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The Roseburg News Review---December 14, 2006
Governor Kulongoski meets with Oregon's tribal leaders to plot out future cooperation…"I see you as sovereigns, as equals and as citizens of the great state of Oregon," says the governor.
Sue Shaffer, chairwoman of the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians, said the tribes' goals are to have their neighbors understand that "this is our home land."
By Adam Pearson
Gov. Ted Kulongoski met with leaders of Oregon's American Indian tribes Wednesday at the Convention Center of the Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort to discuss relations and the future of working together.
He was joined by Attorney General Hardy Myers and other key officials while presenting his plans for the 2007 budget to eight of the state's nine federally recognized tribes.
Kulongoski said Oregon is "entering a new era with the ability to do more" for the first time in nearly a decade in terms of keeping pace with inflation and population explosion. He said at the same time, Oregon will be able to put money away for the future while growing "at one of the fastest clips in the nation."
Kulongoski said the budget's outlook is much brighter than it was four years ago when he was first governor. He said he plans to invest 61 percent of it in education and secondary schooling and also help cover at least 95 percent of Oregon's children with affordable health insurance.
He said he plans to have 13 more health centers built around the state and add 139 state patrol officers to the highways, including more detectives and forensic experts.
"Around the clock coverage on our state highways" is important for battling methamphetamine trafficking, he said.
Kulongoski also said he plans to make Oregon the renewable energy capital of the nation and is eager to work with tribes in doing so.
"The state of Oregon has much to learn about that commitment," he said. As for a rainy day fund, he said he plans to boost it to $900 million. Not saving a large chunk of money, he said, would be irresponsible since the economy moves in cycles and in the future could once again be in a slump
The purpose of the ninth annual Oregon tribes' summit, Kulongoski said, was to build relationships.
He added, however, that despite differences in the past, the state
"There is no state that has a better state/tribe relationship," he said. "I see you as sovereigns, as equals and as citizens of the great state of Oregon."
Missing from the summit was the Burns Paiute Tribe of Eastern Oregon. The other tribes met to discuss the fight against meth, gangs, sending young people to college or finding them jobs, providing health care and insurance and protecting the environment.
Sue Shaffer, chairwoman of the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians, said the tribes' future intent is to have their neighbors understand that "this is our home land."
She called the election of Marilyn Kittelman to Douglas County commissioner an "unfortunate situation," and characterized One Nation United — a group whose meetings in Washington, D.C., Kittelman has attended more than once — as an "Indian hate group."
Shaffer said it's remarkable that people can complain about the Cow Creeks, who employ about 1,300 people with a $47 million payroll.
She also announced the Cow Creeks' future plans of building a coffee house and bistro near Roseburg's Visitors Center and adding 52 rooms to the Seven Feathers Hotel Casino & Resort with an upscale spa.