Spilyay Tym
SCA
OrColl
E
75
. S68
V. 32
no. 15
July 19.
2007
July 19, 2007 Voi. 32,
Coyote News, est. 1976
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m
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Keeping It Cool
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Young people at the Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club were keeping
cool with a variety of games involving water balloons, such as the
Catch the Balloon game, where teams compete to see which pair of
players can throw and catch the balloon farthest without breaking it.
Another game involved a hula-hoop and water balloons, as
demonstrated above by the team ofAllysa Culps, Kahne Herkshan
and Janaya Bmnoe (from left), as Boys and Girls Club staff member
Jocelyn Moses looks on.
The Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club is housed in the Vernon
Jackson Home on the Campus.
.
50 cents
tively large number of adoption candi
dates — 231 compared to 76 during the
2001-02 elections — is the lack of the
The Confederated Tribes and the residency requirement, said Madeline
B ureau o f Indian A ffairs W arm Queahpama-Spino, director of tribal
Springs Agency have set Thursday, O ct Vital Statistics.
11 as the date for the tribal adoption
election. There are 231 candidates who Voter registration
Tribal members age 18 and over who
will be on the ballot.
Tribal Council determined that those are eligible to vote will be receiving vofer
who qualified for the ballot did not have registration forms in the mail. Mem
to demonstrate residency on the reser bers may receive them by the end of
vation for the three-year period imme this month, said Lori Anderson, admin
istrative officer with the BIA Warm
diately prior to the election date.
The last successful adoption deed011» Springs Agency.
The registration forms must be re
conducted in 1996, also did not require
the candidates to demonstrate a three- turned within 45 days, and then the list
year residency on the reservation in is. posted for a time. Those who regis
ter will be eligible to vote in the adop
order to qualify for the ballot.
Two more recent attempted adop tion election. A turnout of 50 percent
tion elections — conducted in 2001 and of those who register is required for a
2002 — did require the demonstration valid election.
Through this process, the likelihood
of residency for three years prior to
the election. Both of these elections of the election failing for lack o f turn
failed for lack of voter participation. out is reduced, as mainly those people
The residency requirement is stated who are interested in casting a ballot
in the tribal Constitution, but Tribal will register to do so.
The election may be conducted
Council determined that the best way
to determine the application of the through the mail, instead of at a poll
requirement: is by a vote of the people ing place, said Anderson.
in the October election.
See ADOPTION ELECTION on 8
A main reason why there is a rela
Challenge program makes
difference in young lives
B y Leslie M itts
Spilyay Tymoo
(The Celilo Falls exhibit a t the M u
seum at Warm Springs includes an area
dedicated to the memory o f C h ief
Tommy Kuni Thompson. The following
narrative, reprinted here from the mu
seum exhibition, fir s t appeared in
American Environmental Leaders:
From C olonial Tim es to the
Present./ , ;
B y Cain Allen
I
n o
.CRWSS
tal Patron
Postage
SRTSTD
ÒR 97761
B y Dave McMechan
Spilyqy Tymoo
Remembering Celilo Falls
Chief Tommy Kuni Thompson,
Salmon Chief of the great fishery
at Celik) Falls and leader of Celilo
Village, was a timeless defender of
both Columbia River salmon and
In dian fishing rights during the first
half of the Twentieth Century.
His life represents an important
chapter in the history o f Native
people’s efforts to protect diverse
and productive ecosystems across
N orth America.
While ultimately unsuccessful in
preventing the damming of the Co
lumbia and the destruction of what
was perhaps the m ost productive
inland fishery in the world, his integ
rity as a leader is recognized to this
day by Indians and non-Indians alike.
K uni, w hich m eans “ full o f
knowledge” in the Sahaptin language,
was bom by the banks of the Nch’I-
Wana, later known as the Columbia
River, sometime between the mid-
1850s and the early 1860s. He was
told that his ancestors had always
lived and fished at W/arri, which
means “the echo of falling water” |
His great-unde was the renowned
Chief Stocket-ly, who signed the
1853 Middle Oregon Treaty for the
Wyams and was killed nine years later
while acting as a scout for the U.S.
Army.
Kuni’s father died when Kuni was
still an infant, and his mother died a
few years later while on a berry-pick
ing expedition. Before she died, she
urged Kuni to listen carefully at the
sity of Oregon Library
ed on■ 07-25-07
lyav tvffloo
Date set for
adoption election
Fire season
takes off
Lightning strikes have caused sev
eral wild fires on the reservation. Three
óf the fires took off and grew in size,:
while many others were contained
vtitile still small in size.
. Cióse to 400 personnel from 13
crews had responded, as of earlier this
week. Thirteen fire engines, two heli
copters and six water tenders were
employed in fighting the three larger
fires. Fire Management put an order
in for a a fixed wing aircraft that scoops
water while flying.
By Tuesday afternoon, a little over
4,000 had been consumed by the blazes,
as follows:
The Biddle Pass fire, the largest of
the three, had consumed 2,091 acres.
The Trail fire had consumed close
to 1,000 acres. And the Lionshead fire
consumed 437 acres.
• The fires were ignited by a lightning
storm that passed across the reserva
tion on Thursday, July 12. There were
a reported 160 lightning strikes on the
reservation that afternoon.
The Lionshead and Biddle Pass fires
w ere.b urning at the b ag e.o f Mt.
Jefferson, at the southwest corner of
the reservation. The Lionshead fire was
in very difficult terrain, preventing a
direct attack by thè fire crews.
The Trail fire is located near the
Metolius River in’the canyon.
The fire camp is located at the Warm
Springs Rpdoe grounds.
P.O.Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
‘ photo courtesy of the Museum at Warm.Springs
Chief Tommy Kuni Thompson
Councils, so that he might grow up to their chief. Kuni, whom white play
be a great chief like his unde Stocket- mates had many years earlier named
Tommy Thompson, was only about
His mother’s advice came to frui 20 years old, the youngest chief in
tion when, despite his repeated protes memory.
tations, both the Wyams and the Skinpa,
who lived across the river, elected him See REMEMBERING CELILO on 11
An alternative school in Bend is pro
viding a solution for troubled teens—
including several local youth.
A number of students have turned
to the Oregon National Guard Youth
Challenge as an alternative to conven
tional school Systems.
Clarissa Wolfe, 17, graduated from
the program last June.
“I ended up there because I was in
jail,” Wolfe said. “It was court ordered
for me to go there;”
It was an order that Wolfe now real
izes was in her best interest.
“I needed to change my life and
everything,” Wolfe explained. “I was
into drugs, alcohol, partying, disrespect
ing my grandparents.”
Now Wolfe works at the courthouse,
has her own house and a car. Next
year she plans to go to boarding school
in Oklahoma and will graduate with the
class of 2008.
“I got my grades up and I’m on tr^ck
to graduate and everything,” she said.
The Oregon National Guard Youth
Challenge Program is a residential
school where students live for five
months while attending a military model
school.
After leaving the school in Bend,
students must complete a 12-month
mentor phase in their home commu
nity.
The non-traditional school operates
in a method similar to that o f a mili
tary academy.
According to their website, “The
program is guided by military principles,
structure and discipline. Staff utilizes
a hands off, tough love, caring, disci
plined approach to instill values,
train, and instruct cadets.”
Through the program , students
can earn a high school diploma, G ED
or eight certified credits for high
school.
With the program, Wolfe said, “I
learned discipline, respect and what it
means.
“I got stronger mentally and physi
cally,” Wolfe added. “I learned job skills
and life coping skills.”
The hardest part, Wolfe said, in
volved homesickness.
In her opinion, the military lifestyle
is enjoyable.
“I like the military life. It was fun,”
Wolfe said. “I just like the structure,
and how we do things, and the disci
pline.”
In fact, after she earns her high
school diploma, Wolfe plans to enter
the Marine Corps.
Larry Dem arr, supervisor o f one
o f the platoons, said Clarissa put
forth tremendous effort during the
program.
“Clarissa was definitely a hard
worker, dedicated to the program, dis
played a lot o f different leadership
traits. When you challenged her, she
definitely didn’t w ant to give up,”
Demarr said. “She was one o f the ca
dets that made probably one o f the
biggest changes.”
The school is targeted at students
who are labeled as at-risk teens: high
school dropouts or those who are fail
ing school or not attending at all. ,
To be eligible, students must be a
high school dropout, 16 to 18 years old,
and an Oregon resident.
Students must also be drug free at
the time of entrance and may not be
on probation or parole or have been
convicted o f a felony crime.
For Wolfe, it was an experience that
she says changed her completely.
“I changed a lot. My grandparents
can see it,” she said.
Because her grandparents raised her,
she said, “I always try to make them
proud o f me.”
T he program w asn’t w ith out
struggles, however.
“All the tears and sweat I w ent
through— it was very hard,” Wolfe
said.
See YOUTH CHALLENGE on 8
f A
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