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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 2009)
P.0. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ECRWSS Postal Patron 1 January 1, 2 0 0 $ C o y o te News, est. 1976 Voi. 34, No. 1 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents Plan is to hold adoption election in 4 09 B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo An on-going issue that likely will see final resolution in 2009 is the tribal adoption election. The hope is that the election will be conducted by March 2009, according to tribal Vital Statistics. The adoption election has been a pending issue for several years: The Confederated Tribes’ last successful adoption election occurred in 1996. The tribes attempted to conduct an adoption election in 2001 and then in 2002, but these elections failed for lack o f voter participation. The Tribal Council last year adopted resolutions that addressed two aspects o f the adoption question, and helped narrow the large list o f candidates. The Council action came after extensive discussion with the membership. O ne o f the resolutions adopted a 1960 base roll that operates in addition to the 1940 base roll. Through this resolution, siblings o f any persons showing on the 1960 base roll are eligible to assert the same blood quantum based upon the same parent age. O ver 80 people on the initial adop- tion election Est then quaEfied under this provision. A second CouncE resolution last year included a provision recognizing the ancestral and traditional affiEation o f the Confederated Tribes m em ber ship to o th e r Ichiskin, K ik sh t and N um u speaking people. Close to 70 people on the initial Est o f 284 adoption candidates quaEfied fo r autom atic enrollm ent under this resolution. FoUowing CouncE action on these resolutions, the tribes have enroUed sev eral people from the initial adoption Est. In O ctober, there were 79 new en- rollments; in O ctober, 38 new en rollments; and in D ecem ber, 34, according to Vital Statistics. (These figures include new -born enrod- ments.) These enroEments wid reduce the num ber o f candidates on the adoption election Est. The large num ber o f candidates was one o f the reasons why tribal members were hesitant about, or against, conducting an adoption election, according to m em ber comm ents last year at meetings on the issue. Winter storm blanketed the reservation Snow piled up around the teepee at the Warm Springs Plaza. The heavy snow that fell on the reservation caused many m otor ve hicle accidents, and made transpor tation difficult for elders and other residents. W arm-Springs Fire and Safety responded to over 35 accidents dur ing the daÿs after the storm. O ne o f the accidents involved eight vehicles on Highway 3 near the Wolfe Point turnoff. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries, said D anny M artinez, fire chief. Highway 3 was closed for nearly three hours after this wreck, said M artinez., H e said that Fire and Safety kept p e rs o n n e l at th e S im n ash o an d Seekseequa fire halls throughout the week, including the hoEdays./ M any residents, including elders, were n o t able to leave their homes for a few days because they could n o t get out o f their driveways due to snow, he said. This was particularly true in the areas o f SeekseCqua, Sim nasho and Sidwalter. The heavy snow also created con- çem for a possible budding coUapse, said Martinez. His departm ent did an assessment o f several buddings during the week. H e said that the tribal adminis tration budding had developed sig nificant leaks that could cause prob lems to the budding’s electrical sys tem. - B u y a tile to support Sidwalter fire hall B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo Supporters o f the Sidwalter fire had are selEng tiles as a way to raise money to help cover construction costs. Each tile wEl display the name o f the person or organization that made a contribution. The tiles will then become a perm anent part o f the new .fire had. A fud tile can be purchased for a $100 contribution. A half-tile can be purchased for $50. TEes can be purchased in honor or in mem ory o f a loved one. “This could be a great gift for any occasion, from graduation to weddings and anniversaries,” said Buffy Hurtado, an organizer o f the Sidwalter Fire Had TEe Campaign. The two-story Sidwalter fire had will be bruit o ff Highway 26 on Sidwalter Flat. T he fire hall will serve the 81 homes in the Sidwalter and MEler flats areas. These hom es are in a high-risk area fo r fire. T he fire h allw ill also be a p a rt o f th e regional fire resp o n se network. O n the reservation the tribes o p erate the Agency Fire and Safety sta tion' in W arm Springs, as wed as fire halls at Sim nasho and Seekseequa. In the future, th ere are plans to develop fire halls at K ah-N ee-T a and H eH e, according to the tribes’ com prehensive plan. Part o f the funding for the Sidwalter fire had comes from the Confederated Tribes and the U.S. D epartm ent o f Ag riculture. T h e h o p e is th a t the additional money needed for the project wid come from the salé o f the tiles, said Corey Clements, project-leader. TEe sponsorships are 100 percent deductible, she said. For more information, cad Clements or H u rtad o at W orkforce D evelop m ent, 553-3324. A look back at eventful year fo r the tribes There were many noteworthy events fo r the Confederated Tribes over the p a st 12 months. The follow ing is a month by month summary o f the main news events that happened during 2008. January Fish passage project Casino hearings W arm Springs Pow er and W ater Enterprises and Portland General Elec tric are constructing a large tower at Round Butte dam that wid address the migrating fish passage problem at the dam. T he 273-foot tad selective w ater withdrawal tow er is scheduled to be completed in 2009. T he Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs received w ord from the fed eral governm ent that the BLA can p ro ceed w ith , the environm ental review process th at could lead to the tribe building a casino reso rt at Cascade Locks. Word from the Interior D epart m ent was that the BIA would proceed with the D raft E nvironm ental Im pact Statement (DEIS) process, which evalu ates th e im p act o f d eveloping the project at the Cascade Locks site. T he next step in the D EIS process wid involve a series o f pubEc hearings on the DEIS. Artistic tiles Miss Warm Springs A t the beginning o f 2008, Cyride Mitched began her year as Miss W arm Springs. “I w anted to ru n fo r Miss W arm Springs because I beEeve that I am a positive role model,” Mitched told the audience during the Miss W arm ' Springs Pageant. A fter being awarded the position o f Miss Warm Springs, Mitched received a beaded crown and banner made by Sandra Danzuka. Mitched graduated from Madras High School in 2004. She then w ent on to Hasked University in Kansas for three years. 4 i Kibak TEe, a Warm Springs Ventures subsidiary, is seding tiles designed by W arm Springs artist Lidian Pitt. T he collection is the result o f a project that began in 2006 when Susan Kibak-Redfield, the president o f Kibak TEe, worked w ith Pitt to create the col lection o f tiles. The Lillian Pitt codection includes the mask codection: 8 inch square tiles in cluding “She W ho Watches,” “Coyote,” “Spiderwoman,” and “Featherwoman. The codection also includes tiles created in the summer o f 2007, the stick people codection, featuring six designs. 4 $ Adoption election news The tribal adoption election may be conducted after ad by the Confedrated Tribes, rather than the Bureau o f In dian Affairs. T he issue is tentatively set to go before Tribal CouncE within the next few m onths, perhaps during a CouncE meeting in April, said Madeline Queahpama-Spino, director o f tribal Vital Statistics. Partial mill closure Tribal CouncE directed the initiation o f steps necessary for a conditional closure o f the W arm Springs Forest Products Industries lum ber mEl. The mEl closure is necessary because o f sagging timber and lumber prices, and by years o f unprofitable operations, tribal officials said. In the years since 2000, the mill was able to make a profit only at the high p o int o f the lum ber market. L osses at the mEl over a recent seven-year period, from 2000-2006, totaled $9.8 milEon. Students see Trailblazers Several tribal m em ber students re ceived a special prize for good atten dance— a trip to a basketbad 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 Portland last week to attend a Portland TraE Blazers game against the D enver Nuggets. The students were being rewarded for having excedent attendance during the first trim ester this year. 31st annual powwow T h e L incoln’s B irthday Pow w ow C om m ittee, and the com m unity o f S im nasho h o ste d th e T h irty -F irst A nnual L incoln’s B irthday Powwow. T h e pow w ow has b een h eld each year since 1977 in th e S im n ash o L onghouse. Casino document released T he d raft o f th e BIA’s O fficial Study o f potential E nvironm ental Im pacts, caded the D EIS, was released for pubEc review and comment. In addition, five pubEc hearings are be scheduled in March— w ith the first meeting held at Kah-Nee-Ta— the first week in March. See LOOK BACK on page 6
