Spilyay tymoo., July 21, 2005, Image 1

SCA
OrColl
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73
.568
v. 30
no. IS
July 21,
005
Univenity of Ortgon Library
Received oni 07-27-05
Spilyay tyioo.
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
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PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
July 21, 2005 Vol. 30, No. 15
Coyote News, est 1976
50 cents
Spilygy
Tyr
Longhouse
dedication
at Celilo
This Saturday, July 23, is the open
ing and blessing of the new longhouse
at Celilo Village.
Tribal leaders from the Confeder
ated Tribes of Warm Springs, Yakama
Nation, Umatilla and Ncz Perce nations
will be on hand.
The Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs has been of great help in de
veloping the new longhouse, said
Delilah I lecmsah, life-long resident of
Celilo. Tribal leaders, especially Coun
cil Chairman Ron Suppah, lobbied the
federal government for the funding,
she said. The tribes and Warm Springs
Forest Products Industries also gave
direct donations, she said.
"Warm Springs provided all the
poles for the longhouse and all the deck
ing," she said. "That was very gener
ous and we are thankful."
For budget reasons, the Corps of
Engineers wanted to use the poles from
the old longhouse for the new one, and
replace the decking as needed. But the
old poles and decking were no longer
sturdy, said I Icemsah.
The donation of the new poles and
decking means the new longhouse "will
last a very long time," said I Icemsah.
"The new longhouse looks wonder
ful," she said. "The kitchen is beauti
ful. It's got a dishwasher, many sinks,
and an enclosed storage area."
See LONGHOUSE on 10
. .. ... . t
Group from
Japan helps
atECE
By Ashley Aguilar
Spilyay Tjmoo
The Kaneko Summer Group of
eight Japanese college students from
Tokyo, Japan, and two college students
from Willamette University, visited
Warm Springs last week.
The students were here to complete
a building at the Early Childhood Edu
cation center (ECE) and to learn more
about Native American culture.
The group from Japan included one
female and eight male students. .They
are in the U.S. for one year studying
the English language.
Each year a new group of Kaneko
Summer Group students comes and
works on a project at ECE. This year
the group worked on building a stor
age shed. The shed will be used for stor
age of playing equipment.
ECE held a mini powwow July 14
in honor of their guests, with some of
the children dressing in regalia and oth
ers dancing casual.
At the powwow were elders, drum
mers, ECE staff, the children and their
parents. The Japanese students were
amazed by the beautiful regalia, the
dancing and the songs. One member
of the group commented that he had
never seen anything like it before.
The group was staying out at Kah-Nee-Ta
in the teepees. "Not many of
them have camped before," said vol
unteer worker Andrea Meidinger, who
is one of the students helping the Japa
nese guests with their stay.
"Many of them have not done vol
unteer work before, and this is a good
cultural experience for them. They seem
eager to participate," said Meidinger.
This is the first time in the U.S. for
the members of the group. When asked
what sparked their interest in visiting
Warm Springs, Takaka Niruma said
that the movie Smoke Signals was his
reason.
.JAPANESE 10
Ventures
Warm Springs Ventures, the busi
ness and economic development
corporation of the tribes, is being
restructured. The tribes have con
tracted with I lamstreet and Associ
ates to do an assessment of Ven
tures and its businesses, said Jody
Calica, secretary-treasurer.
I lamstreet and Associates is a
firm that helps in turning around
businesses. The firm was brought in
during the 1 990s to help turn around
Warm Springs Forest Products In
yll ' ''l " " ' ' ) X1
S ..... 5nJ-
, Brian MorttnMnSpilyay
Jacoby Ellsbury was in Warm Springs last month to watch his brother Spencer play in the 12-and-under Pi-Ume-Sha
baseball championship game. He also signed many autographs for young baseball fans.
Ellsbury runs for big leagues
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tjmoo
Jacoby Ellsbury was a great base-'
ball player even during his t-ball days.
"You could see he had the poten
tial to go places," said Jim Manion,
who coached Ellsbury on the Warm
Springs Fire and Safety t-ball team.
"Even with my limited ability as a
coach, I could see that."
Seventeen years later Ellsbury has
signed with the Boston Red Sox. For
Ike recognized for efforts against drug abuse
By Brian Mortensen
Spilyay Tjmoo
As a direct descendant of one of
the signers of the Treaty of 1855,
you could say Leona Ike has a stake
in the well being of the Warm
Springs people.
Ike, supervisor of the Warm
Springs Parole and Probation Office,
was presented recendy with an award
of achievement by the Jefferson
County Meth Task Force, a group
of treatment providers, officials of
the tribes and Jefferson County, and
law enforcement.
The award, presented by Heather
Puckett of the Task Force, honors
Ike for her "willingness to go above
and beyond to change a community
norm with a local business."
Ike said she was nominated for
the award by Jefferson County Com
missioner Mary Zemke, and received
the most votes for it
"I think it's positive that we're all
trying to participate and fight against
meth amphetamine addiction, and the
selling of drugs in our community -not
just in Warm Springs, but all
over," she said.
corporation is being reorganized
dustries. The tribes have retained
I lamstreet and Associates to serve as
chief restructuring officer of Ventures,
said Calica.
Meanwhile, Tribal Council mean
while has appointed an interim board
of directors of Ventures.
"We anticipate operating under this
arrangement for about six months" said
Calica.
The interim board members arc Ken
Smith, Jim Fitzhcnry, Ray Potter and
Calica.
ii ii i i if 1 f r-- w niw
.... Ts. J
Yrv-v7-.-.
now he's playing with the Lowell (Mass.)
Spinners, Class A minor league team
of the Red Sox.
Earlier this year Ellsbury was in col
lege, playing for the Oregon State Bea
vers, and his team made it to the Col
lege World Series.
Clearly, Ellsbury has gone places with
baseball. "I'm having a great time play
ing," he said. Class A baseball is a little
different from college ball, he said. In
college there is more of an emphasis
(.' A . .. 1 V 1
Leona Ike
Ike was considered for the award
for approaching a small Madras gro
cery store that sold paraphernalia out
in the open. She had found out what
the store was doing at a Meth Task
Force meeting.
"I went there and let them know hat
we have a zero-tolerance for drug para
phernalia or any type of drug abuse,"
she said.
Ike is in her position within law en
Smith is a former secretary-treasurer
of the tribes, and a consultant.
Fitzhcnry is the one previous Ventures
board member who is continuing to
serve on the new board. Potter is the
tribes' chief financial officer.
Ventures began about three years
ago. The company is a tribal enterprise
dedicated to business and economic
development of the tribes. The need
for this enterprise has grown in recent
years, as the tribal economy has moved
away from reliance on timber.
on the team, while at Class A there
is greater emphasis on developing
as a player. "A lot of guys are trying
to move up," he said. "You have to
be mentally strong to play pro ball.
You can't let little things get to you."
Ellsbury lived in Warm Springs
until he was about 5 years old. "I
remember going to kindergarten
there, playing t-ball, riding my bike
around."
Sit ELLSBURY on 8
forcement not with an iron fist to bust
crime, but with a soft touch to aid her
neighbors on the reservation.
"We had our struggles in my own
family, growing up in the 1960s and the
early 70s, overcoming alcohol and drug
addiction that was rampant. This is just
my calling in life," she said of her job.
"A lot of people don't see me as a
helper in the beginning," she said. "They
don't like me, and they don't like being
supervised, but a lot of times at the
end of the probation, I end up with
friends for life. They begin to see me,
I guess, through different eyes."
She said that many people in the
Parole and Probation system don't
make the necessary changes, "but there
are many who change their lives and
rehabilitate themselves. They see a to
tal change in themselves, and they see
me as someone who's trying to help
them."
Ike has a staff of probation offic
ers who are mosdy tribal members. She
could earn more money in a similar
position off the reservation, but
chooses to stay in Warm Springs.
"It's not about money," she said "It's
about helping our own people and giv
Ventures over the past few years has
acquired the Cort Directions payroll
and human resources software com
pany, based in Bend; and the Kibak Tile
Company of Redmond.
Ventures has also been managing the
tribal construction enterprise.
The goal of the reorganization of
Ventures is to ensure its success, and
the success of the companies, said
Calica. With the reorganization, "We're
feeling optimistic," he said.
Budget cuts
effect Managed
Care Program
The Warm Springs Managed Care
Program has been forced to limit pay
ment for some medical procedures for
patients referred off the reservation.
The limit is the result of increasing
healthcare costs, combined with cuts' in
the Oregon Health Plan, said Mike
Marcotte, Administrator of the Man
aged Care Program.
Managed Care will pay for priority
I level referrals for off-reservation ser
vices. Level I priority services are de
fined as emergent or acutely urgent care
services, or services necessary to pre
vent the immediate death or serious
impairment of the health of the indi
vidual. Procedures that do not meet this
level of priority are effected by the
recent change, said Marcotte.
Most other tribes have already been
in the situation of applying this stan
dard, he said. Warm Springs had been
in an almost unique situation before,
as Managed Care was able to fund a
wide variety of medical services off
the reservation.
"Cutbacks in the Oregon Health
Plan are having, a dramatic effect on
the Managed Care Program budget,"
said Marcotte. In the past Managed
Care has been able to pay the part of a
patient's bill that was not covered by
insurance, as long as proper procedure
was followed and die service was medi
cally necessary. The new policy means
that Managed Care will pay only if the
procedure is labeled Priority I by the
Indian Health Service Provider.
(For an explanation of the new polity see
the Managed Care article on page 7.)
ing back to our community."
In Warm Springs, Ike said more uri
nalysis (UA) tests are being conducted
for those on parole or probation.
"We lucked out and got an additional
$7,000 in grant dollars," she said. "We
had run out of money already by the
end of May. We get just $5,000 a year
forUAs."
When tests return positive for drugs,
and if the subject tested has children
at home, Parole and Probation notifies
Warm Springs Children's Protective
Services, Ike said.
"Our first responsibility is to the
children, because with methamphet
amine the parents' behaviors are er
ratic," she said. "They go from being
paranoid to being hostile. They'll take
it out on anybody, no matter how much
they love them."
Ike said that although she works
mainly with adults, she is mosdy con
cerned with children. She has three sons
of her own.
On the Warm Springs Reservation,
Ike said, people in their 60s have tested
positive for meth amphetamine, as has
at least one child 10 years old.
See Ike page 10
4