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Spilyay Tym<
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P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
OREGON historical society
1230 SW PARK AVE.
PORTLAND, OR 97205
JnstaPatron
J,S. Postage
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Warm Springs, OR 97761
C oyote News, est. 1976
August 27, 2009
Voi. 34, No. 18
50 cents
Celilo Village Restoration
Tribes, federal officials gather for dedication
B y D a ve M c M e c h a n
Spilyaj Tymoo
The historic Celilo Village at the
Columbia River has new homes,
paved roads, a new drinking water
system, a playground and basketball
court. The new Celilo administration
and school building is a great addi
tion to the community.
The improvements to the village,
including a longhouse with kitchen,
happened over the past four years.
The Celilo Restoration Project was
a cooperative effort o f the Colum
bia River tribes, the people o f Celilo,
and the U.S. Army Corps o f Engi
neers.
While the actual work on the res
toration project began about four
years ago, the circumstances leading
up to it date back much further.
“Everything begins with history,
and the history of this particular situ
ation started when we signed our
treaty with the federal government,”
said Ron Suppah, Chairman o f the
C onfederated T ribes o f W arm
Springs, and Wy-Am board member.
In the Treaty of 1855 the tribes
retained their right, dating from time
immemorial, to fish at all their “usual
and accustomed places,” many o f
which were located around Celilo
Falls. In the late 1930s, Suppah said,
the Bonneville dam inundated many
o f the fishing sites. Then in the
1940s construction o f The Dalles
dam flooded more sites and forced
the relocation of Celilo Village.
A t the time the governm ent
promised to acquire 400 acres o f
land for the tribes—including in-lieu
fishing sites— to compensate the
tribes for their losses. Meanwhile, the
Corps of Engineers was given the
responsibility o f constructing a new
village.
However, according to a report
from the Oregon Historical Society:
“The poor quality o f construc
tion materials and inadequate main
tenance at the relocated village
caused structures to badly deterio
rate, leaving residents without water
or sewer access and with sanitary
conditions that violated federal and
state statutes and also endangered
public health and safety.”
In 1988— forty years after the
flooding by The Dalles Dam—Presi
dent Reagan signed a law requiring
the government to meet its obliga
tions to the tribes. The Corps then
carried out in-lieu fishing projects,
but the living conditions at Celilo
Village remained the same.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The architecture of the new Celilo Administration and School Building
(above and below) was inspired by the basalt rock formations of the
area, and by the tribal fish scaffoldings at the nearby Columbia River.
Antone Minthorn (picture above), chairman of the Wy-Am board and the
Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Tribal Council, signs a momento of the
dedication ceremony last week.
The federal Stimulus program could
fund a variety o f projects benefiting
the Confederated Tribes.
Some o f the proposed projects have
a good chance o f receiving Stimulus
funding, while some may not.
A few projects have already been
funded, said Lonny Macy, tribal plan
ner, who reported the information re
cently to Tribal Council.
From road and housing work on the
reservation, to in-Eeu fishing site im
provements, the projects have the po
tential to create many new jobs.
The single biggest federal Stimulus
program for the tribes is the bio-mass
project at Warm Springs Forest Prod
ucts Industries.
The tribes received word eariier this
summer that the bio-mass would re
ceive $5 milEon in Stimulus, or Ameri
can Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA), funding.
The $5 milEon will provide for the
construction o f a second bio-mass
boiler at the WSFPI mill. This would
allow the tribes to seU electricity from
the bio-mass faciEty.
BIA Roads in Warm Springs is look
ing at about $3.5 milEon in on-reserva
tion projects that could quahfy for
ARRA funding.
Road maintenance projects would
account for about $2.5 milEon o f the
total, with road construction bringing
in an o th er $1 m illion, said Tom
Shuman, BIA Roads engineer.
Potential projects include spreading
gravel on roads such as Mutton Moun
tain Road and Kishwalks.
There could be some pavem ent
work done in subdivisions, overlay
work on HoUywood and Tenino, pave
ment o f Chariie Canyon Road, road
side brush removal and culvert main
tenance, am ong the projects, said
Shuman.
The Est o f proposed road projects
wiE be finaEzed by Tribal CouncE; and
the appEcation is to be turned in by
early next year, he said.
Shuman estimated that $3 milEon to
$3.5 milEon in roads funding would
create about 30 on-reservation jobs.
Tribal Construction would be the con
tractor.
The tribal Housing Authority re
ceived $627,000 in Stimulus funding
for construction o f five new homes in
the Sunnyside subdivision, said Hous
ing Authority executive director Jeff
Sanders.
The hope is that work wiE begin on
the 3-, 4- and 5-bedroom homes per
haps as early as September. These mu
tual-help houses wiE be simEar to those
buEt a few years ago at Bear Drive,
said Sanders.
Other Stimulus projects:
Two in-Eeu fishing sites at the Co
lumbia wiE be improved for use with
$28 milEon in Stimulus money, said
Louie Pitt, director of tribal Govern
ment Affairs.
Vocational RehabiEtation is applying
for $180,000 to fund two new shuttles
and five bus shelters. “We’re reaEy try
ing to get shuttle service between Warm
Springs and M adras,” said D avid
Conroy, acting director of tribal Social
Services, and director of Voc Rehab.
Indian Health Services set aside
$225,000 in Stimulus money for instal
lation o f water meters at 140 homes
in Simnasho and Sidwalter.
Tribal Government Affairs is apply
ing for $55,000 for solar panels and
other energy conservation measures
for the new tribal Media Center.
Warm Springs Ventures has appEed
for $5 milEon to bring broadband ser
vice to the reservation, said J e ff
Anspach, Ventures executive director.
The tribes would then designate an
enterprise to operate the service, said
Anspach.
This project would be a great ben
efit to the reservation and tribal mem
bers, and the need for the service also
is great, he said. However, the criteria
that the grant appEcation is judged by
could make funding o f this project not
very likely, he said.
----- by Dave McMechan
Two flu vaccines this year
See CELILO RESTORATION on 9
Marijuana growing operations uncovered
Warm Springs law enforcement of
ficers on August 14 seized over 1,600
marijuana plants growing on the reser
vation. Over the past two years, Warm
Springs officers have seized over
30,500 marijuana plants in four sepa
rate raids.
Pohce Chief Carmen Smith said that
illegal growers have made their way
onto the reservation by having girl
friends who Eve here, scouting remote
spots and setting up camps in remote
areas where people seldom go.
Warm Springs officers focus on po-
Edng the town and surrounding neigh
borhoods, said Smith. “We’re so busy
that we don’t have time to make these
Stimulus funding could
help variety of projects
rural patrols,” he said.
Officers first spotted the most re
cent marijuana plantation while flying
over a southern area o f the reserva
tion in an O regon Army N ational
Guard heEcopter.
For a month afteward, poEce kept
watch on a group o f men as they tended
the marijuana.
At daybreak on August 14, a task
force o f investigators began sneaking
up on the campsite. The path to the
camp was so overgrown with brush that
it took nearly three hours to silently
make their way 500 yards.
Still, they must have been overheard.
Just as they came upon the camp, in
vestigators heard someone running
through the woods, said Warm
Springs Detective John Webb.
The investigators discovered a so
phisticated irrigation system that
used gravity to pull water into the
gardens. The tarps and other equip
ment matched what they found in
eariier seizures on the reservation,
Webb said.
About the same time as this raid,
Yakama tribal law enforcem ent
seized a large number o f marijuana
plants growing' on the Yakama Res
ervation. Thousands more plants
were found this week growing near
PrineviEe.
Indian Health Services, tribal health
and other officials are preparing for a
potentiaEy very serious flu season.
A concern is a possible outbreak of
the H1N1 flu virus, commonly caEed
swine flu.
Swine flu has claimed nearly 500
Eves in the U.S. since the start o f the
last flu season. Eleven o f these deaths
were in Oregon.
“IHS and the tribes are working to
gether to prepare for this,” said Roberta
Queahpama, Warm Springs Commu
nity Health director.
The planning meetings have in
volved top officials o f the tribes, she
said. <cWe’re developing a plan for dis
trib u tio n o f th e vaccines,” said
Queahpama.
This year, many people wiE be get
ting two flu shots: one regular flu vac
cine, and one for the swine flu, she said.
The Community Health Department
is also putting an even greater empha
sis on hygiene to prevent the spread
o f the flu, said Queahpama.
The flu vaccines are recommended
for chEdren 6-months to 24 years, for
adults with chronic conditions, and for
pregnant women.
There wiE be 190 million does of
the vaccine distributed in the U.S.
With this supply, not everyone wEl be
able to get a vaccination against swine
flu.
The H1N1 strain o f the type A in
fluenza virus appeared in the U.S. in
late March and quickly spread across
the country and the world before it was
declared a pandemic by the World
Health Organization in June.
Health officials say infections from
swine flu, Eke the seasonal flu, can range
from mEd to severe. Symptoms are a
high fever, cough, sore throat, chills.,
body aches and fatigue.
Spilyay has new phone numbers
Please note, the SpEyay Tymoo
has new phone numbers. To reach
the SpEyay, please caU 553-2307,
553-2210 or 553-1928. The previ-
ous phone number (553-3274) is for
voice maE only. Thank you!