'Our water not for sale at any price'
Editor:
My name is Louise Stasso, a full-blood Kootenai and Salish Tribal member. My parents were Lassaw Stasso, Sr. and Angelic Finley Stasso. My parents spoke both Kootenai and Salish as their first language. I grew up on the west shore of Flathead Lake at Elmo.
Our only source of water was Flathead Lake. It provided for all of our needs. Today this lake is so contaminated and polluted that I can no longer swim in it.
Non-Indian residents of our reservation need to get informed. Our reservation is Indian, Tribal land. In 1914, the Federal Government illegally opened our reservation to non-Indian homesteaders. Our treaty, "the Hellgate Treaty," was signed in 1855. This was Washington Territory, not Montana Territory. All of Montana is Indian land by aboriginal rights.
Today, American Indians continue to live in poverty and are still the most oppressed, especially those of us who are at least 50 percent or more Indian. I am an advocate for this group. Seventy percent of our Tribal members are less than half Indian.
Our water is not for sale at any price. I'm not in favor of compromising or negotaiting for our water. I am for litigation because litigation will outlast our precious Mother Earth. Mother nature and top scientists have warned us that unless drastic changes are taken within the next 15 years, it will be [impossible] to save Mother Earth. We will destroy her. The Wind River Tribe in Wyoming have been litigating their waters for 32 years.
I would appreciate the person who wrote me an anonymous letter to please contact me. I do agree with some of the contents of the letter and I will not reveal to anyone who you are. I have been and will continue to be an advocate of the Indians especially those who have at least 50 percent or more Indian blood. Whenever I have an issue that I disagree or agree with, I always reveal my name.
Louise Stasso
Arlee
Starting dialogue on school budget issues
In my previous letter, I asked retirement eligible teachers of the St. Ignatius school district to take stock of their lives and their careers and to consider the retirement incentive that is being offered in order to provide a way to save some of the programs that are currently on the list of cuts being proposed due to the state of the current budget. To dispel any negative thoughts that some may have formed of my intentions, I am writing now to offer further explanation.
First, I don't believe retirement should be considered a negative thing. It is simply what one makes of it. I believe that retirees are in a unique position to make a tremendous difference in the community by volunteering for civic projects to benefit our young people. There is a very long wish list of projects that the Parks Board and Recreation Coalition have but they are lacking in volunteers to spearhead those projects. Also, retired teachers make absolutely fabulous tutors.
Secondly, I consider some of these long-time teachers to be the foundation of our school. They are great at what they do and are respected among their peers, their students, and parents. Many of them still love every day that they spend at the school and they take pride in the successes of our young people, as they should. They're still very effective in the classroom and are very valuable to the district and our community. On the other hand, there are also teachers who may not be excited to face the challenges of teaching any more or who aren't necessarily as effective as they once were.
My plea to the retirement-eligible teachers to take a hard look at where they are in their lives was simply that: asking them to evaluate themselves in terms of their careers. If they do this and determine that it is in everyone's best interest to keep doing what they're doing then great. If they're one of those that aren't necessarily in it for the love of teaching and don't feel like they're making a difference anymore, then they should give the incentive some very thorough consideration. That doesn't mean that if someone decides to take the incentive that they are of one of the latter, and nobody should make that implication. Let me just say again — We are in a crisis situation. Any time programs are in jeopardy of being cut due to lack of funding, we have to put our heads together to figure out a way around it. This is the sole motivation for my plea. If nothing else, my letter has gotten some much-needed dialogue started. I strongly believe that communication is the key to resolving the very difficult issues facing the school district and the community. I am simply one parent with my own opinions and I encourage other concerned parents to come forward with their views on the decisions being made at the school. Because it isn't just about the teachers — it's about our children and the very important role that their educations will play in their futures, and ours.
Marine Johnson
St. Ignatius
Worker's comp clause could affect tribal workers
Editor:
I need for the tribal members to know that the current worker's compensation, AMERIND Tribal Injury Protection (ATEIP) Risk Pool, who then contracts with Berkely Risk Administration Company, LLC (BRAC) that we are currently covered under has a huge clause that states, "they will not cover any pre-existing injuries." That means if one was to have injured their backs, knee, shoulder, etc. before this company picked them up, and they were to fall and re-injure the same spot, they are out of luck because of the clause BRAC has in the contract. I think it is imperative that each tribal member call or write to their representative to let them know their concerns. This affects a whole lot of tribal employees.
Tessie A. Curley
Pablo
Harsh reality for American troops
Editor:
Spring is a time of fresh beginnings. The decay of autumn gives way to new growth. Gardeners plant the soil. Baseball season begins anew. There is a general sense of hope and optimism.
At some point reality tempers the dream of undefeated baseball seasons and lush gardens. Ball clubs will drop some games and the deer and slugs will get into our gardens. But life goes on through victory and defeat.
The sting of reality is harsher for American troops and their families. They have been sold a false bill of goods and left to waste in the Middle East. The arrogance of political leaders will not acknowledge ugly mistakes made. The architects of war in Iraq and Afghanistan will never tell how their team lost or their garden failed. They will spin new lies to replace the old ones. Such is the tale of our lost oil wars.
Dick Cheney says that losing Iraq is not an option. He is right. It's not an option, it's reality. The propaganda of the troop surge is now showing cracks at the seams. Americans continue to die every day. Shiite power is increasing. Bush, Cheney, and McCain sneak into Iraq under cover of darkness for the benefit of news media. Security is at a maximum state of alert. By contrast, the president of Iran pays official state visits to Iraq and is hailed by our puppet government as a close friend.
American troops no longer have a vision for the future of Iraq. Their presence is not to disarm weapons of mass destruction, liberate the Iraqi people, turn over power to Iraqi security forces or create democracy. Their springtime of hope has turned into perpetual winter.
Americans can create a new vision of hope. It is hope based on peace and withdrawing American troops from the Middle East. It may require conducting war crimes trials for Bush and his advisors. It calls on us to recognize the difficult reality that we have lost wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
If we can learn from these mistakes then we will become stronger and smarter. Should we ignore these lessons, we will continue our downward spiral into ruin. Springtime can be the time of our rebirth but only if we see the reality that surrounds us.
David Daniels
Berkeley, Calif.
Clearing up school name confusion
Editor,
I am writing this letter to clear up the confusion as to why there are two different preschools with the same name in Polson. It is not my intent in any way to discredit the other preschool. I just want to state the facts as to how this has happened. Smart Start preschool owned and operated by myself, Debbie Klein, is in its seventh year of operation in Polson. Recently another preschool opened using the same name. I did not officially have the Smart Start name registered with the state of Montana. Therefore, the other preschool can legally use it if they choose to. I am now registered with the state as Miss Debbie's Smart Start Preschool. From now on all of my advertising posters and T-shirts will have the new name on them. Miss Debbie's Smart Start Preschool is still located in the same place and the phone number is still 883-2110. All of my information is still on the internet. You can find it by searching for Smart Start Preschool Polson MT or preschool Polson MT. I apologize to all the parents and businesses that have been affected by this. I hope this clears up the confusion about the two preschools in Polson with the same name.
Debbie Klein
Polson
Flea market thanks
The Ronan Woman's Club would like to thank the merchants of Ronan, Pablo and Connie's Cafe for the donations at our art, craft and flea market we had on March 8. We also thank Judy's Town and Country for letting us leave the silent auction items there to be picked up.
Helen Symington
Presient, Ronan
Woman's Club
Ronan
Bowl for Kids another strike
Once again, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Board members and staff thank all of you who sponsored bowlers or gave business sponsorships for the Ronan Bowl For Kids' Sake on Sunday, April 6.
Bowlers received free shoes and bowling lanes from Lucky Strike Lanes, non-stop pizza from Stageline Pizza in Ronan, drinks courtesy of Pepsi-Bottling of Kalispell, cookies from Ronan Subway, and music and hilarity from Wayne Fuchs. Scott and Sally, the Lucky Strike Lanes team, made the party a huge success. Tim donated the facility to us for the day.
Bowler sponsors, all 332 of you, allowed 65 bowlers to raise over $4,500. These funds are used to professionally match Bigs and Littles for friendships that improve the lives of both. Your contributions impact both local children and the community as a whole. What a great investment!
Julie Wenner, BBBS Executive Director
Polson