sc«
OrCo11
E
75
. S68
v. 31
no. £
January
19, £006
Spi lygy Tyrocx
P.0. BOX 870
Warm Sorinas, O R 97761
U n iv e r s it y o f Oregon L ib r a r y
Received on: 01-31-06
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,R W S S
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31, No. 2
Coyote News, est. 1976
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Air quality
important
health issue
Water standard reflects
higher fish consumption
B y B rian M ortensen
B y B rian M ortensen
Spilyay Tymoo
Spilyay Tymoo
Located 15 miles from the next town
and more than 50 miles from the near
est real urban center, the Warm Springs
reservation has relatively clean air. But
there are factors that can threaten the
area’s pristine air quality that may af
fect peoples’ respiratory health.
Gerry Shipp, an air quality special
ist, is aware o f that, and is working to
keep Warm Springs residents informed
o f what their air is like.
“I think many people take the air
for granted. It’s just there. It’s invisible,”
Shipp said.
W ith the use o f an air quality moni
tor located near the Warm Springs Fire
Management office at the Natural Re
sources complex, and with a portable
monitor, Shipp measures the amount
o f toxins in the air, measured in par
ticulates.
The particulates measured in a cu
bic meter o f air make up a scale, from
which air quality specialists determine
levels of risk to the air quality.
Shipp has been posting his results in
12 different places around the Warm
Springs community on a daily basis.
The informational bulletins include the
air quality index for Warm Springs and
the high and low ratings from Oregon
and around the western U.S.
For a people who depend on fish
as a m ajor part o f their diet, the qual
ity o f the w ater those fish swim in,
and are caught from is im portant.
W ater quality specialists from the
Warm Springs Environmental Office,
members o f the Tribal W ater Board
and representatives o f the E nviron
mental Protection Agency (EPA) took
a step toward finishing the tribal Natu
ral Resources Branch triennial review
o f w ater quality on the reservation.
The step toward com pletion o f the
review was a public hearing at the
W arm Springs C om m unity C enter
Jan. 10.
The Tribal W ater Control Board
and the Tribal Environm ental Office
have proposed a revision to O rdi
nance 80, w hich provides definitions
for low flow periods and changes the
allowable levels o f certain toxins for
the protection o f hum an health.
The toxins manifest themselves not
only in the w ater people drink, but
through the fish they eat. And N a
tive Americans eat more fish than the
g en eral
p o p u la tio n ,
R a w lin
Richardson from the E nvironm ental
Office said.
“In 1994, the Colum bia River In
tertribal Fish Com m ission concluded
that tribal populations eat eight to nine
tim es m ore fish than the gen eral
population,” he said.
D uring the w ater quality review
process, Richardson said, “I think our
main issue was the fish consum ption
rate for the toxics section o f our stan
dards. We wanted to look at consump
tion rate as it represents the tribal
population, rather than EPA’s old stan
dard o f 6 V 2 gram s-per-day consum p
tion rate.”
H e said , “We d e c id e d on 175
gram s a day, w hich would protect 99-
plus percent o f the children and 95
percent o f the general population.
See A IR Q U A LIT Y on 9
Gorge town
honors
Clements
B y Raelynn Ricarte
CASCAD E LO CK S - The
late Warren Rudy Clements was
remembered in Cascade Locks
recently as a “human being” in
the truest sense o f the word.
Form er Cascade Locks mayor
Rogers W heatley said Clements
had once portrayed a human be
ing as someone who was honest
and unselfish.
Fie said the C o n fed erated
Tribes o f Warm Springs govern
ment leader had earned that title
by always putting the welfare of
his people above his own inter
ests.
“The world was a better place
b e c a u se he w as h e re ,” said
Wheatley, one of 60 people at
tending the m id-day m em orial
service.
T he C ascad e L o cks C ity
C o un cil and num erous other
Hood River County dignitaries
joined tribal representatives in the
Pavilion at Port Marine Park. The
bluster}^ weather outside seemed
to fit the somber occasion where
speakers struggled, sometimes
unsuccessfully, to keep their tears
at bay.
In honor o f the occasion, the
city had flown the United States
fla g at h a lf-m a st to den o te
mourning. Just below the national
standard, the Warm Springs flag
had been raised to show respect
for Clements.
On Dec. 28, Clements died at
the age o f 69 in Bend from com:
plications related to diabetes.
At the Jan. 7 cerem ony ar
ranged by Cascade Locks port
and city officials, Clements was
praised for uniting the two com
munities.
See C L E M E N T S on 8
Tribal population consumes 8 to 9 times more fish
Brian Mortensen/Spilyay
Nicola Stwyer
New Miss Warm Springs
In the past, three o f Nicola Stwyer’s relatives have achieved the title of
Miss Warm Springs. So it was only natural that Stwyer should vie for the
honor of representing the Confederated Tribes.
Last week at the Miss Warm Springs Pageant, Stwyer was chosen to
succeed Christina Johnson as Miss Warm Springs.
Stwyer, 19, was one of three candidates this year, along with Amelia
Spino, 21, and Courtney Buck, 19.
“Last night went by fast, the whole pageant went by fast,” Stwyer said.
The competition included the introduction of the contestants, and then
presentation of a set o f five questions to each contestant. The questions
were about the reservation and the Confederated Tribes.
‘ Each contestant also presented her talent, and a traditional dance.
Stwyer’s talent was the restoration o f a dress. She told of the history of
the dress and how she restored it, and she wore the dress for the pageant.
“My beadwork was actually my aunt Pearl Stwyer’s,” she explained.
“My aunt had a whole outfit. Then she went to school over on the East
Coast, and when she got back there were only leggings and a belt,” she
said.
Please see STW YER on page 9
We got a nice table from the EPA and
calculated all the values for all the
toxics in the tables. That was the big
gest issue.”
D eepak Sehgal, m anager o f the
tribal Environm ental O ffice, said his
office and the W ater Control Board
conduct periodic studies to review the
standards under O rdinance 80, and
determ ine w hether any changes are
necessary.
T ribal O rdinance 80, o f W arm
Springs Tribal Code Chapter 432, ad
dresses w ater quality standards, ben
eficial uses and treatm ent criteria in
fo llo w in g the trib e s ’ w ate r code,
adopted in 1968.
The group worked for a year and
a h alf on the revision to O rdinance
80. D uring that tim e, “We had fairly
intensive discussions w ith the EPA
over this fish consumption issue,” said
Sehgal.
“From all o f that, it seems like we
don’t need to change a whole lot o f
the existing standards, other than the
fish consumption number, which then
changes our toxics levels.”
Becky Lindgren from the EPA re
gional office in Seattle, said W frm
Springs is the first tribe to adopt a
fish consum ption rate based on local
data.
L in d g ren said th at h er ag en cy
w ould prefer and encourage other
Indian tribes to gather such data on
their own.
The public hearing on the revision
lasted just under a half-hour, and the
flo o r w as open for com m en t for
about an hour afterward. W ith no one
offering public com m ent, the hear
ing closed.
“This w ill be our first effort o f a
triennial review, and hopefully w e’ll
get it com pleted in the next couple
o f w eeks and subm it it to T ribal
C o u n cil for th e ir rev iew and a p
proval,” Sehgal said.
Casino project remains on track
rior.
B y Dave M cM echan
Spilyay Tymoo
T he late W arren R. “ R u d y”
Clements was the chairman of the
tribal gaming enterprise. His pass
ing on Dec. 28 was a loss to the
enterprise and to the tribes as a
whole.
“As a leader, he was well-known
in the region, and even across the
nation, to some extent, for his cul
tural and spiritual leadership,” said
Margie Tuckta, Gorge casino spe
cial projects director.
Clements was one o f the people
who could walk in two worlds — the
traditional cultural world, and the
business world, said Tuckta.
Ed Manion was vice-chairman
o f the gam ing enterprise before
Clements passed away. Manion is
now serving as the acting chairman.
“We lost a real supporter and
trib a l le a d e r,” M an io n said o f
Clements. “He worked well with
people, and was able to keep them
aware of what is going on with the
casino.”
Clements had a significant place
in the gaming enterprise, but the
project will continue to move for
ward despite the loss, said Tuckta
and Manion.
“We have good people in place,”
said Manion. “And Rudy let us know
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Roy Spino was among the people who attended the casino information
gathering last week at the Agency Longhouse.
what his feelings were as to the impor
tant pieces of the casino, and we will
keep that in mind as we move forward.”
“He set d irectio n for us,” said
Tuckta. “He was there for the negotia
tions with the state and the Port of
Cascade Locks.”
Fee to trust
The Gorge casino project is about
in the middle o f the environm ental
impact statement (EIS) process.
The process is a necessary step to
ward bringing the Cascade Locks in
dustrial park casino property" into trust.
Once this is accomplished, U.S. Secre
tary o f the Interior Gale Norton will
consider approving the gaming compact
that was agreed upon by the Confed
erated Tribes and the state o f Oregon.
An initial step in the EIS process was
collecting public comment on the im
pact that the casino project would have
at Cascade Locks last year. The fed
eral government has also indicated that
the EIS should look at the potential im
pact of a casino at the trust property
that the tribes have near the town of
Hood River.
M anion said the gam ing board is
hoping to have a draft EIS completed
in the summer and then a final EIS
done by next winter. The final EIS will
then go to the Secretary o f the Inte
Other gam ing issu e s
Information on the casino was
presented last week at the Agency
Longhouse. The inform ation in
cluded the architectural drawings of
the casino. M any people visited the
longhouse throughout the day, and
received sweaters and jackets do
nated to the tribes by Mount Hood
Meadows Ski Area and Resort.
Besides planning for a new ca
sino, the tribes’ gam ing commission
is also working on important issues
related to Kah-Nee-Ta.
For instance, the resort and the
casino have been combined into a
single organization, but a clear direc
tion, in terms o f staffing from top
to bottom, is needed, said Manion.
The gaming commission this week
was working on this project, he said.
There is one vacancy on the gam
ing commission, which the Tribal
Council will fill.
T he c u rre n t m em b ers are
M anion, trib al records m anager
Lynn Davis, tribal probate adminis
trator Richard Tohet, Portland attor
ney Celeste Whitewolf, former gov
ernor Victor Atiyeh, consultant and
fo rm er se c reta ry -tre asu rer K en
Smith, and CPA Dick D onaca o f
Bend.
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