Elaine
Devary Willman, MPA is
the authorof
Going To Pieces…the
dismantling the United
States of America,
first published in 2005.
The book reports on
first person visits and
experiences of tribal
members and citizens
residing on or near
seventeen Indian
reservations during her
extensive road trip
across the country from
Washington State to New
York State. Willman’s
book is selling faster
now in 2015 and 2016
than when initially
published because the
fears expressed in the
book are now America’s
reality.
Subsequent to her two
year attendance at
Ventura College of Law,
Ms. Willman received a
Masters degree in Public
Administration from Cal
State University in
1991, and has obtained
96 credits towards her
doctoral work in public
policy. Having lived in
Western States for over
thirty years, and within
two Indian reservations
for more than twenty
years, Ms. Willman has
extensive knowledge
about federal Indian
policy, land use status
within Indian
reservations,
dual-jurisdiction and
Constitutional conflicts
that impact the rights
and lives of tribal
members as well as other
American citizens.
Ms. Willman’s mother and
grandmother were
enrolled Cherokee
members; her spouse is
of Shoshone ancestry,
and is a direct
descendant of Sacajawea.
She served as National
Chair of Citizens Equal
Rights Alliance (CERA)
from 2001 – 2007 and
remains an active CERA
Board Member. Mrs.
Willman has blended her
local land use and
strategic planning
expertise with federal
Indian policy to inform
and engage counties,
towns and citizens that
are co-located within or
near federally
recognized Indian
reservations.
From 2008 until June
2015 Ms. Willman served
the Village of Hobart,
Wisconsin, as their
Director of Community
Development and Tribal
Affairs. Having made
several trips to Montana
to study and oppose the
CSKT Water Compact, Ms.
Willman determined to
move her household and
business to Ronan,
Montana in July 2015 to
address the current and
long-term impacts of
federal and tribal
government over-reach in
Western Montana.
Contact: Phone:
509-949-8055
Email: toppin@aol.com
Two of her
recent articles were
recently published in
Western Ag Reporter, and
because of the second
article, she was
recently given a monthly
column in
Newswithviews.com.http://www.newswithviews.com/Willman/elaine100.htm
Rights of Indians
and Non-Indians
CERF/CERA believes
and defends the
constitutional rights of
Indians and non-Indians.
Our mission is to change
federal Indian policies
that threaten or
restrict the individual
rights of all citizens
living on or near Indian
reservations. We do not
tolerate racial
prejudice of any kind.
We do not knowingly
associate with anyone
who discriminates based
on race.
http://citizensalliance.org/
About
Going To Pieces…the
Dismantling of the
United States of
America: Think “Thelma
and Louise” – two women
who took an unusual road
trip. Only the road trip
that is Going To Pieces…
is about a system taking
down this country
economically,
politically and
geographically. The
author and a
videographer journeyed
across 17 Indian
reservations from
Washington State to New
York, capturing over 130
hours of direct
testimony on video from
farmers, tribal members,
teachers, bankers,
sheriffs – all manner of
folk who live within the
historic or actual
boundaries of Indian
reservations. The
stories captured were so
stark. The folks
speaking had felt
unheard for decades. The
author promised each of
them that their story
would be told and
offered anonymity to
anyone in need. No one
wanted anonymity. “Tell
the truth; we have to be
heard.”
While the road trip
occurred in the fall of
2004, and the book was
written in the spring of
2005, due to serious
controversy and risk,
the author has just this
year assigned an ISBN
number to Going to
Pieces…and made it
available to the open
market.
The original purpose of
the journey was to
produce an 88-minute
documentary, but the
people interviewed and
the stories told were so
many, a documentary fell
short. So, the author
transcribed the actual
words from the 130 hours
of video, and re-lived
the journey for the
reader. The reader is
asked to realize that
this book only addresses
17 of the 565 federally
recognized Indian
tribes, and leaves it to
the reader to imagine
the full impact
occurring across rural
America, and now through
tribal casinos, seeping
quickly into urban
America.
Mainstream media is
continuously and
substantially funded by
tribal casino
advertising dollars that
the reality of life on
Indian reservations is
taboo to discuss out
loud or on television,
in print or on the
radio. The end result is
“hush-money” to never
discuss real life on
Indian reservations.
Both political parties
are equally funded with
campaign donations from
tribal governments,
tribal associations and
thousands of lobbyists,
to the extent that
Congress quickly serves
some 565 tribal
governments and turns a
mournful deaf ear to the
hundreds of thousands of
their constituents who
live on or near Indian
reservations but are not
tribal members.
Do you know... that at
least 90 major public
spaces and natural
resources, including
Redwood National
Monument (CA) and Joshua
Tree National Monument
(CA), are targeted by
the Department of the
Interior, the Bureau of
Land Management, the
Bureau of Reclamation,
the National Park
Service and U.S. Fish
and Wildlife, to be
turned over to private
tribal governments? The
list includes: 41
national refuges; 34
national parks, wildlife
refuges and hatcheries;
and 15 regional water
projects. In each
instance, a tribe will
take over the management
of these public lands.
The problem is that what
tribes do rarely
involves any public
process, oversight or
transparency. As can be
seen in the areas where
tribal governments have
taken over or been given
oversight of public
lands, public access is
often limited or ended.
And the tribes won't pay
for the management of
these sites; the
taxpayers will.
Do you know... that one
small Montana tribe of
5,130 people had in
2004, an annual
Operational Management
Budget of $373 million?
This annual budget of a
single tribe is larger
than the national U.S.
Fish and Wildlife's
annual budget for the
entire country.
Do you know…every Indian
reservation is
co-located within a
county or counties and
often towns, villages
and cities? Their tribal
government annual
operating budgets exceed
the annual operating
budget of the counties
in which they are
located.
Do you know that the
Department of Interior
or any federal agency
has never audited or
tracked the annual
amount of federal
(taxpayer) funds going
to 565 separate
governments from some 27
federal agencies? It’s
in the multi-billions
while poverty worsens on
the reservations.