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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2007)
S 68 'XI HO. 1 0 May 10 , 2007 Spilygy Tymo Coyote News, est. 1976 May 10, 2007 P.0. Box 870 >1 Acquisition Dept./Serials Knight Library 1299 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1205 v o ta i r a i l OH U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 Voi. 32, No. 10 50 cents W ÊÊÊÊ New Tribal Council takes office Seekseequa elects Wewa, Jim The Council, at the suggestion of Councilman Jim , then agreed by a unanimous v-qte to advertise the po sitions 6 F secretary-tréasurer and chief operations officer. The new Council members also indicated they would like to review recent recom mendations, from the consulting firm Hamstreet & Associates, on how to improve the efficiency of tribal government. B y Dave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo The Twenty-Fourth Tribal Coun cil o f the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs took office on Mon day o f this week, M ay 7$> | Five of die eight elected mem bers are n,ew to the Council rids term, while three members were re elected by .their districts. The two Seekseequa .D istrict members were elected last week. Seekseequa elected W endelljim and Wilson Wewa Jr., as its. two Tribal Council representatives. _ Wewa, who work at the Senior Center, received 42 votes. . Jim , general manager of the tribal E ducation B ran ch , received 41 votes. A total of 15© votes 'frere cast in the Seekseequa District election, in cluding absentee ballots*-There are 210 eligible voters in the district Wewa and Jim join three others who are new. to the Tribal Council. The dime Other newly elected mem bers are Eugene Austin G reenejr., A u ro lyn Stw yer. and R afael Seekseequa votes Being the smallest reservation dis trict, in terms of population, the Seekseequa election was close, the outcome being determined by just a votes. Besides Wewa and Jim , the mother candidates fared as follows: Reuben Henry, formerly on.the Çoupçjl,: arid a Kah-Nee-lkal em ployee, received 39 votes. Julie Quaid, director o f Adult E d u catio n , receiv ed 36 votes. Former councilwoman Brenda Scott received 36 vptes. -r-i -r* — .1 -r •! i <i # n vavoiviuviouMIvopuyay Tribal Chief Operations Officer The Twenty-Fourth Tnbal Council of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs took the oath of office on Mondav Lauraina Hintsala received 32 votes. morning, May 7. y Myra Johnson-Orange, director o f Culture and Heritage, received Queabpama. In therecent ekctio^R on the Council chairman. He was eleçted Stwyer. A second vote, after comments 26:.vOtes. Alvis Smith III, project Suppah, Stanley “Buck” Smith and chairman by;.a 6-4 vote. The vote on from Stwyer and S u p p ah ^ su ite d in m an ager o f the W arm Springs Bernice Mitchell wefe re-elected.. thé chairmanship was at first tied 5-5 the 6-4 vote. Stwyer was then d ected Housing. A uthority, received 16 Councilman Suppah will coririqjie as between Suppah and Councilwoman vicei-chair. votes. Different approach to adoption election B y Dave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo The tribal Vital Statistics department has been working with the BIA on the upcoming adoption election. The list of adoption candidates is almost final, and will soon be presented to the Tribal Council and the BIA. There will be a 90-day period from the time when the list is turned over to the BIA until the election. So tribal members can expect the election to be sometime around August. For this adoption election, tribal vot ing members will see significant changes from the previous adoption election, which failed because o f a lack o f voter turnout. Part o f the change in the upcoming election is to address the problem of the election failing for lack o f turnout. Through a tribal.election, half o f all eligible voting members o f the tribes roust vote in order for the election to be valid. This is a very difficult standard to reach, saidP aul Young, BIA superin tendent at Warm Springs. Eveti some Presidential ¿lections don’t see^furn- O utof 50 percent o f all eligibl^^bters; So it is understandable why the tribes may not want to apply that standard to the adoption election, said Youtig. Instead through a,BIA supervised election; *br 'through a BIA secretarial election, a turnout of half or more o f registered voters, not all eligible vot ers, is required for the election to be valid. So, for the upcothing election; tribal members who are interested in partici- pating wdl need to register in order to votç. If half o f those who register turn in a ballot, then the election is valid. There are other changes. For in stance, in previous adoption elections,., the voters¿were asked to decide upon each individual candidate who is seek ing adoption into the* Confederated Tribes. ■ , For t^e upcoming election, the#ot- ers will’ vote either ye? .or no op the eptite li^:,»rather than tin the indgpdual can d id es. This; is being done becausdi o f the great dfificulty the BIA wouldhave in counting the votes if each individual w erè co n sid ered sep arately, said Madeline Queahpama-Spii^p, director o f trib ^ Vit^Ftatistics. Vq|er registra tion wiRbë available to tribal members who are 21 years or older* or married. That isThe tribal standa^. ThetJJIA decided to.iase the tribes” oWri standard' rather than the 18-yrear age minimum of the federal standard. To qualify,for inclusion on the bal- lot, a person tnust be at least 1/8 In dian, and a ¡descendant o f a Confeder ated Tribes member or former mem ber. There is no residency requirement for the upcoming election. AJsp, a per son cannot already be a member of another tribe; and receive the majority vote o f 50 percent of the eligible reg istered vqteTs. The current list o f adoption candi dates is at 140, said Queahpama-Spino. The list had been at 144, but four names were removed for lack o f suf ficient blood quantum. She was expect ing maybe 10 more names to be added to the list before it is turned over the B IA The last adoption elections were held in the fall o f 2001 and then in early 2002. Both o f these failed for- lack o f 'turnout. The last successful adoption election was conducted in October 1996* Honor Seniors Day is Friday V Seniors will unite tomorrow, Friday, May 11, -for a day of activities at the Agency Longhouse. i Registration will begin at 7:30 a.m. and ECE will host a children’? powwow that begins %t 1-0 a.mi The theme for this year’s event is “A dream come true.” This is the 17th annual Honor Seniors Day. The event is hosted by the Warm Springs Senior Program. Each year the popular event draws hundreds o f visitors tc|the reservation for a day o f activities and entqr- tainment. Early Childhood Education will be providing decorations in addition to hosting a children’s powwow.' Calica faces challenges, rewards as tribal liaison It is Calica’s job to work with the tribes, the Corps"and pther federal agencies toward finding a solution that is mutually beneficial.. This can be very The job can be a difficult one be difficult because tribes and the agen cause the territory is large and the is cies'are sometimes at direct odds over sues are complex and often very divi vital issues such as water and fisheries. sive. But there ate great rewards a$ well.. , The U. S. Army Corps of. Engineers, eiT h e part o f the job I ehjpy the for instance,‘owns and operates the most is getting out and meeting with hydroelectric dam system on the Co thedifferent tribes;” saidTTitelle Calica, lumbia. For this reason the Corps interacts Northwestern Division Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Army Corps o f Engineers. often with the Columbia River Inter- “The interaction *with the tribes is Tribal Fish Commission, which réptef sents the tribes With treaty fishing rights what I love,” she said. And there are many Indian tribes in at ih e Columbia, including the Warm Springs tribes. Calica serves as liaison the‘Northwestern Division, which ers 14 states o f the Columbia and Mis-’ between, the Corps and CRITFC. She estimates that about 60 percent souri river basins. The region includes over 100 fed o f her work time is dedicated to issues erally recognized tfibes, and aboriginal facing th£ Qplumbia River. Recently, she traveled with Corps commanders territory o f over 300 tribes. B y Dave M cM echan Spilyay; lyn too | in dealing with tribes o f the Columbia, while the Missouri. River basin tribes face a different issue involving a lohg- term drought, said Calica. 7 “The tribes there want water,” she said. “The drought can leave some res ervations with no municipal water.” Just, before Thanksgiving last year; she said, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe lost its water supply. The Corps is in volved in the development of more wa ter in-take systems.. Calica has been the tribal liaison with the Corps of Engineers since 2Q05„t shortly after she graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School, where she fo cused on environmental and Indian law. Direlle Calica She went to undergraduate school to Celilo; where the village and the.tribes at Portland State University and stud were marking the~ anniversary o f the ied political and social sciences. She was a Hatfield Fellow in 1999-2000, work loss of Celilo Falls. ing with Sen. Smith and the legislative Fish are often at the center o f work f- assistant for Indian Affairs. Calica grew up in Warm Springs. H er parents are tribal Jud ge M arie Calica and secretary-treasurer Jo d y (gotica. The Army Corps of Engineers, she said, is making progress in its responsi bility toward Indian tribes. There ¡has bfeen a need for a change in the cor porate m itid-set am ong federal agen cies, and “for the Corps I think w e’re moving forward in responsibility,” she said. Finding solutions that are beneficial to all parties, she said, is a very reward^ ing part of her work., Another rewarding experience hap-? pened to Calica earlier this week, when she learned that she had passed the Oregon State Bar exam. She becomes the Confederated Tribes’ most recent licensed attorney. U n iv e r s ity o f Oreqoh Tfi.£>ra.ry R eceived o n t 0 5 -2 2 -0 7 s%¥j J ¥&¥ ihywcvo