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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2004)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon January 22, 2004 Page 7 Oil spills from dam into Columbia River PORTLAND (AP)- Oil con taining a cancer-causing com pound spilled from the trans former of a major dam into the Columbia River, killing fish and leaving a rainbow-hued streak 23 miles long. Environmentalists claim the US. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates The Dalles Dam, did too little too late. "They're trying to make it look like a little spill - when in fact they didn't know how big it was," said Brent Foster, attorney for the Columbia Rivcrkcepers. The size of the spill, first spotted on Thursday, Jan. 15, had yet to be determined as of earlier this week. At the source of the dis charge, officials found 185 dead fish. Within one day, windsurfers spotted the translucent sheen 23 miles downstream. By Saturday, officials reported the oil had reached Bonneville Dam, more than 40 miles downriver but by then the plume was no longer visible to the naked eye. Matt Rabe, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engi neers, said the agency must drain the malfunctioning trans former to see how much oil is left in the drum - only then will the agency be able to estimate the size of the spill. On Saturday the Corps said it may be around 75 gallons. The Environmental Protection Agency said it could be nearer 1,000 gallons. The broken transformer is one of the last on the Columbia to use oil containing polychlori nated biphenyls, or PCBs. Because of its cancer-causing properties, oils containing PCBs was banned in 1978, said Mark Maclntyre of the Envi ronmental Protection Agency. But getting the toxic oil out of the machinery is an intricate process, said Rabe. "It's one of the last trans formers in our inventory to use that," he said. Maclntyre explained that the oils used in transformers are highly specialized. The ban ap plies to new machinery only. The failed transformer was grandfathered in. Rabe stressed the toxic con tent in the oil is low - on the order of 8 parts per million, a level the Environmental Protec tion Agency considers non-hazardous, he said. "It could have been a lot worse," said Maclntyre. "But the way all of our agencies look at it is anything above zero is too much," he said. Once the toxin gets into the water it enters the food chain through fish. In 2001, a three-year study by the National Marine Fisher ies Service found alarming lev els of PCBs in Columbia River salmon from previous spills. The same study found that bald eagles nesting along parts of the Columbia River were producing half as many young as other eagles in Washington and Oregon. The Corps sent out four cleanup crews with containment booms and oil skimmers. In an effort to protect wa terfowl, Rabe said the agency had dispatched personnel to comb the shores. A helicopter would also sur vey the area. After the Exxon Valdez spill, thousands of birds died of hy pothermia, after the oil impreg nated their feathers, robbing the plumage of its insulating abili ties. The Audubon Society, in league with the Columbia Riverkeepers, sent out their own crew. "I low are you going to see dead birds with helicopters?" said Foster. "The spin machine has a great incentive in not finding any dead birds." But Mark Layman, the Washington Department of Ecology on-scene coordinator, said: "We are doing everything we can to aggressively and ef fectively respond to this spill." Fish and Wildlife seeking help with study The tribal F'ish and Wildlife On-Rcscrvation Committee is seeking the assistance of any and all tribal member fisher menwomen. The assistance is needed in conducting the food comparison study, traditional and non-traditional foods. Please contact Chris Gannon, tribal environment office, 553 2020, or Nancy Collins, IMS sanitation, 553-4943, to give them the following information: Your name and contact num ber. Name of areas you fish, such as, mouth of the Colum bia, Warm Springs River, Sherars Bridge, etc. Species of fisheels that you catch. Amount of fish you catch at each site. Percentage eaten, regularly, seasonally. This information will be for tribal membership only. Any types of cancer or any other ill nesses caused by various foods will be a comparative factor to this study. The Fish and Wild life On-Reservation Committee is happy to answer questions you may have on this study. Com mittee meetings are the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Contact number if 553-3257. Snow damages school roof Native Hawaiians seek tribal recognition By Ashley Aguilar Spilyay Tymoo There are many Native American tribes in the U.S. that are federally recognized, but some tribes don't appear to be on the scanner. Hawaiian Natives have been battling Congress for their Na tive rights. Native Hawaiians are trying to pass a bill known as the Akaka bill. This will help them succeed in becoming a tribe recognized by the state and the federal government. There have been major com plaints from the population in Hawaii of unfairness in fund ing. The reason for their persis tence in pursuing the bill, since the year 2000, is to protect hun dreds of health, education, housing, employment, economic , development, arts and culture ,' programs benefiting the Native Hawaiian communities. Services are now at risk of being lost by civil lawsuits claim ! ing these programs are race ; based discrimination. ! Native Hawaiians have put forth a federal recognition bill, and are now before Congress. The bill is asking the U.S. to rec ognize Hawaiians as the indig enous people of the islands. This bill emphasizes Hawaii's political conditions, and would give the Natives the opportunity to establish their own system of self governance. Like most of Event opens sign-up process HONOLULU (AP) - Native Hawaiians marked the anni versary of the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani on Saturday with the kickoff of the sign-up process for a planned Native Hawaiian government. Quoting the queen, Office of Hawaiian Affairs chair woman Haunani Apoliona said the purpose is "to save our heritage" and to "chart our time for political change." As Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and other Hawaiian dig nitaries led the first group to sign registration forms - part of the process for the hoped-for federal recognition - a small group of opponents stood next to the statue of King Kamehameha and chanted. "The process of Native Hawaiian self-determination will not be without challenge and stumbles," Apoliona told a crowd of about 100 people. "The creation of our Native Hawaiian government will be both a learning and a humbling experience, but one from which we cannot turn back." the Native Americans in the U.S., Native Hawaiians plan on re ceiving the same recognition. There are 550 Native Ameri can and Alaskan Native tribes already recognized by the fed eral government, and Hawaii wants to be included in the count. "Extending the federal policy of self-determination and self governance to Native Hawaiians is indispensable to further the process of reconciliation be tween Native Hawaiians and the United States," said Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. What this bill does for the Hawaiian communities includes the following: - Affirms special 'relation ships between the federal gov ernment and Native Hawaiians. - Provides for a self govern ing entity organized by them selves. - Provides a process for fed eral recognition of a governing entity, establishes an office within the Department of the Interior to focus on Native Hawaiian issues and serves as a liaison between Native Hawai ians and the federal govern ment. - Prevents the sale, disposi tion, lease or encumbrance of lands, interests in lands or other assests of the Native Hawaiian governing entity without the Census to continue through February ; The Tribal Census is about i 70 percent complete. The cen sus enumerators are starting again this week with the count, as funding for continuing the census became available. The funding should be enough for the enumerators to work through February, said Madeline Queahpama-Spino, of tribal Vital Statistics. She said the count may go on after February, as the goal of the census is to account for 100 percent of the reservation population. The 1992 census accounted almost met the goal, ending with 98 percent ac counted for. The people who remain un counted by the enumerators are difficult to get in touch with for a variety of reasons. Some are hard to catch up with at home, and they may not wish to be con tacted during work hours, said Queahpama-Spino. Business center sponsoring new tax workshop The Small Business Develop- business taxes and tax benefits workshop. The workshop will be from 1 1 a.m. till 2 p.m. on Mon dav, Feb. 2 at the Small Busi ness Development Center. The workshop will cover ba sic organization of paperwork to prepare for taxes, and an open questions and answers ses sion with Joel Jensen, certified public accountant. For more information or to sign up, stop by the Small Busi ness Development Center at 1134 Paiute St. Or call 553-3592. Christmas stocking raffle was for a good cause Here are the results of the Christmas Stocking raffle. Stocking No. 1, Allen Jones. Stocking No. 2, Carol Craig. Stocking No. 3, Suzy Moody. Stocking No. 4, Barbara Jim. Roaster: Gloria Warner. DVD player: Isaac George. $50, Shcilah Clements, and Donna Smith. Safeway gift card, Alveda Hanson. The raffle was for a good cause, helping Priscilla Squiemphen-Yazzie, who is still under medical care and cannot return to work yet. Happy Birthday and other wishes... Congratulations to Kandra Laurence for making the honor roll at Kiirrside Indian School. VTt art proud of you. From your family in Warm Springs. Thank you Kah-Nee-Ta Board of directors, from the staff of Spilyay Tymoo. January 6, Happy Birthday Walter Wolfe. January 13, Happy Birthday Eddie Sconawah II. January 29, Happy Birthday James Redfox Jr. January 30, Happy Birth day Jay Blackwolf. Hoping you have great days with love from Donte, Joe, Matt, Angie and Aaron. consent of the Native Hawai ian governing entity. - Authorizes a roll for adult Native Hawaiians who wish to participate in the reorganization of a Native Hawaiian govern ment. Native Hawaiians who wish to participate in the roll must be at least 18 years old and provide documentation that they are a direct lineal descen dant of indigenous people of the I lawaiian Islands Native Hawaiians have the inherent right to self-governance and autonomy in their internal affairs as the indigenous people of Hawaii. If the Akaka bill passes in Congress, then it would not af fect BIA programs or any IHS programs. ' "' Hawaii is not trying to barge in on the budget that the Na tive Americans share on the mainland, but they're trying to preserve their rights as the in digenous people of the island. "The creation of our Native Hawaiian government will be both a learning and a humbling experience, but one from which we cannot turn back," said Haunani Apoliona, Hawaiian and a supporter of the bill. Native Hawaiians want the same recognition as the Natives of America. It's up to the U.S. to decide whether they are to be a recog nized tribe. Advertise in the Spilyay. .. 553-3274. Snowfall this month caused significant damage to the roof of the Jefferson County Middle School. Snow that was piled on an upper area of the roof fell to a lower area, buckling the lower roof. This happened on Thursday of last week, and school was closed on Friday, as school offi cials wanted to make sure the building was safe. There was some question as to whether the choir room was safe, as this was a room under neath the damaged roof area. There was also some ques tion as to the entrance area of the school, said Dick Jungc, di rector of support services for the school district. An engineer was brought in from a Bend firm. The engineer inspected the building and stud ied the original blueprints of the middle school. After a thorough inspection, the engineer deter mined that the structure of the building in terms of strength was not compromised, and school opened again on Mon day of this week. Look who was caught. . . Wearing her seat belt Safety belt use can decrease fatalities and injuries between 40 and 55 percent. Ejection from a vehicle occurs 10 times more often to passenger vehicle occupants who are unprotected and unrestrained. This is a message from the Seat Belt Coalition. NJ Buy Back In Madras We will do MORE on your items -and charge LESS for doing it At - CASH AND RELEASE 579 SE 5th St., Madras, OR (Across from Ericksons Market) 475-G157 January loveotoiry Blowout Sale Rent-toown Furniture & '' TV Sales 1 II Appliances ScElectronics Ralph's Furniture & T.V. frfe 525 S.E. 5th St Madras, OR 97741 (541) 475-2578