1986-05-16 Char-Koosta News

              Chief Charlo of the Salish VOLUME 15 NUMBER 1
MONTH OF THE BITTER ROOT
Chief Koostatah of the Kootenai MAY 16, 1986
No dams on the Flathead right now, Council tells Pondera Hydro
PABLO -- The Tribal Council decided last week to "not show interest" in two Tribal members' plans to conduct feasibility studies on the Flathead River with an eye towards hydropower development.
The decision was not accompanied by a formal vote. Had it been, the action could conceivably have been challenged under the Tribal constitution.
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Fred Houle, Jr., and Wally Weivoda, officers of Pondera Hydro, Inc., met with the Council May 9 to question the decision.
"Is there any way we could structure this [their joint-management proposal] to please everyone?" Houle asked.
"Our prime question was 'Do we want to dramatically alter the river?' We answered 'No' unanimously," Council chairman Ron Therriault answered.
Since PHI first met with the Council in March, Therriault explained to the 20 or so people at the May 9 meeting,
"We've gone, over a considerable amount of information and decided unanimously to not show interest. We didn't vote because we were dealing with a proposal." The Council had spent part of the week of May 5-9 in and out of meetings and executive sessions to discuss the merits of the PHI proposal, he said.
"Needless to say, I am very disappointed in this decision," Houle said, reading from a three-page written statement.
"I'm also surprised at the way this (Concludes on page two)
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Happy anniversary to us!
This issue marks the beginning of The Char-Koosta News' 15th consecutive year of publication.
The paper made its debut back in 1956 as an effort to inform the Tribal membership about the decade's termination mentality. Political pressure from someone on the Tribal Council led to its temporary suspension in 1961.
Following two issues in mid-1971,
the paper was reborn in earnest in April of 1972, and it's been busy keeping track of news in Indian Country ever since.
We hope we survive the upcoming budget season -- which may see Tribal programs cinching their figurative belts so tight their belly-buttons kiss their vertebrae -- to be around for another 15 years or more.
1New series: Alcoholism Q and A.................Page 3
NPage 4
SPage 6
1Young wrestlers score at state competition........Page 10
nPage 11
u ESpecial feature: Wakes, Funerals and Feast Days. centerfold