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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2007)
OrCoil lu r» » S66 v. 3£ nu. P.O. Box 870 W arm Spri^ OR 97761 Spilygy * t February 15, £007 Coyote News, est. 1976 Council weighs reform measure B y M aren Cohn Warm Springs Ventures Tribal Council met for a long and productive day in continuation of its efforts to address the need for im proved tribal governance. The meeting explored a system of Council self-management through the creation of three internal committees. If adopted, the committee structure would enable Council to keep better tabs on both itself and its appointed officers though a system of checks and balances. Nine Council members attended the meeting, which the OSU extension team of Clint Jacks and Teresa Hogue fac ilitate d . T he co n su ltin g firm Hamstreet & Associates presented the committee system and explained its operation. Council expressed serious interest in the proposal and agreed to consider it further in a future session. “These committees will not mean adding a whole new layer of positions or paid p e rso n n el,” said Clyde Hamstreet in response to a Council question. “These are not new tribal commit tees. Rather, they would be a part of Council and consist of Council mem bers only. The only exception might be a non-voting financial expert to serve on the audit committee, which would oversee the Tribe’s financial affairs. The purpose of the committees is to help Council manage itself better and be more accountable in doing its job.” The governance meeting, held Jan. 29, marked Council’s fourth special session for addressing issues raised in last summer’s opinion survey. In its ini tial two-day workshop last October, Council passed resolutions directing different reservation groups to coop erate in drafting a new economic strat egy and provide recommendations re garding an administrative reorganiza tion. With the February 15 deadline for submission of those plans approach ing, Council continues to work on gov ernance as the third prong of its re form efforts. Strong desire for change The recent meeting opened with a review of the governance reform pro cess to date. Several Council members stressed the need for Council, tribal committee members and other person nel do a better job of conforming to the tribe’s constitution, bylaws, laws and regulations. The desire for greater accountabil ity was on nearly everyone’s lips the entire day. Some councilors voiced frustration at the sheer size of the problems fac ing the tribes and feeling powerless to find solutions. At the same time, nearly everyone present spoke passionately about the need to come up with ideas that would benefit the people. Despite some ruffling of feathers, there was widespread agreement that positive change had to begin at home, i.e., with Council itself. The group appeared to accept the view that, while better governance might not lead automatically to im proved economic and social conditions, those conditions were unlikely to get better without it. See COUNCIL on 13 r wss ... patron February 15, 2007 Vol. 32, . .o. 4 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Celilo Village hosting 50-year commemoration Celilo Village will host a two-day commemoration of Celilo Falls. The events begin on Saturday, March 10, the 50-year anniversary of the in undation of the falls by The Dalles dam. Events continue through Sun day, March 11. Events include a canoe ceremony on the banks of the Columbia. Celilo Park, across the freeway from Celilo Village, will be the setting for the Wy- Kan-Ush-Pum Village. The village will be set up on the banks of the Columbia, and will include at least a h alf dozen tepees and a canvas longhouse. Inside each tepee will be tribal, museum and environmental organi zation exhibits highlighting the his tory and importance of Celilo Falls, tribal salmon culture, and Columbia River health. The following is a sched ule of events: Saturday, March 10 9:30 a.m.: Canoe ceremony — Celilo Village chief will greet a Puyallup ca noe group on the banks of the Colum bia River. 10 a.m.: Opening ceremony at Celilo Longhouse. 11 a.m.: H onoring cerem ony at longhouse. 3 p.m.: Traditional salmon dinner 6 p.m.: Celilo Legacy Powwow and stick games. All-day: Celilo Falls history exhibit and tribal, salmon and river displays at the Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum Village in Celilo Park. Sunday, March 11: 10 a.m.: Traditional Washat service (invitation only) Noon: Traditional salmon dinner. 3 p.m.: Remembering Celilo: Elders share their memories and recollections of Celilo Falls and Celilo Village All-day: Celilo Falls history exhibit and tribal, salmon, and river displays at the Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum Village in Celilo Park. Additional teepees can be accom modated in this area for other arts and crafts vendors. The Celilo Longhouse, as the heart of Celilo Village, will be the center for all official and ceremo nial aspects of the commemoration. The opening ceremony, dignitaries’ speeches, salmon feast, and the pow wow will take place inside the longhouse on Saturday. Another event marking the 50-year anniversary of the loss of Celilo Falls is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 3 at the Hood River Hotel, lo cated at 102 Oak St. in Hood River. This event, called “An Evening To Remember Celilo Falls 50 Years Later,” will feature a 27-piece full-size photo exhibit from six different collections, historic movie footage and audio from Celilo Falls, and a speaker to talk about life at the falls. The event is organized by the Columbia Riverkeeper program. For more information contact Kim Leslie, Columbia Riverkeeper program administrator at (541) 387-3030. Election of Council coming up David Belgard photo for the Spilyay Tommy Lee WhitePlume dances at the Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow, held Feb. 10-12 at the Simnasho Longhouse. More powwow photos on page 8. Tribal members in late March or early April will elect the Twenty-Fourth Tribal Council of the Confederated Tribes. The next Council will then take office on May 1. Nominees for the Council positions will be named at upcoming district meetings, to be held in mid-March or sooner, said Madeline Queahpama- Spino, director of tribal Vital Statistics. Tribal members will receive their ballots in the m ail in M arch, said Queahpama-Spino. Those voting members on the res ervation can then turn their ballots in at the polling place in the Community Center. Off-reservation members vote by absentee ballot. According to recent Vital Stats in formation, there are 1,429 local voting members of the Agency District, and 428 absentee. The Simnasho District has 807 local voters, and 242 absen tee. And Seekseequa, 184 local and 55 absentee. Three representatives each will be elected from Agency and Simnasho, and two from Seekseequa. Another election that tribal members may see this year is the adoption elec tion. An adoption election would hap pen after the new Council is in office, said Queahpama-Spino. Composite Products develops global niche B y L eslie M itts Spilyay Tymoo Not many would expect to find a direct connection between a small Warm Springs factory and various countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. But that is exactly what has been developed through Warm Springs Composite Products. The successful company pro duces fireproofing material made of tectonite along with other product fines that are growing steadily—cre ating a unique opportunity for ex porting. In the last year alone, the export market revenue increased from 10 percent to 26 percent. Add that to other revenue and Composite Products is expecting a 30 percent increase over last year’s profits in 2007—a total about $8 million. Composite Products employs 40 people full time, and over 80 per cent of the employees are tribal members. Their unique way of handling their employees is part of what CEO Duane Darnell says makes them so success ful. According to Darnell, it is especially important to cross-train employees. T hat w ay they are m o tivated to progress and move up in the company. “I don’t hire people that can’t do a lot of important things,” he explained. When the company was founded in the early 90’s, he said, many workers hadn’t ever been taught skills required in their job. Now, Darnell said, “We’ve got a good team here.” In addition to giving employees the chance to build skills, it also gives them a chance to work together. “You’ve got people training other people,” D arnell explained. “That model works better for us in this com munity.” According to Darnell, “There really isn’t a lot of politics in our company.” “I want them to enjoy working here,” he added. Jacob Coochise, sales and market ing director, said, “The nice thing about our company today that you couldn’t say five or six years ago is that we have a lot of tenured employees.” Coochise has firsthand experience— he originally began working for Com posite Products as part of a cleanup crew. That job eventually grew into work ing as a lead man, then plant manager and now as a college-educated sales and marketing director. That sort of growth is ideal, Darnell said. Though both men can recite uses for their products and methods of cre ation, there really isn’t a simple answer for what makes tectonite. It is created from diatomaceous earth—meaning that it is made of soil full of crushed organic material like recycled newspaper, fiberglass and skel etal material. Tectonite is heat and fire resistant, and as a result it is used as a compo nent of fire-rated doors. In addition to materials made of tectonite, workers at Composite Prod ucts are also producing items like re pair cement, doorframes and more re cently, items dealing with ballistics that are being sold for use in military ve hicles. “We’ve gradually developed Com posite Products into a Composite com pany,” Darnell said. One thing that has helped the com pany expand is the ability to customize or complete an order of any size. According to Coochise, “We’re very open minded about things.” While larger companies are unable to provide custom orders, Coochise said Composite Products can provide orders that meet the customer’s needs. “That’s where we have an advan tage,” he said. Another advantage involves a séries of certifications attached to their prod ucts. According to Coochise, “Everything that we do is driven by our certifica tions.” See COMPOSITE on 12 I University of Oregon Library ¡Received on: 0£-£6-07 jSpilyay tymoo
