gR.COLL.
75
.SIB
v. 7
no. 4 f
February fy
21, 082 Til
fi Spflygy
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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News from the Warm Springs Indian Reservation Feb. 21, 2002 Vol. 27, No. 4
ymoo
A flight
back
in time
Computer images
show Columbia
before the dams
By Dave McMechan
Spiljcij Tymoo staff
You are in an airplane fly
ing above the Columbia River.
The landscape below in
cludes Celilo Falls, the Five
Mile Rapids, and other nearby
fishing areas.
In the airplane you can fly
up as high as 12,000 feet, or as
low to the ground as 1,700 feet.
The landmarks - Miller Is
land and 18-Mile Island, for
instance - can be viewed in
great detail.
You can see the detail of the
rapids as the water rushes
down the falls.
The whole landscape is pre
sented in a computerized pro
gram. The program resembles a
video game, one where you
control a simulated aircraft
with a computer joystick.
This program is unique in
that it provides a look back in
time, to the days before con
struction of The Dalles and
Bonneville dams.
The river as shown in the
computer program no longer
exists.
The dams formed large res
ervoirs where the rapids and
free-flowing river used to be.
See FLYOVER on page 10
Report weighs merits of tribal, IHS partnership
"To me, the most important thing is that this sets a direction for the future. " - Garland Brunoe
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Staff
A recent report on the
Warm Springs Health and
Wellness Center presents some
interesting news.
Since 1988, the average life
expectancy of local residents
has increased by several years.
And the number of local
people receiving needed medi
cal and dental care has gone up
dramatically.
The diabetes program at ihc
Warm Springs Health and
Wellness Center is a major suc
cess, the report indicates.
From the year 1993, when
the ilealih and Wellness Cen
ter was built, until the year
2001), the number of people
visiting the clinic's diabetes
program has increased by .100
percent.
Better treatment of dialx-tcs
has meant that the number of
local people on Dialysis lias
gone down by 80 percent.
The information is con
tained in a rcrt developed by
the Indian Heath Service, and
presented recently to Tribal
Council.
Some other sutixtics in the
report include the following:
The number of local resi
dents visiting the dentist lias
increased from 6.815 In-fore the
Ilealih and Wellness Center
Gorge casino has support at
At least two things were
made clear during recent
home-base and district meet
ings regarding gaming expan
sion. First, tribal members are
overwhelmingly in favor of
improving the local job mar
ket. And second, they are in
favor of increasing revenue for
the tribes.
For these two reasons,
there is strong support among
was built, to 27,524 in the year
2000. That is an increase of
over 400 percent.
The number of people re
ceiving pharmacy prescrip
tions has gone from 74,154 in
1991-93, to 124,257 in 1998
2000, an increase of 68 percent.
Visits to the local optom
etry service were at 1,579 vis
its per year during 1998-2000.
This service did not exist lo
cally until the new clinic was
built in 1993.
Physical therapy is also a
service that did not exist in
Warm Springs prior to con
struction of the clinic.
The number of physical
therapy visits was nearly 3,000
in 1998-2000.
The average age of death
among Warm Springs residents
has gone from 44 in the year
1988 (five years before the
clinic was built), to 50 in the
year 2000. The number is still
too far below the national av
erage. Accidents arc the number
one cause of death among
tribal members. Heart attacks
and strokes were the next lead
ing causes of death.
The recent report by the
Indian Health Service was
completed at the request of the
Tribal Council.
A main reason why the
Council wanted the HIS report
many tribal members for the
Columbia Gorge casino pro
posal, said Rudy Clements,
chairman of the gaming com
mission. After talking with members
of the Seekseequa District,
Tribal Councilwoman Brenda
Scott also said she feels the
- Gorge casino option has wide
spread support among the resi
dents there.
"People in the district are
was to review where the tribes
and HIS are in regard to their
joint venture.
"Wc wanted an update on
the purpose of the joint ven
ture, how wc arc doing, and arc
wc on course," said Garland
Brunoe, Council vice chair
man. "Wc were concerned that
the joint venture was starting
to become weak, and that the
parties needed to be reminded
what this was intended to ac
complish," said Brunoe.
The IHS report addresses
some concerns, but more im
portantly the report can be
used for future planning and
monitoring of the joint ven
ture, said Brunoe.
To me, the most important
thing is that this sets a direc
tion for the future," he said.
After hearing an overview
of the contents of the report,
presented by John I Icinx of the
IHS, Council members indi
cated they would like to have
the IHS officials come back
within the next couple of
months for further discussion.
Presentation of the report -the
condensed version of
which is 137 pages long - took
most of the day, leaving no
time for questions and com
ments from the Tribal Coun
cil members.
In summarizing the findings
eager to get moving," said
Scott. Seekseequa residents
held a district meeting on
Monday of this week. Earlier
in the month, two families
held home-base meetings.
"It has been very evident
that there is overwhelming
support for revenue genera
tion," said Clements.
"The comments have been
that we need to go where the
money is. That message is
' ' ' 1 "
of the report, Heinz and his
staff determined that the joint
venture between the Confed
erated Tribes and the II IS has
been a success.
If there had been no joint
venture agreement in the early
1990s, then the tribes health
program would likely still be
housed in a small and out
dated facility.
"Patient dissatisfaction
would be at an all-time high,
and health status would be at
an all time low," the report
Working at the dental office of
an appointment for a patient.
0 V7
y
local gatherings
coming from the people them
selves." Like Councilwoman
Scott, Clements said that many
tribal members want to move
forward sooner rather than
later with the referendum.
The Seekseequa District
meeting early this week began
with the showing of a gaming
expansion video.
The video outlines the fi
nancial situation that the tribes
are facing. In the video, tribal
states.
Since construction of the
I lealth and Wellness Center in
1993, the tribes health pro
gram has added 2,650 new pa
tients. The report asks, I low could
these additional patients have
been served if there had been
no joint venture?
The II IS report also has rec
ommendations on how the
partnership between the tribes
and IHS can be improved.
Set HIS REPORT en 10
the clinic, Llla Martinez makes
officials then discuss the op
tions available to address the
situation.
A new source of revenue is
needed to replace the diminish
ing amount of timber revenue,
the officials explain. The video
then compares the level of in
come that would be derived
from a casino at the Gorge,
compared to one on the reser
vation. See CASINO on page 10
Powwow at
Simnasho
At left, drummers provide
music at the recent
Lincoln's Birthday
Powwow, held the
weekend of Feb. 8-10 at
the Simnasho Longhouse.
The event was a joyful one
for the many people who
participated. More photos
of the powwow are on
pages 6 and 10.
(The photo above shows a
beaded decoration from a
dancer's costume.)
Davt McMechanTh Spilyay
Local people
featured in
series of ads
The Office of National
Drug Control Policy is run
ning a scries of anti-drug ad
vertisements in Native Ameri
can newspapers across the US
A number of kxral residents
are featured in the advertise
ments. The full-page ads are run
ning in tribal papers such as
the Spilyay and the Yakama
Nation Review, as well as in In
dian Country Today.
The advertisements focus
on the need for adults and el
ders to help young people keep
away from drugs.
The first ad is running in
this edition of the Spilyay, on
page 5. The ad shows Cal Pon
cho and his young relative
Tcryl I lorendo.
Poncho is a civil engineer
technician with the local Bu
reau of Indian Affairs Road De
partment. Poncho said he was more
than happy to participate in
the anti-drug campaign.
Hie advertisements, he said,
present a positive image of In
dian families.
"It's good that something
like this can be shown. It's rwit
all bad news," d Poncha
The ads, he says, "show In
dian families going about their
daily lives just like everyone
else."
Set ANTI-DRUG ADS m 10
Spilyay tyioo.