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SG6
v. 9
no. 21
October
14, 0194
Spilyay
diversity of Oregon Library
Received on 18-1B
Spilyay tyioo.
vmoo
October H, 2004 Vol. 29, No. 21
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Coyote News, est. 1976
Large grant
for diabetes
prevention
Diabetes prevention on the reser
vation received a large boost, through
a grant in the amount of $404,000 per
year for the next five years. "This is an
awesome opportunity for the commu
nity," said Lauraina Hintsala, the tribes'
chief operations officer.
The rate of diabetes among tribal
members is higher than that of the
general population; so diabetes preven
tion is an important health-care goal,
said Nurse Jennie Smith, coordinator
of the Warm Springs diabetes program.
The recent grant to the tribes is a
new grant, awarded after a competi
tive application process, said Smith.
The Warm Springs diabetes program
was one of 36 across the U.S. to re
ceive the funding for diabetes preven
tion work, she said.
With the $404,000 per year, the dia
betes program will be able to hire people
to fill new positions, said Smith.
New positions would be that of a
diabetes nurse educator; and someone
from the community to help with fo
cus groups, registration and data entry.
A third position would be that of a
behaviorist.
The existing staff of the diabetes
program includes the coordinator, who
is a nurse practitioner; another family
nurse practitioner; a registered nurse,
who is the diabetes nurse educator; and
the administrative secretary. The Warm
Springs Community Wellness Coordi
nator Carolyn Harvey is also part of
the diabetes program. The Nutrition
and Exercise programs are a part of
the diabetes program on the reserva
tion. Chief operations officer Hintsala,
wellness coordinator Harvey, and
nurses Smith and Diana Howell went
to the Federal Building in Portland re
cently to receive the first annual
$404,000 diabetes-prevention check.
"This is the realization of a dream,"
said Smith.
Tribal elders
will consider
a plan to change
creek's name
(AP) - Elders of the Confederated
Tribes are being asked to consider a
plan to change the name of Squaw
Creek, which runs within the tribe's
ceded lands. In 2001 the Oregon Leg
islature passed a law banning the of
fensive word "squaw" from place
names on public lands.
The Confederated Tribes are now
considering new names, said tribal eco
nomic development director Mike
Clements. Potential replacements in
clude "why-chus," a Sahaptin word
meaning "a place to cross the water,"
and "sesequa," a Paiute word for "tall
rye grass."
If a recommendation is approved,
it will be forwarded to the Oregon
Geographic Names Board, which regu
lates place names.
Because the creek runs wholly
within the ceded lands, the tribes will
have preference when the board de
cides on a replacement, said Champ
Vaughan, president of the names board.
But since the creek doesn't run through
the reservation itself, the board will also
ask for input from other groups, in
cluding the City of Sisters and the
Deschutes National Forest
Once the Oregon board makes a
recommendation, it takes six to 12
months for the U.S. Geographic Names
Board to give final approval Vaughan
said That means the first time possible
replacements appear on a map prob
ably won't be until early 2006.
Mill is a
Improvements funded
almost entirely by
state energy program
By Dave McMechan
Spifyay lymoo
Warm Springs Forest Products
Industries has greatly improved the
efficiency of electricity use at the
mill. Through the recent improve
ment, Forest Products Industries
will save about $80,000 per year in
electricity costs.
What is more, the improvement
work - costing about $294,000 - is
paid for almost entirely through state
'Ft-:
ft . - - -
V.
u
Elders of the Confederated Tribes and staff of the Senior Department traveled last month to Washington, D.C., for the opening of the Smithsonian
Institution's Museum of the American Indian. Elders and staff hold their banner before the tribal march to the museum. More photos on page 10.
New course explores
By D. "Bing" Bingham
Spilyay Tjmoo
The Warm Springs Reservation
is a sovereign nation. However, dif
ferent people will give different an
swers on exactly what sovereignty
means.
One person will say it guaran
tees fishing rights on the Columbia
River. Another will say it means
tribal members have the right to
choose and rule themselves. Both
are correct.
But what happens when those
same two tribal members travel
around the state and ask people
who did not grow up on the reser
vation what sovereignty means?
They're probably not going to get
the same answers. The answers may
well be correct, but they will likely
be different.
Tribal member Anita Jackson
and Oregon State University have
teamed up to clarify the issue
through a class entitled Federal In
dian Law and American Tribal Gov
ernments. This is the first time an upper
division class taught by Jackson has
been offered to people on the res
ervation over the Internet in real
time.
"OSU Extension at Warm
Springs has always had an initiative
to bring higher education to the res
ervation, not just to advertise what
would be available in Corvallis or
Bend," said Clint Jacks of OSU
Extension
In the past Central Oregon
Community College has delivered
lower division courses to Warm
model at
energy efficiency incentives and a tax
credit.
Forest Products Industries will end
up paying only about 2 percent of the
total cost of the improvements. "Be
cause of the success, we could be a
case study for these kinds of projects,"
said Darrel Kelly, energy manager at
the mill.
Vince Crawford of Pacific Power
said, "Of all the projects I've seen, this
is the most successful. It's a model for
the state."
The mill last week received a check
for $214,000 from the Energy Trust
of Oregon, which funds the incentive
v
H
.
Springs. They had to cut back due to
budget cuts.
When Oregon State University took
over the Cascades Campus in Bend,
the conversation about education on
the reservation resumed.
Place-bound students who, for job
or family reasons, are unable to take
the time to finish a degree or develop
new set of skills were the target of the
talks.
"We're using a polycom camera on
Jackson's end in Bend and a polycom
camera on our end in Warm Springs,"
said Jacks. "It's a two way video, two
way audio. She sees us and we see her,
we hear her and she hears us."
He continues, "It's very simple tech
nology today, but it wasn't available
three to four years ago."
So Anita Jackson travels to the Cas
cades Campus in Bend every Tuesday
and Thursday evening. There she gives
a class on Indian law to interested indi
viduals, while the rest of the class fol
lows along with computer screens in
Warm Springs.
If the students in Warm Springs
have a question, they ask the teacher
and she gives them the answer.
The journey started out as a dream
years ago.
"I've been wanting to teach a class
on Indian Law from the Native per
spective at the college level for a long
time," says Jackson. "I approached
COCC and they didn't have the money
at the time."
Then the Oregon State Chancellor
of Higher Education took an interest
in the citizens of Central Oregon. Jack
son was part of the committee who
explained the geographic difficulties for
conserving energy
program. Forest Products Industries will
also receive about $75,000 as a busi
ness energy tax credit.
Together, the incentive and the tax
credit - totaling nearly $290,000 - will
pay for nearly all of the energy effi
ciency improvement work.
As a result of. this project, in the
future the mill will use about 1.7 mil
lion fewer kilowatt- hours per year. This
is equal to about one month's worth
of energy use at the mill; so future sav
ing is significant, said Kelly.
New compressor system
The energy efficiency improvement
7 1 i v , . ... ....
'nil - llllnM III llir I 1 1
nature of sovereignty
trThey're still learning
American history the way I
learned it, that Columbus
discovered America..."
Anita Jackson
Indian law teacher
people on the reservation. After the
report was submitted, the committee
disbanded and Jackson's dream was put
on hold-until last winter.
By this time OSU had taken over
the Cascades Campus and they were
taking proposals. Jackson made her
pitch. She thought a class beginning in
2005 would give her plenty of time to
prepare. The powers-that-be liked the
idea of the Indian law class from a
Native perspective, and they decided
to start this Fall.
"Holy moly," Jackson thought. "I
can do this." She's been on the run all
summer long.
"It's an upper division class, a 399,"
she says. "I thought there would be a
lot of interest in people from Warm
Springs."
While there weren't many who had
the necessary credit hours, she didn't
feel like that would be a problem with
people who had grown up on the res
ervation and had dealt with the tribes
on a day-to-day basis.
Jackson feels it's important for all
people, rather than just Indians, to un
derstand tribal sovereignty.
"There already is a lot of, and going
to be a lot more interaction between
the citizens of Oregon and the tribal
governments," she says.
was to the air-compressor system of
the mill.
Before, there were a number of
compressors operating separately in
various parts of the mill.
A study by the consulting firm Cas
cade Energy Engineering of Portland
showed that the energy used to run the
compressors could be reduced by cen
tralizing the system.
The newly installed centralized air
compression system at the mill is now
"working better than forecasted," said
Josh Bachman, of Cascade Energy
Engineering.
See MILL on page 7
Lilly Suppah photocourtesy ot the Senior Department
Jackson continues: "I've worked on
different committees with state govern
ment people and tribal people, and you
always have to start at the beginning
and tell them: We are a sovereign na
tion. This is what it means."
She says, "We're not like every other
minority citizen in the state. Yes, we
have a special status and special rela
tionship with the federal government.
No, we don't get subsidized by the fed
eral government. We don't get a lot of
money for welfare programs. We need
to do away with all the stereotypes."
She doesn't see this kind of infor
mation being taught in schools off the
reservation.
"They're still learning American his
tory the way I learned it, that Colum
bus discovered America, and 'Wasn't it
wonderful when the pilgrims came over
and landed at Plymouth Rock. Here
was a wonderful new world and it was
there for our taking.' That isn't the way
it really happened."
She starts her class off with pre
contact types of tribal governments.
Then she shows a video about the
Pueblo Indians and how they survived
the Spanish conquistadors. After that
she goes through Indian law from a
historical perspective.
"You have to know the history of
Indian law to understand where we are
with Indian policy today," she says.
"We go through the kinds of trea
ties that were written and how the U.S.
tried to keep the states out of Indian
Country and say that only the federal
government can deal with Indian tribes
on a government to government ba
sis. S,t INDIAN LAW on 9