P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
wary
Spilyw
Tyrocc
SERIALS DEPT.
KNIGHT LIBRARY
12W UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
EUGENE, OR 97403
U.S. Postage
Bulk Rate Permit No. 2
Warm Springs, OR 97761
January 9, 2003 Vol. 28, No. 1
Coyote News, est. 1976
50 cents
Powwow
celebrating
26th year
The 2003 Lincoln's Birthday
Powwow is set for Feb. 6-9, at
the Simnasho Longhouse.
This year the powwow will
feature a $6,000 Memorial
Drumming Contest.
This contest is sponsored by
the Greene family.
There will also be a hand
drum contest, sponsored by the
Calvin Queahpama family and
Bruce Jim.
The powwow will also feature
a Chicken DanceRound Bustle
Special, sponsored by Mackie
Begay.
The Lincoln's Birthday Pow
wow is one of the most popu
lar events on the Warm Springs
Reservation.
Championship dancers and
championship drummers travel
from far and wide to participate
in this celebrated event.
This year the Lincoln's Birth
day Powwow will mark its 26th
Anniversary.
The court candidates for the
2003 powwow are as follows:
The Senior Court candidates
are Marie Olney and Mary
Wolfe.
The Junior Court candidates
are Roshanda Clements-Poitra,
Sadie Johnson and Alexa
Leonard. ,.
Dance categories include
Men's and Women's Golden
Age, Women's Traditional,
Fancy and Jingle.
Also: Men's Traditional,
Fancy and Grass. There will be
teen categories, junior categories
and tiny tots.
On Feb. 1 the Simnasho
Longhouse will be open for
memorials and blessings before
the Powwow.
Pageant
rescheduled
for Friday
The 2003 Miss Warm Springs
Pageant is set for next Friday,
Jan. 17, at the Agency
Longhouse.
There are two and possibly
three candidates who will take
part in the pageant.
The community is invited to
attend. The pageant begins at
6:30 p.m., and dinner will fol
low. Keynote speaker will be Ur
bana Ross, chairwoman of the
Education Committee.
Captain Moody will be the
moderator, and Pine Grove Jun
iors and Quartz Creek will be
the honor drum.
There will be the crowning of
2003 Miss Warm Springs, fol
lowed by an I lonor Dance, re
ception line and congratulations.
Dinner will then be served in
the dining hall.
The Miss Warm Springs tra
dition dates back many years, to
the 1960s.
Cecilia I lerrera is Miss Warm
Springs for 2002.
The community is invited to
attend the upcoming pageant on
Friday, Jan. 17.
mm i
Kah-Nee-Taart page 2
Year In review. pages 4,5
Languages pages 6,7
Letters 8
ftvm f ire mav soeed olan
Insurance may pay
By Shannon Keaveny
Spijay Tymoo
Because of the Dec. 20
Warm Springs Elementary
School gymnasium fire, con
struction of a new elementary
school may happen sooner
than officials once thought.
Plans for the new elemen
tary school have been delayed
due to budget restrictions.
However, the district could
receive over $1.2 million
from fire insurance. This
could go toward building the
new school.
For one thing, many com
munity members feel it would
be a waste to build a new gym
when plans for construction
of a new school are well un
der way, said Dawn Smith,
elementary school principal.
Also, school district super
intendent Philip Riley said
that speeding up construction
plans for the new school is
likely.
A deconstruction crew this
Court adopts historic agreement
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
It was a rare if not unique
scene.- Tribal leaders singing,
traditional songs in a
Deschutes County court
room. The ceremony concluded
die court hearing, which itself
marked a conclusion to more
than 20 years of government
negotiation. The court pro
ceeding this week was in re
gard to the Confederated
Tribes water rights agreement.
In the end the judge signed
the order making the terms
of the agreement binding on
all water rights holders in the
Deschutes River basin.
It was an historic occasion,
because the agreement itself
is historic and unique in the
nation.
During the court hearing,
Wasco Chief Nelson
Wallulatum spoke of the spirit
First
baby
of 2003
Elizabeth Rose Atuncz
was the first Warm Springs
baby born in the New
Year.
Little Elizabeth Rose was
born to Taima Smith (in the
photo at right with the new
born) and father Evaristo
Jesus Atuncz.
The child was born at
2:06 a.m. on January 1,
2003, at Mountain View
I iospital.
The baby weighed
seven pounds and 3.9
ounces, and was 20 inches
in length.
The father's parents arc
Inez Antunuez and atwai
Rhonda Cora Arthur.
The mother's parents are
Christine and Ix-roy Smith
!sr.
Mnivcr:uty of
. ....
over $1 .2 million
week was finishing the demoli
tion of the burnt carcass of the
former elementary school gym.
Asbestos, placed in numerous
white sacks, was safely removed
from the site. Water and smoke
damage to other parts of the
building were also assessed.
"We were lucky because af
ter the fire, it rained and the
asbestos particles were encapsu
lated, preventing them from
getting into the air," said Smith.
The asbestos could have been
a hazard to children on the play
ground but concerns were elimi
nated with the cleanup.
Cleanup employees antici
pate finishing flattening the gym
site by the end of this week.
Meanwhile, school officials
shifted classes around to accom
modate a loss in space. Room
numbers 15 and 19, located
near the gym and formerly
fourth grade classrooms, were
deemed unusable due to water
and smoke damage. Room 19
needs a new roof. v
Paiute Chief Joe Moses joins other members of the Tribal Council
at the water agreement court proceeding in Deschutes County.
of cooperation that went into
the water rights agreement.
Years ago, he said, Chief Joseph
made the famous statement,
"We shall fight no more forever."
The same can now be said
of water rights in the Deschutes
basin, said Chief Wallulatum.
In many cases the setdement
Or
' ' '''V'. '' ' y
7 1 ' A ? r Dav McMechanSpilyay
tr. : ;
' si
A demolition crew removes the
The fourth-grade class was
moved to the modular near the
flagpole. Physical Education will
take place in the cafeteria when
it is too cold for students to be
on the playground.
Speech class was moved to
the resource room. The Indian
language class was asked to
move back to the language
trailer. Music class has to com
mute down the street. )
Dave McMechanSpilyay
of tribal water rights happens
only after a long and cosdy court
battle. But in the case of the
Confederated Tribes' agree
ment, the various parties - the
tribal, U.S. and state govern
ments - worked toward a solu
tion agreeable to everyone, said
Wallulatum.
for new
r-; .. WfWV
Shannon KeavenvSoilvav
remains of the gymnasium.
"We were lucky we could
make it fit," said Smith of the
adjustments to compensate for
lost classroom space.
Last Thursday an assessment
of damages to P.E. equipment,
such as balls, hoops and jump
ropes, was released.
"Everything is fine except for
smoke damage. We just need to
clean it up," said Smith.
As a result of the blaze, P.E.
Others who spoke during
the hearing - Warm Springs
Chief Delvis Heath, Paiute
- Chief Joe Moses, and coun
cil members Zane Jackson,
Bernice Mitchell and Brenda
Scott - also expressed appre
ciation for the cooperation of
all parties involved.
"I hope this can continue
with other issues we work on
in the future," said Council
woman Wewa.
The Confederated Tribes
hold the oldest water right in
the Deschutes basin, as pro
vided in the Treaty of 1855.
A problem has been estab
lishing a quantity in regard to
the right. The water rights
agreement provides the tribes
with both in-stream and con
sumptive water rights. The
quantity of water is large, re
flecting the fact that tribes of
the Warm Springs Reserva
tion are fishing tribes.
BIA looking
to fill job of
superintendent
The Bureau of Indian Af
fairs in the near future may
appoint a new permanent su
perintendent for the Warm
Springs BIA Agency office.
The position of perma
nent BIA Warm Springs su
perintendent has been va
cant for over a year and a
half. BIA recently advertised
the job vacancy.
For the past year and a
half the position has been
filled on a temporary basis
by acting superintendents.
Gerald Henrikson is cur
rently the acting BIA Warm
Springs superintendent.
The Tribal Council can
recommend a candidate for
the permanent position. BIA
Regional Director Stanley
Speaks makes the appoint
ment. The job of superin
tendent involves responsibil
ity in carrying out the fed
eral government policy of
promoting tribal self-determination.
school
Specialist Mike Osborne will
temporarily share an office with
Principal Dawn Smith. His com
puter still functioned after be
ing removed from his fire-damaged
P.E. office.
After the Dec. 20 fire, soot
covered every remaining room
in the building. Rooms will need
to be repainted. Custodians and
maintenance oversaw the
cleanup in preparations for re
turning students.
The building's insurance com
pany granted permission to
move forward with the cleanup
about three days after the fire.
Damage costs are still being es
timated. "Everybody agrees the cause
of the fire was an accident," said
Smith. Officials speculate the
fire was caused by oily rags spon
taneously combusting.
The community, she said, has
been very supportive, and has
offered to help in any way pos
sible. Smith commented on the
efficiency of William Bagley and
his fire crew: "What they did re
ally saved a lot of stuff."
2002 holiday
arrests down
by 10 percent
Although total responses by
ment in the 2002 holiday sea
son increased by nearly 25 per
cent, total arrests were down by
10 percent.
Despite the increase in the
response rate, the public safety
staff still felt the holidays were
relatively quiet, said Warm
Springs Chief of Police Don
Courtney. He attributes the dra
matic statistical rise - 102 more
incident responses than during
the previous year - to a more
experienced, capable and confi
dent staff. Total incidents for
2002 between Christmas Eve
and New Year's Day were 399.
"The staff's comments of
not feeling busy, or it being a
quiet holiday were possibly be
cause of a sense of being more
at ease in handling calls, a more
trained and professional staff,
and a more experienced staff
over the past year," Courtney
said.
There were 68 arrests dur
ing the 2002 holiday season, ver
sus 76 arrests in the previous
year.
Also, weapons violations saw
a dramatic 85 percent decrease
in comparison to the year be
fore. Only one person was
charged with a weapons viola
tion lnvfnil- in nnssession and
j i ;
curfew violations remained
steady this past holiday season.
Traffic stops increased, due
to intensive use of sobriety
checkpoints. Drivers were ran
domly stopped for five seconds
in a testing area to determine
their sobriety.
Locations for checkpoints
were changed periodically. Seventy-six
traffic stops took place
this holiday season, Drunk driv
ing charges doubled to six due
to this effort.
"Our main emphasis is
safety," said Courtney. Part of
the effectiveness of sobriety
checkpoints is letting the public
know they will happen, he said.
"That way if they aren't sure
about their sobriety they will opt
for a designated driver," he said.
ivreivcd on: Ui-
Spilycjy tymoo