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Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Chairman Sue Shaffer, wills things to happen, and spearheaded the drive for federal recognition of the Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Indians and has been their chairwoman since 1983.
by Jeff Wright
Honored Cow Creek leader proudest of those who turn their lives around
Sue Shaffer spearheaded a drive for federal recognition of the Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Indians and has been their chairwoman since l983
“Where there is no vision, the people perish”—Proverbs 29:16
ROSEBURG
Sue Shaffer has worn glasses for most of her life. But don’t accuse this woman of lacking vision.
Twenty years ago, Shaffer labored in the kitchen of her Main Street restaurant in Canyonville, a bucolic timber town a half-hour drive south of Roseburg on Interstate 5. In between meals, she worked tirelessly on a campaign that most thought was doomed; persuading Congress to grant federal recognition to an obscure Oregon tribe known as the Cow Creek Tribe of Umpqua Indians.
Two decades later, Shaffer drives by the tribe’s thriving Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville en route to her office in Roseburg, where she has worked as the tribe’s chairwoman since 1983. Hers is a success story that few could have predicted, but one that Shaffer takes in stride. “I’ve never had enough sense to doubt that in the end, right will prevail,” she says. “We need to live our lives thinking of positive outcomes.”
But Shaffer does more than think, she acts—and in the process has touched the lives of thousands of Douglas County residents, Indians and non-Indians alike. Her efforts have won multiple accolades, the latest to arrive in two weeks when the Oregon Commission for Women fetes her as one of three "Women of Achievement" selected for their leadership and advocacy of women and racial equity.
"She's an Energizer Bunny --she just keeps going and going and going," says state Sen. Kate Brown, D-Portland, who nominated Shaffer for the state honor. "Her persistence and passion are amazing."
They have also garnered Shaffer, 78, a national reputation in Indian affairs. She has testified before Congress several times, and just returned this month from the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where she addressed the Native American caucus. An unabashed Democrat she says, "History speaks for itself about which party is really more concerned about Indian rights."
Not counting her trademark beehive, Shaffer stands just 5 feet tall yet projects an intimidating presence. A no-nonsense woman unafraid to speak her mind, she has attracted her share of critics over the years. But her lasting legacy, supporters say, is her vision--one that gives top priority to education, self-sufficiency and community building.
Earlier this month, tribal members elected Shaffer to another four year term, as chairwoman - reaffirming the leadership of a woman who has resisted efforts to distribute the tribe's money directly to its 1,100 members. Instead, she has insisted that most of the tribe's profits be reinvested in scholarships, housing, health care - and other tribal businesses.
"We want to build people, not dependencies," she says.
Last year, the resort - casino, hotel, convention center and RV park - attracted 1 million visitors and had a payroll of $14.3 minion, according to tribal figures. With nearly 800 employees, almost all of them non-tribal members, the operation is Douglas County's third largest private-sector employer, trailing only Roseburg Forest Products and Mercy Health Care Inc.
But the tribe views the resort as an economic springboard to a diversified future: It also operates two motels, a smoked meats store, a storage rental business and a truck and travel center in or around Canyonville.
The tribe has picked up several strategic properties along I-5, and is exploring such ventures--as a golf course, a mobile home factory and motorcycle plant.
The tribe also has kicked in thousands of dollars--more than $500,000 last year--to area schools, libraries, art groups and social agencies. Every year a $1,000 scholarship is given to each high school in Douglas County for students going on to Umpqua. Community College--whose board Shaffer left last year after 16 years.
In its gaming compact with the state, the tribe agrees to contribute 6 percent of its net casino revenues to community groups--but has doled out money far exceeding that minimum, according to tribal attorney Wayne Shammel.
A table display at the tribe's Roseburg office declares that the Cow Creeks are "more than a casino." Shaffer and other tribal leaders are proud of the Seven Feathers operation--but also a bit
defensive.
"People define success in terms of money. But it's the people whose lives we have helped turn around who are the real success stories," she says, recounting examples of tribal members and others who have battled alcoholism, found work and reclaimed families because of employment and other services provided by the tribe.
"Dogged and determined"
Without Sue Shaffer, would the Cow Creeks have won tribal recognition, built a casino and assured their future?
"Hell, no," says Bill Vian, a retired bridge builder and former Douglas County commissioner. "I don't think there's any chance they could have done it without her."
Vian remembers all too well his first meeting with Shaffer. It was in the late '70s and Vian, in his role as commissioner, had publicly questioned the legitimacy of the Cow Creeks' claim as a bona fide tribe. Shaffer called for an appointment, and brought about a dozen other tribal members with her.
"She was madder than a wet hen," Vian says. "She really lit into me." But she also convinced him that the tribe's issues were real, and ultimately forged a friendship that resulted in Vian serving on the tribe's economic advisory board and overseeing some of its construction projects.
Vian says he likes Shaffer because "she's dogged and determined. Not only that, she's outgoing and willing to give and take. And she's a hell of a good thinker."
Not everyone sings Shaffer's praises. Within the tribe, some chafe at her unshakable refusal to distribute the tribe's profits among all its members; Shaffer faced opposition in her tribal re-election bid and won by about 50 votes out of 250 cast.
Outside the tribe, grumbling still persists over the Cow Creeks' sovereign status, which means they don't pay taxes on the property they own. And then there is the ever-present criticism about the social costs of gambling.
"There was a woman at the post office just the other day begging for money," says Dave Hill, longtime chairman of Canyonville's Pioneer Days celebration and a former mayor. "She said she lost all her money at Seven Feathers and needed just $20--to go out there and win her money back."
Hill says Shaffer has worked hard for the tribe and "has earned all of her awards. But she is more concerned about Seven Feathers than she is about Canyonville."
Shaffer defends the gambling with customary bluntness. "There are all kinds of human frailties," she says. "Is the grocer responsible for the obese person?" She also says gambling--on horse races, swimming and other feats of strength--has a rich tradition in Indian culture.
When pressed, she acknowledges that the tribe has also committed money toward helping people addicted to gambling.
Stephen Beckham, a professor at Lewis and Clark College in Portland and expert on Pacific Northwest Indians, says it's easy to forget that the Cow Creeks and other tribes turned to casinos only after Congress passed a law in 1988 allowing them to do so.
Most people also don't realize how poor the Cow Creeks were before they won tribal recognition and built their business empire, Beckham says. "I remember (tribal) meetings at the Veterans' Memorial Hall in Myrtle Creek where they'd pass along a coffee can to pay for postage for postcards to announce the next meeting," he says.
Beckham admits he was pessimistic when Shaffer decided to fight tribal recognition in the late '70s. "But she wills things to happen," he says. "She is savvy, and she knows where to push the right buttons."
One of Shaffer's biggest supporters is Canyonville's current mayor, Moria McGinnis, who says Shaffer cares about the entire community, specially young people. The two women met earlier this week to review plans for a day care center in town that the tribe wants to help fund.
"She wants every child - not just tribal children - to have a good education and a chance in life," McGinnis says. "What she's doing is helping to make a future for the generation that's here and the generations to come.
"Economic miracle"
Terry Swagerty, director of the Small Business Development Center at Roseburg's community college, says Shaffer has done no less than "pull off an economic miracle." He says he doubts it could have happened if the tribe had been led by someone less driven.
"She likes to use that verse from the Bible: ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.' I think that sums up so much what she's been able to do," he says.
Among those who know her best, there's no doubt about the source of Shaffer's spunk: It comes from family, especially her mother, frontierswoman Ellen "Nellie" Furlong Crispen, a descendant of one of the tribe's original families.
Shaffer's father, David, was Scottish-Irish. Her husband, George, is of Yugoslavian descent, and she has two children and two grandchildren.
Shaffer grew up along the banks of the South Umpqua River east of Canyonville. Her parents, early homesteaders who raised alfalfa and other crops, "worked hard all their lives and didn't feel put upon to have to work," she says.
Shaffer remembers her mother as a crack pistol shot, avid reader, independent thinker and political junkie. Most of all, she says, her mother kept a scattered tribe together during years of economic depression and governmental indifference. "I can't remember a time when people weren't stopping at our house to have my mother read letters for them, write letters for them, file their papers at the courthouse, etc.," she says.
Like her mother, Shaffer is a role model for other women. But she abhors the feminist label, which to her connotes a plea for special rights. "I want to help women succeed," she says. "But I don't want any special concessions made because I’m female."
Shaffer says she has a tough skin--"I don't worry a lot about other people’s opinions" - and can't imagine retiring anytime soon.
"Why should I?" she asks. "I think it's sad when older people who have a lot to offer don't remain active."
For Sue Shaffer, there’s barely enough time to think about regrets, much less dwell on them. But there is one unfulfilled desire.
"I think back, even 50 years ago, to the people who dreamed of a better future for our tribe, and I wish they could see what's here now," she says. "I wish my mother could see everything that's here today."
“She wills things to happen.”
STEPHEN BECKHAM
Lewis and Clark College professor
The Eugene Register-Guard
By Jeff Wright
August 25, 2000
A Better Future - TIMELINE
THE COW CREEKS
Sept. 19, 1863--Cow Creeks sign treaty with U.S. government, ceding 800 square miles of southwestern Oregon to United States and becoming a landless tribe without a reservation. U.S. government pays 2.3 cents an acre, then sells same land, through Donation Land Claims Act, to pioneer settlers for $1.25 an acre. Treaty provisions promising health, housing and education to Cow Creeks are ignored.
1954--The tribe is formally "terminated" with passage of Western Oregon Indian Termination Act.
Dec. 29, 1982--Congress passes "recognition" law confirming Cow Creeks as sovereign tribal government.
1988--Congress passes Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which allows tribes to establish gaming centers for economic development and jobs creation.
April 1992--Cow Creeks open the state's first tribal bingo hall, later expand to casino, hotel, and convention center.
Today--About half of the tribe's 1,100 members live in Douglas, Lane, Jackson and Josephine counties; others are scattered across state and country. About half are age 18 or younger. All are descendants of the tribe's seven original families--for whom the "Seven Feathers" resort is named. Tribe business is conducted by 11-member tribal board.
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