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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2007)
n SCft OrCol1 75 .568 v. 3c no. 3 February 1, £007 P.0. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 Spilyay Coyote News, est. 1976 Acquisition Dept./Serials Knight Library 1299 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1205 February 1, 2007 Voi. 32, No. 3 ECRWSS ostai Patron .S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Chairman Plan for fish to get passed Round Butte dam comments on article B y L eslie M itts Spilyay Tymoo B y Ron Suppah 'Chairman, Warm Springs Tribal Council I was disappointed to read the re cent article in the Grand Ronde news paper entitled “Grand Ronde Contin ues Outreach to Warm Springs.” Not only is the article a breach of the con fidentiality agreement regarding our recent discussion, it is also factually wrong. The article starts out with the state ment: “The Grand Ronde Tribe has consistently opposed off-reservation gaming.” That statement is flatly un true. The article should have said: “The Grand Ronde has consistently opposed any other tribe becoming involved in off- reservation gaming, except f o r the Grand Ronde Tribe.” That statement would have been true. Let’s look at the record here. In 2003 and 2005, there were several ar ticles ih The Oregonian describing the Grand Ronde’s efforts to build a ca sino in the Portland area. On March 12,2003, the following quote appeared in The Oregonian-. “The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde has pro posed helping finance a baseball stadium in exchange for permission to build an off-reservation casino in the Portland The Round Butte Dam is on its way to some major improvements— but not without a little heavy con struction and a long-term plan for restoring fish populations. The tribes and Portland General Electric are partnering to complete a project that will include a new fish passage facility as part of the Round Butte Dam Selective Water With drawal project. It’s a project that has been in the works for approximately 20 years, according to Michael Gauvin, the tribes’ fisheries management super visor. But the project is actually just be- ginning, said Jim Manion of the Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprise. Right now those involved with the project are initiating what was agreed to in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission licensing agreement. “We have now, with PGE, hired a contractor who will begin work this spring to begin the construction of the facility,” Manion said. “It is hoped during the course of the next three years that construction will be complete and the introduction of salmon above the project will be starting,” Manion added. When the Pelton Round Butte dam was constructed in 1964, fish passage facilities were included. However, the downstream system failed due in large part to the confu- See CASINO on 9 for release so they can make their way to the Pacific Ocean. According to Manion, several agen cies have been involved in assisting with the design of the tower. The design addresses two issues, he said. “The first is a collection facility for allowing the passage of the salmon above the project and getting them back down through the p ro ject,” Manion explained. “The second is go ing to be to address the water quality concerns that were identified during the re-licensing process.” Manion said the design of the tower will allow for the project to adjust the water withdrawal patterns out of the Round Butte Reservoir. See FISH on 8 Fish Passage Center afloat A federal appeals court has ordered the government to continue funding an agency that counts young salmon and other fish in the Columbia River Basin and recommends water flows at hydro electric power stations to protect en dangered fish. The ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — recognizing salmon and steelhead as “two of the great re sources of the Columbia River” — was a victory for Indian nations o f the Columbia and other fish advocates. area.” Later that same year, on December 5, 2003, The Oregonian again reported: “For the second time this year, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde has proposed building a casino to help pay for a big-ticket Portland construc tion project that otherwise doesn’t pen cil out.” On March 10, 2005, The Oregonian reported a third Grand Ronde proposal for a casino in Portland, this time at the Portland Meadows racetrack. As The Oregonian noted: “This is not the first time the Grand Ronde has looked at building a casino in Portland. Previously it offered to help finance a major league baseball stadium or a headquarters hotel near the Oregon Convention Center in exchange for operating a casino in the city. Neither idea got off the ground.” These hardly appear to be the ac tions of a tribe that “has consistently” opposed off-reservation gaming. It is true that the Grand Ronde pro posed to meet with representatives of our tribe and offered to finance the con struction of a casino along Highway 26 on the Warm Springs Reservation. It was agreed by both parties that those discussions would be kept com pletely confidential until both parties agreed otherwise. Grand Ronde has unilaterally sought to make this a pub lic manner. Grand Ronde refused to provide our representatives with a copy of their proposal until our tribe provided them with copies of our studies, showing that an on-reservation casino was not eco nomically viable. We did not feel that we were obligated to provide Grand Ronde with copies of our confidential and proprietary studies of gaming on our reservation. On August 24, 2006, a meeting was held am ong representatives o f the Grand Ronde Tribe and representa tives of Warm Springs, including our gaming economist, Bob Whelan, from the economic firm of ECONorthwest in Portland. At that meeting, the Grand Ronde presented their economist’s fig ures on the projected results of a ca sino constructed on our reservation and financed by the Grand Ronde. sion in downstream currents— some thing that the new design is expected to fix. Because of that problem, hatcher ies were constructed as a solution. The new project aims to restore fish to their natural habitat and create a long-term plan for their survival. The fish passage facility will come in the form of a 270-foot-high under water tower arising from the bottom of the lake behind Round Butte Dam. A 130-foot-wide disc at the top of the tower will draw in most of the sur face water, turning the current and fish back downstream toward the dam, ac cording to information from the PGE website. Fish will be screened at the intake and trucked downstream of the dams Dave McMechan/Spilyay Rico Thompson is retiring after 37 years of working as a maintenance mechanic with IHS. He has been at Warm Springs IHS for over 31 years, having transferred here from Chemawa. His wife Ellen attended his retirement party last week at the clinic. At the same time, Roberta Queahpama, administrative officer, is also retiring. She has been with IHS for over 30 years. The Museum at Warm Springs Fifth Annual Honor Dinner has named W. Richard West Jr., execu tive director of the National Mu seum of the American Indian, as w in n e r o f th is y e a r ’s T w anat Award. T he m useum nam ed W asco Chief Nelson Wallulatum, and the late Warren R. Clements as recipi ents o f the M useum At W arm Springs L ifetim e A chievem ent awards. Each year the museum presents the Twanat Award to an individual whose efforts on behalf of Native Americans can serve as an example for all Americans. West is the founding director of National Museum of the American Indian. “His visionary leadership led to the creation of the National Mu seum of the American Indian, the C u ltu ral R esources C enter in Suitland, Maryland, and the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City,” said Dora Smith, of the Mu seum at Warm Springs. The World is a better place be cause of W. Richard West Jr., and the indigenous people are the ben eficiaries of his devotion and his tire less work on cultural, educational, legal and governmental issues, said Smith. At the end of 2007, West will be leaving the National Museum of the American Inidan as its executive di rector. Lifetime Achievements Chief Nelson Wallulatum is the lifelong Chief of the Wasco Tribe. Chief Wallulatum has served as the Wasco Chief and on Tribal Council for over 40 years. In choosing him for the Lifetime Achievement Award, the museum points out that Chief Wallulatum has time and again made the difference in the batde to protect and retain treaty rights such as fishing and wa ter rights. He has testified many times be fore Congress on issues — such as the Native American Graves Pro tection and Repatriation Act - sig nificant to all tribes. Chief Wallulatum is a traditional leader, an elder statesman, an histo rian, and one of the greatest lead ers of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, said Smith. ‘ This year the other recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award is the late W arren R. “R u d y” Clements. In choosing Mr. Clements for the award, the museum points out that Clements truly inspired all who had the privilege to know him, adding that “He was a blessing to the people o f the C onfederated Tribes of Warm Springs.” He championed projects such as the update of the tribe’s Compre hensive Plan, tire Museum At Warm Springs, Kah-Nee-Ta, the Bridge of the Gods, to name a few. See MUSEUM on 9 Fish Passage Center Since 1982 the Bonneville Power Administration has funded the opera tion of the Fish Passage Center, based in Portland. The center provides technical assis tance and information to fish and wild life agencies, Indian tribes, and the gen eral public on matters related to juve nile and adult salmon and steelhead passage through the Columbia River and its tributaries. Scientists from the Fish Passage Center monitor 20 dams and fish traps, collect data on Chinook, steelhead, coho, shad, sockeye, pink salmon and lamprey. They monitor river conditions, in cluding temperatures, and use the in formation to make flow and spill re quests to the power administration and operators of the dams to improve the survival rates of_ migrating fish. Dam spillage In 2005 U.S. District Judge James Redden of Oregon took control of hydroelectric dam operations along the Columbia and Snake rivers after con cluding the Bush administration failed to protect endangered salmon. Data from the Fish Passage Center figured in Redden’s order to spill more water over the dams to help young salmon reach the ocean, rather than running the water through turbines to generate electricity. The spillage cost an estimated $60 million in lost hydroelec tric generation. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, then in serted a provision in a spending bill di recting BPA to find another organiza tion to count fish. See PASSAGE on 8 Members enjoy day at Meadows Tribal members had a chance to enjoy a day of wintertime fun with a “Tribal Member Ski Day” sponsored by Mt. Hood Meadows. This year, tribal members also saw some familiar faces because of a new employment program that makes it possible for tribal members to travel between Warm Springs and Mt. Hood Meadows for seasonal employment. The children, who had the day off for a teach er in -se rv ic e day for Jefferson County Schools, enjoyed per fect mountain sunshine during the trip on Jan. 26. In addition to transportation, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort provided lift tickets, equipment, and lessons from professional ski and snowboard instruc tors, as well as lunch for all participants. The trip was enjoyable for all tribal members, according to Wayne Miller Jr., a chaperone for the trip. He said , “A fter a full day o f snowboarding at Mt. Hood Meadows, we are very happy that the tribal ski day-program is available to W arm Springs Tribal members.” Miller added, “Vista Express ski lift was the highlight of his day. The view from up there was breathtaking, I could even see W arm S p rin gs and M t. Jefferson from there.” For Miller, the trip includes the added bonus of spending time with his children. “My sons have come up here each year with the Meadows-Warm Springs Kids Ski program and love it,” Miller said. “Being able to be here with them, seeing how happy they are and being part of it means a lot to me.” See SKI DAY on 8 Care packages awaiting addresses Care packages are ready for mailing to tribal members who are serving in the armed services. In order to send all of the packages, the mailing addresses of all those who are serving are needed, said Charlotte Herkshan, volunteer coordinator of the care package program. To anyone whose family member is serving, this is a request to please con tact the Spilyay with the mailing address information. Please come by the of fice at 1100 Wasco St.; or call at 553- 3274. Or write to P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR 97761; o r‘send an e-mail to spilyay@wstribes.org. Also, the Winter Nights Culture Club is making items for those who are serv ing. The items will be included in the care packages, said Herkshan. “We have a lot to send. We’re just waiting for the addresses,” she said. University of O ur r e egon nnn i nn ri. . Libr-arv Received on: 0 2 - 0 6 - 0 7 Spilyay tymoo f; t
