Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2001)
Spilyqy Tyrooo, Wjirn I Si vy . . ' Language By Dave McMechan Spiljaj Staff Members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs this year succeeded in lobbying the state Leg islature to pass a bill allowing fluent speakers of traditional languages to teach in public schools. Before, a tribal member fluent in a native language would teach in the classroom as a teacher's aide. Under the new law, signed last month by Gov. John Kitzhaber, the traditional language speaker can obtain a spe cial certificate to teach the language to public school students. In this way the traditional speak ers "can conduct the classroom in their own way, rather than serving as teacher's aides," said Myra Shawaway, director of the Warm Springs Culture and Heritage De partment. During this legislative session, Shawaway and other trial members traveled to Salem to testify before House and Senate committees that Were considering the special teach Warm Springs valedictorian Joseph Aguilar was cho sen Valedictorian for the Riverside Indian School 2001 graduating class. Aguilar is the son of Ralph Aguilar Sr. and Etta Arthur and the grandson of Ella and George Aguilar Sr. of Warm Springs. While attending River side Joe was a member of the National Honor Soci ety, Color Guard and the Indian club., He enjoys Khido Karate and earned an orange belt. He is the first wresder at RIS to make All- State and the first in twenty years from the Riverside Indian School to receive the honor of All-State in sports. He had attended many lead ership camps and served as a peer counselor on HIV and AIDS. He was recendy accepted into the Indians in Psychology Doctoral Edu cation Program to be held at the summer institute at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D. ; Aguilar will be partici pating in a two-week en richment program for Na tive American Junior and Senior High School stu dents who are interested in pursuing a degree in psychology-related disciplines. His future plans are to at tend Oregon State Univer sity and major in psychol ogy. He plans on becoming a school counselor. Springs, Oregon July certification passes Legislature ing certificate bill, Senate Bill 690. Wasco elders Gladys Thompson and Madeline Mclnturff testified during each step of the legislative process, Shawaway said. Members of the Culture and Heritage Commit tee, and program staff were also of great help, she said. More than 30 tribal members, most from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, attended the ses sion during which the bill was first introduced in the Senate. Comments in favor of SB 690 were persuasive, and the bill eventually passed the Oregon House and the Senate by unanimous votes. The new law allows the tribes to establish standards language fluency. 'The tribes will be in full control of determining who is fluent," Shawaway said. A tribal member meeting the language fluency crite ria can receive a special state teach ing license. ; ., ; lb ,..,,,,,;, For the past few years, through the teacher's aide program, tradi tional language speakers have been Opinion: Salmon placed in peril From the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Columbia River salmon face a long, hot, and deadly summer if the Bonneville Power Administra tion acts on the Northwest Power Planning Council's (NWPPC's) recommendation to severely cur tail or eliminate summer spill measures mandated by the federal Biological Opinion. Coming hard on the heels of a disastrous spring migration, the BPA has continued to operate the Columbia River as a power-only system under the auspices of its self-declared emer gency, despite the agency's ample cash reserves and refill of storage reservoirs ahead of schedule. No spill has occurred at federal hydro projects since June 15. Mil lions of juvenile fish are currendy in-river attempting to find passage to the estuary, with peak of the summer migration only weeks away. Last month, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commis sion (CRITFQ and a coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to BPA Administrator Steve Wright calling into question the legality of its emergency criteria and his agency's resolve to correct its problems. "BPA shouted 'emergency,' drew the curtain closed, then prompdy replenished its bank ac count on the back of the spring Quilt show deadline coming up 12, 2001 teaching Warm Springs Elementary School classes. The new certificate program will help improve and expand this pro-, gram, and could in time lead to tra ditional language classes at the middle school and high school, Shawaway said. The 2003 school year may be the first to see implementation of the new program, she said. In the near future, Shawaway will be meeting with representatives of the Oregon Education Association, and the Teachers Standards and Prad tices Commission, to discuss how best to implement the special teach ing certificate program. 1 One of the first projects will be determining which members will best serve as language teachers, said Shawaway. : -, Only five tribal members, each over the age of 70, are fluent speak ers of the WascoJangugeSo.me other membets are semi-rfluent, and the hope is to bring these members migration," said CRITFC Execu tive Director Donald Sampson, tribal signatory on the joint let ter. "If the summer migration goes the way of the spring, it begs the question, 'How much financial se curity is enough?' Bonneville's 'can't' is really Bonneville's 'won't' ". The NWPPC based its recom mendation on a biological analy sis since challenged by the greater scientific community. The analysis omits critical mor tality factors associated with a ho spillmaximum transportation scenario, Such as predation. de-' layed mortality and thermal re-' lated mortalities. .' ' Spill - literally spilling water' through dam spillways - has proven to be the superior method of passing juvenile fish through hydroelectric projects while reduc ing direct and delayed mortality.' Earlier this spring, the" Indepen dent. Scientific Advisory Board, along with other prominent fish eries biologists, urged that spill begin as soon as possible and con tinue through the spring and sum mer migratory periods.' Failure to spill at federal dams leaves migrants vulnerable to the uncertainties of barging, physical damage in screened bypass sys- tems, predators and delays in doesn't run a clean shop it be reaching the ocean. The NWPPC . tomes salmon's . liability," recommendation also paves the Sampson said. Deadline is Aug. 31 to submit quilts for the Warm Springs Community Quilt Show, to be held at The Museum at Warm Springs. The museum invites tribal members, and those who live and work in the Warm Springs com munity to submit their finest, 7 - up to the fluency level, said Shawaway. Among the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, only five mem bers, each over the age of 55, are flu ent in Paiute. This language, though, is spoken by a good number of Paiute people in Nevada, Shawaway said. rr .l - .i i. . r .u. wi iiic mice lauKUBKca ui 111c g Springs, Sehaptin has the most : speakers: Perhaps 50 people on the reservation are fluent in the lan guage, Shawaway said. A number of others are semi-fluent The idea for the new language teaching certificate program came to Shawaway in January of this year, when she became aware of a similar t law that the Nebraska Legislature adopted in 2000. v She contacted Michael Mason," the tribes' lobbyist in Salem, who helped; in getting a proposal before the Oregon lawmakers. Kitzhaber signed the bill on June 27. ' way for more out-of-region power sales - transactions that have not yielded the promised benefits for salmon protection. The Northwest is owed some $85 million from power exchanges made over the past several months, yet the BPA has already sjgned an agreement with the California ISO to send power south during Stage 3 emergencies acknowledging that some of the power may come at a direct cost r . ., BPA continues to mortgage the lives, of fish under the guise of power swaps. .; Sacrificing salmon to maintain artificially, low rates, among the lowest in the nation, many please BPA's customers, but it threatens to backfire as'the-region seeks funding from Congress for salmon recovery.'-'' ' -.The BPA is certain to face con tinued criticism that its rates don't ' reflect the true costs of protecting salmon. "It's naive for this region to think that it can have its cake and eat it too Bonneville must live up " to federal laws protection the salmon, including Indian treaty fishing rights. Failure to do so is . not good for the region or for salmon. When the Northwest funniest, most unusual and trea-" sured quilt works. Items that can be submitted include quillows, pillows, throws, dolls, wall hang ings and, of course, quilts. The "Quilting Traditions" ex hibit will be on display at The Museum at Warm Springs from Sept 9 through Nov. 11. Fun in i Between parades, water slides and sack races, there was plenty to keep the kids busy on the Fourth of July - but that was just a beginning, what with the balloon toss and the fireworks and other activities that filled the holiday with warmth and brightness. Lett photo by U-i . jtJo " .... .Vi.T.-i;-.,'-'-..') Merged Kah-Nee-Ta has lofty ambitions Formerly managed as two sepa rate entities, Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Warm Springs Gaming Enterprise are now being run as a merged op eration. Rather than two boards of direc- , . j : tors, the resort and casino now op- crate under one management struc ture, and under one name: Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort & Casino. The merger was made by mutual agreement of the two boards, and approved by the Tribal Council. "After considerable evaluation and market research on the poten tial benefits of the proposed merger, both boards of directors and the Tribal Council agreed that this move makes a lot of sense," said Olney Patt, Jr., chairman of the Tribal Council. . , "The integrated corporation will , "These renovations and additions enable us to derive maximum value will strengthen Kah-Nce-Ta's posi for our shareholders - Tribal mem- tion as one of the finest, most unique bers and investors. This provides new opportunities to re-purpose and . re-energize the Kah-Nee-Ta brand, assume a more competitive market posture, enhance operational effi ciencies and augment sustained rev enue growth." . Patt added, "This merger is a posi tive step for the Confederated Tribes and for the entire Warm Springs . community. With diminishing tim- ber revenues and other issues chal lenging our long-term economic sustainability and self-sufficiency, we need to embrace this opportunity to better use all our resources to ben efit the entire community." The combined board of directors , . , ... , . , has defined ambitious goals for the resort and casino operations, with a target of 20-plus percent net annual return within three years. Management's broad objectives include increased room occupancy and greater casino spending per room night, as well as a new focus on customer service. s r To re-energize consumer aware ness, Kah-Nee-Ta will also invest in the most substantial round of capi tal improvements since Indian Head Casino was constructed in 1996. , Beginning this summer and con tinuing in phases over the next two years, the planned $5 million im provements include: The complete remodeling of 107 Childbirth classes to be held Beginning next week, Mountain View Hospital District is spon soring a childbirth education series in Warm Springs. The six-week series will provide an understanding of the labor and delivery process, information on breathing and relaxation techniques, and support skills for the mother and her partner. Discussion will also cover newborn behavior, care and feeding. Other topics include infant rescue breathing, airway obstruction and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation training. Teacher for the series is Registered Nurse Janet BissclL, who is a trained instructor with the International Childbirth Educator Asso ciation. Bissell is also a certified lactation educator. The course begins at 1 p.m., Wednesday, July 1 8, at the Warm Springs Health and Wellness Center. The fee is $25, which includes a workbook. To register, call the Health and Wellness Center at 553 1657. If you are interested in attending, but will require assistive aids, please contact the District Wellness office in Madras at 475-3882, ext. 2307. Please call in advance so appropriate arrangements can be made. the sun t 1 ,' Ssltnt Boise, canter and right photo by Jerry Brunoe Vvc r ; : r.;:"V. ,, , f- guest rooms, scheduled to start in the fall, with completion scheduled for March 2002. Also beginning this fall, the Ju niper Room will be expanded and recast as casual family dining, featur ing an exhibition-cooking buffet. Completion is scheduled for the first quarter of next year. The Pinto Deli will be simultaneously converted to fine dining. This winter, convention and ban quet facilities will double in space to nearly 10,000 square feet and be completely renovated. During this fall, the upper and lower lobbies will be renovated. Also beginning in October 2002, the gaming casino will be expanded, adding more slots and a larger vari ety of table games. service resorts in the West," said Rudy Clements, chairman of the Kah-Nee-Ta Board of Directors. "For generations, guests have come here to enjoy the extraordinary climate, golf, recreation and the natural spring-fed mineral water pools. Then, the addition of fun and excitement of casino gaming and a world-class spa made Kah-Nee-Ta the Northwest's only resort, spa and casino." Clements added, "Now, by up grading guest rooms, improving food and beverage options and quality, and substantially expanding group, convention and meeting facilities, Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort & Casino will continue its proud legacy." The developments at Kah-Nce-Ta include the development of a new logo symbolizing the Earth, Sun and the three Tribes. Over the next sev eral months the focus will be on reaching out to the target markets, .Clements said. Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort is wholly owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The resort offers a complete gaming casino with slots and table games, an 18-hole golf course, natu ral hot springs-fed pools, a full ser vice spa, and a wide range of lodg ing options including camping and RV sites.