So, are there ANY tribal members who will be affected by the loss of income the failure of the Arlington dump may cause?
If not, I'm afraid they leave the impression that tribal people don't care what happens to the rest of the citizens of the county as long as the tribals have nothing to lose. If so, then a similar knee-jerk "I don't care about your tribal issues either" reaction is generated in return from those affected by this attitude. This is the way long-standing hatreds and prejudices are generated and encouraged to grow.
How many tribal people take advantage of the fishing rights in the exact area where the dock/bridge/whatever was to be (and partially is) located? "Yeah, well, we have the right to fish there" isn't a reasonable argument to convince those who may lose their livelihood.
Weighing the pros and cons, couldn't the work go on?
I'm from western Oregon, all I can say is, "What is WRONG with you people!" There isn't a whole lot the people of Gilliam county can do to develop their economy...most of the land grows huge fields of wheat (not big on jobs) or lies fallow as the cattle ranchers collect government payments (what's up with that?). Maybe the U.S. Govt. should take some of that rancher-welfare cash and pay the tribal people for the piece of property the dock is on...problem solved. I wish it was that easy.
Big cities need dumps and Arlington (like other areas nearby) provides that service on what was probably government subsidized unused land. Lose that dump and they'll be coming to YOUR rural area elsewhere in Oregon to dump their garbage. Check it out, Arlington has an excellent waste management solution and we need to support them from the rest of Oregon.
I believe in Tribal rights, but they too have to live in the present world with their neighbors and hopefully can work out a solution that benefits ALL the citizens of Gilliam county.
The rest of Oregon is watching.