Yurok election issues are river, infrastructure

November 6, 2007

By Nicholas Grube

Triplicate staff writer

Protecting the Klamath River and creating a solid Yurok Tribe infrastructure are the two topics that dominate the elections for the Yurok Tribal Council.

On Wednesday, tribal members will be able to choose two new candidates to represent them on the council in both the East and South Districts. Incumbent Richard Myers, who ran unopposed in the Pecwan District, will remain on the council.

South District

"I think the Klamath River is probably the principle issue facing the tribes," said Christopher H. Peters, who is running for an open seat in the South District. He is the president of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, a non-profit with a mission of promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of American Indians.

Stopping the blue-green algae blooms and preventing the dams from diverting water are two of the many issues Peters said he would like to cure on the Klamath.

"That's our sustainable resource," Peters said, and it isn't only for the people along the river. "All of the life that depends on it is huge."

Peters' opponent, Dale Ann Frye Sherman, also says protecting the Klamath is one of the more important issues facing the tribe today.

"Basically, when we are talking about the river and the salmon, we are talking about our identity and our culture," said Sherman, who teaches Native American Studies at Humboldt State University and the College of the Redwoods. "It's imperative that we step forward and make every effort to protect the river and the salmon."

Sherman also said it is important for the tribe to come up with a plan to secure its infrastructure for the long-term.

"We absolutely need a plan that involves what our future for the tribe is," she said. "We need a general working plan that needs to be two years, five years, 15 years, and 20 years in place."

She said the best way to do this is to involve tribal members at the ground floor of the decision-making process and have them form committees to tackle such issues as economic development.

For Peters, one of the best ways to spur economic development, land acquisition and infrastructure building is to use some of the nearly $90 million the tribe received as part of the Yurok-Hoopa Settlement Act as seed money.

"Unfortunately, the growing opinion is to pay it (the $90 million) out" as a per capita payment to each tribal member, he said. "Certainly, there needs to be money left in the coffer to work with infrastructure."

Peters also said he would make a big push to preserve the Yurok culture through language development.

EAST DISTRICT

In the East District two experienced Yurok Tribal Council members will vie for one seat.

Susan Masten, a former council chair, will challenge Lyle L. McKinnon, Sr. for the East District position he has held for the past two terms.

For both Masten and McKinnon the Klamath River remains at the forefront of tribal issues that need to be addressed.

"We all still really remain concerned and committed to the Klamath River ," Masten said, adding that decommissioning the dams on the Upper Klamath and restoring and rehabbing the river's integrity are the main concerns.

"That continues to be an issue that will remain a priority for the tribe as we move forward," Masten said. "That's because we are a fishing tribe and that's who we are ... It's very significant to the Yurok people."

McKinnon said the dam removal is the most important river-related issue for the tribe currently because it involves the tribe's way of life—salmon.

"Our fish are number one," he said. "That's our lifeline. We'll always be fighting for that."

But McKinnon said he wants also wants to fight for what he calls the inequities in the Yurok-Hoopa Settlement Act, particularly when it comes to getting more land for the tribe, because the more land, he says, the better the infrastructure.

"This isn't done and over, we want to go after the land base we need," he said, in order to build houses and possibly add a park to the reservation. "There's not that much land that we can build on for our members to bring them home."

The tribe will have to get the land from lobbying U.S. Congress, McKinnon said, which is the same tactic that Masten said she will use.

"Congress, when it passed the act didn't have the information it needed when it passed the act for both tribes," Masten said, referring to the decisions made for the Yurok and Hoopa Tribes with the 1988 settlement act.

It would be an educational process, Masten said, to get changes made to the settlement act that would, for instance, provide the Yurok Tribe with more land. And the more land, she added, the better chances of creating economic sustainability for the tribe.

Reach Nicholas Grube at ngrube@triplicate.com.

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