Vandals in Wind River Reservation, Wyo., Destroy Elder's Home Story-Date: 12:23 p.m. PST Sunday , October 5, 1997 ------------------------------------------------------------ Vandals in Wind River Reservation, Wyo., Destroy Elder's Home By K. Marie Porterfield, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News FT. WASHAKIE, Wyo.--Oct. 6--Joanna Tillman didn't have time to get utilities hooked up to her Ft. Washakie mobile home, let alone move in, before vandals trashed it last month. One of the trailer's walls was pushed out, light fixtures were ripped off the ceiling, as well as two fans. The refrigerator, the stove, bathroom fixtures- all were demolished, destroying the dreams of the Shoshone elder who had put her life savings into buying and totally remodeling the trailer. Thirteen juveniles and one adult were implicated in the rampage on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. Petitions were filed against them September 26, in tribal court. Among the charges they face are illegal consumption of alcohol, curfew violation and malicious mischief. They will be asked to make restitution. "We have a juvenile problem," said Wind River Police Captain Larry Makeshine. "We're not unique. What's happening here is not half as severe as some of our counterparts on other reservations." In 1991, 120 juvenile arrests were made on Wind River Reservation. In 1996, 758 young people were arrested. During the first eight months of 1997, over 600 arrests were made according to Mr. Makeshine. The young people involved in the trailer vandalism had been drinking when the incident occurred. "It was a party that got out of hand," said Chief Tribal Judge John St. Clair. "Alcohol is the common thread that runs through incidents like this. You can't say that alcohol caused it, but people do act irrationally when they drink." Judge St. Clair believes only a few of the reservation's young people are responsible for crime. "When any of us were growing up we did some things that weren't right," he said. "Back then, when that first happened we were guided in the right way." He said he believes that the problem of juvenile crime begins in the family when parents fail to keep track of what their children are doing and do not give them guidance. Most of the Shoshone and Arapaho young people who live on the reservation stay out of trouble, agrees Mr. Makeshine. "We have a lot of good kids," he said. About 40 to 50 percent of the young people we arrest are repeat offenders." They account for most of the youth crimes committed on the reservation. According to Capt. Makeshine, many people in the community have asked for youth crime prevention programs. "They tell us these kids have nothing to do," he said. "When we have contact with them late at night or early in the morning, they are looking for something to do. They should be home in bed." He is currently investigating a break-in at the IHS clinic in Arapaho in which three bicycle riding juveniles aged 14 to 15 stole controlled drugs. "We managed to recover most of the drugs," he said. Mr. Makeshine does not connect the crime increase to gangs. "I know there are some who believe that if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be a duck," he said. "I don't feel that when two or three young people get into trouble together that they become a gang." Most juvenile offenders on Wind River become part of an intervention program run by the court system. They are required to do community service and make restitution to their victims. Those who have committed more severe crimes are sent to a juvenile detention facility in Worland over 60 miles away. If Mr. Makeshine had more funding, he said he would use it to focus on prevention. "I'd provide recreational activities for our young people and start programs for them to learn their culture," he said. "Our children need to get back to traditional ways and to religion whether it's traditional or going to church," he said. In recent weeks, several open meetings have been held with Wyoming's U.S. Attorney, tribal leaders, tribal police and members of the community. At the latest, held September 17, the Joint Business Council bought pizza for community youth. Lori McLeod, a Shoshone student who attended the meeting, said later, "I heard the adults talking about how students should face the consequences for their actions. I heard them say how detention centers needed to be built. What I didn't hear any of the parents at the meeting say was that they loved their children." ----- Visit Indian Country Today on the World Wide Web at http://www.indiancountry.com/ ----- (c) 1997, Indian Country Today, Rapid City, S.D. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News. ------------------------------------------------------------