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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2005)
SCfl OrColl E 75 .S&8 v. 30 no. 18 Septeibsr 1, 005 Spilyiy P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 Univeriity of Oregon Library Recti ved on: 09-06-05 Spilyay tyioo. ECRWSS Postal Patron U.S. Postage i PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Coyote News, est 1976 September-1, 2005 Vol. 30, No. 18 ymc Fee to trust meetings at Gorge The Bureau of Indian Affairs has scheduled an additional public open house, as part of the comment period for the Confederated Tribes' resort and casino project in Cascade Locks. The additional meeting, in addition to the four already scheduled, is in Stevenson, Wash. The added meeting comes in response to requests from Washington residents. The purpose of the open houses is to provide information about the pro posed casino project, and to solicit pub lic input on potential issues to analyze in the environmental impact statement (EIS). Although these will not be formal public hearings, court recorders will be available to record statements attend ees may wish to make. Maps, back ground information and staff will be available to present information and answer questions. Refreshments will be provided. The open houses are part of a 45 day public comment period for the EIS that the BIA will use to analyze the casino proposal. The schedule of open houses is as follows: Thursday, Sept. 15 from 6 - 8:30 p.m. Port of Cascade Locks Gorge Pa vilion, Marine Park, 355 Wa-Na-Pa Street, Cascade Locks. Saturday, Sept. 17 from 9:30 am -Noon. Same location as above. Monday, Sept. 19. from 5 - 8 p.m. Benson High School cafeteria, 546 NE 12th Avenue, Portland. Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 6 - 8:30 p.m. Hood River Inn, Gorge Room, 1108 East Marina Way, Hood River. Wednesday, Sept. 28 from 6:00 -8:30 p.m. Rock Creek Center, 710 SW Rock Creek Drive, Stevenson, Wash. Each open house will include a one- hour presentation of the proposal. Interested parties can also comment in writing on the project by September 30 in the following ways: Please see CASINO on page 16 2 fatal wrecks in recent days Two fatal motor vehicle accidents on the reservation in recent days have taken the lives of two tribal members. A wreck on Saturday, August 27, took the life of Oliver Moses. He was 47. On Monday, August 29, a wreck on Upper Dry Creek Road took the life of Darla (Davis) Sam. She was 44. Mrs. Sam was on her way to work at the time of the accident that claimed her life. She worked at Traditional Trea sures gift shop. Her vehicle left the roadway at a dangerous turn on Upper Dry Creek. Her vehicle rolled. Mrs. Sam was transported by ground ambulance to Mountain View Hospital in Madras, and was then flown by AirLife to St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. She passed away at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, August 29. The wreck that claimed Mr. Moses' life happened at 10:15 p.m., Saturday at milepost 1.5 on Tenino Road. One other person, the passenger Shelly Greene-Boise, was injured in the wreck. She was flown by AirLife to St. Charles in Bend, and later released. Alcohol is thought to be a factor in this wreck, according to police. Investiga tors said that Mr. Moses failed to ne gotiate a curve at a high rate of speed. Veteran finally receives war medals By Brian Mortensen Spilyay Tymoo It took years for Chesley Yahtin to be able to talk about what he ex perienced as a young man during the Korean Conflict. Now he can talk about it, and with that freedom finally comes recogni tion from the government he served, in the form of medals he earned more than 50 years ago. Yahtin, 74, received a Federal Express envelope two weeks ago that included three medals, includ ing a Korean Campaign Ribbon with five battle stars and a Korean De fense Medal. I Ie also received cer tificates honoring his two Purple I learts, which he earned in two in cidents occurring less than six months apart in 1950 and 1951. "I guess you could say this is sort of a relief," he said. Yahtin was 'also given an honor able discharge from the U.S. Army, reversing a dishonorable discharge he received shordy after he was sent back to the US. from Korea. The push to rightfully award Yahtin his medals and reward him for his service began when Julie Sullivan, a reporter from The Or egonian, was in Warm Springs do ing research for a story in late 2003. "She talked with my daughter," he said. "My daughter must have I. ! f u : , i ; I "J - i i I ' hi"0''' i. . r r i Brian MortenwnSpilyay Korean War Veteran Chesley Yahtin with war medals. told her I was a veteran, and she got fate of children on the Warm Springs her talking to me about it. It went from Reservation was a short piece on Yahtin there." and the medals he was missing. Then In the same issue as the Portland Sen. Ron Wyden started working on it. newspaper's controversial story on the "They questioned me on what had happened, so I explained it to them,' Yahtin said. lie was 19 yc"ars old when the Ko rcan Conflict began June 25, 1950. 1 Ic had been stationed in Sapporo, Japan, as part of the U.S. occupation of post- World War II Japan. But when Prcsi dent Harry S. Truman declared war, Yahtin was moved to the southern tip of Japan for serious combat training for about a month. "Of course, we were pretty close just across the way from there, so from that day on, everything changed for us. All our equipment got shipped to thd other end of Japan. That was the first time I handled a weapon with ammo,' he said. "I had to ride the train with our equipment." After the intensive training, Yahtin's unit was sent to In-chon in South Ko rea. He didn't expect to be caught in th middle of the United States' latest mili tary campaign. Only a year before, ha was in Madras going through his firsn year of high school. "What had happened is my grand father was somewhat against the whitd people, pretty much," he said. "Hd would say they always lie, and. . . he kept me out of school because he didn'd want me involved with white people, So it was kind of late for me to start school. I didn't start until I was 10 years old." Please see MEDALS on page 10 Council focuses on methamphetamine problem By Dave McMechan Spilyaj Tymoo The Tribal Council last week dis cussed the problem of methamphet amine on the reservation. Councilman Raymond Tsumpti," general manager of Public Safety, , asked the drug issue be included on the Council agenda, as the problem has been escalating in the commu nity. Tsumpti suggested that the Council should consider making the drug problem a top priority for the tribes. As part of the Council presenta tion, investigators Greg Sanson and John Webb discussed the problem of methamphetamine, or crank, on the reservation. "Over the past 10 years I've seen a dramatic change in the types of drugs found on the reservation," said Stinson. Not long ago, he said, marijuana and cocaine were more common than methamphetamine. Now, meth is the most common drug in the com munity, "because it is so easy to make," said Stinson. "There is a crisis here," he said. "Be tween 80 and 90 percent of crimes on the reservation are directly related to meth use." The drug is becoming more com mon, and more potent, said Webb. "Eight to 10 months ago we would see meth usually in a powder form," he said. "Now we see it as crystal." The state in recent months has passed a law making it more difficult to acquire ingredients to make meth amphetamine, said Stinson. However, the drug is arriving in the community from out of state, including from Mexico. The investigators said methamphet amine is a very dangerous drug, because people who are using it lose the sense of right and wrong. As an example, a person on meth will continue to pick at a sore on the skin, almost until reach ing the bone, not realizing the harm being inflicted. People on the drug begin to halluci nate and become paranoid, and they are more likely to be violence. The in vestigators said that during a recent search of a residence, a suspect fired a gun, narrowly missing an officer. The tribes need to consider allocat ing more resources toward fighting the problem, said Councilman Tsumpti. The police, for instance do not have a drug dog, which would make the searches much more effective. "How serious are we?" he said. "We need to think about the young people, because they are the future leaders." Tsumpti said that all departments of the tribes, and the whole community need to be involved in the fight. Council members discussed mea sures that may be taken to eliminate the drug dealers. For instance, unwanted people can be excluded from the res ervation, said Warm Springs Chief Delvis Heath. Paiute Chief Joe Moses said if there are changes that need to be made to fight the methamphetamine problem, u It's a problem of the na tion, and our nation is at jeopardy because of this. " Chief Wallulatum then the Council should make them. Wasco Chief Nelson Wallulatum said, "The battle against drugs is everyone's batde. It's a problem of the nation, and our nation is at jeopardy because of this." He said the Council might consider forming a committee to coordinate the fight against methamphetamine. The tribes have been fighting alcohol abuse for ages, he said, but the drug problem is something new. Councilwoman Carol Wewa said diat methamphetamine is causing devasta tion to families. She said the Council should hold a workshop on priorities, to consider making this drug problem ; a specific top Council priority. 'V K1 U7 v- r a A V r " .-a- - . - -JA Ln? r ' - -:- ' a-. n differ3! ... -n .a-1V.Ji.j,j. -' Gene Harvey Sr. performs the Eagle Dance during Friday night's program at the Tenth Annual Huckleberry Harvest. The harvest is held at the Museum at Warm Springs, and at Kah-Nee-Ta. The event, featuring auctions and tribal performances, is the mani annual fund-raiser for The Museum at Warm Springs. This year the Huckleberry Harvest raised an estimated $85,000, about $5,000 more than had been anticipated. (See the story on page 16.)