Committee. 

[Applause.] 

Senator CANTWELL. And while you say you don’t know a lot 

about fish, which I’m sure we could tell you a lot, you do know that 

health care is important and that’s why you pushed so hard to get 

this legislation passed, so it is truly, truly, truly historic. And so 

for all of those who are going to benefit from the increase in the 

4 

health care delivery system, we thank you. We pride ourselves in 

the Northwest in being leaders in this area, and the fact that 

you’re going to hear about some of that innovation today, we just 

thank you for being such an advocate. 

And I want to thank all the tribal leaders who are here today, 

our witnesses, and those who are attending in the audience because they are coming to share their concerns about Indian Country from all over the state and from the Northwest. I think we have 

people here from both Idaho and Oregon, and maybe even people 

from Alaska, I don’t know. 

And I know that our colleague Senator Murray was unable to 

join us today because of a scheduling conflict, but we certainly appreciate the work that she has done on many pieces of legislation, 

including helping us with the Indian health care issue, housing, 

and infrastructure projects. 

And Christina Reeves is here from Senator Murray’s office, if she 

would just stand or raise your hand there, and Mendy Droke is 

here from Congressman Inslee’s office. So thank you both for being 

here today as well. 

[Applause.] 

Senator CANTWELL. Senator Murray has been working on protecting our natural resources and salmon recovery, and I look forward to continuing to work with her and my other colleagues on 

issues of protecting tribal sovereignty and just continuing the government-to-government dialogue between our governments. 

I know that she really believes that this historic moment when 

1.9 million Native Americans who have been waiting too long to 

modernize their health care system will actually have the first 

modernization of this policy since 1992, and so it’s very important 

that we change the health care system and make sure that we continue to increase the advantages. 

For example, the Indian Health Service and tribal health care 

providers needed appropriate tools and programs in place to diagnose, treat, and prevent various physical and mental illnesses, and 

the Health Care Act that we passed does just that. It gives more 

flexibility to the administrator of the funds, it authorizes new programs at the Indian Health Service, including long-term care as we 

know is so important, and also programs for youth suicide prevention, and mental health treatment. So we all look forward to hearing what the Tribes have to say today about that legislation. 

I also wanted to mention because Chairman Dorgan talked about 

the law that was signed by President Obama on the 29th, and 

many people here—well, Chairman Dillon and Chairman Finley of 

Colville are here today and I think they came to testify before our 

Committee in Washington, D.C. on this legislation, so we thank 

them for that. 

And I know that we had several members, including Chairman 

Allan from the Jamestown S’Kallam who were actually there when 

President Obama signed the legislation, so we were there along 

with Brian Cladoosby to make sure that everybody knew how important this legislation was to the Pacific Northwest. And this critical new law will give us the ability to address violence on Indian 

reservations. And tribal law enforcement officials in the Northwest 

report a total of 89 different documented gang activities on reservaVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
5 

tions. So gang activities which we’re seeing all over the State of 

Washington know no boundaries, and so we want to make sure 

that Indian Country has effective tools for making sure that we can 

fight those gang activities and other crimes and that we can continue to be effective, so another success in the progress for Indian 

Country and working together. 

And I know many people here know that the Committee also 

passed out legislation from our Committee that Senator Murray 

has sponsored dealing with the Hoh Indian Reservation. We hope 

that that legislation will pass as soon as we return in September. 

I think we’ve worked out the differences between the House and 

Senate version. 

Is anybody from Congressman Dicks’ office here today? They’re 

probably going to be here a little bit later, but they have been 

working on that legislation, so it has also been progress from our 

Committee. 

So I know that many of you here have so many ideas. One thing 

I love about representing you in our Nation’s Capital is I just take 

the good ideas that you have back to Washington, and that is on 

areas of Indian Country energy issues, self-governance, government-to-government relations and our continued focus as we’re 

going to talk today about economic and social issues. 

So again, Chairman Dorgan, thank you for being here to hold 

this important hearing and thank you particularly to the Puyallups 

for hosting us and for everybody here in the Northwest showing up 

to give the Chairman a direct viewpoint here in the Northwest 

about these important issues. Thank you. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Cantwell, thank you very much. A couple brief introductions, then I’m going to call on the first witness. 

And let me also say, I made it sound like we passed the health care 

bill all by ourselves. That, of course, is not the case. Congressman 

Inslee and Congressman Dicks and so many others played a very 

important role and I want to acknowledge that as well. 

We have some folks who are here at the hearing taking a look 

at some of the tribal facilities in this region as well. Denise 

Desiderio with the Indian Affairs Committee, Allison Binney is the 

Staff Director of the Indian Affairs Committee, Jim Hall is working 

for Senator Barrasso on the Indian Affairs Committee, Rhonda 

Harjo with Senator Barrasso is right behind me, and Christine 

Reeves has already been introduced I guess as well. 

Chairman Dillon, thank you very much. We will ask that you 

begin today, and if you’ll speak directly into the microphone so that 

everyone in the room can hear and participate in your conversation, then we’ll go on down the line and ask other witnesses as 

well. Your entire statements will be made part of the permanent 

record, so we will ask that you summarize your statements. Chairman Dillon, thank you, you may proceed. 

6 

1The City of Tacoma has the sixth highest percentage among U.S. cities of American Indians 

and Alaska Natives, 3.6 percent of the total population. 

STATEMENT OF HON. HERMAN DILLON, SR., CHAIRMAN, 

PUYALLUP TRIBE; ACCOMPANIED BY CHAD WRIGHT, 

DIRECTOR OF MARINE VIEW VENTURES 

Mr. DILLON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m the Senior Chairman 

of the Puyallup Tribe. I would like to welcome you and all your 

staff and the Committee members, all our tribal leaders from different reservations to the Puyallup Tribe Reservation. 

I’m just going to make it short and sweet and let you get on so 

that they have more time to do what they need to do. We presented 

our written testimonies, so with that, thank you for honoring us by 

being here. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. That will 

be the shortest testimony of the day. 

Mr. DILLON. I’ve made shorter ones. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Dillon follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. HERMAN DILLON, SR., CHAIRMAN, PUYALLUP TRIBE

My name is Herman Dillon, Sr. I am Chairman of the Puyallup Tribe of Washington State and I want to welcome the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs once 

again to the Puyallup Reservation. As is clearly apparent, the Puyallup Reservation 

is located in the urbanized Seattle-Tacoma area of the State of Washington. Our 

18,061-acre reservation encompasses most of the City of Tacoma, but the area is a 

‘‘checkerboard’’ of Tribal and trust land, Indian-owned fee land, and non-Indian 

owned fee land. Our reservation land includes parts of six different municipalities 

(Tacoma, Fife, Milton, Puyallup, Edgewood and Federal Way). The Puyallup Tribe 

also provides services for 3,680 tribal members and over 24,000 additional Native 

Americans from over 345 Tribes and Alaska Native villages in our service area. 1

The Puyallup Tribe has enjoyed remarkable success in the more than forty years 

since game wardens arrested many of our members for exercising their treaty-protected right to fish on the Puyallup River. These arrests resulted in what many herald as the most significant legal victory for Tribes in modern times: the Boldt decision and its progeny. The Boldt decision held that the Tribal signatories to the 

many Stevens Treaties in the Northwest are entitled to fifty percent of the harvestable catch of salmon and shellfish in their usual and accustomed areas. This decision resulted in the revitalization of Tribal communities throughout the Northwest 

because once our members could earn a living at home fishing and gathering, they 

came home in droves. 

The return of our members required Tribal governments to respond to their most 

basic needs, which included law enforcement, health care, schools, road and utility 

infrastructure, and economic development. In these areas, the Puyallup Tribe has 

also been a national leader. Nonetheless, while we have achieved many successes 

in the last forty years, we have a great deal that remains to be done. 

A. Education 

I want to begin today by talking about education. We have come a long way since 

the Puyallup Tribe opened its first school in 1976 in order to address the high dropout rate experienced by our students in public schools. That first school was in a 

facility that we borrowed from the Tacoma School District. It was through the persistence of many Tribal leaders, including our former Chair and present councilwoman Roleen Hargrove, that Congress provided to us the funding to build this facility that we use now. We completed this facility and opened it to students in 1996. 

Today, the Chief Leschi School is the largest of the seven tribal schools in Washington State, and it remains one of the largest in the BIE School System. The 

School serves approximately 910 students attending pre-kindergarten through 12th 

grade. We also have more than 60 different Tribes represented in our student body. 

The current enrollment figures represent near capacity with all classrooms being 

utilized on a daily basis. 

While our basic educational facilities are outstanding, there are aspects of the 

school’s facilities that remain incomplete. In particular, we have an auditorium and 

athletic fields that still require substantial work—today we must rent and bus our 

7 

students to practices on other schools’ fields. Completing the auditorium will allow 

us to complement and further our students’ academic progress by providing them, 

quite literally, a stage upon which to shine and demonstrate their talents. Our athletic fields are similarly crucial because at present, our athletes do not have a field 

of their own and, consequently, we have never possessed a home field advantage. 

It is well known that participation in sports and other extra curricular activities increases students’ investment in their school which often translates into personal and 

academic success. With no home field advantage or sense of team ownership, our 

student athletes are missing out on this important component of school life. While 

our athletes do their best and we are proud of them, we need these facilities so that 

they can enjoy success on the playing field and understand true school spirit. 

We understand the great need for school facilities in Indian Country, including 

the enormous backlog to ensure that BIA and Tribal school facilities meet even basic 

safety requirements—we were at that point once. But Congress must understand 

that until we provide our children with every opportunity to succeed, and demonstrate that we, as a Nation, are willing to invest all our resources to ensure that 

they will have a better and brighter future, I can promise you that these Indian 

children will not believe us when we tell them that we want the very best for them. 

We commend Congress for including Tribal and BIA schools in the legislation to secure teacher jobs. Specifically, the measure provides $50 million for BIA-funded 

schools. This will be important because BIA and Tribal schools have not had any 

measurable increase in school operating funding in several years. 

In the area of reauthorization of the Nation’s education law, we endorse the priorities of the National Congress of American Indians and the National Indian Education Association. In particular, Congress must be vigilant to ensure that BIE 

schools are included in the authorized programs. 

B. Law Enforcement 

I want to take the opportunity to thank you, Senator Dorgan, for your steadfast 

leadership in obtaining passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act. This Act will be 

vitally important to the Puyallup Tribe as we seek to address the public safety 

needs of our community. 

We share law enforcement authority with State, local and Federal governments. 

Due to the number of governments involved, the checkerboard nature of our land, 

and the fact that our reservation touches many local jurisdictions, the question of 

jurisdiction over a specific crime is complicated. The answer depends on who the defendant is, whether the land is trust land, and which local jurisdiction the land is 

in. The Tribal Law and Order Act will therefore help rectify this complex jurisdictional maze and allow the Tribe to further build on existing relationships in order 

to meet the law enforcement needs of our community. 

As we have testified before, we have 28 active gangs on the Puyallup Reservation. 

A few of these gangs are Native gangs, and others are national gangs with Native 

members, while still others are non-Native gangs that operate on or near the Reservation. Regrettably, many of these gang members are teenagers, but we have seen 

gang members as young as eight years old. These gangs are involved in various 

criminal activities, including drug trafficking, weapons sales, and turf wars. They 

are aided by easy access to I–5, which is widely known as a drug corridor. The Puyallup Tribe responded to the gang problem, by establishing a Gang Task Force comprised of the Tribal Police Department, representatives from various Tribal Services 

Divisions, and community members. The Gang Task Force developed a working definition of a ‘‘street gang’’ and a four-pronged approach to preventing gang activities, 

which includes: (1) enforcement, (2) intelligence, (3) education, and (4) physical-mental health. This Task Force is celebrated by our many sister law enforcement agencies as being one of the most highly-developed gang response strategies of any law 

enforcement agencies in the area. 

Today, we are preeminently concerned with the threat that drug use and in particular prescription drug use presents to the future of the Puyallup Tribe. Presently, 

nearly half of Puyallup Tribal members are 17 years old or younger, and one-third 

of them are under 10 years old. As they grow up, our children face many of the risk 

factors that lead to unhealthy behaviors including drug use and gang activity, such 

as poverty (73 percent of students at our Tribal school qualify for free or reduced 

lunch), lack of education (the dropout rate for Native students in Washington state 

is consistently twice that of all students), and family instability (the number of dependency, guardianship and family services cases at Puyallup has almost doubled 

last decade). 

This last winter, federal officials made a significant arrest of a major drug supplier on the Reservation. When this supplier was put out of business, our social 

service program experienced a major increase in the number of clients seeking drug 

8 

treatment and prevention services. This taxed all of our programs, including our police force, who worked closely with our family and social services departments to 

meet the needs of not only the people addicted, but also of their families and most 

importantly their children. We continue to work with these people as they seek to 

overcome their addictions and become healthy members again. The provisions of the 

Tribal Law and Order Act intended to facilitate better coordination among Federal 

agencies to better address substance abuse with respect to public safety and health 

will go a long way in assisting with these efforts. However, it is critical that Congress fully fund these efforts so that these programs do not wither on the vine. 

In many respects, the Tribal Law and Order Act codified programs and initiatives 

that the Puyallup Tribe has been implementing for nearly a decade in responding 

to the needs of our members and community. Now, the challenge is to ensure that 

Federal agencies, in particular the U.S. Attorneys Office, take seriously the intent 

of Congress and work with Tribes to implement the Act, while achieving the positive 

change in public safety that Indian Country deserves. This will require consultation 

with Tribes, focused dedication by the Federal agencies involved, and regular oversight by Congress. It will also require funding. In this era of severe budget deficits, 

we understand that this endeavor will be challenging, but the failure to fund these 

programs will cost the Federal government more in the long run and, even more 

critically, it could cost Tribes our very future. 

C. Economic Development 

For decades, the Puyallup Tribe focused on improving the economy of the Tribe 

and the Region. The Tribe now operates seven businesses, including two casinos, a 

marina, and four gas stations. The Tribe also leases its industrial and commercial 

lands in and around the Port of Tacoma to widely varying businesses, sometimes 

in unique partnerships, which bring additional jobs and economic activity to the region. 

The Tribe is very excited about the opportunity to become part of one of the largest shipping terminals on the Pacific coast. Through the Puyallup Land Settlement 

Act of 1987, the Tribe received more than 300 acres of land located on the Blair 

and Hylebos Waterways on Commencement Bay. The tribal port properties are 

within or adjacent to the Port of Tacoma. In 2008, the Tribe (through its economic 

development arm Marine View Ventures, hereafter ‘‘MVV’’) entered into an Agreement with SSA Containers, Inc. (‘‘SSA’’) for the development of a new international 

container terminal facility that, when fully constructed, will be the largest in the 

Pacific Northwest. Soon after, the Tribe, MVV, SSA and the Port of Tacoma separately entered into a set of agreements that coordinate the development and operation of their facilities, related transportation, and other infrastructure. 

This Agreement has created significant business development opportunities for 

the Tribe and will have tremendous economic benefits to the state and region. Specifically, it significantly increases container terminal handling capacity and creates 

living-wage jobs. While the economic downturn and overcapacity at all container terminals on the West Coast suggest the project may have a longer development 

timeline than originally anticipated, the parties’ relationships remain strong and 

there exists a vibrant commitment to cooperation. However, it is now also clear that 

in order to take advantage of these opportunities, we need to change the FederalTribal leasing law to eliminate some of the bureaucracy from the process. This is 

why our Congressional delegation introduced S. 2906, which would eliminate the 

BIA from the process for surface leases for terms of less than 75 years, so long as 

such leases are approved pursuant to Tribal leasing regulations that have already 

been approved by the Secretary of the Interior. This authority is essentially identical to the authority that the Tulalip Tribe to our north has maintained for almost 

thirty years. We thank the Committee for approving this legislation and ask that 

you work with your colleagues to seek final enactment of this small but important 

measure. 

D. Transportation. 

Related to economic development is infrastructure development. The Puyallup 

Tribe has a unique interest in the reauthorization of the transportation legislation. 

We must ensure that Congress funds and makes available to Tribes all aspects of 

inter-model transportation, including rail, port, trails and roads. We urge Congress 

to reauthorize the Nation’s transportation programs because they are an important 

element to securing economic development and security in Indian country. 

While we do not own the roads on our reservation as large land based Tribes do, 

we nonetheless have wide and diverse transportation needs. As you can see, we are 

an urban Tribe, and although local governments own the roads within our reservation, we still experience the same needs as if we did own them. Using the IRR ProVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
9 

gram, the Tribe is currently working on the development of a boat ramp/park facility that the Tribe will manage for our fisherman and their families. At the same 

time, we are currently repairing an unpaved City-owned street for access to our 

Grandview Learning Center. We are also currently improving a street that is the 

main access road to Tribal programs and services for our members, and we will complete a safety project for the administrative offices there. 

In sum, it is vital for Congress to include the kind of changes proposed by Chairman Dorgan last year for the next transportation reauthorization measure so that 

we can continue to address our needs. As we understand them, the proposed 

changes would bring significant and much-needed funding increases for Tribal 

transportation programs, create new safety programs to address the high rates of 

traffic injuries and deaths experienced in Indian country, and streamline existing 

transportation programs and funding mechanisms. Tribal governments, the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) can then 

put the maximum amount of program funds into improving the transportation infrastructure that is so important to tribal governments across the country. However, 

the Puyallup Tribe opposes any changes to the current funding formula. We fear 

that unless there is a provision in the next legislation that protects urban reservations like Puyallup’s, our Tribe will not be able to adequately address our transportation needs. 

One final consideration that we would ask of the Committee in the next reauthorization is to allow Tribes greater flexibility in using their IRR dollars for roads that 

provide access to treaty protected resources. Specifically, we have about 50 miles of 

‘‘private’’ roads that provide the only viable access to Tribal fisheries facilities on 

the northern portion of the Puyallup River. These facilities require daily and weekly 

access and they include a fish ladder, rearing ponds, and acclimation ponds. The 

roads are severely impacted by weather and require regular repair. We have an 

agreement from the private landowner to use the roads, and we have an MOU providing that once the roads are repaired, they will maintain them. Still, the BIA will 

not approve the MOU or put the roads on our inventory because they are not considered ‘‘public’’ roads and as a result, we cannot use the IRR funding. We even agreed 

not to use road mileage to generate additional IRR funding, for we simply wish to 

use IRR funds to repair these access roads to our fisheries facilities. But the BIA 

and DOT will not let us to do this, and consequently, these important treaty protected resources are in danger. 

E. Health Care 

The Puyallup Tribe, as a long-time leader in the area of health care in Indian 

Country, again extends our greatest appreciation to the Committee for its dedicated 

efforts in securing passage of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. The Puyallup Tribe was the first Tribe in the country to take over operation of an IHS facility on Indian lands. This was in 1976. Today, we continue to operate one of the most 

utilized ambulatory health centers in the country. 

While we heralded the success of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, we again caution that Congress must ensure that Federal agencies 

properly implement the Act to address the needs and interests of Indian Country. 

We have already heard that Federal agencies narrowly construe key areas of the 

law. Specifically, Congress authorized Tribes to participate in the Federal Employee 

Benefits Program as a mechanism to enable Tribal governments to comply with the 

employer mandate in providing health insurance for their employees. We also understand that the Office of Personnel Management, without Tribal consultation, has 

interpreted this provision of the Act to apply only to Tribal employees hired pursuant to an Indian Self-Determination Act contract with the Indian Health Services. 

This interpretation flies in the face of the clear statutory language and, we believe, 

the unambiguous intent of Congress. 

Finally, as with the Tribal Law and Order Act, in order for Tribes and Indian people to realize the promise of the Indian Health Care Act Reauthorization Act, it is 

important for Congress to fully fund the programs authorized under the Act. 

F. Environment 

I will end today talking about something that ties our community together economically, socially and culturally, namely our natural environment and the need to 

protect the land and resources that are the very heart of our people. The Puyallup 

Tribe, as a steward of the land and marine waters in the usual and accustomed fish 

and shellfish areas, has both treaty and Governmental obligations and responsibilities to manage natural resources for uses beneficial to the regional community. As 

I said in the beginning of this testimony, the ability of our people to make a living 

by exercising their treaty protected right to fish and gather where our ancestors 

10 

fished thousands of years revitalized our communities. Today, fishing and gathering 

activities support almost 80 percent of Indian families living on the Reservations on 

the Puget Sound. Thus, if these resources are not available or if they become degraded such that harvesting is unfeasible, 80 percent of the Indian families on the 

Puget Sound must find another way to survive. Furthermore, Tribes generate substantial tax dollars from the Tribal taxes levied on the harvests, but will not receive 

this revenue if the harvests are no longer available. Consequently, the economic survival for Tribes and Indian people on the Puget Sound is very much dependent on 

the health of our natural resources. 

Thus, we urge Congress to undertake initiatives that support the health of the 

Puget Sound and that ensure that Tribes are an equal voice at the table, while considering the actions and activities that take place on the Puget Sound. 

I thank you for the opportunity to present testimony today. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Next we will hear from the Honorable 

Brian Cladoosby who is President of the Affiliated Tribes of the 

Northwest Indians, and he reminded me earlier this morning that 

when he testified before our Committee in Washington, D.C. I really didn’t do well by his name, so I have practiced and practiced and 

practiced and President Cladoosby, I’ve gotten it right today. 

Mr. DILLON. Excuse me a minute. I would like to make one comment. You know, Senator Cantwell made the comment about the 

gang warfare that we’re working on. My Vice Chairman is leaving 

Sunday for Chicago, and with his participation that’s Lawrence 

LaPoint, who him and I testified in front of you back in D.C. a couple years ago, he’s going back to Chicago to receive an award for 

his participation in this. 

I’m very honored. I wanted to go with him, but he’s Vice Chair 

and I’m Chair. Somebody’s got to stay home and take care of business. But I’d be there with him if I could, but I just wanted to 

make a statement and we honor that he is going to receive that 

award. 

The CHAIRMAN. Please congratulate him for us. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Will he stand so we can recognize him? Is he in 

the room? Congratulations. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cladoosby, you may proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN CLADOOSBY, PRESIDENT, 

AFFILIATED TRIBES OF NORTHWEST INDIANS 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Thank you. Maybe Chairman Dillon can yield 

the rest of his time to me. 

Good morning, Chairman Dorgan. Good morning, Senator Cantwell. Before I start I just wanted to ask that we have a moment 

of silence for the Stevens family, the late Senator Ted Stevens and 

his family. ATNI and the Swinomish Tribe offer our condolences. 

I know both of you were very good friends. Even though you might 

have been on opposite sides of the aisle, you still recognized that 

you were all part of a family there in D.C. as Senators. And even 

though you guys might not see eye to eye, you guys respected each 

other as colleagues. So I would just like to offer a moment of silence for the Stevens family at this time. 

[Moment of silence.] 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Thank you. Chairman Dorgan, once again my 

name is Brian Cladoosby. For the record I’m the Chairman of the 

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and also President of the AfVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
11 

filiated Tribes of Northwest Indians and it’s a real honor to be 

asked to testify here before you on economic and social issues affecting Indian tribes in the Northwest. 

ATNI was founded in 1953. It represents 57 tribes in 7 western 

states and we have some very, very large land-based reservations 

from the Colville who has millions and millions of acres to the 

Samish Tribe who was newly recognized in 1996 and I think have 

yet to get an acre of land into trust. So we are very diverse in the 

Northwest in the amount of land and natural resources that we 

have to call upon. 

And we, just like many other tribes across the nation, face very 

diverse challenges, and our primary goal is to ensure we have communities that are healthy, safe, and sustainable. And so first I’d 

like to share some thoughts. 

We as Northwest tribes are learning more as we progress. As you 

know, we have many casinos here in the Northwest and we have 

learned that distributing income from these casinos is not always 

the answer. Indeed, just as would be imagined for any other community, free windfall money is more likely to reduce motivation, 

destroy self-esteem and aggravates long endured and reinforced 

symptoms of poverty than it is to solve them. So we have learned 

that job creation alone is not the solution. 

People accustomed to living outdoors, people accustomed to hunting, fishing, remain among the most valued possible human endeavors, and they aren’t necessarily drawn to windowless, smokefilled rooms lit with flashing lights or corporate-style offices. 

Gaming has been a success for many communities but not all. 

People out there think that just because Indians have casinos that 

all Indian tribes are doing well. That could not be further from the 

case. We have many issues that we need to address: Health care, 

education, and housing, and as you said, the Indian Health Care 

Improvement Act finally is permanent and we thank you and all 

those that worked very, very hard on that to make that possible 

for Indian Country. 

We still have many, many social issues that are affected in Indian Country. Poverty is a big issue. It’s safe to say that since the 

Great Depression, many of the tribes are still in a great depression 

with unemployment rates still as high as 40, 50, 60, 70 percent. So 

when the United States is talking about 10 percent double-digit unemployment rates, some tribes across the nation have not even 

seen unemployment rates under 50 percent since the Great Depression. 

We thank God that we’re able to provide essential governmental 

services for our people, but in many of the remote communities, 

that is not always the case. And we thank God that many of us 

can provide these services and make them available to many of our 

neighbors through economic development and providing jobs to 

other communities. 

It’s safe to say that the Northwest tribes have been leaders in 

assuming direct management of our natural resources. According to 

the BIA statistics, Northwest tribes and their enterprises support 

approximately 40,000 jobs and buy over a billion dollars a year in 

supplies and services, much of which support our larger local communities outside of our reservations. 

12 

We deliver a full range of governmental services of a complexity 

unsurpassed in the U.S. except by the Federal Government, and we 

operate businesses of a size and scale on par with almost any private businesses. Yet, we typically do so with the human resources 

of a small town. 

Some of our tribes in our region exceed 10,000 population and 

some exceed 200. So we have a wide range of the number of tribal 

members in our reservations within our ATNI borders. 

With these observations in mind, I’d like to talk briefly on seven 

points that we would like to talk about. One, expanding self-determination and self-governance opportunities. That is a key. When 

you have found that tribes have been given the resources, they can 

do the job almost better than anyone else. Many ATNI tribes seek 

to contribute to restore their resources so they can once again be 

contributors to their spiritual, physical, and economic health. 

We ask that the Federal Government actively pursue with us as 

our lead under the directives of the Indian Self-Determination Act, 

P.L. 93–638. This will include making the policy of self-determination a proactive element in the Congress and the Federal Government, not just a consequence of the tribe’s insistence. 

Two, renewable energy development and climate change. ATNI 

member tribes are very interested in energy development. It is very 

important that we be at the table when these things are discussed. 

Many of our reservations are impoverished and have unemployment rates, like I said, that are much higher than any other part 

of the country. ATNI member tribes are currently exploring wind, 

biomass, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric energy opportunities, 

among others. 

While some tribes have experience in these areas, most do not 

and seek help in building expertise and knowledge to get us to the 

point where we can diversify. To this end we need to obtain capacity building grants to allow our tribes to create the expertise to diversify away from a reliance on casino gaming, which would be 

critical to ensuring that these projects progress and become successful. 

In addition, climate change is a very important aspect to the 

tribes in the Northwest. We are seeing the affects of climate 

change in the oceans, in the rain, in the snowfall, and we are seeing that adversely affect our fish and wildlife and our culture. 

Three, streamlining the fee-to-trust process. That is key for 

tribes, as you know, as you Senators know, half of our reservations 

were lost from trust-to-fee during the Dawes Act to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. And so we are trying to reacquire tribal 

lands so we can become productive and make these lands productive, and that is very, very important to ATNI tribes. 

This includes breaking down unnecessary barriers and expenses 

that the BIA requires of tribes, especially to put our reservation 

lands into trust status. That should be a no-brainer. When you 

have an exterior boundary of a reservation and we buy an acre of 

land within that reservation, there should be no question. That 

should be able to be done immediately. 

Four, the enactment of the Carcieri fix to ensure that all federally recognized tribes have the opportunity to get land back into 

trust. I love preaching to the choir. You two know what needs to 

13 

be done on the Carcieri fix. You know what you’d like to do. It’s 

something that we need to work on continually. 

For example, the Sauk-Suiattle Tribe in our area is trying to get 

1.5 acres into trust for a housing development. Because of Carcieri, 

that is not happening because they’re rerecognized after 1934, and 

so we would continually ask that you do your best to try to ensure 

that a Carcieri fix is put in place this year. 

Five, trust reform. It’s an area where ATNI has been a national 

leader for several years. ATNI tribes have been working very hard 

to make sure that the United States’ trust responsibility will be 

and continually does do what it’s supposed to do for the tribes, not 

only in the Northwest but across the U.S. 

The Trust Reform Act of 2005 introduced as H.R. 4322 in the 

109th Congress was a bill that was worked on extensively by the 

ATNI tribes in our organization. Looking ahead we hope that the 

Committee will consider these views as it considers other bills and 

initiatives relating to administration of Indian trust assets. 

Six, federal and state taxation. This is very, very important, because as you know, Indian lands are not subject to federal taxes, 

and the property that is owned by tribes are not subject to taxes. 

For too long Indian tribes have been at a disadvantage in the 

area of taxation. I would like to give you one example. In Thurston 

County in southwestern Washington, the Chehalis Tribe has invested over $170 million in a hotel convention center and water 

park known as the Great Wolf Lodge, and Thurston County has 

taken upon themselves to file a lawsuit and say that the tribe must 

pay taxes on properties that are on their tribal lands that they own 

in trust, and the Courts have agreed and so we are asking that a 

legislative fix be implemented as soon as possible to make sure 

that these types of activities do not occur in the future where lands 

that are in trust are not taxed. That’s like Skagit County trying to 

tax a military base within our borders. It’s just not going to happen. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cladoosby, I want to ask you to summarize 

if you can so I can have time for the rest of the witnesses. 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Sure. No problem. 

Seven, I’m finally to my last point here, natural resources. Natural resources is and will always be an important part of the 

Northwest. We rely heavily on our natural resources. We rely on 

the fish, the game, the shellfish, everything that you see out there 

to sustain ourselves for our culture, and so it’s important that we 

continue to work on restoring and implementing policies that will 

make sure that our natural resources are always there now and 

seven generations in the future. 

Once again, thank you for giving me this opportunity, and if you 

have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them. Thank 

you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Cladoosby follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BRIAN CLADOOSBY, PRESIDENT, AFFILIATED TRIBES

OF NORTHWEST INDIANS

Good morning Chairman Dorgan and members of the Committee. My name is 

Brian Cladoosby , and my traditional name is Speepots. I am the President of the 

Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) and the Chairman of the Swinomish 

14 

Indian Tribe. ATNI appreciates the opportunity to testify on the economic and social 

issues affecting Indian tribes in the Northwest. 

Founded in 1953, ATNI represents 57 tribal governments from Oregon, Idaho, 

Washington, western Montana, Alaska, northern California, and Nevada. Today, I 

am proud to be able to highlight for the Committee some of the economic and social 

issues affecting Northwest Tribes. The Northwest Tribes are very diverse. The 

Northwest is home to Tribes with large reservations and natural resource based 

economies and others with very little, if any, land. Despite our ranging differences 

Northwest Tribes stand strong together under ATNI to face the challenges of ensuring our communities are healthy, safe and sustainable. 

First, I would like to share some thoughts. We, as Northwest Tribes, are learning 

more as we progress. We have learned that distributing income from casinos is not 

the answer. Indeed, just as would be imagined for any other community, free, windfall money is more likely to reduce motivation, destroy self-esteem, and aggravates 

the long endured and reinforced symptoms of poverty than it is to solve them. We 

have learned that job creation alone is not the solution. People accustomed to living 

outdoors, to whom hunting and fishing remain among the most valued possible 

human endeavors aren’t necessarily drawn to windowless, smoke filed rooms lit 

with flashing lights or corporate style offices. 

Gaming has enabled many Northwest tribes to provide basic health care, education, and housing. We address many of those by-products of poverty with 

childcare, provide for law and justice, care for the elders, and drug and alcohol programs. We provide these social services not only to ourselves, but in many of the 

remote communities that are our homes. In many cases, we are the only providers 

of these services and make them available to our neighbors. 

Increasingly, the Northwest Tribes have been leaders in assuming direct managing of our natural resources. According to Bureau of Indian Affairs statistics, the 

Northwest Tribes and their enterprises support 40,000 jobs and buy over a billion 

dollars a year in supplies and services, much of which supports our larger local communities. We deliver a full range of government services of a complexity unsurpassed in the U.S. except by the Federal Government. And we operate businesses 

of a size and scale on par with almost any private business. Yet we typically do so 

with the human resources of a small town. The largest Tribes in our region seldom 

exceed 10,000 in total population and smallest tribes go as low as 700 in population. 

With these observations in mind, below are some issues, concerns, and opportunities that ATNI sees with respect to economic and social issues for its membership. 

Expanding Self Determination and Self Governance opportunities is a key to the 

future of many ATNI Tribes. Many ATNI Tribes seek to continue to restore their 

resources so that they can once again be contributors to their spiritual, physical, 

and economic health. We ask that the Federal Government actively pursue with us 

our lead role under the directives of the Indian Self Determination Act (P.L. 93– 

638). This would include making the policy of self-determination a proactive element 

of the Congress and the Federal Government, not just a consequence of the Tribes’ 

insistence. 

Renewable Energy Development and Climate Change: ATNI member tribes are 

very interested in energy development because it is a key to economic development 

for many Northwest Tribes, many of which are impoverished and have unemployment rates that are much higher than other areas of the country. ATNI members 

tribes are exploring wind, biomass, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric energy opportunities, among others. While some Tribes have experience in those areas, most 

do not and seek help in building expertise and knowledge. To this end, the ability 

of Northwest Tribe to obtain capacity building grants to allow them to create the 

expertise to diversify away from a reliance on casino gaming will be critical to ensuring that these projects progress and become successful. 

In addition, several ATNI member Tribes, such as my own Tribe, the Swinomish 

Tribe, have climate change policies and are concerned about the effects of climate 

change in ocean, rain and snowfall, and changes in fish and wildlife, and in our culture. 

Streamlining the fee-to-trust process so lands reacquired by Tribes can become productive for them more quickly is also important to ATNI. This includes breaking 

down unnecessary barriers and expenses that the Bureau of Indian Affairs requires 

of Tribes to put even on-reservation land into trust status. 

The enactment of a Carcieri ‘‘fix’’ to ensure that all federally recognized Tribes can 

avail themselves of the opportunity to have land taken into trust for economic development or other purposes is a critical issue for ATNI. Although opponents have attempted to make this a gaming issue, the case negatively affects Northwest Tribes 

at the most fundamental levels. For example, the uncertainty caused by the decision 

has indefinitely delayed a fee-to-trust application submitted by the Sauk-Suiattle InVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
15 

dian Tribe for 1.5 acres for a housing development. A number of other Tribes in the 

Northwest are potentially affected by the decision. 

Trust reform is an area where ATNI has been a national leader for several years. 

ATNI’s commitment to this issue is grounded in maintaining the integrity of the 

United States’ trust responsibility that is, as you know, based upon the historical 

cession of millions of acres of ancestral lands by the tribes. In return for these lands, 

the United States government committed itself to protecting the tribes in the possession and occupancy of their remaining homelands. ATNI believes strongly that 

Congress should consider a comprehensive approach to trust management. ATNI 

and other tribal organizations spent significant time and energy in working with 

both this Committee in recent years on these issues, specifically developing Title III 

of the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005 (introduced as H.R. 4322 in the 109th Congress) and transitioning the Office of the Special Trustee back to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Looking ahead, we hope that the Committee will consider these views 

as it considers other bills and initiatives relating to administration of Indian trust 

assets. 

Federal and state taxation of Indian land and property is another area of concern 

and interest to ATNI and its member tribes. For too long, Indian tribes have been 

at a disadvantage in the area of taxation. For example, Thurston County, in southern Washington, is attempting to impose personal property taxes on permanent 

buildings on tribal trust land on the Chehalis Tribe’s Reservation. Under a joint 

venture, the Tribe and its minority-interest non-Indian business partner use the 

buildings to operate a $170-million hotel, convention center, and water park known 

as the Great Wolf Lodge. The Tribe has invested in upwards of $86 million of its 

own cash, credit and sweat equity in the Great Wolf Lodge project and project is 

a sterling example of the benefits of non-gaming economic development to tribal and 

surrounding communities. 

For more than 100 years, Indian lands and property have been tax exempt. Because there is no federal statute that expressly preempts property taxes in this context, however, the Chehalis Tribe has been forced to defend its rights through expensive and burdensome litigation. This problem is not confined to the Northwest. 

Renewable energy projects on Indian lands, which necessarily require non-Indian 

partners to be viable, have also been targeted by state and local governments in the 

Great Plains and the Southwest for personal property taxes. 

The Committee can help Tribes address these issues through legislative reforms 

that will bring more substantial private investment and in turn economic opportunity to Indian Country. In this regard, ATNI encourages the Committee, together 

with the Senate Committee on Finance, to explore opportunities to clarify that (1) 

Tribal majority-owned businesses should be treated like other Tribal businesses and 

not taxed locally; and (2) improvements to Indian Trust Land should be treated like 

the underlying real property for state and local tax purposes. Given the potential 

benefits of these clarifications for renewable energy development in Indian country, 

ATNI suggests that they would be candidates for inclusion in the energy package 

that the Senate is expected to consider next month. Unless Congress clarifies existing law in this manner, Tribes will continue to face obstacles in moving away from 

casinos and into green energy, hospitality, and countless other areas of non-gaming 

economic development. 

Housing is still far more substandard than for the rest of the country. An estimated 200,000 housing units are needed immediately in Indian Country and approximately 90,000 Native families are homeless or under-housed. Overcrowding on 

tribal lands is almost 15 percent, and 11 percent of Indian homes lack complete 

plumbing and kitchen facilities. Although Economic Development produces much 

needed jobs it is slower to improve the housing conditions of Native Americans. 

ATNI recognizes that without faster results to improving housing conditions tribes 

continue to maintain federal funding dependency. ATNI urges congress to maintain 

the levels of housing funding for budget year 2011. 

Natural Resources have always been at the center of our cultures for the Pacific 

Northwest Tribes, a fact no less true today than when many of our tribes signed 

agreements with the U.S. government. These resources are essential for our spiritual, economic and cultural survival as Indian people. The tribes of the Pacific 

Northwest depend economically on healthy salmon, wildlife, forests as well as on optimal water and air quality. Habitat destruction, pollution, unregulated water withdrawals, poor land-use planning, and many other environmental issues today 

threaten to make meaningless our reserved rights. ATNI asks for adequate and efficient funding of federal reserved obligations through tribal natural resources management programs, projects, and agreements. Flat funding levels and inflation have 

stripped us of buying power, leaving us with real funding equal to that we received 

30 years ago, despite the fact that our management responsibilities have grown exVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
16 

ponentially. Areas in critical need of funds are water resources management, hatcheries, habitat restoration, timber and wildlife management. Our reserved rights are 

dependent on healthy natural resources, which in turn depend on a healthy environment. Healthy environments lead to healthy communities and healthy economies. 

I appreciate the opportunity to provide this testimony before the Committee. At 

this time, I would be happy to answer any questions that the Committee may have. 

The CHAIRMAN. We thank you once again for your appearance before the Committee and appreciate your testimony. Next we’ll hear 

from the Honorable Chief Allan who is the Tribal Chairman of the 

Coeur d’Alene Tribe in Plummer, Idaho. Mr. Allan, you may proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES ALLAN, TRIBAL CHAIRMAN, 

COEUR D’ALENE TRIBE 

Mr. Allan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I’d like to 

thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Cantwell for taking the opportunity to let me testify here before you on issues that affect the 

Coeur d’Alene Tribe. I also want to commend you two on your efforts this past year for fighting the good fight for Indian people. I 

think, like you said, this past year it’s been a long time coming for 

Indian people. 

As I sat down last night and thought about what I was going to 

say today and think about what was to be the best use of time and 

not repeating what everything’s going to be said here today, I actually kind of got angry. I was thinking about all the testimonies that 

tribal leaders have done over the last 50 years to the Indian Affairs 

Committee, to various committees, fixes to what will help Indian 

people. And I got angry because it was an insult to Indian people, 

because top CEOs of companies don’t have to come and—you know, 

they have an idea, they have a business idea, they put it forward. 

And that’s what the Coeur d’Alene Tribe has done since my tenure 

as chairman over the last six years, we own businesses in Spokane, 

Washington that’s off the reservation. We own businesses in Coeur 

d’Alene which is off our reservation. We own a bunch of land that’s 

off our reservation because we have to for survival. We can’t sit 

around and wait for a Congressional fix on everything all the time. 

And so with that I want to get to just a couple things I really 

wanted to say today. The Supreme Court boldly stated if we’ve got 

something wrong here, we invite Congress to fix it. With all due 

respect to members of the Court, that’s what we want. We want 

Congress to fix it. 

And I want to just concentrate on just a couple cases. As set 

forth in U.S. v. Montana and Oliphant v. Suquamish Tribe have 

caused more confusion and erosion to the tribal sovereignty than 

possibly any two other cases. 

This is my opinion. 

The Montana case has diminished the Tribe’s ability to control 

their own destiny, and that’s sad, as tribes want to control their 

own destiny. We don’t want to sit back and have to wait and get 

answers. 

You know, this case, you know, unfavorable rulings regarding 

taxation, land use, regulation of hunting and fishing, so these 

things are important to tribes and actually all people. The Oliphant 

v. Suquamish Tribe has endangered literal lawless zones on some 

17 

reservations. And I know this recent Law and Order thing is going 

to help, but there’s some tribes that have checkerboard reservations like ourselves who it does help them. You know, we do have 

negotiated compacts with the counties for law enforcement, and we 

have done that. But I’m just saying that some of these issues will 

really help us. 

And like the Chairman and President of ATNI said—I wanted to 

just touch base a little bit on land in trust. I sat down with the 

BIA and asked them What’s the problem here? I know, for example, we pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to both our counties 

that lie within our reservation because of our tax bill, and I guess 

I just asked them point-blank If there is going to be a fix to the 

land in the trust or if there isn’t going to be a fix, let us know because I’m sure tired of wasting money on lawyers going over there 

all the time and knocking on the door and saying Are we going to 

get land in the trust? If not, be honest with us. That’s all the tribes 

are asking for is be honest with us. 

We are just like anybody else, just be honest with us. If something can’t get done, you know, it can’t get done, but let’s be honest 

about it. And that’s what I told the Secretary of the Interior and 

he smiled and he actually helped—right after that we got like 400 

acres put into trust that were sitting on a desk for a long time as 

just red bureaucratic tape. 

And that’s all I guess we’re saying, and with that, I don’t want 

to take much more of your time. We have submitted written testimony. Again, I thank you guys for all your hard work. Like he said, 

we’re preaching to the choir because we know—it’s actually sad 

that you’re going to be retiring and we are losing a Chairman like 

you that fights the good fight for Indian Country and you’re going 

to surely be missed, and with that I will turn the mic over to my 

colleague, Chairman Mike Finley. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Allan follows:] 

18 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES ALLAN, TRIBAL CHAIRMAN, COEUR D’ALENE

TRIBE


812a1.eps
19 


812a2.eps
20 


812a3.eps
21 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Allan, thank you very much. And next 

we’ll hear from the Honorable Michael Finley, Business Council 

Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation, 

Nespelem, Washington. 

STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL FINLEY, CHAIRMAN, 

CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION 

Mr. FINLEY. Chairman Dorgan, Senator Cantwell, it’s truly an 

honor to be here today. I too would like to thank the Puyallup 

Tribe for hosting us, wonderful venue here. They’re doing good 

things. It’s a good model to follow. I’ll try not to take up too much 

of your time today. 

As you stated, I am the Chairman of the Colville Confederated 

Tribes of Northeast Washington State. We’re proud of our reservation. It’s 1.4 million acres as Chairman Cladoosby mentioned earlier. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Allen, could you turn your microphone off? 

All right. I think that will fix it. 

Mr. FINLEY. I was wondering, I thought I had magic. 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. You do. 

Mr. FINLEY. Thank you. So we’re a natural resources rich tribe. 

You know, we’re bounded on the east with the Columbia River all 

the way down south and on the west, the Okanogan. So we are extremely rich with our natural resources. I want to thank you guys 

for all your work on the Indian Health Care Reauthorization as 

well as the Tribal Law and Order Act. Those are monumental Acts 


812a4.eps
22 

that are going to directly benefit not only the Indians in our state 

but beyond across the United States. 

But as you mentioned earlier, a lot’s been done this year, but 

more can be done. In my mind the next big ticket item is trust reform. Notwithstanding what happens with Cobell, I think trust reform is the next big one that we would like to see the Committee 

to address next. As I mentioned, being from the Colville Reservation, we are rich in natural resources. Historically, we’ve been a 

timber resources tribe. But with the downturn in the housing market, the housing starts being down, it’s had a direct impact on our 

economy at Colville. It’s been our cash cow for years. 

We’ve had to close two of our mills because of it, so not only have 

we lost jobs, the 250 jobs of mostly tribal members who are employed at mills, but it’s the subcontractors who supply the mills 

with the timber. And consequently, it’s also had an effect on stumpage dollars that we receive back that goes straight to the tribal revenues that provide the needed money to many of our essential services that we serve our people. So we are seeing a big strain on our 

services within our tribal organization. We are extremely complex. 

We offer a lot more services than a lot of other tribes don’t have 

or, you know, just don’t have the resources to support, and so that’s 

a big problem for us and so we’re looking at different ways where 

we can curtail that, but there’s no easy answer. We don’t have control over the national housing market. 

When that turns around, we might look at making improvement 

within our mills to get some of those reopened. We’re also looking 

at leasing them out because that’s how desperate the situation is. 

Renewable energy, we are also looking at that. We have a power 

project with the Washington State University on canola and different things within our boundaries that’s shown dramatic results, 

good results. We also have a cogeneration plant that we have been 

planning up to 40 megawatts. We are hoping to use the Tribal Forest Protection Act to maybe hopefully get help to feed the cogeneration plant from some of the contiguous federal properties that are 

on the northern boundary of the Colville Reservation. 

I’d also like to mention that we’re heavily involved and watching 

closely the ‘‘America’s Great Outdoors,’’ they’ve been having hearings across the nation on that. It’s going to do a lot of different 

things for tribes. It’s going to do a lot of things in general for just, 

you know, the treasured landscapes in general that are talked 

about. And underneath that initiative, but it’s going to allow tribes 

to do a lot of different things, either co-manage or get lands that 

otherwise wouldn’t be available to them. 

So without further ado I just want to thank you for allowing me 

this opportunity today and I’ll pass the mic on. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Finley follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL FINLEY, CHAIRMAN, CONFEDERATED TRIBES

OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION

Good morning Chairman Dorgan, Senator Cantwell, and members of the Committee. On behalf of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation (‘‘Colville 

Tribes’’ or the ‘‘Tribes’’), I would like to thank the Committee for convening this 

hearing and allowing me to testify. My name is Michael Finley and I am the Chairman of the Colville Tribes and am testifying today in that capacity. In addition, I 

also serve as the Chairman for the Intertribal Monitoring Association on Indian 

23 

Trust Funds, a national organization comprised of 65 federally recognized tribes 

from all regions of the country. 

Today, I am pleased to share the Colville Tribes’ ideas and experiences as the 

Committee considers its agenda for the remainder of the year and into the 112th 

Congress. As a rural, land-based Indian tribe, the economic and social issues affecting the Colville Tribes mirror those of similarly situated tribes in the Great Plains 

and elsewhere. 

Before I begin, I would first like to express my thanks to the Committee for its 

work in securing passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. The Colville 

Tribes was pleased to have been able to participate in two oversight hearings that 

the Committee held on law enforcement during this Congress and applauds the 

Committee for crafting legislation that addresses such a broad scope of public safety 

concerns in Indian country. This law will make an immediate, on-the-ground impact 

on the Colville Reservation and on the safety of the Colville Tribes’ citizens. 

Background on the Colville Tribes 

Although now considered a single Indian tribe, the Confederated Tribes of the 

Colville Reservation is, as the name states, a confederation of twelve aboriginal 

tribes and bands from all across eastern Washington State. The present day Colville 

Reservation is located in north-central Washington State and was established by 

Executive Order in 1872. At that time, the Colville Reservation consisted of all 

lands within the United States bounded by the Columbia and Okanogan Rivers, 

roughly three million acres. In 1891, the North Half of the 1872 Reservation was 

opened to the public domain. The North Half consists of approximately 1.5 million 

acres between the Canadian border and the northern boundary of the present day 

Reservation. The Colville tribal members exercise reserved hunting, fishing, and 

gathering rights on the North Half and the Colville Tribes maintains strong political 

and economic interests in this area. 

Today, the Colville Tribes has nearly 9,400 enrolled members, making it one of 

the largest Indian tribes in the Northwest. About half of the Tribes’ members live 

on or near the Colville Reservation. Between the tribal government and the Tribes’ 

enterprise division, the Colville Tribes collectively accounts for more than 1,700 

jobs—making it one of the largest employers in north central Washington. 

Impact of the National Economic Downturn on the Colville Tribes 

The Colville Reservation contains more than 660,000 acres of harvestable timber. 

Although the Colville Tribes and its enterprise divisions operate a diverse range of 

businesses, timber and wood products has been and remains the Tribes’ largest 

source of revenue for governmental programs and services. The Colville Tribes owns 

a traditional sawmill, Colville Indian Precision Pine (CIPP), and a plywood manufacturing facility, Colville Indian Power and Veneer (CIPV). CIPV is the only tribally owned and operated plywood plant in the U.S. 

The health of the Colville Tribes’ wood products industry is tied closely to the nation’s housing market. The severe downturn in new housing construction has impacted the Colville Tribes particularly hard and has weakened demand for wood 

products generally, which has resulted in lower prices and decreased sales. The depressed market conditions forced the Colville Tribes to make the extremely difficult 

decision to suspend production and close CIPV in January 2009, and then CIPP in 

November 2009, until market conditions improve. 

The closure of both mills has directly resulted in the loss of more than 350 jobs 

for an already economically depressed rural area, not including the loss of the secondary jobs that the facility supports, such as contract loggers and truck drivers. 

The shutdown has also put increased strain on the Tribes’ social services programs 

and personnel. These tribal government programs, most of which are funded by the 

Tribes’ stumpage revenue (in addition to third party grants), were already stretched 

thin with the inherently high unemployment rate on the Colville Reservation. Like 

state and local governments, the current state of the national economy has presented the Colville Tribes’ government with extremely difficult choices on how best 

to provide for its citizens. 

Although the condition of the housing and wood products market is an issue national in scope, this Committee nonetheless has the authority to press initiatives 

that will help the Colville Tribes and similarly situated tribes get through these difficult times and plan for the future. Most notably, the Native American Employment 

Act of 2010 (S. 3471), in addition to bolstering the Indian Guaranteed Loan Program, would also help the Colville Tribes by enabling it to reduce administrative 

costs in its delivery of social services and job training programs. Specifically, section 

5 of that bill would update Public Law 102–477, commonly known as the ‘‘477’’ proVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
24 

gram, and the Colville Tribes has estimated that it would be able to save approximately $500,000 annually if those provisions were to become law. 

The Colville Tribes encourages the Committee not only to continue to seek passage of S. 3471 this year, but also to continue to explore other initiatives in the next 

Congress that will increase the efficiency of tribes’ delivery of social services to their 

citizens. 

Trust Reform As Enhancing On-Reservation Economic Development 

As the Committee is aware, Northwest tribes have been leaders for the past several years in efforts to reform the manner in which the federal government administers tribal trust resources. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) has 

established a trust reform workgroup of tribal leaders and technical staff to comment and provide recommendations on initiatives that affect the trust relationship, 

and the Colville Tribes has been an active participant in these efforts. The ability 

of Indian tribes to enter into leases, have fee land taken in trust, and to otherwise 

expedite federal approval of transactions involving trust property is a critical component of enhancing on-reservation economic development. These issues are important 

not only to large land-based Indian tribes like the Colville Tribes, but also for tribes 

with smaller land bases in western Washington and other more populous areas. In 

this regard, the Colville Tribes applauds the Committee’s work on the HEARTH Act 

of 2010 (S. 3235), which would allow tribes on a voluntary basis to lease tribal trust 

land to third parties without the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ approval. 

Regardless of the outcome of the proposed settlement of the Cobell v. Salazar litigation, the Colville Tribes is hopeful that the Committee will explore broad scale 

forward-looking trust reform in preparation for the next Congress. With the enactment into law of the Tribal Law and Order Act and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act this year, it makes sense that trust reform should be the next bigticket item on the Committee’s agenda. 

Energy Development and Natural Resource Management on Indian Lands 

Renewable energy development has been of particular interest to the Colville 

Tribes as the Tribes seek new ways to utilize its land base to promote on-reservation economic development and to diversify its economy. Utilizing grants and technical assistance from both the Department of the Interior and the Department of 

Energy, the Colville Tribes is hoping to take advantage of the growth in the biofuels 

market. The Tribes is developing a cogeneration facility on the Colville Reservation 

that will utilize woody biomass from the Tribes’ forestry activities, both on-reservation and on adjacent federal lands. In this regard, the Indian Energy Parity Act of 

2010 contains several provisions that will greatly assist this and other projects that 

the Colville Tribes is pursuing. 

Closely related to energy development is natural resource management, another 

issue of great interest to the Colville Tribes and other Northwest tribes. The Colville 

Tribes has been fortunate to have been able to work with the Department of the 

Interior in its implementation of ‘‘America’s Great Outdoors,’’ an Administration initiative focused on conservation and acquisition of federal land. The Department intends for this initiative to be a mechanism for tribes to reacquire fee land into trust 

and manage federal lands to which tribes have historical or cultural connections. 

One of the barriers to implementing this initiative, however, has been the inability 

of Indian tribes to access the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which would be 

used to fund these acquisitions. This initiative holds great potential to bolster tribal 

economies nationwide and the Colville Tribes urges the Committee to examine ways 

to assist the Department in implementing it as we look ahead to 2011. 

The Colville Tribes appreciates the Committee convening this hearing and appreciates its consideration of these and other issues identified by Northwest tribes. We 

look forward to working with the Committee during the remainder of this year and 

in the 112th Congress. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Finley, thank you very much. Next we will 

hear from the Honorable Leo Stewart who is the Vice Chairman of 

the Board of Trustees of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 

Indian Reservation, and he’s from Pendleton, Oregon. Thanks for 

joining us. You may proceed. 

25 

STATEMENT OF HON. LEO STEWART, VICE CHAIRMAN, BOARD 

OF TRUSTEES, CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE UMATILLA 

INDIAN RESERVATION 

Mr. STEWART. Good morning. Thank you for having this opportunity to come forward and speak on our issues. 

Water is real crucial to the Indian people and to the communities. And it’s the most social and economic issues we face at 

home. It’s essential to our culture and to our efforts to develop a 

tribal economy for our people and our future. Our reservations 

overappropriated Umatilla River Basin. We have prioritized water 

rights settled in the Umatilla Basins, and in neighboring Walla 

Walla basins we’re working with partners in the federal, state, and 

the community to establish irrigation and with irrigation districts. 

And each basin is to provide for water rights negotiation which we 

hope to commence next year. 

There’s a need for more resources to facilitate tribal water rights 

settlements and to fund the implementation of these settlements 

that had been approved by Congress. The Federal Government has 

an obligation to fund these settlements because as we experienced 

at Umatilla, the Federal Government failed to protect the senior 

water rights reserved under our treaties, and in some cases it was 

Federal Government that constructed water projects that served 

non-Indian communities which ignored tribal rights and needs. 

Since I’ve been talking about water, the implication and operation of the river treaty between the Canadian and the United 

States efforts arising interest, natural resources of the Umatilla 

Tribe and many other tribes, that treaty as entered into by the 

United States and Canada in 1961 are proposed for flood control 

and hydroelectric power generation only and it has no set end date. 

Though it can be terminated in 2024, and then at least has a tenyear notice on it. Therefore, decisions need to be made before 2014 

to provide the best opportunity to improve the treaty. 

Fifteen tribes in the Columbia basin have been working together 

for over a year to consider the effects of the treaty on our interest. 

We are seeking assurance that the United States government will 

address tribal interests when this treaty is amended. 

The two goals that the Columbia Treaty has crossed, first the 

tribal representation on the Columbia River review team and on 

the United States negotiating team if the treaty is amended. And 

the management of the Columbia River Basin is to achieve ecosystem functions coequal with the flood control and power production, including measures that restore and preserve tribal resources 

and cultures. 

And Senator Cantwell, the next two issues which can aid tribal 

economic development need to be addressed by the Senate Finance 

Committee. Tribal governments currently have limited authority to 

issue tax exempt bonds a basic economic development tool available 

to state and local governments. The Umatilla Tribe supports 

amending the Indian Tax Status Act so that the tribal governments 

can have the same authority and to issue tax exempt bonds as do 

the state and local governments. 

Without that authority tribal governments are placed at a disadvantage with respect to economic and development opportunities 

to comparison of state and tribal governments. Employment opporVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
26 

tunities for tribal members are really essential here to improve the 

economic and social lives of our communities. 

To address the education needs for our youth the tribal government chartered the Nixyaawii School on our reservation for the Oregon State 16R School District and due to the lack of state funding, 

we have provided annual subsidies to support the school in order 

to improve the quality of education offered at Nixyaawii. There is 

a great need for additional financial support. 

If Indian tribes could be included within the definition of local 

education agencies under 6 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, tribes would be able to apply for more federal funding, 

education grant funding to improve tribal educational facilities and 

programs. 

So the Umatilla tribes strongly encourages the Senate to approve 

the Cobell settlement and we appreciate where it’s at and continue 

to go forward on that. 

We finally applaud the passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act. 

We thank the Committee for their effort to field this bill to become 

law, and I want to thank you Senators for your attention for these 

important issues that was all brought up, and especially a lot of 

the social issues that was brought to the table here by the other 

tribal leaders that are important across Indian Country and we appreciate that. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Stewart follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. LEO STEWART, VICE CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF

TRUSTEES, CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE UMATILLA INDIAN RESERVATION

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (‘‘Confederated 

Tribes’’) appreciates the opportunity to provide the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs with written testimony regarding its priorities on economic development and 

social issues. While the issues listed below are high priorities for the Confederated 

Tribes, please do not view this as an exhaustive list. Due to the broad subject matter involved, and the short amount of time afforded for developing written testimony, the Confederated Tribes requests the opportunity to supplement this written 

testimony to further expound upon the identified issues and identify further priority 

issues in subsequent discussions with tribal staff and policy bodies. 

Following is a list of seven economic development and social issues that are of 

high priority to the Confederated Tribes: 

1. Tribal Water Rights Settlements. There is an existing need for more resources 

to facilitate tribal water rights settlements and to fund the implementation of 

those settlements. The Confederated Tribes have learned from experience that 

substantially more resources are necessary to fund the required studies to quantify and negotiate a settlement of its reserved water rights. Additionally, as a 

‘‘Palmer-Stevens’’ treaty tribe with water rights in many river basins, the Confederated Tribes and the Department of Interior have found unworkable the department’s policy that a tribe must bring a single comprehensive settlement to 

the table. Lastly, with a number of tribal water rights settlements pending before Congress and awaiting either authorization or funding, it is clear the Committee needs to demonstrate the importance of completing these settlements efficiently and expeditiously so that settlements in negotiation—such as that of 

the Confederated Tribes—are not delayed further. The Confederated Tribes support the Committee’s proposal to hold field and oversight hearings specifically 

on the status and experience of a tribes that provide working examples of tribes 

with implemented settlement, tribes with authorized but not completed settlement, and tribes in the process of negotiating a settlement. These case studies 

would help demonstrate the need for policy changes necessary to facilitate settlements, and increase the understanding of the import of Indian Water Rights 

Settlements to regional and national economic development and achieving national water supply certainty. 

27 

2. Tribal Tax Exempt Bond Authority. Tribal governments currently do not have 

the ability to issue tax exempt bonds, a basic economic development tool available to state and local governments. The Confederated Tribes supports amending the Indian Tax Status Act to make it clear that tribal governments have 

the same authority to issue tax exempt bonds as do state and local governments. This would permit tribes to finance facilities like golf courses, RV parks 

and campgrounds and public utilities using tax exempt financing as do state 

and local governments. Without the authority to issue tax exempt bonds, tribal 

governments are placed at a disadvantage with respect to economic development opportunities in comparison to state and local governments. 

3. Tax Credits. Expanding on-reservation employment opportunities for tribal 

members is absolutely essential to improving their economic and social life. Attracting employers to the Umatilla Indian Reservation is critical to providing 

increased employment opportunities. As a means of inducing employers to locate on-reservation, the Confederated Tribes urges multi-year Congressional extension or renewal of both the Accelerated Depreciation Expense and the Indian 

Employment Tax Credit. Multi-year extension would provide private investors 

the necessary planning and negotiating time to utilize these credits in our shovel ready light industrial park. Without the multi-year extension investors cannot figure these incentives into any proposed projects. 

4. Tribes Designated as Local Education Agency. The Confederated Tribes has 

chartered the Nixyaawii Community School on its Reservation with the Oregon 

State 16R School District. Due to a lack of state funding, the Confederated 

Tribes has provided annual subsidies to support the school. In order to improve 

the quality of education offered at Nixyaawii, there is a need for additional financial support. If Indian tribes could be included within the definition of Local 

Education Agencies under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, tribes 

would have access to apply for more federal education grant funding to improve 

tribal educational facilities and programs. 

5. Columbia River Treaty. The Confederated Tribes and 14 other tribes in the 

Columbia River Basin have met many times over that the past year to discuss 

common issues of concern and goals with respect to this Treaty between the 

U.S. and Canada, which formally operates only for purposes of flood control and 

power generation. This narrow focus has negatively impacted tribal resources 

and economies. The 15 tribes are seeking formal representation and participation on the Review Team that is conducting a multi-year review to develop options to provide the State Department with respect to terminating, renegotiating or continuing the Treaty, decisions the State Department must make prior 

to 2014. The goal is achieve consideration of ecosystem function on a par with 

flood control and power generation. 

6. Cobell Settlement. The Confederated Tribes strongly encourages the Senate 

to approve the Cobell settlement (the House of Representatives has already approved it). If approved, the settlement would not only compensate individual Indians for past mismanagement of their Individual Indian Money accounts, but 

would also provide 2 billion dollars over a 10-year period towards the purchase 

of fractionated interests in allotted trust lands on Indian reservations. Those interests would be transferred to tribal ownership, facilitating consolidation of 

ownership on allotments and thus improving the ability of tribal governments 

to manage and use of reservation lands. 

7. Law and Order. The Confederated Tribes closely monitored and provided testimony regarding the recently enacted Tribal Law and Order Act. Effective law 

and order is critical to social life on the Umatilla Indian Reservation as well 

as economic development. Because of the complex rules governing criminal jurisdiction for on-reservation crime, and given the large non-Indian population 

living within the checkerboarded Umatilla Indian Reservation, the enactment 

of the Law and Order Act represents a critical step toward improving federal 

and tribal prosecution of persons engaged in criminal activity on the reservation. 

The Confederated Tribes reiterates that these seven issues are not intended to 

represent the full breadth of its priorities concerning economic development and social issues. We would appreciate the opportunity to follow up with additional written testimony for the Committee’s consideration. Again, the Confederated Tribes appreciates this opportunity to provide input to the Committee regarding these important issues. 

28 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Stewart, thank you very much for being 

here. And finally we will hear from the Honorable Kathleen Tom, 

the Tribal Council Secretary to the Confederated Tribes of the 

Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. We appreciate your being here 

and you may proceed. 

Ms. TOM. That was close. It’s ‘‘Grand Ronde.’’ 

The CHAIRMAN. Grand Ronde. 

Ms. TOM. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. I’ve got it. Next time, as Mr. Cladoosby 

knows, I never make the same mistake twice. 

STATEMENT OF HON. KATHLEEN TOM, TRIBAL COUNCIL 

SECRETARY, CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE GRAND 

RONDE COMMUNITY OF OREGON 

Ms. TOM. Okay. Good morning, Senator Dorgan and Senator 

Cantwell and the Committee. My name is Kathleen Tom. I’m one 

of the Tribal Council Members of the Confederated Tribes of Grand 

Ronde. I’m one of the officers. I hold the secretary position. 

I’m proud to be here today representing my tribe and my 5,000 

tribal members. Sometimes they think that council members sit 

around and do nothing, but when they hear the things and when 

we report back to them some of the things that are going on here 

and in our state and with our other governments, it’s like, oh, the 

light comes on that, yes, we really do do work. 

My testimony today is in part about the struggles of the Grand 

Ronde, some of the things that have happened to the Grand Ronde 

people. The Confederated Tribes have been in the Northwest area 

for many, many thousands of years, and during the treaty-making 

era we had seven ratified treaties; I won’t go over them, they’re in 

my written report. 

Our reservation lands were abundant. We had natural resources, 

we had timber, we had water, we had fish and wildlife and we had 

plants and food, and it was very abundant. And through the treaties our lands were ceded to the Federal Government, and so our 

tribe feels like we’ve prepaid taxes by our lands and we’ve prepaid 

our health care by our lands and all of our resources. 

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is pleased to see 

Congress’s action in specifically directing money to Indian Country. 

I think Mr. Echohawk said a beautiful thing that finally tribes are 

people of prayer and finally our prayers are being answered by the 

Law and Order Act, by the Indian Health Care Act and by having 

Indian people in positions that really listen to Indian people. 

Those government-to-government relationships and those consultations with Indian tribes is first times, and it’s wonderful, and 

so I think that our prayers are finally being answered not only 

here at home but also in Washington, D.C. with the leaders there. 

So I thank you for that. 

We talk about the recession here in the United States, but tribes 

have been in recession for decades. We’ve lived recession for decades. And I think you brought that up, Senator, about tribes going 

without health care, not being fully funded, not having enough 

money appropriations and to help our people, so I thank you for 

those. I believe that our prayers are being answered. 

29 

Economic development requires good roads, good schools and 

good phone systems and good health care. And there’s been a 30- 

year gap in that history and we are starting at ground zero. The 

effort to build and sustain our community has been a monumental 

challenge and significantly more complex than faced by a mature 

establishment municipality with a continuous history of development. 

However, we continue to advance our mission to improve the 

quality of life for our tribal members. We do have housing and we 

do have health care that the tribe pays for, and we do have education dollars and we are very thankful our prayers have been answered. 

Since restoration in 1984 the Tribe has had this small pocket of 

time to get back on our feet, build our infrastructures and make 

sure that we have those dollars for education and housing and 

health care, and we’re blessed by that. We really are a blessed 

tribe. 

We’ve invested over $100 million to date towards that effort, and 

however, the ultimate objective requires additional investment and 

we’re hoping that the government does help us with those additional dollars to continue that effort. 

I request the Committee and Congress to fulfill their treaty obligations of this nation by appropriating more economic dollars to develop in Indian Country in the 2011 budget, and I think I was listening to the news and there was some good news from the President that he was going to do that. 

With the land base of almost 12,000 acres and without adequate 

federal funding, Grand Ronde has relied on its on-reservation casino to be able to do the things that I just spoke of. We do oppose 

the efforts of some tribes locating near our ancestral homelands. 

We oppose off-reservation gaming, and we believe that this is 

wrong. Such moves outside of ancestral lands to build casinos can 

compromise the sovereignty and culture of other tribes which have 

a genuine connection to the land. 

And in a memo dated June 18th by Secretary Salazar I understand that the department currently has a two-part application 

under review, and we would like to recommend that you undertake 

a thorough study of these issues, review the guidance, the current 

guidance and regulatory standards to guide the Department’s decision-making when they decide that two-part application. 

During this review we would like the office to engage in government-to-government consultation consistent with the policy of this 

administration to obtain from Indian tribes. I realize that engaging 

in this exercise in connection with the application of the two-part 

test may cause some delay, but given the Department’s discretion 

in this area, we believe it’s appropriate. 

We ask the Committee to ensure deliberations between government-to-government consultation occur, that the Bureau makes determinations on off-reservation proposals such as other tribes 

building casinos off their reservation. 

Finally, the IRS has taken the position with our tribe that tribal 

members serving on our boards and committees have to pay taxes. 

We have those boards and committees delegated to do a lot of our 

culture or health—the committees that sit and are the eyes of the 

30 

tribal membership, and the IRS is asking them to pay taxes on a 

small stipend that’s for travel and their time on those committees. 

So we ask that you take a look at the IRS and they shouldn’t have 

to pay those. And again, I will say that the tribes have prepaid 

their taxes with our land and our resources. 

And I want to thank the Committee for coming here today. Like 

I said, I think our prayers are being answered in Indian Country, 

and finally our prayers are being heard in Washington, D.C. and 

I think we’re moving in a wonderful direction. And I’m sorry to 

hear, Senator Dorgan, that you’re not going to be with us, and my 

tribe wants to send you their best wishes in whatever you choose 

to do and thank you, Committee, for hearing me today. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Tom follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. KATHLEEN TOM, TRIBAL COUNCIL SECRETARY, 

CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE GRAND RONDE COMMUNITY OF OREGON

My name is Kathleen Tom. I am the Tribal Council Secretary of the Confederated 

Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. I am proud to be here today representing over 5,000 Tribal members. 

My testimony today is shaped in part by a life of service to my Tribe. Four generations of my family have served on Tribal Council. My father served on Tribal 

Council for eight years. Before being elected to Tribal Council, I was a Tribal employee for thirteen years. I am now in my second three-year term on Tribal Council. 

The peoples of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde have lived in western Oregon for thousands of years. During the treaty-making era, our Tribes entered into 

seven ratified treaties with the federal government. Those treaties were the 1855 

Treaty with the Kalapuya, two treaties signed in 1853 and 1854 with the Rogue 

River, an 1854 treaty with the Umpqua and Kalapuya, an 1853 treaty with the 

Umpqua-Cow Creek Band, an 1854 treaty with the Chasta, and an 1855 treaty with 

the Molalla. Vast territory of western Oregon was ceded through the treaty-making 

process with our people being driven to the Coast Reservation and the Grand Ronde 

Reservation. Our reservation lands were desirable to settlers and, consequently, our 

lands were significantly diminished through various land acts. In 1954, the Western 

Oregon Termination Act took all of our land, without compensation, and severed our 

ties with the federal government. For almost thirty years we were landless, invisible 

Indian people in our territory, but we rejoice today because this great injustice was 

overturned through the Grand Ronde Restoration Act of 1983. 

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde was pleased to see Congressional action 

to specifically direct money to Indian Country in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. I must, however, add that the recession the nation is now 

experiencing has long been the norm for Indian Country—in fact, Indian Country 

suffers from much higher rates of unemployment and poverty than the rest of the 

nation. Economic development is critical for Indian Country and tribal governments 

know this better than anyone. But economic development requires good roads, good 

schools, good phone systems, and good health care among other things. Termination 

for Grand Ronde resulted in a thirty-year gap in our history and suspension in community and infrastructure development. Starting from ground zero, the effort to 

build and sustain our community has been a monumental challenge, significantly 

more complex than one faced by a mature, established municipality with a continuous history of development. However, we continue to advance our mission to improve the quality of life for our Tribal members. 

Since restoration, the Tribe has worked diligently to develop the foundation necessary to sustain a viable community. We have invested in excess of one hundred 

million dollars to date toward this effort. However, to accomplish our ultimate objective requires an additional investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in areas 

such as land acquisition, physical infrastructure, government institutional systems, 

support services, and other resources which promote a sustainable community and 

provide a reasonable opportunity for our people to realize social and economic stability and progress. 

I request the Committee help Congress fulfill the treaty obligations of this nation 

by appropriating more economic development funds for Indian Country in the 2011 

budget and any future stimulus package. 

31 

With a land base today of just 12,335 acres, and without adequate federal funds, 

Grand Ronde has relied on its on-reservation gaming facility to support critically 

needed government programs and provide jobs for its members. We oppose efforts 

of some tribes to locate new casinos off their reservation lands and outside their traditional homelands. Unfortunately, the desire for off-reservation casinos has led 

some tribes to claim territorial rights outside their traditional homelands so they 

can build casinos in more marketable locations. This is wrong. Such moves outside 

ancestral lands to build casinos can compromise the sovereignty and culture of other 

tribes which have a genuine connection to the land in question. 

In a memo dated June 18, 2010, Secretary Salazar stated: 

‘‘I understand the Department currently has nine ‘‘two-part’’ applications under 

review. For these, I recommend that you undertake a thorough study of these 

issues and review current guidance and regulatory standards to guide the Department’s decision-making in this important area. During this review, your office should engage in government-to-government consultations consistent with 

the policy of this administration to obtain input from Indian tribes. I realize 

that engaging in this exercise in connection with the application of the two-part 

test may cause some delay, but given the Department’s discretion in this area, 

it is appropriate that we take the necessary time to identify and adopt principled and transparent criteria regarding such gaming determinations. Moreover, deliberate government-to-government consultations will lead us to the implementation of a sound policy in this area.’’ 

We ask the Committee to help ensure that this ‘‘deliberate government-to-government consultation’’ occur before the Bureau makes determinations on off-reservation 

proposals, such as the Warm Springs’ proposed off-reservation casino in the Columbia River Gorge. 

Finally, the IRS has taken the position with our Tribe that Tribal members serving on boards and advisory committees are employees for tax purposes. Our members are not performing services in the capacity of employees; instead, they are serving their Tribe on matters of community interest and concern. Consistent with our 

culture, such members receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket costs and a small 

stipend to compensate for their time and travel away from their homes and families. 

We request the Committee, in setting its agenda for 2011, hold a hearing on the 

IRS’s relationship to Indian Country and attempts to impose additional taxes on 

Tribes and Tribal members. 

I want to thank the Committee for holding this oversight hearing and inviting the 

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to testify. Senator Dorgan—on behalf of the 

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and Indian Country, I would like to thank you 

for your leadership as the Chairman of the Committee. We appreciate your commitment and tireless attention to the needs of Indian Country. You will be missed. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much for your testimony. 

Let me just since several of you remarked that I’m not seeking reelection, let me just observe that I have served 30 years in the U.S. 

Congress and it has been a great gift to be able to do that and a 

remarkable privilege, and I’m not leaving for any other purpose 

other than I think there are other things I wish to do in life. 

But the opportunity to serve, and particularly the opportunity to 

work on these issues with my colleagues, has been a really great 

gift for me. And this work will continue, as you know. The work 

carries on. That’s one of the reasons Senator Cantwell is here 

today. I mean, she’s a very active member of this Committee and 

we’ve got a lot of people that will continue to make sure we address 

these issues. 

I’m struck by how many different issues you have raised today, 

all of them on our agenda. The Carcieri fix just as an example or 

land into trust and leasing, bonding authority, all of these issues 

are issues we talk a lot about, and I have some questions. Before 

I ask questions, let me call on my colleague, Senator Cantwell, for 

questions. And as I do that, let me thank all of the witnesses for 

your testimony. 

Senator Cantwell? 

32 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you, Senator Dorgan. And you’re 

right. There’s a lot of different things that we could ask our panelists about, but we are in tough economic times in our country and 

in the Pacific Northwest, so I’m particularly interested in your 

thoughts on economic development. 

Chairman Finley and Chairman Allan, you both mentioned strategies that you are pursuing. I know, Chairman Cladoosby, you see 

probably in your leadership role this as well. But you both mentioned economic development besides gaming. 

Chairman Allan, you mentioned strategies affecting small business, so I wondered if you could elaborate more on what you 

thought the opportunities were for coordination on small business, 

and then Chairman Finley, if you could talk about energy policy. 

We have legislation before the Senate on an energy bill that would 

allow for some demonstration projects. I think it’s your bill, Senator Dorgan. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. 

Senator CANTWELL. And allowing for streamlined processes and 

working with Interior. So I’m interested in your thoughts about 

how that could help improve the economic conditions in the northeast region of our state if that legislation was passed or other ideas 

which would help Indian Country proceed more quickly on these 

ideas of renewable energy because it seems like you’re very big 

players in what could happen there. 

Mr. ALLAN. Thank you, Senator Cantwell. Twofold for us, one is 

one of the companies that we have is an 8(a) company. We secured 

a $400 million contract with the Army to make these big fill bladders that we send out to Iraq. And our members are really, truly 

proud of that. They build these things right on the reservation. 

And we’re being attacked on the 8(a) program, tribes as a whole. 

And that is something that we would really like looked at. 

Our brother tribes in Alaska seem to get a lot of the press and 

when they do have hearings, they get a lot of the slots and that’s 

something we would like a fair shake at. 

The CHAIRMAN. When you say you’re being attacked on the 8(a), 

if I might just ask a question—— 

Senator CANTWELL. Yes, go ahead. 

The CHAIRMAN. What does that mean? Describe that. 

Mr. ALLAN. By Congress. Actually there’s a move in Congress to 

do away with the 8(a) program. 

The CHAIRMAN. I understand that. I thought there was something else going on. 

Mr. ALLAN. No, no, just that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Okay. 

Mr. ALLAN. So that’s one thing. The other thing is we have a couple businesses in Spokane, and just from our observations, I think 

the State of Washington loses a lot of business to Idaho because of 

the high tax rates that we have to pay in Washington State, and 

so that’s something that would be helpful not only to us, but any 

small business owner in the Washington market. 

A lot of businesses want to move across state lines because they 

had cheaper—every tax available, so I think that might be something that we would like to look at. 

33 

So like I said, we are very blessed to have a gaming facility, but 

I also know that we don’t want to put our eggs in one basket, so 

we try to expand our portfolio with other things and sometimes we 

pay the tax because, you know, we want to expand the portfolio 

just like any other company would do. 

Senator CANTWELL. Do you have a specific goal in mind on how 

much you would like to diversify that portfolio from a revenue perspective? 

Mr. ALLAN. For us we would like another probably 35, 40 percent 

coming in from these other sources, and I think we’re on the right 

track, you know. I don’t want to say too much because then we 

have everybody trying to sell us snake oil, but you know, we want 

to take a look at everything that’s legit and see if we can make it 

work. 

Senator CANTWELL. And I’m just curious, I mean that’s interesting that that’s your thought that that would be your concern. 

I’m just asking for more of a business perspective. Do you look at 

that as a way to insulate the tribe by not having an overdependence on gaming, or how do you look at that from a business investment? 

Mr. ALLAN. Well, like I say, we respect everybody and every 

tribe, you know, they have their own way of dealing, but this is the 

way we look at it. We look at it as also we have to look where we 

come from. We come from the state of Idaho which is probably one 

of the most conservative states in the union. I mean, they are pretty conservative, so we’ve done a really good job, the leaders before 

me have done a really good job of preserving gaming in Idaho, but 

you just never know. You never know when something’s going to 

happen and so we don’t want to become too overdependent on gaming. 

Like I said, we are very blessed right now with that, and with 

this economy we are still very blessed that we are right in the middle of a big expansion of our gaming facility, that our numbers are 

slightly down. So we want to keep moving forward and we take 

that money and we invest into other companies, other businesses. 

And we have taken on other partners, nonnative partners with our 

companies too because we see strength in numbers, and they actually help us when we go to D.C. and they lobby, it’s kind of nice 

to have a regular business owner, a nonnative looking at these 

folks across the aisle and say Hey, you know, this is affecting us 

just as much as it is tribal governments. 

Senator CANTWELL. Well, I know that a lot of Indian Country is 

also making investments from gaming to the human infrastructure, 

basically the education level of the tribal community which is also 

an investment, because you never know who’s going to create the 

next thing that comes out of your individual enrollment as well, so 

I think that’s a very positive investment. 

Chairman Finley, could you comment about your economic diversification strategy and what else, if that energy bill is something 

that’s of interest to you or—— 

Mr. FINLEY. Yes, it definitely is. We’ve been watching it fairly 

closely. We are aware of the four pilot projects that are mentioned 

therein and we’re hoping to be one of them because we’re uniquely 

situated where I think we would be able to show that we would be 

34 

a good pilot project for that purpose, and you know, that’s one of 

the options we’re looking at, specifically for our cogeneration. 

With the downturn in the market that I mentioned to you earlier, we realized we needed to diversify because we had relied so 

heavily for so many years on our timber as our revenues, and we 

do have casinos, but we are off the beaten path, everybody knows 

that, we’re out of the way, so we haven’t really invested in our casino properties either, but we found that investing more in one 

more recently we’ve seen significant returns and so we’re going to 

do that, but we realize just gaming and timber isn’t enough and 

that’s why we’ve turned to energy, biodiesels, and this cogeneration 

plant. 

This pilot project that I alluded to earlier with WSU, there’s four 

phases to it. They’ve completed one phase of it but they’re out of 

money. And so we’re faced with either funding it through the tribe, 

for it to continue, so we have an overall plan on how we’re going 

to approach canola and biodiesels within the boundaries of our reservation because we have so much there to offer as far as agricultural land along the river bottoms near the Okanogan and Columbia Rivers. 

And so with that comes many jobs because there’s a lot of labor 

involved in doing that work. And you know, having unemployment 

of upwards of 53 to 56 percent on the reservation since 2004 which 

certainly has escalated with the closing of our mills, our people are 

hurting right now. They need the work. They want to work. 

And so more recently we’re able to put some of our timber sales 

out to the market, but it didn’t come without a degree of difficulty 

in getting those out. But with the timber markets still being down, 

we’re seeing low returns on that, but it’s putting our people back 

to work which is most important to us. 

So we are looking at other areas. And I think that certainly the 

legislation that’s being championed by Senator Dorgan, you know, 

we are excited about it. We are hoping to see that come to fruition. 

So I hope that answers your question. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. I wanted to turn it back to the 

Chairman to ask his questions, but is there anything that you 

wanted to add, Chairman Cladoosby, or anyone else, on the panel 

about economic development strategies? 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Well, I think it’s important to understand that 

tribes want to create economic development, especially on the reservations. As you heard, 50-plus percent unemployment—it’s unacceptable from a leader’s standpoint. And when we have situations 

where we sometimes need to attract partners with us that we 

sometimes do not have the capital, and Chehalis I used as a good 

example where they attracted a partner, they created a model business, they’re creating jobs, probably majority non-Indians at this 

point, but we need to make sure that the rules are in place where 

we attract investment in Indian Country and we are not penalized 

for doing that. And so that is very key for economic development 

in Indian Country that a county cannot go to a judge and say They 

owe us taxes on their property from an investment that they’ve created where they’re the majority interest owner. So we want to create economic development, but there’s things that need to be 

changed to ensure that economic development can occur on Indian 

35 

reservations when we invest $180 million that the Chehalis tribe 

has. That’s just one example. 

Senator CANTWELL. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Cantwell. Which 

of you have now felt the effects of the Carcieri decision? In other 

words, are there tribes here that have now the issue of land that’s 

been taken into trust in question because of the Carcieri decision? 

Anyone? 

Mr. HARJU. Don’t have land in the trust. 

The CHAIRMAN. What’s that? 

Mr. HARJU. We don’t have land in trust because of the Carcieri 

decision. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. So it’s been delayed because of the decision. 

We understand that we need to fix this and we’re trying very 

hard. We’ve gotten some pushback by some who believe this is a 

decision with respect to gaming. It is not. The gaming issues, 

whether some tribe in some state can game, that’s between the 

governor and the determination of a compact in the state with the 

tribe. 

We have to fix this because we’re going to have a lot of land that 

is in trust that’s now in question. We’ll have a lot of other land 

that is supposed to be taken into trust that will be delayed now. 

So we’re working very hard to try to fix this. 

Ms. Tom, you talked about the Internal Revenue Service issue. 

I’m just curious; has the IRS consulted with the Tribe at all on 

these issues? Has there been consultations or just the IRS says, 

‘‘Here’s the way the world works’’ ? 

Ms. TOM. The second part is the way it was. It’s not free to go 

up against the IRS. We’ve had to pay special attorneys that are 

knowledgeable in IRS issues and it’s cost us a fortune. No, there 

hasn’t been, to answer your question, Senator Dorgan, there hasn’t 

been any consultation. 

It’s gotten up into the millions, and so we do need help in that 

area with the IRS, and so if there’s anything that you guys could 

do, that would be great. The things that they’re trying to tax us 

on is, like I said, those stipends—they are actually thinking that 

our committee members that come there once a month, travel 

maybe 50 miles, sit there for 2 hours, make $9 an hour, that they 

are employees and they have to pay taxes which is crazy. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. We’ll look into that. I wish these agencies would have consultations because I think the issue of sovereignty is very important. Senator Cantwell and I especially understand the sovereignty issues, and I think consultation is very 

important. 

Ms. TOM. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Chairman Dillon, the issue of leasing I expect is 

very important because you have port facilities here and so we’re 

working very hard to try to have opportunities with much greater 

capability for the tribes to make their judgments and also 99-year 

leases. Is your tribe seeing restrictions in this area that have been 

unhelpful to your economic development? 

Mr. DILLON. I got a gentleman sitting right next to me that can 

answer that. 

36 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. 

Mr. DILLON. He’s our director of Marine View Ventures and that 

is part of our port development and he’s the head of the—— 

The CHAIRMAN. What’s his name? 

Mr. DILLON. Chad Wright. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Mr. Wright? 

Mr. WRIGHT. If I may, our leasing legislation is really a social 

and an economic issue. It’s a social issue in the sense that we’re 

a sovereign nation and we’re not given the right to make our own 

decisions on what we want to do with our land, and it’s hurtful to 

us to not be able to make decisions that we’re prepared and qualified to make on our own. And to see my cousins to the north at 

Tulalip have that privilege and us to not have that privilege is 

hurtful. So from a social standpoint we’re hurt by that inability to 

make those decisions. 

From an economic standpoint, not having the ability to make decisions in a timely manner do not allow us to attract businesses 

that work at the speed of business. The uncertainty of timing, the 

uncertainty of approval of leases that may have 50-year time horizons or even longer if legislation is passed, really doesn’t put us in 

position to attract outside businesses to come to our reservation 

and sign up for a deal that involves in some instances many hundreds of millions of dollars of investments on their part. They will 

go find another opportunity somewhere else that doesn’t have that 

timing risk or that just uncertainty that approvals that are necessary will be achieved. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Let me ask a question somewhat related to that economic development issue, we have the highest 

rates of unemployment often on Indian reservations. What is the 

importance of attempting to provide additional tax exempt bonding 

authority for reservations in the context of your plans for economic 

development? Where does that rank in importance to you, tax exempt financing? 

Mr. ALLAN. For us it ranks high. I would put it in the top five 

because we’re always looking at other avenues of what we can do, 

and tax exempt bonds it’s cheap money that we can pay back and 

it really helps us to—you know, instead of just a regular loan to 

the bank, where they get their money, the taxes and bonds really 

do help us. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Stewart, did you want to respond to that? 

Mr. STEWART. Yes, I’m going to back that up because it does help 

us in the long run to be competitive. And Senator, I hate to say 

this, but I have to catch a plane and so I’d like to excuse myself. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Thank you so much for being here, and 

thanks for your testimony, Mr. Stewart. I appreciate it. 

I didn’t mean to chase you away from the table, but tax exempt 

financing, the Puyallup Tribe, does that rank near the top as well? 

Mr. WRIGHT. It would be helpful. In many instances we’ve had 

to find creative ways to resolve that issue through partnerships 

with the Port of Tacoma or through partnerships with private business that has the capability of attracting interest rates on loans 

that are competitive with the tax exempt market. But if we were 

capable of making those same investments with tax exempt bonds 

it would free us up to make more investments in our land in a 

37 

more accelerated manner, thus putting our lands to productive use 

for our membership and also for the community at large. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Cladoosby and Mr. Finley, let me just say 

that both of you have described energy as important. And you 

know, we have a reservation in North Dakota called the Three Affiliated Tribes: Arikara, Hidatsa, Mandan Tribes. It’s a very large 

reservation with many thousands of American Indians living there. 

It’s right in the middle of the most active oil plate in the United 

States. It’s called the Bakken Shale. It was assessed by the U.S. 

Geological Survey as the largest assessed reservoir of recoverable 

oil using today’s technology in the history of the lower 48 states. 

And so I just wanted to tell you how big that oil play is up there. 

And yet, about a year and a half ago I put up a big map and 

I showed there’s massive oil drilling north of the reservation, west 

of the reservation, and south of the reservation, and there was virtually no drilling on the reservation. Why? Because the Interior Department had a 49-step process to have a drilling permit, number 

one, and four separate agencies inside the Interior Department had 

to approve the drilling permit, number two. 

So you just set up a mountain of trouble trying to go do what 

is being done on all other lands—and now I fixed that largely, not 

quite done, but mostly fixed it. We have I believe 30-some drilling 

rigs now drilling active wells on the reservation. We’ve got a lot of 

stuff going on. 

In North Dakota we’ve got 120 rigs drilling a new oil well every 

month and they never miss. This isn’t a dry hole. They never miss 

when they drill because they know where the shale formation is 

and they go get it. 

So the point is, though, that in economic development and energy 

development it is always the case where you put up all these barriers. In this case the energy was oil and natural gas, but it might 

be something else. It might be wave power or biodiesel. We have 

just completed work on an energy bill, Indian Energy Bill in the 

Indian Affairs Committee, and you know, we delayed that to try to 

make sure we got done with Indian health care and then tribal law 

and order, but now we have the Indian Energy Bill which is very 

important to try to streamline and remove some of these burdens 

so the tribes can themselves say Here’s the kind of energy future 

we want to create. Here’s what we want to produce and eliminate 

the barriers to do so. 

And both of you, Mr. Cladoosby and Mr. Finley, mentioned this 

in your testimony and we’ll take special note of that. I hope you 

will do special review of the bill that we’ve introduced because it’s 

a work in progress and we certainly can make changes and want 

to improve it as well. 

Mr. Cladoosby? 

Mr. CLADOOSBY. Yes. Thank you for that. I think it’s very important to understand that ATNI Tribes are very, very involved in energy projects. I believe Andrea Alexander is here with us that 

heads that up for us, and so, I think you have to tie a lot of this 

somehow to unemployment and underemployment in Indian Country. 

I mean, that’s the key right there, because for example, in Washington, some counties get tax rebates from the state because they 

38 

have high unemployment rates in their counties. And I think, you 

know, if you do the same thing for Indian Country and say that 

We are going to streamline this process because of the unemployment and underemployment, and you don’t have to say Indian 

Country, you can just say, you know, in these areas. You know, Indian Country would qualify more highly because if you tie it to 20, 

30, 40, 50 percent unemployment, I mean, that’s the key right 

there, to make sure that we streamline this based on the conditions 

that are occurring out there today. 

And we can show you on the record that many of our communities would qualify, and streamlining these would make these 

projects a lot easier to implement. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Finley? Thank you. 

Mr. FINLEY. I would have to agree with that. And as I said earlier, we are well aware of the work that’s being done right and 

we’re grateful. Anything we can do to help with that, just let us 

know. 

I’d like to also make a plug that we also have several met towers 

that have been up on our reservation for over a year now, and two 

of the sites have come back showing that it would be feasible to 

build wind farms, wind energy. And so we’re looking to do that and 

we’ve actually partnered with Clipper Wind to do that. And they’re 

going to take up most of the cost initially. 

You mentioned bonding, and getting financing is a big problem 

so, I would have to agree with my colleagues to my left that it 

would be beneficial to Indian Country to all tribes to have that access to it. And so with that, we would need to—with the 40-megawatt cogeneration plant that we are looking to build as well as the 

wind farm, if both of those are up, you know, getting the energy 

generated is one thing, but getting it into the grid is another. And 

talking to BPA, they are almost at full capacity, so soon they are 

going to be cutting people off. 

The CHAIRMAN. There needs to be additional transmission capability. 

Mr. FINLEY. Correct. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Cantwell and I’ve worked on that as 

well. You’ve got the three problems of planning, pricing and siting, 

and it’s very hard to site the interstate high voltage transmission 

capability. 

Just to give the audience a notion of how difficult it is, in the 

last ten years we have laid about 11,000 miles of natural gas pipeline across this country. During the same period we were only able 

to build 680 miles of high voltage interstate transmission, and 

that’s the problem. In order to maximize the energy capability for 

renewables, we need transmission capabilities. So we’re working on 

that as well. 

I want to mention to all of you I’m impressed by the forwardleading sound of business plans that you’re involved with and I 

take great heart in that, and our job is to try to remove some of 

the burdens to the extent we can and some of the impediments to 

what you’re trying to get done to build better economic opportunity 

and put people back to work. So I am impressed by that. 

We only have about another 20 minutes and I wanted to first of 

all thank all of you who presented formal testimony. It really is exVerDate Nov 24 2008 09:47 Feb 28, 2011 Jkt 063343 PO 00000 Frm 00042 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\63343.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF
39 

cellent testimony, and there are some others who wish to testify. 

I do want to recognize them and I would ask if they would be willing to be mercifully brief, but I do want to make sure that they 

have an opportunity to say a few words. 

David Bean is over here standing against the wall or was standing against the wall, and he will take a microphone around to 

where you are. David is a council member from the Puyallup Tribe, 

‘‘Puyallup’’, I’m sorry. And you know, maybe if I could just move 

out here and live here for a while I would get all these names just 

exactly right. 

Mr. ALLAN. Come on out. 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me take you to North Dakota and see if you 

can get our names right, a bunch of Norwegians and Swedes out 

there. At any rate, let me call on—here’s who we have so far: Mel 

Sheldon, the Chairman of the Tulalip Tribe; Greg Abrahamson, 

Chairman of the Spokane Tribe; Leonard Forseman, Chairman of 

the Suquamish Tribe; Henry Cagey, Chairman of the Lummi Tribe, 

and John McCoy, a state representative in the back of the room. 

So let’s find Mr. Mel Sheldon. Thank you for being here. 

STATEMENT OF HON. MEL SHELDON, CHAIRMAN, TULALIP 

TRIBE; ACCOMPANIED BY GLEN GOBIN, BOARD MEMBER 

Mr. SHELDON. Thank you, Senator. Thank you both for coming 

out today and being with us and hearing the concerns of the overall 

Pacific Northwest. I’m going to make my comment shorter than 

Chairman Dillon. So if I could defer the next 17 minutes of my testimony to my colleague Glen Gobin. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. Glen, thank you for being here. 

Mr. GOBIN. I also would like to welcome you here and thank you 

for being out here, thank the Puyallup Tribe for providing the 

space, Senator Cantwell, for your constant support of Washington 

state and in particular the sovereign nations within Washington 

State and all of your support, Senator Dorgan, for all your years 

of service with all the issues that our country is facing with the 

economy, the war, the health care issues, you have not forgotten 

Indian Country and in fact have pushed forward issues that have 

helped us make improvements, and I thank you for that and just 

say thank you once more. 

Much has already been said about the needs in Indian Country, 

the social issues that we all face, and as you know, Indian Country’s not immune to the issues that all of the United States faces. 

In fact, in particular, Indian Country sometimes becomes a haven 

for sometimes some of these activities because of jurisdictional 

questions, lack of funding to deal with that, whether that be economic dollars or federal dollars. Sometimes it’s hard to get access 

to those dollars and get the programs in place that need to be in 

place. 

But some tribes have been able to make improvements in those 

areas using their economic dollars. We seem to make a distinction 

between gaming dollars and economic development dollars. To us 

they’re the same. They’re economic development whether you call 

it a casino or resort or what, we’re doing the same thing. We’re providing jobs, we’re buying goods and services, we’re feeding the local 

economies. 

40 

And what I just want to touch on is that and I know that you 

all work really hard on trying to help us get there, but there’s a 

lot of education that needs to take place. And sometimes it seems 

like our economies are not given the same value as outside non-Indian economies. When we are asking for dollars that come into Indian Country it’s looked at as a taking of tax dollars rather than 

a grant dollar coming in like any other municipality, and you read 

in the paper so-and-so city gets $5 million grant to do something. 

It’s a big news item. When tribes get that same $5 million grant 

it’s viewed as a taking: We got something for nothing it seems like. 

And so we’re not given the same value. 

The same is when we’re asking for changes to these programs 

that allow us or help get us access to these dollars, tax exempt 

bond financing in particular, changes to the IRS and some of the 

issues that are coming forward are across-the-board issues that we 

ask that you look at our economies and give them the same value— 

not you in particular, but our United States government look at 

that and be given the same value and the same weight for, after 

all, we’re spending our dollars for the same thing, buying goods 

and services, paying for jobs, buying in the local economies, and 

those dollars have the same value because they’re the same and 

they’re recycled over and over again in our economies. And many 

times in our local economies the tribes are some of the largest employers. 

But we’re not given equal credit for that, so we just ask that a 

continued—from your program, your Committee looking at it in 

that way, but the United States government give us the same 

value for our economies that we provide and we bring in and we 

are asking for these changes. 

The CHAIRMAN. We appreciate that very much and we certainly 

understand that on the Committee and we’ll certainly work to 

make sure more understand it. Thank you very much for making 

the point. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Sheldon follows:] 

41 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. MEL SHELDON, CHAIRMAN, TULALIP TRIBE


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The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Greg Abrahamson, the Chairman of the Spokane Tribe. 

STATEMENT OF HON. GREG ABRAHAMSON, CHAIRMAN, 

SPOKANE TRIBE 

Mr. ABRAHAMSON. Thank you, Senators. Thank you, Chairman 

Dorgan for being here, and Senator Cantwell, thank you for being 

here. I echo what the other tribal leaders said because we really 


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do appreciate you guys taking the time and being here to listen to 

our needs. 

The Spokane Tribe is—we are rich with our people and our 

lands, but economically we’re not doing quite as well in that area 

there. We do thank the Committee for passing our bill S. 1388 out 

of Committee. We hope that with Senator Cantwell’s help we can 

get it passed through this year. We got it passed in the previous 

Congress in the 108th on the Senate side and 109th on the House 

side. We believe that this is the year we will be able to get that 

bill taken care of there. 

We do echo with some of our neighboring tribes here too with the 

timber industry. As the timber industry took the south decline 

there, we rose up to 52 percent unemployment. So we do echo what 

Chairman Finley of the Colville Tribe has said about the timber industry. It’s really been a blow to us over there in Eastern Washington there as it went south there. 

We do—on the tax exempt bonds, some of that we—it’s good, but 

then again you got to have the partner, you got to have the financial backing to do it. We got that first round of tax exempt bonds 

that came through. We had 221⁄2 million, but we had to turn it 

back because we did not have the money right there to take care 

of that financially at this time. 

I also want to thank you and appreciate that you will allow us 

two weeks to put in the record for our testimony, written testimony. We appreciate that. And I’ll keep it brief so that other tribal 

leaders can get in there. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. And I’ll remind everyone again that two weeks from today would be the deadline, and anyone is invited to submit formal testimony as part of 

the permanent hearing record that would be published. 

Leonard Forseman is the Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe. 

STATEMENT OF HON. LEONARD FORSEMAN, CHAIRMAN, 

SUQUAMISH TRIBE 

Mr. FORSEMAN. Thank you, Senators and the staff for coming out 

here to the beautiful Puyallup nation for this opportunity to speak, 

and I thank you for the opportunity. 

I’m Chairman of the Suquamish Tribe here in Central Puget 

Sound and I just want to speak briefly on education. I had the opportunity to speak on Indian education back in a hearing a few 

months ago, and I worked really heard on this with a lot of the 

tribal leadership in this room and their policy people. 

And as you know, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

is being considered for reintroduction and authorization and we 

want to make sure that Indian Country is in its complex education 

issues that you’re familiar with are paid close attention to, one of 

those being the fact that the Obama Administration which has 

done a lot for Indian Country which there has been very much appreciated. 

There appears to have an urban approach to this and there are 

some good things to look at, but we are very concerned about 

standardization of assessments and curriculum nationwide, although there’s some savings that are taking place there, we are 

worried about the elimination or the reduction of tribal history and 

46 

culture in our tribal curriculum. And we know this is very important for the success of our students as tribal people because we 

have a low achievement gap, and also we think it’s very important 

for everybody, all students to learn about the history of our nation 

which is intertwined with our Indian people here, treaties and all 

these things that we’re pretty much familiar with, but there’s a lot 

of things in science, math, english that can be taught in tribal curriculum and tribal history can be interwoven with that. So we’ll be 

working more with you on that and I would like to thank you for 

the opportunity. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Chairman, thank you. And feel free to submit extensive comments on the education reauthorization provisions because we have not covered that in great specifics today, but 

that is very important to us. 

Next, Henry Cagey, Chairman of the Lummi Tribe. 

STATEMENT OF HON. HENRY CAGEY, CHAIRMAN, LUMMI 

TRIBE 

Mr. CAGEY. I am Henry Cagey, Chairman of the Lummi Nation. 

And I do want to thank the Senate Committee for coming out and 

hosting the field hearing and also the Puyallup Tribes and all the 

other tribal leaders that showed up today. 

One of the things that, you know, I guess the hearing is about 

economic development and social issues. You know, to remind the 

Committee that most of the tribes here in the Puget Sound are 

fishing tribes, and we’ve had a big impact here on our economy 

with the fishing industry. And again, the Lummi Nation is a fishing tribe. There’s over 5,000 members and almost over a thousand 

fishermen. We do shellfish, we do fishing, and what that ties to is 

natural resources. 

So again the natural resources side of funding and looking at 

natural resources has been lower on the totem pole as far as energy and fees to trust and Carcieri. Most us here in the Northwest depend on the fishing industry, 

and our nation is really taking it very hard as far as what’s happened to our fishermen. So what we’re looking at as far as one of 

the strategies is workforce development. And one of the things we 

need to look at with the Committee is developing our workforce for 

the next generation of those kids that can’t fish, for those kids that 

have no ability to understand what it’s like to grow up on the 

water. 

Their parents are the ones that have the fishing skills, but the 

kids behind them have no skills. Where we’ve seen this working is 

in the Department of Labor’s Youth Build program. That’s been 

one of the big things that we’ve seen that’s working very good. We 

actually had the youth build a unit from the stimulus bonds 

through housing that actually built an apartment with those kids 

and it worked out very good. 

The other part is again the Committee I would recommend looking at workforce development for those generations of kids coming 

behind you. Workforce is something that we need to think about for 

the next two or three generations. Workforce and jobs for those 

kids, so they’re the ones that we need to target on what needs to 

happen for their future. 

47 

Infrastructure is another one. Infrastructure, again, is that I 

heard little discussion on infrastructure, roads, water and sewer as 

behind the fee to trust. Because once you get the land into trust 

you still need infrastructure and you need water and you need 

roads. And again without that it makes it very difficult to do. And 

one of the things that we’re watching is the IRR program and 

redoing the formula, and I think there’s a meeting coming up next 

month on a discussion with the formula. Our tribe has a big impact 

on that formula decision, and so infrastructure is a big one. 

Also within the infrastructure is broadband and broadband 

meaning that we see broadband as being one of the tools to work 

with our new generations and broadband is something that we’re 

seeing that’s being shared with the state. But again, we hope the 

tribes aren’t going to be left out of the broadband initiative. There’s 

a lot of money being put into the economy, but we’re not sure yet 

if Congress is going to recognize our needs in broadband infrastructure which we think will cover the youth and their technology 

skills. I have a grandson that knows more about the computer than 

I do. So the broadband is something that’s important. 

EDA’s another one. And again I’m going to encourage the Committee to look at the EDA reauthorization. The Economic Development Administration has the tools andthey have tools that are 

called the Community Economic Development Strategy called 

CEDS, and that’s a tool that’s been working here, and that reauthorization is coming and we want the Senate Committee to encourage the tribes to be involved in that reauthorization. The other 

issue—— 

The CHAIRMAN. You’ll submit others as well with the rest of your 

testimony? 

Mr. CAGEY. And then the Farm Bill is the other one is that in 

the Farm Bill we aquaculture included somewhere in that Farm 

Bill that recognizes the need for the fishing tribes. 

The CHAIRMAN. All right. 

Mr. CAGEY. The last issue, Mr. Dorgan, is the tax policies. And 

again we feel very strongly about the tax policies that the IRS is 

imposing on the tribes which are violating the U.S. Constitution 

that Indians are not taxed. 

So again, that concludes my economic issues. The last issue is social issues is drugs. That has not come up, but the drug issue here 

in the Northwest is very, very hard on our economy, our people, 

and drugs are not included in the law and order bill. We know 

that. 

And again, the domestic violence and the other things we support, but drugs are not included, and we do need to hear more 

about what the plan is to deal with our drug problems. So on behalf of Lummi Nation, Hy’shqe, thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. Let me just observe, however, that the dealing of drugs, the consumption of drugs, the trafficking of drugs represents criminal acts, and that’s part of the 

issue on reservations, what kind of law enforcement capability do 

we have to intercept, to prosecute and so on. So the intention of 

the Tribal Law and Order Act is to substantially improve the capability of tribes to address the drug issue. We recognize drugs, gangs 

and other issues are very important to tribes at this point. 

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Finally I’m going to call on two additional folks for brief comments and then I’m going to call on Senator Cantwell for a concluding statement. 

John McCoy is a state representative here in Washington but is 

also I believe Chairman of the Native American state representatives across the country, and I’ve known John for a long while, it’s 

nice to see you. You may proceed. 

STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN MCCOY, 

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM WASHINGTON 

Mr. MCCOY. Thank you, Senator. Senator Dorgan, Senator Cantwell, thank you for allowing me to make some brief comments. 

I have to ditto everything that all the tribal leaders have said before me. Again, you asked the question about prioritization. You 

know, bonding and taxation work hand in hand. If you have taxation, you get bonding. So the taxation issue is extremely important in Indian Country so that we can get those better bonds and 

loans. 

I myself work for the State of Washington for the tribes. The 

tribes are now eligible to participate in the municipal investment 

pool which will allow some very low interest rates for infrastructure projects. In the State of Washington I Chair the Technology, 

Energy, and Communications Committee. I sit on the ag and natural resources, and I also sit on Financial Institutions and Insurance. 

So consequently, you know, I got a little bit that I can help Indian Country throughout for the State of Washington. So for the 

Washington tribes, please don’t forget about the state because 

those federal dollars that come down, I’m ensuring that the tribes 

are eligible for those funds, for those various programs; i.e., 

broadband. 

I am fussing with the FCC over some of the policies they have 

in place because it actually hinders tribes from being able to participate. And at Tulalip it’s been proven you bring in technology, 

economic development follows. 

So those are extremely important, and I am working with Chairman Forseman on education. And yesterday I forwarded to Senator 

Cantwell’s staff a policy paper that the National Caucus of Native 

Americans legislators put together on Indian education. So I will 

make sure your office gets a copy to forward on. 

The CHAIRMAN. John, thank you very much for your leadership 

as well. And the last comment will come from Mikah McCarty. 

Mikah McCarty is a councilman from the Makah Tribe, and he’s 

traveled from the Northwest tip of the state of Washington to be 

here this morning, and I’m going to call on him for the last comment. 

STATEMENT OF HON. MIKAH MCCARTY, COUNCILMAN, MAKAH 

TRIBE 

Mr. MCCARTY. Thank you, Senators. Thank you, distinguished 

tribal leaders here. I just wanted to preface a comment related to 

the written testimony that we’re submitting. We have some challenges with national marine sanctuary issues and there’s a national ocean policy effort that the President’s got underway, and 

49 

we’ve been heavily engaged. But I do want to say that we do have 

good work at hand. The Makah Tribe and the other coastal tribes 

in Washington state are working on a very important piece of work 

in the national symposium for a coastal indigenous perspective on 

climate change and sustainability. 

So the energy bill and all this other good work is something that 

we really look forward to integrating into our agenda and we look 

forward to working with you in the future with the piece of legislation we just mentioned. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, and thank you for making 

a special effort to be here. 

Senator Cantwell, thanks for being here this morning. I know 

that you’ve got other things in other parts of the state of Washington today that you’re doing, but I think it demonstrates again, 

as I know from your work in Washington, your attention to Native 

American issues that you’re here. Do you have any concluding comments you wish to make? 

Senator CANTWELL. Well, thank you Mr. Chairman. Again, thank 

you for holding this hearing and for the staff being here. 

I too am struck about the diversity of issues that were brought 

up here and I think that just shows the diversity that exists within 

Indian Country. It is a government-to-government relationship, 

and these are a vast number of issues, but no doubt Indian Country is playing a role in the economic development and growth of our 

state. And just so, you know, Mr. Berney mentioned the fact that, 

yes, there are many tribes that benefit economically and have 

grown, as the Tulalip, I think you’re the second largest employer 

in Snohomish County behind Boeing, but not every tribe benefits 

from the ability to do gaming. And so the issues that have been 

brought up here today about natural resource-based economies, 

whether based on timber or fishing or just, you know, the ability 

to diversify the economic base is important. 

I know Mr. Wright left us, but one of the issues that I wanted 

to emphasize is tribes are also major cornerstones of economic development strategy within major urban areas like right here in Tacoma. The partnership that Tacoma and the Puyallup Tribe and 

Pierce County is trying to pull off as it relates to infrastructure development and the movement of goods and services because the 

port is such a key component to the livelihood of this community, 

so the trust issue, land into trust issue becomes a very important 

part of one partner in the community being able to close and solve 

business deals and business challenges. 

So if we were going to come back to ask him a question about 

that, but perhaps Mr. Wright could submit some testimony on that 

very issue. But I think we’re talking here about now just not just 

a simple economic deal but things that hold up the entire 

region’sability to move forward basically because we don’t have a 

framework by which the tribes can make business decisions, or 

they’re very, very delayed. And I’m sure the testimony reflected 

that as well as other people get slowed down in how they can proceed on that economic development. 

I’m also struck, Mr. Chairman, because you and I serve on a couple of other committees together, how much Indian Country issues 

also spill over to those committees, whether we’re talking about the 

50 

Commerce Committee and the communication infrastructure issues 

or whether we’re talking about the Energy Committee and Interior 

streamlining the process for things like lease resource extraction or 

things of that nature. 

And I think I take away from what the testimony was today, if 

nothing else, Please help us streamline the process and make sure 

that Indian Country is not only represented but streamlined in the 

ability to do the types of economic development you would like to 

do. 

So anyway, I appreciate the testimony of everybody here today, 

and you’ve given us a lot to take away with, if nothing else, looking 

at the bond status tax policy and working with the finance committee on that issue and coming up with some answers. 

So again, I want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your special 

interest in the Northwest and for your leadership. I know this 

won’t be the last time, but it might be the last time you’re here in 

this official capacity, and so again, the Northwest thanks you for 

your attention. I’ve been at other hearings with you here in the 

Northwest, so this isn’t the first time you’ve done this as chairman, 

so we really appreciate the particular focus to our unique corner of 

the world. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, thank you very much. Thank you. 

[Applause.] 

The CHAIRMAN. Let me say as we conclude here that the government leaders of tribal governments who have testified and who 

have come here, you all wake up in the mornings with a significant 

task and burden. You belabor in many cases and circumstances 

where there’s substantial poverty and unemployment, and yet you 

have aspirations to change all that and you’re working on a lot of 

different programs to try to do that. 

Earlier this week a teacher told me of a young Native American 

child in his school district, and he had asked this young third-grade 

child what the child—he knew it was going to be the kid’s birthday—what this child wanted for his birthday. And this young 

third-grader said a flashlight. And he said, ‘‘Well, why do you want 

a flashlight? ’’ He said, ‘‘So I can read at night. They turned our 

electricity off.’’ 

And I was thinking, in circumstances where you have the dilemma of poverty and lack of economic opportunity and fewer jobs 

than you need and so on, there is such a disadvantage, especially 

to children, and so that’s why we have to focus. We have to focus 

like a laser on trying to put people to work and resurrect the economy so that people have a job and the money to pay their bills and 

raise their families and so on, and the first Americans have really 

been left behind. 

And I’ve said so often, those who were here first should not have 

second-class health care or second-class housing or second-class 

educations. It is just not acceptable. And so we have tried very 

hard to focus on that and push and prod, and we’re going to keep 

doing that. And despite it all, I think we’ve made very significant 

progress just in the last couple of years, and we’re going to continue to make that progress. And part of that is in no small part 

as a result of your always being there. 

51 

Someone once said the world is run by those who show up. You 

always show up, and that’s really important. Don’t ever stop that. 

Always show up to say Here’s who we are. Here’s who we represent. Here’s what we need for a better life, and that just makes 

all the difference in the world. 

Now I started by thanking Chairman Dillon and I want to end 

by calling on Chairman Dillon because my understanding is that 

he has a treat for us. 

Mr. DILLON. I would like to say yes, we do appreciate you being 

here and you, Senator Cantwell and your Committee, and we have 

the luncheon prepared. So anyone in the whole ballroom remain 

and enjoy that meal and we are looking forward to seeing you 

again whether it’s in this capacity or any other one. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. I understand it’s probably 

salmon. 

Mr. DILLON. From the Puyallup River. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. This hearing is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:30 p.m., the hearing adjourned.] 

(53) 

A P P E N D I X 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM IYALL, CHAIRMAN, COWLITZ INDIAN TRIBE

Chairman Dorgan, Vice Chairman Barrasso, and Honorable Members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. My name is William Iyall, and I am Chairman 

of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of Washington State. I want to thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony on economic and social issues affecting tribes in the 

Northwest. 

As a landless tribe restored to federal recognition in 2002, by far the most important obstacle to my tribe’s ability to develop a self-sustaining economy is the fact 

that we have no trust lands or reservation on which to establish a tribal homeland 

and foster economic development for the tribe. The reason why we have no trust 

land is that the Supreme Court’s decision in Carcieri v. Salazar has caused widespread confusion and consternation regarding which federally recognized tribes the 

Secretary does, or does not, have authority to take land into trust. The fact that 

this situation continues a year and a half after the decision was handed down has 

been absolutely devastating for tribes like mine. 

With this testimony I again urge Congress to pass legislation to address the havoc 

the Supreme Court has caused with its decision in Carcieri v. Salazar. The Cowlitz 

tribe is just one of many landless and disadvantaged tribes in the Northwest, and 

around the nation, that has been severely impact by the fee to trust delays caused 

by the Carcieri decision. These tribes desperately need congressional action to fix 

that decision and to make clear that all federally recognized tribes will be treated 

equally under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). In 1994, Congress amended the 

IRA to explicitly instruct the federal agencies to treat all tribes equally under the 

law. In 2010, Congress needs to act once again to make this same principle apply 

to the federal courts. 

History of the Tribe 

The Cowlitz Indian Tribe was first recognized by the United States in land cession treaty negotiations that took place in 1855. Because my ancestors refused to 

be removed to another tribe’s reservation in a different part of what would become 

Washington State, the United States simply extinguished all of Cowlitz’s aboriginal 

title by Executive Order without reserving any lands for our use. In the 1930s, the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs refused to let us adopt an IRA constitution because we had 

no reservation. As a result, by the 1960s, the Bureau came to classify the Cowlitz 

as an ‘‘unrecognized’’ tribe even though we had had a long, continuous history of 

interaction with the United States Congress and with the Department of the Interior. 

In 1977 we petitioned the Department to restore our recognition. After a 25-year 

administrative ordeal, in January 2002 the Cowlitz Indian Tribe was restored to 

federal recognition through the Department’s Federal Acknowledgement Process. On 

the very same day on which the Tribe’s recognition was restored, the Tribe petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to use his authority under Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) to acquire trust title to land in Clark County, Washington so that the Tribe could have a reservation there. I should mention that in 

2005, we received a legal opinion from the federal government that confirms that 

we have strong historical and modern ties to the area in which our Clark County 

land is located. Letter from Penny J. Coleman, NIGC Acting General Counsel, to 

Chairman Philip N. Hogen, at 11 (November 22, 2005) (‘‘[U]nquestionable parts of 

the historical record establish that the Cowlitz Tribe, throughout its history, used 

the Lewis River Property area for hunting, fishing, frequent trading expeditions, occasional warfare, and if not permanent settlement, then at least seasonal villages 

and temporary camps.’’). 

After having spent nearly seven years (and multiple millions of borrowed dollars) 

to navigate the fee-to-trust and reservation proclamation processes, in late January 

2009 my Tribe’s fee-to-trust and reservation proclamation applications, finally, were 

poised for action by the Department. A month later, the Supreme Court handed 

54 

down the Carcieri decision. For us, the year and a half since the Carcieri decision 

has been a devastating—and surreal—experience. In June of 2009 we submitted a 

lengthy legal analysis (which has been provided to Committee staff in its entirety) 

demonstrating that as a matter of law my Tribe was under federal jurisdiction when 

the Indian Reorganization Act was enacted in 1934. We also submitted over 260 documents from federal records demonstrating that not only did the federal government 

have jurisdiction as a legal matter, but also that the Department of the Interior was 

in fact exercising jurisdiction during that time period. Yet fourteen months after we 

made that submission, we have no decision. 

The Economic Impact on My Tribe 

Interest on the money we have had to borrow to buy land and complete the feeto-trust process continues to accrue at an alarming rate. (No federal funds have 

been appropriated to acquire land for Indians since the 1950s, so landless tribes like 

ours have no other option but to borrow.) New money to borrow is almost impossible 

to find, as banks and lenders have become wary of loaning money so-called 

‘‘Carcieri’’ tribes because of the uncertainty the Carcieri decision has created. And, 

we have entirely missed the opportunity to participate in any reservation-based 

Stimulus (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) funding. This is 

no small loss. Unlike landed tribes, we have had precious little opportunity to participate in the federal government’s economic recovery efforts. Without a reservation, 

my tribe has no hope of ever becoming economically self-sufficient. 

Without immediate help from Congress and from the Department of the Interior, 

our debts will continue to mount. Opportunities for economic development will be 

denied. Our inability to apply for reservation-based funding will be unresolved. Our 

ability to exercise true self determination will continue to be compromised. Eventually, the work we have done in compliance with the National Environmental Policy 

Act will become outdated and require new work—and new funding. Soon another 

year will pass and we will lose more elders, who, like my predecessor, Chairman 

John Barnett, passed away without ever having set foot on a Cowlitz reservation. 

If the Legislative and Executive branches fail to address the very real mischief 

caused by the Judicial branch, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe may forever continue to be 

landless and forever be treated as a second-class Tribe by the very federal government that is supposed to act as its trustee. With genuine respect, the Cowlitz Indian 

Tribe urges the United States Congress to take decisive action now to ensure that 

no tribe will ever be treated as inferior to another tribe under the law. 

Need for a Legislative Fix: S. 1703 

There is no doubt but that, absent action from Congress, the Department’s exercise of its IRA authority will engender years of needless litigation, and tribes, the 

federal government, states, local governments and private parties will suffer the exorbitant costs associated therewith. Such law suits have already begun. Accordingly 

we implore this Congress to enact legislation to make crystal clear that the IRA is 

applicable to all federally recognized tribes regardless of the manner or date on 

which they received federal recognition. Congress must reconfirm the fundamental 

legal principles as well as the basic policies underlying passage of the IRA, and 

must confirm that the Department’s implementation of the IRA (as equally available 

to all federally recognized tribes) over the past three-quarters of a century has been 

proper and entirely in keeping with those well-established legal principles and policies. Failure to act will result in unconscionable uncertainty, delay, and hardship 

for Indian country, and in particular, for landless tribes like Cowlitz. 

Finally, Congress (and the Department of the Interior) must not let opponents of 

Indian gaming hijack the Carcieri issue to further their own political goals. The 

rhetoric about ‘‘reservation shopping’’ is particularly offensive to a tribe like mine, 

which has no reservation at all. Concerns about Indian gaming issues are not appropriately addressed in the context of a Carcieri fix, and most certainly are not appropriately addressed by avoiding fee-to-trust decisions altogether. The Supreme 

Court’s decision in Carcieri adversely affects not only acquisition of land in trust for 

tribes and individual Indians, but also the Secretary’s authority to proclaim Indian 

reservations, to adopt tribal constitutions, and to create tribal corporations. As our 

trustee, we beg you to reject efforts to conflate Carcieri issues with gaming issues. 

Conclusion 

On behalf of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe I first want to thank this Committee for 

its efforts to address the Court’s misguided and confusing decision. I also want to 

underscore that land is key to economic development and that any further delay in 

resolving the problems engendered by the Carcieri decision will have severe and 

devastating impacts on the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and others like it. Having played 

by the rules for so many years with our pending application, it is fundamentally 

55 

unfair now to change the rules for tribes like ours. We respectfully, urgently, ask 

Congress to protect us (and the United States) from noxious litigation by enacting 

legislation making clear that all tribes will be treated equally under the Indian Reorganization Act regardless of the time and manner in which they achieved federal 

recognition. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JEWELL JAMES, MASTER CARVER, HOUSE OF TEARS

CARVERS, LUMMI NATION


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PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. EDWARD L. METCALF, CHAIRMAN, COQUILLE INDIAN

TRIBE


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PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DELORES PIGSLEY, CHAIRMAN, CONFEDERATED

TRIBES OF SILETZ INDIANS

On behalf of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, I am pleased to submit 

testimony to the record of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in relation to recent field hearing on Economic and Social Issues Affecting Northwest Tribes. We are 

pleased to have this opportunity to present our issues and concerns. 

The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians is a confederation of many Tribes and 

bands whose aboriginal homelands extend from NW California to SW Washington, 

including all of Oregon west of the summit of the Cascades. The CTSI ceded most 

of its 20 million acres by Treaties in the 1850’s and were settled on the 1.1 million 

acre Coast Reservation. Drastic reductions to the reservation in 1865, 1875, 1894 

and subsequently, left us nearly destitute of lands and resources. The CTSI was terminated in 1956, but is again a federally recognized Tribe with a 3,987 acre restored 

lands reservation located in Lincoln County, of which 250 acres were newly acquired 

in 1994 through legislation. In November 1977 the Confederated Tribes of Siletz became the second Tribe in the United States and the first in Oregon to be restored. 

The Tribe is proud to be one of the twenty-three Tribes in the United States to have 

become part of the Self-Governance Demonstration Project. Committed to the improvement of the Tribal as a whole, the nine-member governing Tribal Council has 

been innovative in exploring options to produce revenue and provide services. 

Expanding Self-Determination and Self-Governance opportunities. Self-Governance 

is a cornerstone of Tribal Government and our Administrative organization that provides key services to Tribal members and the communities in which we serve. We 

ask that the federal government actively pursue with us our lead role under the directives of the Indian Self Determination Act (PL 93–638). This would include making the policy of self-determination a proactive element of the Congress and the Federal Government, not just a consequence of the Tribes’ insistence. 

Energy development and climate change. The Siletz Tribe has been exploring 

methods to develop projects that will leverage Tribal resources and expertise for energy efficiency and generation. The Tribe has considered wind, biomass, solar, wave, 

natural gas turbine, and hydroelectric energy opportunities, among others. We feel 

that the Departments of Energy and Interior could enhance Tribal project evaluation and project funding with government sponsored or backed bonds. 

Streamlining the fee-to-trust process. As a restored Tribe, it is absolutely crucial 

that the lands reacquired by our Tribe can become productive for us more quickly. 

This includes breaking down unnecessary barriers and expenses that the Bureau of 

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The enactment of a Carcieri ‘‘fix’’. In order to ensure that all federally recognized 

Tribes can avail them of the opportunity to have land taken into trust for economic 

development or other purposes; this clarification is a critical issue. 

Federal and state taxation. The taxation of Indian lands, property, and enterprises 

is another area of concern and interest to the Siletz Tribes. Tribal governments 

should receive the same benefits with respect to taxation that all other units of Federal, state, and local governments enjoy. For example, we should be allowed to issue 

municipal bonds without the additional barrier and cost of SEC filings that no other 

local unit of government is required to do, utilize tax credits available to other public bodies for certain types of economic development (such as energy projects), and 

rely on the same types of ‘‘governmental’’ activities used by other municipal entities 

to receive favorable tax treatment. 

Housing. Safe, healthy and affordable housing is crucial for family stability. The 

Siletz Tribe provides housing services to tribal families through an Indian Housing 

Block Grant (IHBG) authorized under the Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act. Since 1989 the Tribe has constructed and now manages 80 low rent 

apartment and 83 homeownership units. At present another 27 low rent apartment 

units are under construction. In addition, the Tribe provides rent subsidies for 78 

low income tribal families. Despite providing these services there remains 123 low 

income families on our housing waiting lists. The IHBG funding level supports existing unit management and rental subsidies, but it does not allow developing additional housing to meet the needs of tribal families beyond providing one home for 

a tribal elder household. The Tribe urges fully funding the IHBG at $875 million 

($700 enacted for 2010) and the Indian Community Development Block Grant at 

$100 million ($65 million enacted for 2010). Since the IHBG supports little development, Tribes must access other housing resources such as the Low Income Housing 

Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. However, these credits go to the states to distribute 

and tribes have had a difficult time accessing this resource. In Oregon, we are 

aware of only one tribe being awarded tax credits and that was several years ago. 

A Tribal set-aside for the LIHTC program is needed to ensure tribal access to this 

program. The Tribe also wants to see the Senate act on SCIA’s recommendation for 

passage of H.R. 3553, the Indian Veteran’s Housing Opportunity Act which would 

exclude income that is service-related disability received by a veteran or his family 

from the definition of ‘‘income’’ under NAHASDA. 

Natural Resources. The restoration of the Siletz Tribe, as with many Oregon restored Tribes, had a component of scattered timber tracts forming the initial land 

base for us. We have developed sustained yield harvest management on these and 

other more recently acquired tracts. These resources are essential for our spiritual, 

economic and cultural survival as Indian people. Habitat destruction, pollution, unregulated water withdrawals, poor land-use planning, and many other environmental issues today threaten to make meaningless our reserved rights. The Siletz 

Tribe asks for adequate and efficient funding of federal reserved obligations through 

Tribal natural resources management programs, projects, and agreements. Areas in 

critical need of funds are water resources management, hatcheries, habitat restoration, timber and wildlife management. Healthy environments lead to healthy communities and healthy economies. 

Small Business. The Siletz Tribe provides technical assistance and limited funding to Tribal member-owned businesses. Through our experience, we are seeing excessive barriers to minority certifications for individuals and Tribal enterprises, as 

well as limited, enforceable requirements to ensure we have opportunity to provide 

services or products to Federal agencies. The Small Business Administration could 

also expand its resources—financing and technical assistance—to support these 

ends. 

Specific Agency Support. The Siletz Tribe has received very valuable support and 

resources from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, the USDA Rural Development, and the HHS Administration for Native Americans. We would urge that Congress continues these vital programs that build our 

capacity and important projects. We would likewise encourage the expansion of the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs programs at least back to the funding levels established 

in the 1974 Indian Financing Act. 

I appreciate the opportunity to provide this testimony before the Committee. 

Please let me know if we can provide further background or detail on these issues 

or other questions that the Committee may have. 

79 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF THE CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE WARM SPRINGS

RESERVATION OF OREGON

The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon respectfully 

submit this statement for inclusion in the record of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs 

Committee field hearing held on August 12, 2010 at Chief Leschi School on the Puyallup Indian Reservation, Tacoma, Washington regarding ‘‘Economic and Social 

Issues Affecting Northwest Tribes.’’ 

Warm Springs Background 

The Warm Springs Indian Reservation was established by the Treaty with the 

Tribes of Middle Oregon of June 25, 1855. Our Treaty-signing ancestors lived along 

with Columbia River and its major Oregon tributaries, the Hood, Deschutes and 

John Day rivers. Our political domain at Treaty time included 10 million acres of 

north central Oregon from the Cascade Falls on the Columbia River east to the Blue 

Mountains and south from the Falls along the crest of the Cascade Range to the 

44th parallel south of Bend, Oregon. We ceded our title to most of this land in the 

1855 Treaty in exchange for exclusive use of the 640,000 acre Warm Springs Reservation and for an express reservation of off-reservation rights to fish at all of our 

usual and accustomed fishing stations on the Columbia and elsewhere and the 

rights to hunt, gather roots and berries and graze cattle on unclaimed lands. 

Warm Springs Today 

Today, the Warm Springs Reservation is home to 80 percent of the nearly 5,000 

Warm Springs tribal members who live on land that is over 98 percent owned by 

the Tribe. It is a very beautiful but remote reservation that includes 300,000 acres 

of forested lands, as well as open grazing land, small farms, rural residences and 

several small communities. There are no non-Indians living on non-Indian owned 

fee land on our reservation, which means that our Tribal government has full regulatory jurisdiction over the lands and inhabitants of our reservation. Our government’s power and authority—and our responsibilities—have also grown as a result 

of our exemption from Public Law 280’s grant to the State of Oregon of jurisdiction 

over Indian Country in Oregon, except for the Warm Springs Reservation. The result is that Warm Springs is the only government providing all essential governmental services for the 5,000 residents and 1,000 square miles of the Warm Springs 

Reservation. 

Our Dire Economic Situation 

Despite the fact that Warm Springs is a large land based tribe with a significant 

timber resource base, our economic situation has become increasingly dire in recent 

years. Like many communities in the Northwest, Warm Springs traditionally has 

relied on its timber resource to generate revenues to fund government services and 

provide jobs for local residents. And, like almost all Northwest timber communities, 

we have experienced the extreme economic pain of the collapse of the Northwest 

timber industry. To illustrate that point, in 1994 the Tribe took in over $24 million 

in timber revenues to fund our growing tribal government. Our police department, 

courts, jail, fire department and ambulance crews, just to name a few of our many 

governmental services, were all funded with this Tribal timber money. By contrast, 

last year, tribal timber revenues to fund tribal government were less than $2 million. This is a $22 million shortfall in just over a decade and a half, at a time when 

the tribal membership grew rapidly due to a high birthrate and the demand for tribal governmental services expanded greatly. 

We have searched diligently for alternative revenue sources to fill the gap caused 

by the collapse of the timber industry. We have had some success with hydropower 

by acquiring a stake in a private utility hydroproject that is partly located on the 

Reservation. We are also looking at expanding from hydro to other renewable energy opportunities, such as solar and wind power. While promising, none of these 

potential economic development projects offer the promise to fully make up for the 

dramatic and rapid decline in timber revenues. In addition, unlike the timber industry, which used to provide hundreds of jobs for our tribal members working in the 

woods and at our tribal sawmill, the energy projects are not labor intensive. In other 

words, they offer the promise of new revenue streams but without the job creation 

impact we are looking for. 

Gaming 

The one real opportunity we see for restoring our financial and economic base and 

heading off the looming fiscal crisis for our Tribal government is a proposed gaming 

project to be located 37 miles north of the Reservation on our ancestral lands at 

Cascade Locks, Oregon. The area in and around what is today Cascade Locks has 

80 

been the homeland of our people since time immemorial. It is clearly within our 

1855 Treaty description of our ceded territory, a fact confirmed by the U.S. Indian 

Claims Commission in its rigorous judicial examination and ‘‘aboriginal title’’ judgement (ICC Docket 198) regarding our territory, which holds the area was ours exclusively. This fact is further confirmed by the many Warm Springs tribal members 

who continue to live and exercise our 1855 Treaty fishing rights in Cascade Locks 

today. 

We have been pursuing this project for nearly a decade, since the tribal membership voted overwhelmingly in a 2001 tribal referendum to direct Tribal leadership 

to pursue a gaming project in the Columbia Gorge. While we believe this project is 

close to final approval, it has faced numerous bureaucratic hurdles and delays imposed by the last Administration at Interior, and also by the current Administration. So far, it has taken twice as long and cost two to three times more than we 

projected when we started. Nonetheless, since we just had the Final Environmental 

Impact Statement for the project published in the Federal Register on Friday, August 6th, our membership and our leadership are united in believing that we are 

in the final steps of having this project approved by the Secretary of Interior. If final 

approval is obtained, we believe that our long term economic outlook is much brighter, although it will take many months and even years to clear any possible legal 

challenges, finalize financing, and build the project before we can begin to see the 

financial rewards of this project flow to the Tribal government. 

The Committee should disregard the Grand Ronde Tribe’s request in their August 

12 testimony before the Committee to advocate for some protracted re-review of Interior gaming policy. The Grand Ronde’s single purpose with that request is to try 

to delay and defeat potential gaming competitors such as Warm Springs. Indeed, 

any Committee communication with the Department of Interior on this issue should 

be to urge prompt and fair processing of the Warm Springs application, which has 

been subject to numerous unjustified delays, rather than supporting Grand Ronde’s 

efforts to postpone once again final action on our project. 

Education 

Regarding social issues, many of our issues involve the youth of our Tribe, especially in the area of education. The Warm Springs Reservation, with its 1,000 

square mile expanse and 5,000 residents, may be the largest geo-political area in 

the Northwest without a high school and middle school serving its school age population. Our young people, after finishing the 5th grade at an outmoded former BIA 

boarding school that now attempts to function as a public elementary school, are 

bussed off reservation to public middle school and high school at the border town 

of Madras, Oregon. For some students who live at the north, or opposite, end of the 

Reservation from Madras, the school bus ride is three hours round trip each day. 

Obviously, there is a critical need for not only a new public elementary school at 

Warm Springs but also a middle and high school located on our reservation to serve 

our young and fast growing population. It is no wonder that dozens and dozens of 

Warm Springs high school age students choose to attend BIA boarding schools in 

California, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Salem, Oregon rather than stay home and 

make the long daily bus ride to public school in Madras. 

Unfortunately, Indian students in Oregon are served by local public schools, and 

at least in our vicinity, the local public school district is unable to pass a bond measure to build the elementary, middle, or high school needed to serve our children. 

Despite our efforts to bring what we can to potential joint efforts with the school 

district, and to scour the slim prospects at the B.I.A. and the U.S. Department of 

Education, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the means by 

which any of these new facilities might be built on our reservation remain elusive. 

This is both frustrating and heartbreaking for us, and for our children, because on 

our reservation, with unemployment at nearly 60 percent and scarce job opportunities, education is just about the only path toward improved circumstances. 

Mr. Chairman, that concludes the Warm Springs testimony. We appreciate the opportunity provided by this Committee to express our views on the economic and social issues that confront Northwest Tribes. 

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