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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2002)
OR. COLL. E 75 .58 v. 7 no. 10 May 16, P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 vmoc SERIALS DEPT. KNIGHT LIBRARY 1299 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON EUGENE, OR 97403 U.S. Postage Bulk Rate Permit No. 2 Warm Springs, OR 97761 Coyote News, est. 1976 May 16, 2002 Vol.27, No. 10 35 cents y Tribal events Saturday at Gorge The Confederated Tribes will cel ebrate a return to the Columbia River this Saturday, May 18. The event will include a religious celebration to bless the tribes' land, the river and the return of the salmon. The religious ceremony, open only to tribal members, will happen Saturday at 11 a.m., on Gov ernment Island at Cascade Locks. Following the ceremony, tribal members are welcome to attend a tra ditional salmon bake. Bus rides will then be available for tribal members who wish to tour the Confederated Tribes' property at the Gorge. All members of the tribes are in vited to attend the ceremony, salmon bake and tours. Also on Saturday, May 18,' the City of Cascade Locks will host a friendship reception at the Cascade Locks Marine Park. All tribal members and residents of Cas cade Locks are invited to attend this reception. KJlULlXLCiOXlXJ rodeo on new ground The new Simnasho rodeo grounds will be the scene this Saturday, May 18, of the Simnasho Jackpot Rodeo. The rodeo action begins at 2 p.m., but people will want to show up early. Starting at 11:30 a.m., there will be a lunch at the Simnasho Longhouse, followed by a raffle draw ing. Opening services for the new ro deo grounds - built this year by resi dents of the Simnasho community - begin at 9 a.m. Also on rodeo day, an endurance race will start at 8 a.m. Then starting at 2 p.m., the ro deo action will feature bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, senior barrel racing, and breakaway roping. Other competitions include calf roping, wildhorse roping, wild cow milking, junior bull riding, among other events. For information, contact the ro deo secretary Fay Hurtado at 553 1022 evenings until 9 p.m., or in the day at 419-7460. See page 10 for de tails of the upcoming rodeo. Madras event celebrates diverse cultures The Collage of Culture in Madras happens this Saturday, May 18. As has been true in past years, the Confederated Tribes are an essential part of the event. Tribal members will be part of the day's entertainment, and tribal enterprises have contrib uted to the funding of the Collage. This year, Kah-Nce-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino, Warm Springs Power Enterprises, and Warm Springs Forest Products Industries, have contributed funding. As part of the Collage entertainment, the Unity Dancers of Warm Springs will per form. Their performance will be at 12:45 p.m. The Collage is an all-day event, featuring Hispanic dancers, African and Japanese drummers, Celtic music and belly dancers. The hcadlincr is the Jake Blair Band, who play blues music. Refere Tribal members on Tuesday, May 21, will consider one of the most important referendums in the recent history of the Confed erated Tribes. In broad terms, the referendum ballot asks tribal members whether the tribes shall move forward with expansion of the gaming enter prise. More specifically, the referendum asks whether the Confederated Tribes shall proceed with an expansion of gaming to a site off the reservation at ds Tuesday the Columbia River Gorge. Such an expansion would be a major investment by the tribes. A casino at the Gorge would cost an estimated $165 million to construct. Likewise, expansion of gaming to the Gorge would be a major source At the top of his game MHS sophomore Jordan Stacona is the top player on the school golf team By Selena Boise Spilyqy Tymoo staff Jordan Stacona began golfing at the age of 8. Now 15 and a sophomore at Madras High School, Stacona is an outstanding golfer on the school varsity team. During his freshman year, Stacona also was on the varsity team. That year he was the num ber two player on the team, and this year is the top player. In the summer months, when school is out, Stacona competes in the Central Oregon Junior Golf Association (COJGA). In the COJGA competition, Jordan travels all over the Central Oregon region, competing against other golfers his age. Over 225 youths between the ages of 6-18 belong to COJGA. They play at some of the finer courses in Central Oregon. Jor- ft u cf A i . r .ft '-'Z.i V Jordan Stacona Dave McMecrtanSpilyay dan has won or placed in the various Oregon Junior Golf tournaments, age divisions and tournaments He will travel throughout the state through the years. This summer he of Oregon for that, would like to start competing in the See STACONA on page 10 of new revenue for the tribes. The best and most recent estimates are that a Gorge casino would bring a net profit to the tribes of $15 mil lion during the first year of full op eration. The $15 million would be after operating expenses and debt pay ment. In comparison, Kah-Nee-Ta generates about $4 million per year in profit. Additionally, the $15 million fig ure for the Gorge is projected to in crease in years subsequent to the first year of operation. The new revenue is needed, tribal leaders agree, because other revenue sources - mainly timber - are no longer able to sustain the present level of essential tribal government ser vices. . . . Rather than cutting essential ser vices - education, police and fire pro tection, and community infrastruc ture - the tribal leadership has pro posed the referendum to expand gam ing. The Gorge is proposed because a casino at that area, close to Portland, would generate a large profit, in com parison with a new casino on the res ervation, farther away from Portland. For the vote on May 21, there will be 2,230 tribal members eligible to cast their ballots. A turnout of one-third of the eli gible voters is needed for the election to be valid. --' Reaching the necessary one-third voter turnout will likely not be an issue in the May 21 referendum elec tion. See VOTE on page 10 Kah-Nee-Ta adopts tribal member hiring program The Kah-Nee-Ta board of direc tors has approved a $250,000 tribal member employment program. The purpose of this new pro gram is to recruit and employ tribal members at Kah-Nee-Ta, and to provide training for work in the gaming and hospitality industry. The program is available only to tribal members. The $250,000 represents the ini tial funding for a program that the board members foresee as an on going effort at tribal member em ployment. Currently, Kah-Nec-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino - includ ing the resort, the Village, Indian Head, the golf course, etc. - employ 318 people. Of the total, 98 people -or roughly 29 percent of the total -are tribal members. During recent gatherings and dis cussions on gaming expansion, some tribal members have said that Kah-Nee-Ta should employ more tribal members. "We have heard several complaints from tribal members about employ ment at Kah-Nce-Ta," said Rudy Clements, who is chairman of the resort and casino board. The board members were con cerned about tribal member employ ment before the recent gaming expan sion meetings, but the comments at 'We are going to be asser tively monitoring the progress. " Rudy Clements Kah-Nee-Ta board of directors these meetings have served to rein force the concerns, said Clements. In response to the complaints about employment, the board of di rectors has instructed Kah-Nee-Ta management to focus on strong en forcement of the tribal member hir ing preference policy, said Clements. fm si f i rY9, ;iiXfF I I 1 I M f ' M I ml elders with powwow Honor Seniors Day last Friday, May 10, featured the popular ECE powwow. At left, Clrelle Frank dances during the powwow; and below, Brandon Lucei (at right) looks on with his friends. Hundreds of seniors, Including local tribal members as well as visitors, enjoyed the day. This year marked the Twelfth Annual Warm Springs Honor Seniors Day. A - 'jr 0 As part of this stepped-up enforce ment, each department at the resort and casino is to compile monthly re ports for review by the board, said Clements. The reports will allow closer monitoring of how many tribal mem bers are hired during the month in each department, and whether any have been terminated. "We'll develop a cumulative ledger, instead of a general report," said Clements. Also in response to the complaints regarding tribal member employ ment, the Kah-Nce-Ta board earlier this year agreed to initiate the $250,000 tribal member-hiring pro gram. "And we arc going to be asser tively monitoring the progress," said Clements. A draft mission statement of the new program, explaining the overall goals, reads as follows: To afford tribal members dignity and worth by providing them with the opportunity for a sense of con trol of a satisfactory ijualiiy of life and well-being, through a long-term re cruitment, employment, supervision and retention program. A part of the hiring issue at Kah-Nce-Ta has to do with the extensive background check that is currently required for employment in gaming. Clements said that casino manage ment may want to consider different levels of background checks, depend ing on the type of work the particu lar person is applying for. The strict background check for people who handle money, or for people in security or tipjH'r level man agement, should not necessarily ap ply to a person seeking employment in some other, less sensitive field of casino work, said Clement. Spilyay tynoo. EZ