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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2002)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Around the rez THbes consider Chamber Approximately 12 W arm Springs small business owners gath ered at the W arm Springs Small Business Center to discuss a local Chamber o f Commerce. Representatives from the Oregon N a tive American Chamber o f Commerce (ONACC) in Portland, as part o f their outreach program, met with tribal members. The group discussed the benefits o f a reservation Chamber o f Commerce. M any participants believe an organized group would foster business relationships on and off the reservation. The nec essary off-reservation networking could be im plem ented more effectively. A W arm Springs Chamber o f Commerce also could provide programs on receiving tax credit and deductions, or effec tive ways to do business, with people off the reservation. The group hoped big corporations, which specifically seek out m inority busi nesses, would have a more coherent w ay to reach them. Outreach programs through mentors, information sharing, and internships and/or scholarships for youth would also be a focus. Funds to support a Chamber o f Commerce could be obtained in a variety o f ways. M embership fees would provide some rev enue. The tribes could receive money from federal and state agen cies due to strong tribal relations. The idea o f grant-oriented non profit status was suggested. W arm Springs has 130 small businesses. A directory is available at the Small Business Development Center. Another planning meet ing for a W arm Springs Chamber o f Commerce will be held at 11 a.m. on December 11 at the Family Resource Center. A ll small business owners and other tribal members are encour aged to attend. The event is a potluck. For more inform ation call 553-3592. Pgge 3 November 28, 2 0 0 2 Opportunities grow for disabled Tribal member serves as model fo r Madras foundation By Shannon Keaveny Spilyay Tymoo A fter b ein g in tro d uced as “h a n d ic a p a b le ” ra th e r th an handicapped, Nikiya Courtney, 21, o f W arm Springs, took a deep b reath and d elivered a touching speech about his life as so m eon e d iag n o sed w ith multiple disabilities. The Opportunity Foundation o f C e n tral O rego n (O FCO ) event took place Nov. 15 across the stre e t fro m its fu tu re Jefferson County location, for m erly the Ron M cD onald car dealership in Madras. OFCO is a tri-county private non-profit organization dedi cated to providing employment, h o u sin g an d re c re a tio n to peop le w ith d isab ilities. T he Madras location will have a fo cus on employment for the men tally and physically disabled. Courtney, who uses a wheel chair and describes his condition The treaty fishing tribes o f the Columbia River basin are con as closest to a slight case o f ce demning plans by the Bonneville Power Administration to slash up rebral palsy, was chosen to speak to $200 million from its fish and wildlife budget, according to an on b e h alf o f O FCO because 'announcement by the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commis he represents possibilities, said Rebecca Sm ith, OFCO devel sion (CRITFC). The CRITFC announcement says the BPA plan is “profoundly oper. “Nikiya is a great example o f irresponsible.” Also, according to CRITFC, the BPA has not ex p o ss ib ilitie s n ot d isa b ilitie s, hausted other financial options that would offset its losses. “This reckless approach clearly represents disregard for the fish w h ich is o u r o rg a n iz a tio n ’s ’ and wildlife project recommendations o f the tribes and the North motto. H e’s persevered despite -w est Power Planning Council,” said Donald Sampson, CRITFC the lack o f services in Jefferson executive director. “It’s a reversal on what the agency promised.” County,” said Smith. C ourtney’s speech detailed ! The criticism came as BPA was planning to announce cuts be tween $150 million and $200 million in fish and wildlife spending his life. He was born with “mul over four years. “W hat this means is that Bonneville is pulling the tiple disabilities” that doctors rug out from under its long-stated promises to our tribes to fully have not been able to specifi- ' cally diagnose. fund fish and wildlife...,” said Sampson. BPA plan draws criticism Shannon Keaveny/Spilyay Nikiya Courtney speaks for the Opportunity Foundation From the beginning, said Courtney, his m other treated him the same as his siblings. “M y mother taught me to be my biggest advocate,” Courtney said. Part o f Courtney’s mother’s lesson was “to always keep try ing and not give up.” He became the first student with multiple disabilities to at tend Madras High, and gradu ated with a 3.65 GPA. His high sch o o l effo rts earn ed him a statewide award as one o f two top students. C ourtney held a variety o f jobs over the years. He worked as a W arm Springs police cadet, an IHS receptionist, and student technician for the Diabetes Pro gram. Today he resides in Bend and studies nutrition at Central Or egon Community College. Courtney spoke to his audi ence about having disabilities: “I believe we have the right and ability to be successful and hold jobs. If we’re given the chance, I guarantee w e’ll work twice as hard.” . OFCO’s presence in Madras will open up new possibilities to disabled Warm Springs residents. The building is scheduled to open in the fall o f 2004. A long term goal is to provide a shuttle service from W arm Springs to Madras, Redmond and Bend to help tribal members with disabili ties transport to their jobs. A t present, tribal m embers w ith disabilities often have to relocate to foster homes, away from their fam ily and friends, if they want to work. A shuttle service would mini mize foster care situations be cause relocation would not be necessary. Courtney hopes the OFCO Madras location will bring more aw areness to the reservatio n ab o ut the p h ysical stru ggles people with disabilities face daily. As a sovereign nation, the res ervation does not have to ad here to the regulations o f the A m e rica n D is a b ilitie s A c t (ADA), explained Courtney. “Sometimes it is very diffi cult to get into buildings. I would lik e to see b u ild in g s m o re (handicap) accessible,” he said o f W arm Springs, OFCO owns a variety o f businesses that employ people with disabilities through work program s. T hey also support employment on a one on one basis that helps participants find jobs in their community. A t the M adras site, OFCO intends to build a $2 m illion mixed-use building that w ill in tegrate the community through businesses and housing. The site cleanup and prop erty purchase has been funded. R epresentatives from OFCO plan to acquire an additional $4 million in grants to fund their project. Says C ourtney o f O FCO ’s presence in Jefferson County, “I hope it m otivates disabled people to m ove forw ard and not just waste away. I hope it m otivates them to do things w ith th eir life. I kno w w o rk motivated me.” After the OFCO event the crowd crossed the street and watched the initial demolition o f the former*Ron M cDonald car dealership. For more information about OFCO call 548-2611. Tribal committees outline goals for the coming year (Editors note: th is a rticle \continues one that appeared in the p revio u s edition o f the Spilyay. The last issue covered the T im ber Com m ittee.) By Shannon Keaveny Spilyay Tymoo Tribal government committee m em bers gathered recently to discuss their goals for 2003. The following account sum m arizes their discussion: Range and Ag Committee -j T he R ange, Irrigatio n , and A griculture Com m ittee priori tized their goals for the next year hs pursuing a feedlot and irriga tion projects to bring in more revenue. .; “We need to utilize our water for the people,” said Carm ella Sco tt, re p re se n tativ e fo r the com m ittee, o f the possibilities for the mass quantities o f water in the Deschutes River. I Scott inform ed attendees that at the ISC Symposium in Tuc- xon, Ariz., a drought relief re quest was passed for the Con fe d e rate d T rib e s o f W arm Springs. In order to make it hap pen, she said, efforts need to be m ade at future meetings. “We need a strong speaker,” exclaimed Scott about taking ac so u rces. R aym o n d C ap tain tion to receive drought relief. “If M oody suggested it would be no one speaks up, nothing will good to visit the high school to educate and encourage young happen.” The fencing on Highway 26 farmers. Others wondered what also needs to be replaced next happened to the 4H Club, where year. O therwise, she said, the young men used to learn to care southern reservation district has for cattle. had some grazing troubles but the other two districts are in or Culture and Heritage C h airw o m an E m ily der. Jacob Frank, also a represen Waheneka shared the activities tative for the Range, Irrigation o f the C ulture and H eritage and A g ric u ltu re C o m m ittee, Committee. Waheneka and Viola talked o f the search for funds K alam a, also a C u ltu re and from the U.S. D epartm ent o f H eritage representative, spent Agriculture (USDA). The tribes two days at the Burke Museum recently received $20,000 from in Seattle sorting through and the USDA to educate on and identifying artifacts from Miller vaccinate for the Western Nile Isla n d , M o u n t H o o d , the Virus. The funding was for live Deschutes River and other lo cations. W aheneka estim ates stock vaccination. Frank explained his discovery they still have another two to that to receive drought money three days o f w ork left. Once sorted, the Columbia fro m the U SD A , the T rib al Council m ust first declare the River treaty tribes will decide the reservation in a drought. From artifacts’ fate. W aheneka thought a burial there, a proposal can be made to Congress for drought relief was most likely. The artifacts harbored a hor funding. The discussion unfolded into rible smell, because o f the seal the p ossib ilities o f the tribes skin m any w ere w rap p ed in. encouraging young people to Waheneka said on M iller Island farm again, so the reservation there used to be seals and their is less dep en den t on outside hides w ere used for b urials. M any o f the items were bones, and both Kalama and Waheneka wore gloves while handling. A prolonged disagreem ent since 1997 between the tribes, the Corps o f E ngin eers, and Bonneville Power A dm inistra tion (BPA) was updated. The BPA, currently in possession of some ancient pictographs bull d o zed fro m a c an yo n n ear Celilo Falls before it was inun dated, intends to use the picto graphs for the upcoming anni versary o f the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the Horse Thief State Park, home o f the famous pictograph She W ho Watches. Kalama expressed her con cern o f BPA’s intentions for the pictographs. “They want to make a big and fancy exhibit out o f them. We don’t want our ancient artwork to be a showpiece,” she said. A final meeting between the Culture and Heritage Commit tee and BPA about the picto graph rocks took place in Port land on Nov. 14-15. C o n cern w as e x p re sse d about the possibility o f a tribal department website offering ac cess to recorded voices o f el ders who are now passed away. Budget: Officials hope to avoid lay-offs (Continued from page 1) As m en tio n ed ab o ve, the Credit Enterprise is to pay $1.5 million; and Com posite Prod ucts, $375,000. Timber revenue is estimated at $3.75 million. Interest will add another $1.45 million, according to the budget resolution. T he 2003 budget that w as approved last week is substan tially sim ilar to the proposed budget that was the topic o f dis trict and general Council m eet ings earlier this fall. T he added m oney for the Seekseequa Fire Hall (see story on this page) is one n otable change that was made from the time o f the proposed budget to the time o f the adoption. Another change was the re d u c tio n b y $1 06 ,0 0 0 o f the employee cost o f living allow ance. The earlier $556,492 fig ure was reduced to $450,492. The budget item “other pro posed program increases” was re d u c e d fro m $ 2 8 5 ,0 0 0 to $225,000. “We are continuing to gradu ally cut back tribal government, and that means a cut in programs and services,” said Charles Jack- son, Secretary-Treasurer. Under the 2003 budget, an estimated 20 job positions could be eliminated. “B ut Council has clearly stated that w e should explore all other avenues before doing that,” said Jackson. C h ief O p eratio n s O fficer W illy Fuentes said, “M y inten tion is to m inim ize layoffs to whatever extent possible. Laying people o ff is the last resort.” As part o f the 2003 budget, H igh Lookee Lodge is receiv in g an a p p ro p ria tio n o f $250,000. W hen H igh Lookee started o perations, the T ribal C ouncil reallo cated $500,000 from the tribes’ M anaged Care Program as initial start-up fund ing. The monies were expected to be more than adequate to sub sidize start-up operations until m o n th ly re v e n u e s eq u ale d monthly operating costs. How ever, those fuijds have been sp e n t alo n g w ith a n o th e r $175,000, w hile H igh Lookee operating costs remain substan tially higher than revenues. “We don’t believe in adver tising our elders.” said Kalama. Education About 1,100 W arm Springs kids attend local public schools, said Urbana Ross, representative o f the E ducation Committee. Sixty students atten d In d ian boarding schools, most o f which are in Salem. Ninety students participate in higher education. T he higher education budget has been ex ceeded by $800,000 this year, as more tribal members display an interest in pursuing a higher education, said Ross. Out o f state tuition is high, she said. M eanwhile, there are ideas on how to reduce costs of higher education for the tribes. C urrently all students who qualify are granted higher edu cation funds, which includes tu ition and cost o f living expenses. A grade point average o f 2.0, either a GED or high school di plom a, is required to receive scholarship funding from the tribes. Students are allowed one Bachelor Degree and one M as ter Degree. For Ph.D.s scholarships from other sources must be sought, said Ross. She stressed the importance o f tribal members applying for sch o larsh ip s to h elp red uce costs to the tribes’ trust fund. Specifically, she encouraged, applicants for a $200 OIA schol arship. For inform ation about the scholarship contact Floyd Calica or Shilo Shaw. Also, ITC and IEC funds are available. Recently, a think tank took place in Oregon about creating an Indian college in the state. Fish and Wildlife Donny Winishut, represent ing the Fish and Wildlife Com m ittee, made a b rief presenta tion. He said the 2002 ceremo nial hunting was completed. “It was successful aside from som e pro b lem s w ith p riv ate landholders,” he said o f hunt ing issues tribal members face on ceded ground. W inishut attended a meeting in Couer D’Alene, Idaho for the Native American Fish and W ild life, where further solutions for land restoration and fish resto ra tio n w e re d isc u sse d . F a ll chinook salmon numbers were close to the projected numbers, he said. About 30 fish are being tested for disease, he said. Fire hall: site is already selected (Continued from page 1) C o u n c ilw o m en C aro l Wewa and Brenda Scott, and C o un cilm an Ron Supp ah , also said the Seekseequa Fire Hall project needs to move forward. The new fire hall would continue a long-range expan sion o f fire and ambulance protection on the reserva tion. The development o f the Simnasho hall was an initial phase o f the expansion plan. The proposed location o f the Seekseequa Fire Hall is 11.5 acres at the top o f the hill near the turn toward In dian Park. Plans call for a hall that is 39 by 66 feet, equipped with drive-thru fire station bays, m eeting room, kitchen, util ity and bath. Living quarters would be on an adjacent lot.
