YAKAMA NATION EXPECTS DRUG COURT TO OPEN BY NEXT YEAR

TOPPENISH -- The Yakama Nation expects a tribal drug court to be up
and running next year, and its chief judge says it's an idea whose
time has come.

By breaking the cycle of drugs and crime, the courts reduce the number
of jail inmates and repeat offenders and save money, said Rory Flint
Knife, who became the Yakama Nation's chief judge last May.

A three-year federal Justice Department grant will pay initial costs,
said Anna Ward, tribal court deputy director.

Sixteen other American Indian tribes, including the Spokane and Makah
in Washington, currently have either juvenile or adult drug courts,
Flint Knife said.

"We would be the first tribe in the nation to have both," he
said.

The drug court will be voluntary and open to all nonviolent offenders
who come into tribal court.

Like other drug courts, the Yakama Nation requires that participants
go to treatment programs, take drug tests and regularly meet with the
judge and other court officials. But Flint Knife also wants it to
incorporate Yakama traditions and culture.

That could involve sweat lodges or talking with elders, Flint Knife
said.

Spokane Tribal Court Chief Judge Mary Pearson does not order those in
her tribe's drug court program to take part in cultural activities,
but the option is available.

The Spokanes' drug court started accepting people in July, Pearson
said. So far, 11 people have participated.

"We don't have a lot of people in the (drug) court yet because it's a
very stringent program," she said.

The Spokanes' drug court is funded through a two-year Justice
Department grant, and Pearson worries that isn't long enough for the
program to take hold and reduce the problems created by drugs and alcohol.

Without the grants, the tribe doesn't have the money to fund the
program, she said.