Spilyay Tym
P.O. Box 870
W/omn O«nqgSi QR 97761
ECRW SS
Postal Patron
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1230 SW PARK AVE.
PORTLAND, OR 97205
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
July 16, 2009
C oyote News, est. 1976
Voi. 34, No. 15
50 cents
Park dedication honors Wasco Chief
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
T he park that overlooks the reser
voir o f the Re-regulating dam was once
a tribal outpost from time im m em o
rial.
W asco C hief N elson W allulatum
explained last week that the park was
one o f m any such outposts located
throughout the Ceded Lands. Tribal
bands would travel from one outpost
to another, leaving their tools at the site
to be used w hen they returned.
They would leave food caches at the
site to be used in the winter, said Chief
Wallulatum.
H e told this history o f the park area
at a dedication cerem ony last week,
w hen W arm Springs Power and Water
Enterprises unveiled a plaque dedicated
to Chief Wallulatum.
“I t’s a small way to show how m uch
we love him,” said Tribal Council Vice-
Chairwoman Aurolyn Stwyer-Pinkham.
W arm Springs Chief Delvis H eath
said, “I ’m happy to see we’re recogniz
ing a person w ho’s still alive. Too often
we do this after they are gone.”
C h ief W allulatum , he said, “has
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
At the dedication ceremony, Power and Water Enterprises manager Jim
Manion (right) talks with Chief Wallulatum, who is assisted by Thomas
Williams.
worked for his people, never for him
self.”
Chief Wallulatum talked about some
o f the events that the tribes have ex
perienced over the years, such as the
c o n stru c tio n o f th e P e lto n -R o u n d
Butte dams, and the addition o f pow er
plant at the Re-regulating dam.
H e talked about the Treaty o f 1855,
and how he has used the docum ent to
guide his years o f service to the
tribes.
“In my m ind, that is the strength
I ’ve always leaned on,” he said. “I ’ve
never tried to go outside our treaty,
and have always tried to stay within
the w ords o f the docum ent.”
T he dedication plaque at the park
reads as follows:
Nelson Wallulatum has been Chief
of the Wasco Tribe, and has served on
the Warm Springs Tribal Council since
1959.
During this period he has overseen
all major undertakings o f the tribes,
including construction o f the Pelton-
Bound Butte Hydroelectic project, 40
years o f fishing rights litigation, resto
ration of 60,000 acres unfairly omit
tedfrom the reservation, and establish
ment o f tribal energy enterprises that
now help support the tribes.
N o task was more important to
Chief Wallulatum than preservation
and protection of water and other natu
ral resources, which his people have re
lied on fo r thousands o f years.
This p a rk is dedicated to C hief
Wallulatum fo r his lifetime o f service
to his people and their proud heritage.
Governor
signing
protection
law at
Metolius
Gov. Kulongoski is planning to sign
the Metohus River basin protection bill
at a cerem ony at the M etohus. T h e
event is scheduled for this W ednes
day, July 15 (after deadhne for this
pubhcation).
T he Confederated Tribes supported
the legislation, which passed the Oregon
Senate and then narrowly passed the
House.
T he new law designates the M eto
hus basin an Area o f Critical State C on
cern, a designation used only one other
time in the state.
T he immediate effect o f the law is
to block two proposed developm ent
projects, one involving up to 420 houses
near the Metohus.
T he tribes have supported protec
tion o f the basin because water qual
ity, fish and wildlife, and cultural con
cerns.
T h e trib e s have a re serv e d i n -
stream w ater right in the M etohus and
downstream in Deschutes river.
D eer and elk populations, and p os
sible cultural resources o f the basin
could also be harm ed by the develop
m ents, the tribes and others said.
T he tribal position has been that the
county land-use regulations w ould not
address these and other concerns.
T here is, fo r instance, n o inven
tory o f cultural sites w ithin the basin
area.
C o u n ty o fficials said th e y h a d
planned adequately for the develop
m ent, and that the state should n o t in
terfere in the local planning process.
Tribal officials have said they are
n o t against developm ent in the county,
b u t beheve that, in the sensitive M e
tohus basin, it is only appropriate to
ensure com prehensive im pact analy-
sis and m itigation, w hich is w hat the
tribes do w hen they undertake devel
o p m en t o n the reservation and o ff
the reservation.
D evelopm ent can be done in a way
that m eets the interests o f ah parties,
the tribal officials say.
Cruz brings years of experience to Human Services
By Dave McMechan
K
Spilyay Tymoo
T jW
M ore than 20 years later, hfe in some
ways has come full circle for Caroline
Cruz.
S h e ’s w o rk in g ag ain in W arm
Springs, and she’s even in the same
building where she worked 22 years ago.
B ut m uch has changed for her as
well.
H er last job in Warm Springs, be
fore she left in 1987, was prevention
coordinator at the Community C oun
seling Center.
H er job now is that o f general m an
ager o f tribal Human Services.
T he departments in her branch are
th e C o m m u n ity W ellness C e n te r,
C h ild ren ’s Protective Services, the
Community Counseling Center, and the
Com m unity Health Education Team.
She also oversees the tribal social
program s such as Vocational Rehabili
tation, Senior and Disabled Services,
•
■
î tt '****
ww
À I méss ÑI
It
flL
hsik
-¿ a *** t :ii i
Caroline Cruz
the Senior Center, and the C om m odi
ties program.
A bout 100 employees w ork in the
various departm ents o f the H um an
Services Branch.
H um an Services has been w ithout
a perm anent general m anager for sev
eral years, although the position has
been filled temporarily by acting gen
eral managers.
Cruz has been the H um an Services
general m anager since mid-May. She
had been encouraged to apply for the
job by tribal secretary-treasurer Jody
Calica, and ch ief operations officer
Gerald Smith.
T he timing o f the job opening was
right, and Cruz apphed for the posi
tion. “It had always been in my m ind
that I would come back,” she said o f
W arm Springs.
H er m ost recent job with the state,
which she held for 16 years, was re
gional coordinator o f the state Addic
tions and M ental H ealth Division, Al
cohol and D rug Pohcy Unit.
She was the statewide coordinator
o f O regon’s prevention program s; she
served as lead trainer and tribal liaison
to the state’s nine tribes, and was the
O regon representative o f the National
Prevention Network.
D uring the years that she worked
•
for the state, Cruz remained in regular
conversation with W arm Springs, both
through her positions as tribal liaison,
and as a com m unity m em ber w ith lo
cal friends and family.
T hrough her job, she rem ained in
contact w ith Children’s Protective Ser
vices, w ith law enforcem ent and other
agencies on the reservation. She also
talked regularly with secretary-treasurer
Calica, and in m ore recent years with
chief operations officer Smith.
As tribal H um an Services general
manager, Cruz has spent the past sev
eral weeks reviewing the various func
tions o f the departm ents in the Branch,
m aking sure there is no duplication o f
job tasks, for instance.
She is preparing the budgets for the
2010 budget process, and already has
overseen the successful com pletion o f
a $250,000 methamphetam ine-suicide
prevention grant (see story on page 5).
Cruz is also one o f the seven com
missioners on the newly form ed Joint
Commission between the Confederated
Tribes and Indian H ealth Services. The
Joint Commission will guide health care
services to the m embership.
Cruz has a long career o f helping
people, first as a drug counselor in the
1970s, later as prevention program di
rector, state regional coordinator, and
now as general m anager o f H um an
Services.
“I ’ve always loved w hat I do,” she
said. “A nd if you love your job, then
it’s like you’re n o t really working.”
C hief operations officer Sm ith is
am ong those w ho are happy to have
Cruz back in W arm Springs, managing
H um an Services.
“T he advantage o f having her here,”
he said, “is the wealth o f experience
she has in various hum an services fields,
and her experience as a m anager and
administrator.”
H aving an experienced person as
general m anager o f H um an Services,
he said, will help the branch m eet its
goals and objectives in the coming years.
•
(Ì
«
b
•
Í
j
*' •
«
f