Thursday, October 13, 2005
Douglas County, OR, anti-Indian Feelings
Anyone care to say that Oregon has good relations with Indians?
This newspaper article has a great, great quote about "Indians stealing our land." Apparently, nobody in the land of the Cow Creeks—Canyonville, OR, has any sense of irony. Above and beyond that, though, anyone who believes that Indian-white relations in the great state of Oregon are peachy probably thinks George Bush is telling the truth and we are winning the war of conquest in Iraq....
Second witness said she heard Kittelman disparage tribe
News Review (The)
JOHN SOWELL, jsowell@newsreview.info
October 11, 2005
A second person has stepped forward to accuse Douglas County Commissioner
Marilyn Kittelman of maligning the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of
Indians while eating at a Rice Hill restaurant on Aug. 27.
The second witness said she saw Kittelman pump an imaginary shotgun and
heard her say things against the tribe while the commissioner dined with her
husband at the Homestead Restaurant that day.
Last week, The News-Review reported that a person accused Kittelman of
entering the restaurant, raising her hands up as if she were pumping a
shotgun and firing it. At the same time, Kittelman reportedly said “I’m
fighting Indians. Anyone want to join me?” the first witness claimed.
The second witness said she did not observe Kittelman firing the
make-believe weapon. However, she said she saw the commissioner reach behind
her and act like she was removing arrows from her back.
She said Kittelman explained her actions by saying “I been fighting Indians
all week,” the second witness told tribal officials Friday during a taped
interview.
Kittelman this morning again denied that the incident took place. She said
she was in the restaurant that day with her husband and a client from
Creswell, but said she did not raise an imaginary gun, remove arrows from
her back or make disparaging comments about the tribe.
“The only thing you need for a lie to be a really good lie is to have an
ounce of truth,” Kittelman said.
The second witness, whose identity The News-Review agreed not to reveal,
said from Kittelman’s actions she did not believe the commissioner planned
to shoot anyone, only that “she was still armed and ready to fight,”
according to a transcript of the interview provided by the tribe.
“And I thought to myself then that I hoped the wrong person did not see what
this young woman (Kittelman) did because politically it was like shooting
herself in the foot,” the witness said.
The woman also said Kittelman referred to several members of the tribe by a
derogatory term. However, the witness did not take the comment as a
criticism of the entire tribe.
The first witness said Kittelman while speaking on her cell phone told a
caller that the county stood to lose millions of dollars if the tribe was
allowed to continue to move land into tribal trust. The first witness said
Kittelman said “It’s time to stop Indian growth. I’m the cowgirl to do it.”
Kittelman said she never refers to herself as a cowgirl, only as a horse
trainer. However, the second witness said she also heard Kittelman make the
statement.
The second witness was not able to corroborate, however, another statement
attributed to Kittelman by the first witness. That person, whose identity
The News-Review also agreed to withhold, said another person in the
restaurant asked Kittelman whether her actions might offend American
Indians. The first witness said Kittelman replied by saying she had “nothing
against Indians but they are stealing our land.”
The second witness said she did not hear Kittelman accuse the tribe of
taking land by removing it from the property tax rolls. She said she only
heard Kittelman say “I have nothing against the Indian people.”
However, the second witness said Kittelman’s denials printed in last
Thursday’s paper did not ring true.
“If she is denying jacking one in the chamber and she is denying the cowgirl
statement and she is denying the digging out of my back and fighting with
Indians all week, if she is denying ever making those statements, the woman
is lying,” the second witness said.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at
jsowell@newsreview.info.
This newspaper article has a great, great quote about "Indians stealing our land." Apparently, nobody in the land of the Cow Creeks—Canyonville, OR, has any sense of irony. Above and beyond that, though, anyone who believes that Indian-white relations in the great state of Oregon are peachy probably thinks George Bush is telling the truth and we are winning the war of conquest in Iraq....
Second witness said she heard Kittelman disparage tribe
News Review (The)
JOHN SOWELL, jsowell@newsreview.info
October 11, 2005
A second person has stepped forward to accuse Douglas County Commissioner
Marilyn Kittelman of maligning the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of
Indians while eating at a Rice Hill restaurant on Aug. 27.
The second witness said she saw Kittelman pump an imaginary shotgun and
heard her say things against the tribe while the commissioner dined with her
husband at the Homestead Restaurant that day.
Last week, The News-Review reported that a person accused Kittelman of
entering the restaurant, raising her hands up as if she were pumping a
shotgun and firing it. At the same time, Kittelman reportedly said “I’m
fighting Indians. Anyone want to join me?” the first witness claimed.
The second witness said she did not observe Kittelman firing the
make-believe weapon. However, she said she saw the commissioner reach behind
her and act like she was removing arrows from her back.
She said Kittelman explained her actions by saying “I been fighting Indians
all week,” the second witness told tribal officials Friday during a taped
interview.
Kittelman this morning again denied that the incident took place. She said
she was in the restaurant that day with her husband and a client from
Creswell, but said she did not raise an imaginary gun, remove arrows from
her back or make disparaging comments about the tribe.
“The only thing you need for a lie to be a really good lie is to have an
ounce of truth,” Kittelman said.
The second witness, whose identity The News-Review agreed not to reveal,
said from Kittelman’s actions she did not believe the commissioner planned
to shoot anyone, only that “she was still armed and ready to fight,”
according to a transcript of the interview provided by the tribe.
“And I thought to myself then that I hoped the wrong person did not see what
this young woman (Kittelman) did because politically it was like shooting
herself in the foot,” the witness said.
The woman also said Kittelman referred to several members of the tribe by a
derogatory term. However, the witness did not take the comment as a
criticism of the entire tribe.
The first witness said Kittelman while speaking on her cell phone told a
caller that the county stood to lose millions of dollars if the tribe was
allowed to continue to move land into tribal trust. The first witness said
Kittelman said “It’s time to stop Indian growth. I’m the cowgirl to do it.”
Kittelman said she never refers to herself as a cowgirl, only as a horse
trainer. However, the second witness said she also heard Kittelman make the
statement.
The second witness was not able to corroborate, however, another statement
attributed to Kittelman by the first witness. That person, whose identity
The News-Review also agreed to withhold, said another person in the
restaurant asked Kittelman whether her actions might offend American
Indians. The first witness said Kittelman replied by saying she had “nothing
against Indians but they are stealing our land.”
The second witness said she did not hear Kittelman accuse the tribe of
taking land by removing it from the property tax rolls. She said she only
heard Kittelman say “I have nothing against the Indian people.”
However, the second witness said Kittelman’s denials printed in last
Thursday’s paper did not ring true.
“If she is denying jacking one in the chamber and she is denying the cowgirl
statement and she is denying the digging out of my back and fighting with
Indians all week, if she is denying ever making those statements, the woman
is lying,” the second witness said.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at
jsowell@newsreview.info.
