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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2003)
'cIVËD JAN ù 0 7003— Oregon Historio«! Society Spilyay Tymoc P.O. Box 870 Warm Snrinns n o 077c -i OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1230 SW PARK AVE. PORTLAND, OR 97205 U.S. Postage Bulk Rate Permit No. 2 Coyote News, est. 1976 January 23, 2003 Voi. 28, No. 2 ? Warm Springs, OR 97761 5 0 cents Election important locally By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo The outcome of Ballot Mea sure 28 will be important to the reservation, especially in the ar eas o f health care and elder care, and schools. The vote on the measure is set for Tuesday, Jan. 28. T he Warm Springs Indian Health Services clinic and High Lookee Lodge could see direct and fairly substantial cuts in funding, if Measure 28 fails. The planned new Warm Springs Elem entary School could see further delay, and some p ro grams at the current elementary school could be cut, as would happen throughout the 509-J district. The cuts could be ex pected to school counseling pro grams, physical education and music, and all-day kindergarten. Statewide polling this week indicated the outcome o f the vote on Measure 28 is too close to call. The measure, if adopted by voters, would impose a tem porary increase in the state in come tax. The increase, lasting three years, would raise $725 million for the state in the years 2002 to._ 2 0 0 3 . income tax w ould increase by a half a per cent, from 9 to 9.5 percent. I f the measure fails, the state would see $325 million in bud get cuts during 2002-03, begin ning next month. An estimated $95 million would be cut from schools. For the 509-J school district, passage o f Measure 28 would bring in an additional $600,000. T hat would help, said district superintendent Phil Riley, “but people shouldn’t think that pas sage o f th e m easure w ould solve all our problems.” The district, he said, is already facing a significant budget re duction even if voters carry Measure 28 at the polls. O n the reservation, mental health programs, including drug and alcohol treatment, could see budget cuts if the measure fails, said Jim Q uaid, d irec to r o f Warm Springs Family Services Branch. The cuts would be be yond the reductions in these programs that already have been im posed in recent years, said Quaid. Payments for foster care could also be reduced, he said. I f M easure 28 fails at the polls, then the Oregon Health Plan and Medicaid would see losses in revenue. This then would have a direct impact on revenue at the Warm Springs Indian Health Services Clinic, said Russ Alger, clinic director. The same would be true of High Lookee Lodge, said Gayle R odgers, d irec to r o f W arm Springs Social Services. High Lookee may be look ing at a 28 percent reduction in the state portion paid for the tenants who are Medicaid eli gible, said Rodgers. “It is a sub stantial reduction,” he said. INSIDE MHS senior..............page 2 Powwow court........ page 3 Letters...........;................... 4 Languages.........pages 8,9 Museum exhibit............... 10 Smith is distinguished principal By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo For nearly 30 years Dawn Smith has dedicated herself to teaching, and help in g young people to learn. D ur ing those years, she has been a Warm Springs Elementary School teacher, counselor, vice-principal, and she now serves as the school princi pal. Smith is also the special education coordinator and special education teacher. In these times o f shrinking bud gets, she takes on many roles at the school. “This year with one less cook in the cafeteria, Dawn helps serve lunches to the students,” said Sara Ohman, teacher. Recently, Ohman recom mended Smith for the N a tional Distinguished Principal Award. Upon the recommen d atio n , the E lem en tary School Principals Association for the central region o f the ' state chose Smith as its nomi nee. Dave McMechan/Spilyay Warm Springs Elementary School Principal Dawn Smith She was chosen from among the principals at schools from H ood River to LaPine. “Eve known Dawn for the nine years that I’ve been in the district,” said Steve Johnson, m iddle school principal and m em b er o f th e asso ciatio n board. “I ’m always impressed by her energy, and her commitment to providing students with every opportunity to grow academi cally and socially. It’s amazing how much she gives to the community,” said Johnson. Smith first began teaching at Warm Springs Elementary School in 1973. O v er the course o f the years, she has come to know countless stu dents and their families. She has seen m any changes, but at the same time some things have remained the same. For instance, Smith’s office at Warm Springs E l ementary School is- the same room where she first started teaching all those years ago. Another thing that has not changed over the years is the reason why Smith enjoys her w ork at the . elem entary school. “My favorite part of the job, by far, is being with the kids every day,” said Smith. She added, “I also enjoy working with a talented and dedicated staff. And the work is not the Same day to day. There are always new chal lenges.” Dealing with the budget cuts in coming years will no doubt be a major challenge, Smith said. Tribes pay dose attention to dam proposal Tribal leaders are paying close attention to a Jefferson County Commission suggestion that a public utility district acquire o w nership o f p a rt o f th e Pelton-Round Butte hydroelec tric facilities. “We are definitely going to watch this closely, and we’ll be very interested in seeing how they might acquire the asset,” said Jim Manion, general man ager o f Warm Springs Power Enterprises. Manion also emphasized that the county commission sugges tion w ould involve issues o f g rea t com plexity. “T h ere is much more to the picture than meets the eye,” he said. County commissioner Mary Zemkevwho took office earlier this month, also said that acqui sition o f part o f the dams by a public utility district (PUD) would require much planning. “It would be a long road,” she said. T h e C o n fed erated Tribes own one-third o f the Pelton- Round Butte facilities. Portland General Electric (PGE), an as set o f bankrupt E nron Corp., owns the other two-thirds, val ued at $1.8 billion. As part o f the bankruptcy, PG E is for. sale, and it is pos sible that a tax-exempt entity could acquire the company as sets. In th at case the county co u ld stan d to lose a large source of tax revenue. This possibility led county’ ‘There is language (in commissioners Zemke and Walt Ponsford, who also took office this month, to consider the idea o f a PUD that would acquire the dams through the process o f condem nation. T he third commissioner, Bill Bellamy, said he did not favor the idea. Residents within a proposed P U D àrea w ould v o te on whether or not to form the new district. Such a vote could hap pen this year, said Zemke. W hatever the outcom e o f this idea, the tribal interest would be protected, said Manion. “T he agreem ent betw een P G E and the tribes speaks to the agreement) th a t protects the tribal inter ests. ” Jim Manion WSPE general manager the sale by P G E to a third party,” he said. “There is lan guage that protects the tribal interests.” Zemke said, “I would want to honor the agreement that the tribes have with PG E.” She said, though, that the PU D would have its own five-member board o f directors, which would set policy for the district. 2003 Miss Warm Springs ilda Walsey, 22, was nam ed Miss W arm Springs 2003. T h e p ag eant was last Friday at the Agency Longhouse. Walse$ who describes her self as a “powwow baby,” dis played extraordinairy talent by singing along with the drums of her brothers and father. She also demonstrated her ability to dance traditionally. Another talent she shared with the pageant audience was her ability to sew traditional clothing. Walsey brought sev eral items she has sewn, in cluding her first scarf, made for a cousin, and a beaded vest made for her brother. She also sews her own powwow dresses. “I’m drug and alcohol free, and sewing keeps my mind off it,” Walsey said. Walsey’s traveling experi ence with powwows appeared especially well-suited for the public relations skills expected o f Miss Warm Springs. “I ’ve traveled all over the United States,” she said. Walsey competed with one other contestant, Tashina Smith, 21. The final score for the two Contestants differed only by 38 points. Judges said both contes tants had “maximum excellence in all categories.” The categories included con temporary talent, questions and answers, and traditional talent and dance. Michael Bobb provided the flute music. Lola Sohappy of fered the invocation. K eynote speaker U rbana Ross spoke o f the importance o f competing, and not neces sarily o f winning. Miss W arm Springs 2002 Cecilia H errera visited from Colorado, where she attends the university, to pass the crown on. M any fo rm e r Miss W arm Springs attended the ceremony. Approximately 100 tribal mem b ers atten d e d . D in n e r was served afterwards. Shannon Keaveny/Spilyay Tilda Walsey, the new Miss Warm Springs. Report on gym fire presented By Shannon Keaveny Spilyay Tymoo An insurance adjustor last week briefed the 509-J school district board on the fire dam age to the Warm Springs E l ementary School gymnasium. Three tribal members from the W arm Springs E ducation B ran ch a tte n d e d th e b o ard meeting, and expressed their desire for the gym to be re placed. The adjuster said an estimate for an insurance claim on the school’s loss should be available in about a month. A fter the final appraisal is provided, the district has 180 days to declare a replacement plan. Urbana Ross, chairwoman o f E ducation Com m ittee, com mented to the 509-J board, “As an advocate for Warm Springs, I would like to see the gym re placed, and a new school.” Ross added, “We need it as soon as possible. The gym is not only for the students, but is also used as a community building in the evenings.” Jo Ann Smith, o f the Head S tart A dvisory C ouncil, ex p lain ed th e h isto rical im p o r tance o f the gym to the com munity. “T he absence o f the gym leaves a void for the commu nity, and an empty history. The loss is devastating. We hope re placement is expedited, and is done as soon as possible,” said Smith. T rib al m em b er M arth a Wiriishut agreed with her col leagues. T he school district board members used the opportunity to confer with Stone on the pos sibility o f using the insurance claim money to build a new gym at a different location. Stone assured that a differ ent location was an option. H e said that although the building has been valued at $1.2 million, adjustments could be made to account for upgrading o f the building codes. Board member Jeff Sanders expressed his concern regarding long-term water damage to the building. Sanders and Steve Earnest p ressed fo r in fo rm a tio n on compensation. A lthough storage costs are covered this year, Stone said he was u n su re w h e th e r new modulars could be built with in surance money. H e said walls in dam aged classro o m s w ere cu t a b o u t fo u r feet up to reveal floor dam age. W ater fo u r to six inches high tunneled through p a rts o f th e s c h o o l w h en firefighters attem pted to extin guish the blaze, w hich h ap pened Dec. 20. O ther important news at the meeting last week was that the board granted district superin tendent Phil Riley early retire ment, effective Jan.l. Riley is taking early retire ment in order to take advantage o f the current Public Employee R etirem ent Services (PERS) rates. Riley said he would not re tire before his contract is up in July o f 2004.
