Image provided by: Oregon Historical Society; Portland, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2008)
Spilyay Tym C oyote News, est. 1976 February 14, 2008 P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 I so va \STO^C/KL Vol.'SSfNo. 4 ECRWSS Postal Patron U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Casino study set for public review B y Ron Suppah I T ribal Council Chairman G o o d day, friends and fellow tribal members. Today, I am very happy to share som e good news w ith you about our proposal for a casino at Cascade Locks. A fter strongly presenting our case to the D epartm ent o f the Interior, we have been told to expect official notice — on Friday, February 15 — th at we are m o v in g o n to the n ex t step o f project approval. Specifically, we expect the draft o f the BIA’s Official Study o f potential E n v iro n m e n ta l Im p acts, called the D EIS, will be released for public re view and com m ent this Friday. In ad d itio n , five p ublic hearings will be scheduled in M arch — with the first m eeting held at K ah-N ee-Ta —■ the first week in March. A t these meetings, tribal m em bers as well as the general public will be able to com m ent on the Cascade Locks casino project and its environm ental impacts. This is a very im portant mile stone. Only six tribes in the entire nation were approved to take their next step. In our case, we are one step closer to the day we can achieve w hat our People voted for in 2000 — that the Tribal Council locate a casino along the C olu m b ia R iver, o n o u r a n c e stra l lands. I am optim istic th at these public co m m en t hearings will dem onstrate w hat we know to be true: that our p ro posal for Cascade Locks is the best al ternative for our tribal m em bers and all Oregonians; our proposal will: Deliver significant economic benefits to our tribal m em bers, and secure the financial future o f our tribe for many, m any years to come; Im prove the quality o f life on our reservation; Share the benefits o f the Cascade Locks casino with neighboring com m u nities in the G orge; and P ro tect the environm ent and im prove fish habitat on b oth sides o f the Columbia River; restoring harm ony to the lands that have been the hom e o f our ancestors since time immemorial. Because our needs are so great, and because we strongly believe that it is our sovereign right to pursue economic developm ent in our in our traditional, Treaty-ceded lands, it is hard to under stand w hy anyone w ould oppose us or stand in the way o f our survival. B u t even i f o u r o p p o n e n ts are driven by narrow interests or greed, the W arm Springs Tribe will go forw ard w ith dignity — because ou r cause is just. We will present the facts, we.will play by the rules and we will prevail. As I hear m ore specific details about the upcom ing public meetings on the DEIS, I will share that inform ation with you. T hank you. Powwow at Simnasho The Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow Committee, and the community o f Simnasho hosted the Thirty-First A n n u a l Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow this p a st week end. The powwow has been held each year since 1977 in the Simnasho Longhouse. The contest results of this yea r’s powwow are as follows: Kia M cCloud o f H arrah, Washington, took first place in the Jr. Girls Fancy/Jingle category. Mariah L e a v itt, o f T o p p e n is h , W A , t o o k s e c o n d while zlurelia Johnson of Burns took third. In the Jr. G irls T raditional C ategory K atrina Blackwolf o f Toppenish w on first place while Abigal Totus o f Yakama w on second and Star U pshaw o f B eaverton w on third. For the Jr. Boys F ancy/G rass division, M anny Toms o f Pendlejton took first place. D a k o ta o f P o rtla n d w o n seco n d w hile T revor Smith o f Spokane to o k third. In the Jr. Boys Traditional category, Red Bear M cCloud o f H arrah, W ashington, w on first place. Samuel Jim o f Glendale, W ash ington, w on second and G aryson Johnson o f Simnasho took third. Please see POWWOW on page 8 Leslie Mitts photos Students earn trip to Blazers game Several tribal m em ber Students re ceived a special prize for good atten dance— a trip to a basketball game in Portland. A to ta l o f 24 s tu d e n ts fro m Jefferson County Middle School trav eled to P ordand last week to attend a P ordand Trail Blazers game against the D enver Nuggets. The students w ere being rew arded for having excellent attendance during the first trim ester this year. J a r e n B ailey, D a k o ta B e rm a n , C arson B igK nife, Jam es Blackw olf, Alexander Danzuka, Alicia Farias, Tysen G re e n , Ja m ie H allid ay , A m a n d a H enderson, Alexis H intsala, Ashley Kaltsukis, Jo h n K atchia III, Thom as K urtz, A ndrew M cC onnell-Charley, Jackie Poitra-Wetchie, Leanne Smith- Lucero, K aleb Smith, Bryson Spino, S h o sh an n a S tr e e t, O hShay Summ erholder, Haley W ahnetah, K ari W a h n e ta h , J h a y le n Y eah q u o , a n d A sh to n B ruisehead all atten d ed the game along w ith several teachers and th e p rincipal an d vice p rin cip al o f JCMS. See STUDENTS on page 3 Museum, Chemawa on Council agenda B y L eslie M itts Spilyay Tymoo T ribal C ouncil h eard u pdates on Chemawa Indian School and the M u seum at W arm Springs this week. A resolution was approved to add tw o new m em b ers to th e m useum board, w hich m useum staff mem bers are h o ping will help m otivate oth er board m em bers as well. According to Carol Leone, executive director, ‘W e’re hoping that this will kind o f help us to really rejuvenate our ac tivities.” Leone also spoke to Council about funding opportunities, and said the m u seum has received a grant from the O r egon Arts Commission to fund the edu cational portion o f the upcoming “Spirit o f the H orse” exhibit. Several o th e r g ran t ap p licatio n s have been subm itted and they should hear back soon, she added. T hey’re hoping to receive a grant to fund a website upgrade, Leone said, that w ould include things like adding a lan guage section and offering m useum m em berships through the website or selling gift shop item s online. D o ra Smith spoke to Council about the upcom ing h o n o r dinner on A pril 5 as well as future fundraising activities. Staff recently mailed prom otional packets to 1,300 people on the museum mailing list, Smith said, announcing fu ture fundraisers. T h ey have several ideas for new fundraisers as well, she added. ' Staff m em bers at Chemawa Indian School spoke to/Council about updates w ith the school and how they plan to im prove in the future. A ccording to Jo n Claymore, school supervisor at Chemawa Indian School in Salem, o f approxim ately 400 stu dents at th e school 73 are from O r egon— and a large portion o f those stu dents are from W arm Springs. Currently the campus is taking steps to ensure'a safer environm ent as well, Claymore said during the presentation to Council. T hose steps include w orking w ith the M arion County S heriff’s D ep art m e n t a n d th e f o r m a tio n o f th e Chemawa Behavioral H ealth Clinic and Chemawa Social Services D epartm ent. T he school is also w orking to create a variety o f positive extracurricular activities, from sports and perform ance groups to a ropes course and paintball course for an o u tdoor adventure club. In addition, they also feature the “Chem aw a Cinem a” w here students can w atch movies o r local television as an incentive for good grades o r good behavior. The school had 423 in stances o f drug or alcohol use during the 2003-04 academic year, and that has been reduced to 124 fo r the 2006-07year. A n o th e r in c e n tiv e p ro g r a m a t Chemawa is the Chemawa H omeliving a n d A c a d e m ic M e rit P ro g ra m (CHAMP) where students are given the opportunity to earn up to $350 per year for academic or behavioral accomplish ments. T h a t includes m ain tain in g a 2.5 grade point average or higher as well as n o t having any failing grades and no m ore than 5 absences. Claymore also spoke about the honor dorm s, w here students w ho achieve academ ically are placed and receive positive reinforcem ent in the form o f earning special activities or benefits. A n o th er unique d o rm setting in cludes the STARS dorm , or Students T ran sitioning A cadem ic R esidential Setting. In this do rm , students are given m ore structure and are offered things like counseling services to help w ith academic o r behavioral problems. D rug and alcohol use has been re duced dramatically at Chemawa in re cent years, according to Claymore. T he school had 423 instances o f drug or alcohol use during the 2003- 04 academic year, and that has been reduced to 124 for the 2006-07 year. T h at’s som ething they hope to im prove u pon this year as well, Claymore said. “By no m eans are we satisfied w ith the status quo,” he explained, but they are happy w ith the steady decline. T he school has seen a 58 percent decrease in fighting from the 2005-06 year to the 2006-07 academic year, as well as a reduction in the am ount o f assault from 34 to 19. H ow ever, Chemawa is facing bud get concerns. T he system has recently changed to aw ard funding based on daily attendance rates, and because o f that the school lost $6.4 million for the 2007-08 year. T h at will also m ean a projected de crease o f $5.8 million for the 2008-09 academic year. In the end, Claymore said, seeing the students cross the stage for graduation at the end o f the year m akes all o f their hard w ork w orth it. “I ’m a firm believer that these kids can do it and will do it if it’s expected,” he said. I
