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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2008)
Spílygy Tym OC C oyote News, est. 1976 April 24, 2008 Voi. 33, No. 9 P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1230 SW PARK AVE. PORTLAND, OR 97205 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents School district takes large budget cut B y L e s lie M itts S p ilyay T ym oo N early 11 percen t o f the 509-J school district budget will be cut for the 2008-09 year, according to the pro posal made by the superintendent to the budget committee. Because the school district is facing a budget crisis, Superintendent Kay Baker proposes cutting 10.8 percent of the budget (about $3.127 million) for the upcoming academic year. The cuts come after the district faced declining enrollm ent and decreased funding, and will result in staff cuts and increased class sizes. For Warm Springs E lem entary in particular, Baker said, that would mean a slight increase in class sizes as well as the loss o f a few teaching positions. At the middle school and high school levels the cuts will also mean an increase in class sizes and the loss o f staff posi tions as well as a few programs. Overall, she added, they are hoping to make the effect on students relatively minimal. “We’re trying to keep it as far away from students as possible,” she ex plained. However, Baker added, “You affect staff and that affects students.” The cuts will also result in the loss o f staff positions in the district office, Baker said. “These are budget cuts that hit ev ery department in every location,” she said. The district was aware o f the bud get problems last year, Baker said, and while certain steps were taken to ad dress the issue then the district must take, even bigger steps to completely address the problem this year. Baker said 22 public meetings were held before she decided where to make the cuts— including several meetings with the Warm Springs community. The overall enrollm ent trend has been decreasing, Baker said, and the recent economic difficulties are go ing to make the problem worse next year. Because o f issues like layoffs of mill workers and because the new prison did not create an enrollment boost as was expected, Baker said, their projected enrollment for the 2008-09 year was low er than ex pected. Also due to the cuts, Westside El em entary w ill close. In some in stances, Baker said, they cut posi tions in order to retain certain pro grams. See SCHOOL CUTS on 12 Kah-Nee-Ta g o lf ready fo r spring B y D a ve M cM ech a n S pilyay T ym oo The upcoming go lf season will see a number o f changes at the Kah- Nee-Ta G olf Course. Some o f the changes are to the area around the clubhouse and putting green. There is a new fountain nearby, for in stance, which lights up at night. Con struction workers are also building a new snack bar by the pro shop. There is a new PGA head golf professional at Kah-Nee-Ta, Ryan Davis. And a new teaching pro, Aus tin Maki, who also tours profession ally. Davis was the first assistant golf professional at Sunriver Resort. A 1997 graduate o f Portland State University, Davis began his profes sional career with a three-year stint Dave McMechan/Spilyay The new fountain at the Kah-Nee-Ta golf course. Work crew (photo at left) is building a new snack shack. at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Pordand. He then returned to his hometown o f Costa Mesa, Calif., where he served as assistant go lf professional at M esa Verde Country Club under the direc tion o f head go lf professional Tom Sargent, the 1996 winner o f the Na tional PGA G olf Professional o f the Year award. Teaching professional at Kah-Nee- Ta, Austin M aki competes for part of the year on the PGA tour. He com peted recently on the Dakotas Tour, finishing in 18th place out o f a field of 129 players. He has won numerous tournaments, including the 1999 Indus try H ills PG A P ro -A m , the 1999 Golden State Tour Costa Mesa, and the 1997 Merced County Pro-Am. Maki turned pro in 1992 at age 20. M aki is available to give lessons to players at all skill levels. There is more emphasis this year on teaching young players, said Davis. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at Kah-Nee-Ta is the Snag go lf pro gram, Snag standing for “Start New at Golf.” The class is limited to the first 20 children, ages 11 and un der. Cost is $30 per child, which in cludes a hot dog and drink. The class is from 9-11 a.m., and from 11:30 am .-l:30 p.m. See KAH-NEE-TA GOLF on 12 Mill expenses, adoption election discussed at meeting B y L e s lie M itts S pilyay Tymoo The upcoming adoption election, as well as the proposed supplemental bud get served as topics o f discussion at the latest Agency District Meeting. Because o f the closure o f Warm Springs Forest Product Industries, the tribes are -facing a significant budget shortfall that resulted in a proposed supplemental budget. According to Ray Potter, CFO, “The mill has significant financial challenges.” “We tried to be as open as we could possibly be on this,” he added. The proposed supplemental budget will total $2.75 million. The funds would not come from working capital, and instead the money would be drawn from excess funds that have built up due to interest and in vestments. Because the conditional mill closure presents several problems that could potentially occur, Potter said, it is best for the tribes to be prepared in advance to face those challenges. “The bottom line is its easy for us to see where the money has to come from but hard to predict where it has to be spent,” Potter said. The current cash flow plan for the tribes shows a steady decline until 2018 due to a lengthy approval process for the proposed Cascade Locks casino, which will face a two-year appeals pro cess and then approximately a two-year construction period. H ow ever, at that point the cash flow w ill steadily increase, Potter ex plained. “If we can make it to that point we’ll have accomplished our major goal,” Potter told the crowd o f community members. Potter also spoke o f several “bright spots” in the tribes’ financial future— Composite Products and Tectonics are working to expand their business, and there are poten tial en ergy projects through Warm Springs Power and Wa ter Enterprises. Madeline Queahpama-Spino spoke to the crowd about the upcoming adop tion election and said they are looking forward to developing it so that more children are eligible for adoption by the tribes. Proposals for the adoption elec tion include adopting the 1950 or 1960 census role as a base role for the tribes, or allowing the combina tion o f the four Colum bia River tribes for adoption. It is a lengthy and tedious pro cess, Queahpama-Spino said, and takes about a week to count all the ballots. As the election approaches, she added, they will be working with lo cal media in order to inform com munity members o f those who are up for adoption. “We try to set up the adoption election so that people are aware o f who the families are,” Queahpama- Spino explained. Carrying forward values and traditions Plans are in full swing for the up coming Northwest Indian Youth Con ference in Warm Springs. The event will take place from M ay 27 through M ay 31, and features the them e “T he an cesto rs w ill be our strength for the future.” This conference marks a return to W arm Springs after the event began here 33 years ago. The Youth Conference mission state ment captures the spirit o f the event: “As youth, it is our responsibility to carry forward the torch and uphold those cultural values and Walk in the strength that our ancestors portrayed in their walk o f life.” The agenda for the conference is full o f fun activities for youth to attend, starting with a campfire for people ar riving the night before the conference begins. There will be an opening cer emony parade when all NW ÍYC par ticipants will be invited to walk, create a float, or ride a horse and to showca.se the youth’s native pride through tradi tional dress or matching t-shirts. A hip-hop dance w ill be held on « Tuesday night (May 27) for all partici pants to get a chance to meet each o th er, a n d a b a n n e r co m p e titio n will feature tribal banners, staffs, flags and signs created by the groups. A cultural gift exchange w ill give participants the opportunity to share their traditions with others— each youth will bring a cultural item as a gift and exchange it with a gift from another tribe. The conference will also feature a three-on-three basketball tournament, a 5K run/walk, an endurance horse race and a g o lf scramble. Thursday night (May 29) will include a rounddance. A picture gallery walk will feature photos from each group of honored elders or ancestors. Included with the photos will be a mini-biogra phy, and the event w ill serve to honor the theme o f the conference. The Museum at Warm Springs will host an art show, while a fashion show will feature items of contemporary as w ell as traditional fashion. Youth will also have the chance to participate in a talent show, essay con test and Mr. and Ms. Northwest Indian Youth Conference competition. Friday, M ay 30, w ill kicko ff the N orthwest Indian Youth Conference powwow. W h en the first co n feren ce w as hosted in W arm Springs 33 years ago, . trib es trav eled from P ortland and Lapwai, Idaho. The next year Lapwai hosted the gathering, until it grew into a large annual évent that is hosted throughout the northwest. In the past, representatives from the Confederated Tribes o f W arm Springs have always traveled to the youth con ference, which is hosted by a different reservation in the northwest each year. Local youth w ill be planning and hosting the entire conference. Jaylyn Suppah, from OSU extension, is work ing to plan and promote the confer ence and has been holding weekly plan ning meetings with local students work ing to host the conference. Registration for those attending will be $65, and that means significant rev enue for the tribes. Typically over 1,000 youth attend the conference each year. F or m o re in fo rm a tio n , v is it www.warmsprings.com/nwiyc. ----- b y L e s lie M itts
