Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2004)
OR. COLL. E 75 .S68 v. 9 no. 4 February 19, 004 University of Oregon Library Received on: (5-4iM Spilyay tymoo. P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, op U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 Coyote News, est. 1976 February 19, 2004 Vol. 29, No. 4 50 cents Spilygy ivroc i Deschutes permit controversy continues By Bill Rhoades Spilyay Tymoo Last week's meeting of the Deschutes River Managers group made it obvious there are still differences of opinion between the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and local gov ernments regarding management strat egies for the river. A number of differences surfaced last week when the managers met for the first time since a tentative settle ment agreement was reached last No vember. The setdement agreement forstalled a lawsuit filed by Mark Shuholm of Tualitan, to force federal and state agencjes to implement a permit system for boaters, as agreed to in the Lower Deschutes River Management Plan. The Confederated Tribes joined the lawsuit as interveners on Shuholm's behalf. The settlement agreement, which was moderated by a federal judge in Portland, calls for a permit system to be implemented on Segment One of the river, an area from Warm Springs to Harpham Flat, beginning in 2005. The agreement in principal was reached between state and federal rep resentatives on one side, and Shuholm and the Confederated Tribes on the other. It will not become official until it is signed by the U.S. Department of Justice. Differences between individual members of the Deschutes River Man agers Group came to a head last week during a discussion over whether or not to close the boat launch at Wapinitia. Bureau of Land Management rep resentatives suggested closing the site, because there are two other alterna tives within the general vicinity. Offi cials representing local governments and their representatives did not think the launch site should be closed because a number of local anglers apparently prefer it to the other options. They argued the launch site should remain open unless there is some justi fication for closing it. See DESCHUTES on page 1 1 Love of radio inspires KWSO's The Wilman By D. "Bing" Bingham Spilyay Tymoo Meeting KWSO's "The Wilman" for the first time is quite an experience. He's a large man with a voice that has the strength of the mountains. It's a voice with depth and expression. A listener can tell when there's a twinkle in his eye or a tear in his heart. In short his voice is a radio man's dream. William "The Wilman" Robbins started thinking about radio when he was young. It was a friend, a connec tion. It kept his loneliness at bay. As a child The Wilman was raised by his grandmother. She bought him a tiny transistor radio. As children do, he resisted his grandmother's attempts to get him in bed by nine at night. He would put the radio under his pillow and stick the earplug in to listen to his nightly shows. "I used to listen to the Wolfman Jack show. I remember listening to him every single night and thinking, 'Man, this guy is having fun and getting paid for it! This is his job and everybody knows him. That'd be cool to do that"' However radio became more than a job opportunity for The Wilman. The radio was something I could rely on, it was there for me, it was my ;:::.:s ?....-, wj Av- rrtfrx Sy 'V.. Dave McMechanSpllyay Young dancer prepares for competition on Saturday at the Lincoln's Birthday Powwow, held at the Simnasho Longhouse. Lawmakers seek information on Chemawa student's death SALEM (AP) - Oregon lawmakers, upset over the death of a student at the Chemawa Indian boarding school, are probing the school's safety policies and pressing federal regulators for more information. Sen. Ron Wyden's office has called the BIA and sent letters to Indian Health Services seeking information about the safety and use of the Salem school's holding cells, where drunk stu dents were once placed to sober up. Sixteen-year-old Cindy 'Gilbert Sohappy died in one of those cells on Dec. 6. Autopsy results released by the FBI last month revealed that Sohappy died of acute alcohol poisoning. I ler death was ruled accidental. Rep. Darlcne Hooley, meanwhile, wants the school to be monitored by an agency that is closer by than the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washing ton, D.C. The school does not have adequate oversight of its policies and procedures, said Travis Brouwer, a spokesman for Hooley. The Department of Interior inspec tor general's office launched an admin istrative investigation late last month into Sohappy's death. The office oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which governs the school and has been re I I -ssir ) III 1 TLi I i ! V il jfi. - - vr-r2 V' r 'iA'')T ; : ' ' t iV ;' L v. , . William The Wilman" Robbins source of entertainment, my compan- was there with me at the same rime." ion," he says. "Even though 1 was there After high school The Wilman fin by myself, my little radio and the voice ished radio college. I le even tried a moved from the investigation. Two dormitory managers, one se curity staff member and a school ad ministrator remain on administrative leave as the investigation continues. School officials have refused to iden tify them. Chemawa school officials and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have repeat edly refused to release information about the holding cells or any changes to policies governing how intoxicated students are bandied. I lowever, Geoff Stuckart, a spokes man for Wyden, said the bureau told the senator that the holding cells at the boarding school no longer were being used. Wyden's office began making in quires to Indian Health Services and the Bureau of Indian Affairs last month. In a Jan. 8 letter to Doni Wilder, director of Indian Health Services, Wyden asked for all documents and correspondence relating to the safety and use of the holding cells at Chemawa. Stuckart said that the Indian I lealth Services has not responded. Roselyn Tso, a spokeswoman for The Wilman Indian Health Service of Portland, said that Wyden's office must file a Freedom of Information Act request to receive the documents. Bmg BmghatnSptlyay New school? Project is taking a lot longer than first thought By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo For several years - at least since the late 1980s - tribal and school district officials have discussed the need for a new elementary school at Warm Springs. A few years ago - in 2001, when tribal members approved an $8 million elementary school construction plan -it seemed like a new school was close at hand. After passage of the 2001 referen dum, there was talk that a new elemen tary school would "be open by the fall of 2003," according to a news account at the time. But the 2001-02 school year ended and the project was still in negotiation between the tribes and the school dis trict. In the winter of 2002 the gymna sium at Warm Springs Elementary School burned down. This event raised an important issue, as the district was to receive quite a bit of fire insurance money - over f 1 million - to replace the gym, Some thought the new gym should be built where the new school originally was planned for construction, away from the campus area and the existing elementary school. However, the issue became compli cated by budgets, both the tribal and the school district budgets. To build a new school away from the existing school would cost about $13 million, according to district officials. This price is well beyond the $8 million approved by the membership, and be yond the budget capacities of the school district and the tribes. Meanwhile, as negotiations contin ued, the students at the elementary school - without a gymnasium - were using the cafeteria for physical educa tion activities. And the fifth-graders from Warm Springs were still at the middle school, while all other fifth-graders in the dis trict were at elementary schools. Rather than prolong this situation, the school district board is moving for ward with a construction plan for a new short stint as a commercial deejay. That taught him two things: He didn't like commercial radio and the real world was catching up with him. By now The Wilman was married and had kids on the way. He needed more money than the radio world paid. For years The Wilman supported his family by driving a tow truck. After moving to Oregon, he read a help wanted ad for an announcer's job at KWSO. And the rest - as they say - is history. Engaging the listener The Wilman spends three hours each weekday on the air during his afternoon show. "They taught me in radio school that the best radio isn't, 'I ley, what are all of you doing out there in radio land?'" he says. 'The best communica tion in radio is to say something like, 'It's twenty after three o'clock, nice day isn't it?' Ask a question and get the lis tener to respond in their mind." Engaging the listener is important to The Wilman. "You can throw out little things like, 'It's probably going to rain today, you might want to bring an umbrella or a raincoat.' Or, 'It's foggy out there, keep your speed down.' It's just a way of gymnasium. The new gym will be built on the site of the old gym. The plan includes improvements to the classroom area adjacent to the gym nasium site. This area was made unsafe by the fire that destroyed the gym. The improvements to the adjacent classroom are should allow the Warm Springs fifth-graders to attend Warm Springs Elementary in the fall, said Phil Riley, district superintendent. Jeff Sanders, 509-J board chairman, said the district - after a significant lapse of time since the fire that de stroyed the gym - is responding to the needs of the students. "We're moving forward with build ing the gym, and hoping the contract ing (toward the new school) will take care of itself in a relatively short time," said Sanders. Moving forward with the new gym nasium should accomplish the goals of providing a place for school PE activi ties, and also returning the Warm Springs fifth-graders to the elementary school at the start of the next school year, he said. Meanwhile, the school district and the tribes will continue working toward a construction agreement for a new school. Because of the present budget con ditions, the existing elementary school site is the viable option for a new school, said Sanders. Cost of building at this site is now in the range of $9.5 million, he said. The new gym will cost between $1 and $1.4 million, said superintendent Riley. He said the district hopes to have an architect hired within 45 days. Elementary school principal Dawn Smith said she is feeling discouraged about when a new elementary school might be built. Riley said he can understand why people who support a new school might feel discouraged, as the project is tak ing a long time. But, he said, "I'm still choosing to be optimistic." communicating with people, like you're really there. Like you're really talking to them." Every afternoon when The Wilman steps up to the microphone, he alters his voice slightly to let the listeners un derstand that even though they might be alone in the world, he's there for them and everything's okay. For most people the afternoon show on KWSO sounds like The Wilman just walked into the studio, sat down at the microphone, and started talking like he was their best buddy. The Wilman's ability to do that doesn't come easily or naturally. "If you're on the air for three hours," he says, "you take the other five hours of the day and spend that time making preparation to go on the air. You don't want to flip the switch and not know what to say." Some of the stories and elements of his program are looked up at least a week ahead of rime. An element is that little piece of speech he does between songs. A lot of it is friendly banter like, "Hello. How ya doing? It's a great af ternoon and don't forget, there's no school today." Or it might be some thing longer. See THE WILMAN ptgt 1 1
