Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2006)
sc« OrCo11 E 75 . S68 v. 31 no. £ January 19, £006 Spi lygy Tyrocx P.0. BOX 870 Warm Sorinas, O R 97761 U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y Received on: 01-31-06 S p ily a y tymoo. ,R W S S I Patron Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, O R 97761 31, No. 2 Coyote News, est. 1976 5 0 cents Air quality important health issue Water standard reflects higher fish consumption B y B rian M ortensen B y B rian M ortensen Spilyay Tymoo Spilyay Tymoo Located 15 miles from the next town and more than 50 miles from the near est real urban center, the Warm Springs reservation has relatively clean air. But there are factors that can threaten the area’s pristine air quality that may af fect peoples’ respiratory health. Gerry Shipp, an air quality special ist, is aware o f that, and is working to keep Warm Springs residents informed o f what their air is like. “I think many people take the air for granted. It’s just there. It’s invisible,” Shipp said. W ith the use o f an air quality moni tor located near the Warm Springs Fire Management office at the Natural Re sources complex, and with a portable monitor, Shipp measures the amount o f toxins in the air, measured in par ticulates. The particulates measured in a cu bic meter o f air make up a scale, from which air quality specialists determine levels of risk to the air quality. Shipp has been posting his results in 12 different places around the Warm Springs community on a daily basis. The informational bulletins include the air quality index for Warm Springs and the high and low ratings from Oregon and around the western U.S. For a people who depend on fish as a m ajor part o f their diet, the qual ity o f the w ater those fish swim in, and are caught from is im portant. W ater quality specialists from the Warm Springs Environmental Office, members o f the Tribal W ater Board and representatives o f the E nviron mental Protection Agency (EPA) took a step toward finishing the tribal Natu ral Resources Branch triennial review o f w ater quality on the reservation. The step toward com pletion o f the review was a public hearing at the W arm Springs C om m unity C enter Jan. 10. The Tribal W ater Control Board and the Tribal Environm ental Office have proposed a revision to O rdi nance 80, w hich provides definitions for low flow periods and changes the allowable levels o f certain toxins for the protection o f hum an health. The toxins manifest themselves not only in the w ater people drink, but through the fish they eat. And N a tive Americans eat more fish than the g en eral p o p u la tio n , R a w lin Richardson from the E nvironm ental Office said. “In 1994, the Colum bia River In tertribal Fish Com m ission concluded that tribal populations eat eight to nine tim es m ore fish than the gen eral population,” he said. D uring the w ater quality review process, Richardson said, “I think our main issue was the fish consum ption rate for the toxics section o f our stan dards. We wanted to look at consump tion rate as it represents the tribal population, rather than EPA’s old stan dard o f 6 V 2 gram s-per-day consum p tion rate.” H e said , “We d e c id e d on 175 gram s a day, w hich would protect 99- plus percent o f the children and 95 percent o f the general population. See A IR Q U A LIT Y on 9 Gorge town honors Clements B y Raelynn Ricarte CASCAD E LO CK S - The late Warren Rudy Clements was remembered in Cascade Locks recently as a “human being” in the truest sense o f the word. Form er Cascade Locks mayor Rogers W heatley said Clements had once portrayed a human be ing as someone who was honest and unselfish. Fie said the C o n fed erated Tribes o f Warm Springs govern ment leader had earned that title by always putting the welfare of his people above his own inter ests. “The world was a better place b e c a u se he w as h e re ,” said Wheatley, one of 60 people at tending the m id-day m em orial service. T he C ascad e L o cks C ity C o un cil and num erous other Hood River County dignitaries joined tribal representatives in the Pavilion at Port Marine Park. The bluster}^ weather outside seemed to fit the somber occasion where speakers struggled, sometimes unsuccessfully, to keep their tears at bay. In honor o f the occasion, the city had flown the United States fla g at h a lf-m a st to den o te mourning. Just below the national standard, the Warm Springs flag had been raised to show respect for Clements. On Dec. 28, Clements died at the age o f 69 in Bend from com: plications related to diabetes. At the Jan. 7 cerem ony ar ranged by Cascade Locks port and city officials, Clements was praised for uniting the two com munities. See C L E M E N T S on 8 Tribal population consumes 8 to 9 times more fish Brian Mortensen/Spilyay Nicola Stwyer New Miss Warm Springs In the past, three o f Nicola Stwyer’s relatives have achieved the title of Miss Warm Springs. So it was only natural that Stwyer should vie for the honor of representing the Confederated Tribes. Last week at the Miss Warm Springs Pageant, Stwyer was chosen to succeed Christina Johnson as Miss Warm Springs. Stwyer, 19, was one of three candidates this year, along with Amelia Spino, 21, and Courtney Buck, 19. “Last night went by fast, the whole pageant went by fast,” Stwyer said. The competition included the introduction of the contestants, and then presentation of a set o f five questions to each contestant. The questions were about the reservation and the Confederated Tribes. ‘ Each contestant also presented her talent, and a traditional dance. Stwyer’s talent was the restoration o f a dress. She told of the history of the dress and how she restored it, and she wore the dress for the pageant. “My beadwork was actually my aunt Pearl Stwyer’s,” she explained. “My aunt had a whole outfit. Then she went to school over on the East Coast, and when she got back there were only leggings and a belt,” she said. Please see STW YER on page 9 We got a nice table from the EPA and calculated all the values for all the toxics in the tables. That was the big gest issue.” D eepak Sehgal, m anager o f the tribal Environm ental O ffice, said his office and the W ater Control Board conduct periodic studies to review the standards under O rdinance 80, and determ ine w hether any changes are necessary. T ribal O rdinance 80, o f W arm Springs Tribal Code Chapter 432, ad dresses w ater quality standards, ben eficial uses and treatm ent criteria in fo llo w in g the trib e s ’ w ate r code, adopted in 1968. The group worked for a year and a h alf on the revision to O rdinance 80. D uring that tim e, “We had fairly intensive discussions w ith the EPA over this fish consumption issue,” said Sehgal. “From all o f that, it seems like we don’t need to change a whole lot o f the existing standards, other than the fish consumption number, which then changes our toxics levels.” Becky Lindgren from the EPA re gional office in Seattle, said W frm Springs is the first tribe to adopt a fish consum ption rate based on local data. L in d g ren said th at h er ag en cy w ould prefer and encourage other Indian tribes to gather such data on their own. The public hearing on the revision lasted just under a half-hour, and the flo o r w as open for com m en t for about an hour afterward. W ith no one offering public com m ent, the hear ing closed. “This w ill be our first effort o f a triennial review, and hopefully w e’ll get it com pleted in the next couple o f w eeks and subm it it to T ribal C o u n cil for th e ir rev iew and a p proval,” Sehgal said. Casino project remains on track rior. B y Dave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo T he late W arren R. “ R u d y” Clements was the chairman of the tribal gaming enterprise. His pass ing on Dec. 28 was a loss to the enterprise and to the tribes as a whole. “As a leader, he was well-known in the region, and even across the nation, to some extent, for his cul tural and spiritual leadership,” said Margie Tuckta, Gorge casino spe cial projects director. Clements was one o f the people who could walk in two worlds — the traditional cultural world, and the business world, said Tuckta. Ed Manion was vice-chairman o f the gam ing enterprise before Clements passed away. Manion is now serving as the acting chairman. “We lost a real supporter and trib a l le a d e r,” M an io n said o f Clements. “He worked well with people, and was able to keep them aware of what is going on with the casino.” Clements had a significant place in the gaming enterprise, but the project will continue to move for ward despite the loss, said Tuckta and Manion. “We have good people in place,” said Manion. “And Rudy let us know Dave McMechan/Spilyay Roy Spino was among the people who attended the casino information gathering last week at the Agency Longhouse. what his feelings were as to the impor tant pieces of the casino, and we will keep that in mind as we move forward.” “He set d irectio n for us,” said Tuckta. “He was there for the negotia tions with the state and the Port of Cascade Locks.” Fee to trust The Gorge casino project is about in the middle o f the environm ental impact statement (EIS) process. The process is a necessary step to ward bringing the Cascade Locks in dustrial park casino property" into trust. Once this is accomplished, U.S. Secre tary o f the Interior Gale Norton will consider approving the gaming compact that was agreed upon by the Confed erated Tribes and the state o f Oregon. An initial step in the EIS process was collecting public comment on the im pact that the casino project would have at Cascade Locks last year. The fed eral government has also indicated that the EIS should look at the potential im pact of a casino at the trust property that the tribes have near the town of Hood River. M anion said the gam ing board is hoping to have a draft EIS completed in the summer and then a final EIS done by next winter. The final EIS will then go to the Secretary o f the Inte Other gam ing issu e s Information on the casino was presented last week at the Agency Longhouse. The inform ation in cluded the architectural drawings of the casino. M any people visited the longhouse throughout the day, and received sweaters and jackets do nated to the tribes by Mount Hood Meadows Ski Area and Resort. Besides planning for a new ca sino, the tribes’ gam ing commission is also working on important issues related to Kah-Nee-Ta. For instance, the resort and the casino have been combined into a single organization, but a clear direc tion, in terms o f staffing from top to bottom, is needed, said Manion. The gaming commission this week was working on this project, he said. There is one vacancy on the gam ing commission, which the Tribal Council will fill. T he c u rre n t m em b ers are M anion, trib al records m anager Lynn Davis, tribal probate adminis trator Richard Tohet, Portland attor ney Celeste Whitewolf, former gov ernor Victor Atiyeh, consultant and fo rm er se c reta ry -tre asu rer K en Smith, and CPA Dick D onaca o f Bend. À