I E
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Mar. 14, 1996 w,(
Vol. 21 No. 6 S
L 350 ;
Oregon Library
Univ..u:nty
Coyote News
In Brief
High water hits
Sherars
The Flood of '96 left its
ugly mark on the lower
Deschutes, including the
Sherars Bridge area.
Home poisonings
can be prevented
Homeowners are
encouraged to securely
store and label
potentially dangerous '
and lethal chemicals.
Umatillas assume
management
The Umatilla Tribes
have assumed
management of the
Yellowhawk Clinic.
Medalists noted
Local youth participated,
and medaled, in the
annual Special
Olympics, held recently
in Bend.
3
Martinez is new fire
chief
With years of
experience, tribal
member Danny Martinez
became fire chief
February 1 .
o
More lessons offered
Sahaptin remains the
"lesson of choice" this
issue. -
Run down canyon
nets good times
Thirty-four brave
individuals dared to run
the 14.3 mile run
between Kah-Nee-Ta
and Simnasho March 10.
Gardening helps
develop children
As a garden grows,
children learn the
process of development
in plants.
7
Heath selected
Martinez Heath was
recently selected
Employee of the Year for
1995 by Indian Head
Gaming.
8
General Council
Meeting
March 26
Agency Longhouse
Dinner at 6 p.m
Meeting at 7 p.m.
Agenda: WSFPI
Annual Report
Deadline for the next
Spilyay Tymoo is
Friday,
March 22, 1996
Upilyay
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Gala event officially opens Indian
From the outside looking in, the "hard" opening,
affectionately referred to as the "gala grand opening"
event celebrating the official opening of Indian Head
Gaming Center, was anything out hard. Events went off
without a hitch; everything went smoothly. Hundreds
gathered at the Center to take part in the festivities.
The grand opening was for tribal members and invited
guests. Most attendees toted water bottles, provided by
the gaming center as commemorative gifts, while trying
their luck at the 300 machines or at the newly dedicated
poker and blackjack tables.
A buffet was served following presentations made by
members of the gaming work group, gaming staff and
others involved in the initial start-up of the facility.
Dan Brisbois, with 40,640 points, won the slot
tournament, earning him $100 for his efforts. Zilah Flores,
with 7,940 points, took home a water bottle as the booby
prize.
Continued on page 2
Si f
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Aurolyn Watlamet, Indian Head Gaming general manager, and Tim
Wapato, National Indian Gaming Association executive director, cut
the ribbon of the gaming card room.
Joint effort among tribes will
Editor's Note: The following
summary was prepared by the Co
lumbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission.
In the treaties of 1 855, tribal an
cestors had the wisdom to reserve
their sovereign, aboriginal right to
take fish at all usual and accustomed
places along the Columbia River and
its tributaries. By doing so, the tribal
ancestors insured that the life cycles
of their people and the salmon would
continue to be linked together as they
had been for countless generations.
The four Columbia River treaty tribes
share this history. Together, the ar
eas ceded by the four tribes make up
a large portion of the Columbia basin
and an even larger portion of the
salmon freshwater habitat.
Salmon runs and tribal harvests
began to decline almost as soon as
non-Indian settled in tribal ceded
lands. And when Celilo Falls was
flooded in 1957 with the completion
of The Dalles Dam, the catch by
Indian fishermen fell to almost noth
ing. In 1968, 14 members of the
Yakama Indian Nation frustrated
by state efforts to restrict their fisher
ies sued the Oregon Fisheries
Commission. The case was Sohappy
v. Smith. Because a case brought by
individual tribal members can not
protect treaty rights or tribal sover
eignty, the tribes themselves, along
with the United States, were forced
to file suit. That case was U.S. v.
Oregon. The federal judge in the
case, Robert Belloni, consolidated
the two cases under U.S. v. Oregon.
Tymoo
News)
Deciding in favor of the tribes,
Judge Belloni ruled that states could
only regulate Indian fishing when
reasonable and necessary for conser
vation of the salmon resource; that
state regulation must not discrimi
nate against Indians; and those regu
lations must be the least restrictive
means available to achieve conser
vation goals. Rulings by Judge
Belloni and by Judge Boldtin U.S. v.
Washington also led to recognition
of the tribes' legitimate role as salmon
co-managers.
In his 1968 decision, Judge Belloni
found that each of these four tribes
Yakama, Warm Springs, Umatilla
and Nez Perce had reserved fish
ing rights at usual and accustomed
places. To effectively defend their
treaty rights, the tribes created an
other link among themselves: the
formed the Columbia River Inter
Tribe Fish Commission in 1977 to
provide technical support and a place
and process to coordinate their joint
management. Since 1969, the four
tribes, their attorneys and biologists
have been involved in 35 major legal
actions just in U.S. v. Oregon pro
ceedings. The tribes have prevailed
in 25 of those actions, lost five and
had five resolved by agreement with
the states.
As a result of litigation including
U.S. v. Oregon, U.S. v Washington
and Yakima v. Badrige, the tribal
share of the salmon has increased
since 1969. But in spite of that greater
share, salmon runs and tribal har
vests arc in dangerous decline. With
out dramatic changes in water, land
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Address Correction Requested
A)
Tribal member Jamie Smith shuffles cards in preparation for game
save salmon;
and fish management, the prospects
for salmon are bleak.
To overcome these losses the
tribes' four fish and wildlife com
mittees directed CRITFC to coordi
nate preparation of a salmon restora
tion plan. The final draft of that plan,
Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit
(Spirit of the Salmon), was issued.
This draft salmon plan recognizes
that each tribe is a sovereign govern
ment with co-management authority
and responsibility for its reservation
and ceded lands.
As tribes embark on restoration
Quality, costs focus of Managed
The Managed Care Program is
managed by the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs. Prior to October
1993, it was operated by the Indian
Health Service and was referred to
as Contract Health Services.
The goal of the Managed Care
Program is to make sure that when
you see a provider of medical ser
vices outside the Health and Wellness
Center, such as a doctor or a hospital,
that your care is of good quality and
at a reasonable cost.
This program has a limited amount
of funding, so it is important that it is
used efficiently. In fact, there is no
guarantee that these funds will always
be available. The funds are used
mainly for medical services not
available at the Health and Wellness
Center or to supplement alternate
resources, such as private or third
party insurance, after they have been
used. The use of alternate resources
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Head Gaming Center
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work must begin now
efforts, there is a small piece of good
news. Thirty thousand more upriver
spring chinook are predicted to re
turn this year than last. While the
estimated 1,700 spring chinook al
lowed for ceremonial and subsistence
harvest is more that last year's 600,
these minuscule catches are none
theless a matter of frustration and
sadness for tribal people. For three
years in a row, there have not been
enough salmon for spring ceremo
nies. In addition to spiritual and cul
tural hardships, declining runs pose
enables the Manage Care Program to
provide additional and improved care
for Native Americans eligible for
Managed Care services.
Payment to providers of health
care outside the Wellness Center can
only be authorized by the Managed
Care Program. Payments are autho
rized based on medical priority
guidelines and eligibility criteria.
These guidelines and criteria are
based on those found in the Indian
Health Manual, Part 2, Chapter 3. At
times, depending on funding avail
able, payment for referrals may be
restricted to only the highest prior
ity. Since December 18, 1995, due to
the US Government shutdown in late
1995 and early 1996, medical refer
rals have been restricted to Priority I
Level, defined as "EmergentAcutely
Urgent Care Services". During this
time, patients andor their alternate
resources were responsible for pay
U.S. Postage
Bulk Rate Permit No. 2
Warm Springs, OR 97761
I
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of blackjack.
an economic hardship on tribal fish
ers. And that hardship should not be
overlooked. In 1988, the tribal har
vest peaked at 272,000 salmon with
a value to tribal fishermen of $7.9
million. By 1995, the catch of salmon
and steelhead had fallen to 42,000,
only 1 6 percent ofl988'scatch. Gross
revenue to tribal fishermen was only
$239,000, but three percent of 1 988's
value.
Salmon run sizes have always
fluctuated. But the overall downward
Continued on page 8
Care program
ing the provider for Priority Level
services not authorized by the Man
aged Care Program.
The Managed Care Program has
received its appropriation for 1996
from IHS and managing medical re
ferrals has resumed. Our staff has
been scheduling appointments for
the patients whose medical referrals
were deferred during the shutdown.
If you are one of the patients whose
medical referrals was deferred and
no longer require the deferred ser
vice, contact the Managed Care
Program Case Manager at 553-4948.
If you have any questions or con
cerns about a particular referral,
please contact Marcia Boggs, RN,
Case Manager in the Managed Care
Program office at 553-4948. And, if
you need clarification about the
above policy, please contact Michael
Marcotte, Administrator, at 553-2490.
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