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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 2009)
r Spilyay Tym P.0. Box 870 ^orings, OR 97761 ECRWSS Postal Patron OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1230 SW PARK AVE- PORTLAND, OR 97205 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 November 5, 2009 Coyote News, est. 1976 Voi. 34, No. 23 50 cents Tribes, BPA renew corridor agreement B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo T he Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs and the Bonneville Power A d m inistration have negotiated a new agreement allowing BPA the continued use o f an existing transm ission line corridor oh the reservation. BPA will pay the tribes $17 million for the use o f the corridor for the next 50 years. BPA also agreed to c o n trib u te $100,000 for the tribes’ First Food pro- gram on the reservation, and BPA agreed to pay for lost tim ber stumpage within the corridor. The' new agreem ent replaces one from 50 years ago. T he term s o f the new agreem ent are favorable to the tribes, said Tribal Council Chairman R onSuppah. “O ur negotiating team did an excel lent job,” he said. W ith the tribes facing hard econom ic times, “We need to supplem ent o u r revenue as best we can,” Chairman Suppah said. Tribal C ouncil has scheduled an agreement signing ceremony with BPA on Nov. 16. T he $100,000 from BPA for the First Food program will provide for huckleberry im provem ent projects on th e reserv atio n . T h e im p ro v em en t projects can be anywhere on the reser vation, n o t necessarily within the corri dor. T he tribal-BPA agreem ent contains another significant provision that is a benefit to the tribes, said Jim Manion, manager o f W arm Springs Power and Water Enterprises. In exchange for allowing BPA to replace an existing transmission line with one that holds m ore energy, BPA agrees to allow the tribes to ow n a part o f the line. This would provide the tribes with a way to put pow er into the energy grid, said Manion. This would be im portant as the tribes explore energy-generation options, such as the wind-power project in the M utton Mountains, said Manion. Challenging times for enterprises B y D u ra n B o b b Spilyay Tymoo Two G eneral Council meetings were held O ct. 26 and 27 at the Agency Longhouse, as a way for the tribal enterprises to inform the mem bership o f their financial status. O n the agendas w ere updates from W arm Springs Forest Products Industries, Warm Springs Power E n terprises, Kah-Nee-Ta, Composite P ro d u c ts , th e C re d it E n te rp r is e , th e M useum at W arm Springs, H igh Lookee Lodge, the Housing A uthor ity and W arm Springs Ventures. Ralph M innick, W arm Springs Forest Products Industries, said that these are financiaUy hard times. The mill once employed 396 people, but the num ber o f workers has been cut back to 130. They w ork on a single-shift basis, with a current 70 percent being ei ther tribal m em bers or married into the tribes. Tribal Council Vice Chairwoman Aurolyn Stwyer-Pinkham said that she has spoken to a handful o f miE w orkers, and m o st o f th em are grateful to have jobs. “They can feed their famiEes,” Stywer-Pinkham said, “and m ake house payments. They can p u t food on their tables.” Tribal m em bers at the meeting asked w hether o r n ot people were being trained and certified to oper ate machinery at the miE. There were also questions about V a n p o rt, th e co m p a n y th a t is partnered w ith Forest Products In dustries to develop international mar- Duran Bobb/Spilyay Mona Jim addresses the General Council gathering, as Councilwoman Bernice Mitchell listens and Council staff member Joelden Surface takes minutes. Some others in attendance were (in back left to right) Roberta Kirk, Thea Smith, Willie Quinn, Seegray Littleleaf, Tony Littleleaf, Sam Kentura, Marge Kentura and Luther Clements. ket opportunities. And the question came up more than once: Would it be better for the tribes to close the miE, o r continue the op eration, employing as many workers as possible? Pipeline questions Jim Manion, G eneral Manager for W arm Springs Power & Water E nter prises, gave an update that included the revenue oudook, sources o f potential renewable energy, the water marketing potential, the BPA Right o f Way, and the p ro p o sed Palom ar gas pipeline crossing. The main concern o f the tribal mem bers in attendance was the Palom ar pipeEne project. H ow ever, M anion stressed that nothing has been finalized, as Tribal CouncE has n o t approved it. “T he pipeEne is n o t a Tribal C oun cil p ro ject,” , S tw yer-P inkham said. “We’re n o t signed up as a business part ner. We’re active in this because it in volves our territory.” D esp ite the recession, K ah- N ee-Ta has been able to sustain revenues very close to w hat was achieved in 2008. Tribal m em bers voiced a con Gaming business cern over how many Indians were D eepak Sehgal, chairm an for th e ! being trained for management posi K ah-Nee-Ta board o f directors, also , tions at the resort. There was also spoke about tough econom ic times concern from participants regard during his update. ing the G o rge casino. “We’re in a recession,” Sehgal said. A ccording to Sehgal, over the MeanwhEe, the resort needs to upgrade last eight to ten years the tribes some o f its equipment, he said. have spent around $27 m ilhon to For 2009, tribal m em bers made up make the G orge casino a reality. ab o u t 40 percent o f the reso rt and H arry Taylor, K ah-N ee-T a gen casino’s staff. Forty-tw o p ercen t o f eral m anager, said th a t at this em ployees are non -trib al m em bers. p o in t all e ffo rts are b eing p u t A bout 10 percent are o th er Indian, and fo rth fo r th e S ecretary o f the 7 percent are married into the tribes. In terio r to m ake a favorable de “The board desires to increase the cision for the tribes. recruitm ent and retainm ent o f tribal See GENERAL COUNCIL on 8 members,” Sehgal said. Horse coalition gathering in Reno T he N orthw est Tribal H orse Coali tion is meeting this week in Reno, Nev. Tribal representatives o f the coali tion are also scheduled to tour a ren dering plant in Chico, Calif., prior to the Reno meeting. The coalition includes five tribal na tio n s — W arm S p rin g s, Y akam a, Umatilla, Colville and Shoshone—-and is dedicated to addressing the problem o f excessive num bers o f wild horses roam ing the reservations. T he U.S. Bureau o f Land Manage m ent and other tribes are also partici pating in the coalition discussions. The tribes have received a $60,000 grant from the U.S. D ep artm en t o f Agriculture to study the feasibility o f operating a rendering plant on a reser vation, perhaps on the Warm Springs reservation. T he BIA has also provided some funding for a processing plant feasibil ity study, said G rant Clements, m em ber o f the N orthwest Tribal H orse Coa Etion. A rendering plant could be easier to develop on the reservation, compared to a processing plant, said Clements. Federal law has m ade processing plants impossible or nearly impossible to operate in the U.S. T he p ro life ra tio n o f unclaim ed horses on tribal and federal rangelands has greatly reduced the m arket for horses, said Clements. T here are instances where people are cutting the brands o ff o f horses and then dum ping the animals on res ervations, said Clements. The horses then roam the rangeland, depleting anddestroying the resource that could be ùséd by wildEfe and Eve- stock. A rendering o r processing plant could be a source o f new jobs on the r e s e r v a tio n , sa id W arm S p rin g s T rib a l C o u n c il C h a irm a n R o n S u p p ah . T h e id ea d eserv es to be looked into, he said. T he num ber o f unclaimed or wild horses on the W arm Springs reserva tion is estimated at m ore than 4,000. T he N orthw est Tribal H orse CoaE- tion form ed earEer this year to address the problem. The coaEtion started with two tribes, W arm Springs and Umatilla, and has expanded as other tribes, facing the same problem , also are seeking a solu tion. Census Bureau expects to hire locals for 2010 count B y T e rr i H a r b e r Spilyay Tymoo T he U.S. Census Bureau recentiy opened an office in Redm ond and ex pects to hire Warm Springs tribal mem bers to complete a head count o f its population next year, a group o f offi cials told tribal councE m em bers last week. Federal stimulus Finds wEl bolster the census effort by aEowing additional money to pay for m ore workers and materials. I t also aEows increased pub- Ec awareness o f the process, w hich makes it an easier, m ore accurate p ro cess, said MicheEe Maher, a tribal part nership speciaEst with the bureau. For 2000, the last census, “why was there an undercount?” CouncE m em ber Bernice MitcheE asked. A group o f people Eving in one sec tion o f the comm unity g ot missed dur ing the 2000 Census, she had heard. She then asked how the bureau plans to avoid an undercount o f tribal m em bers this time around. “It’s the m ost im portant question we need to address,” M aher said, and it wiE require preparation, legwork and community knowledge to ensure every one is found and counted. For instance, Warm Springs residents have p ost office boxes. People w ithout physical mailing addresses can compE- cate the job o f counting every person Eving in every dwelling. B ecause cen su s fo rm s are o nly L & Including Native Americans and Alaska natives in the count has become a higher priority since 2007, when the bureau began to improve its relationships with these sovereign nations. maEed to physical addresses, bureau employees have to leave census forms at physical locations w hen som eone only has a box num ber on file with the United States Postal Service. They then depend on citizens mailing the form back. People w ho don’t return form s for one reason or another end up receiv ing a visit from a bureau employee— w ho poses the same questions. Counting everyone is im portant to census takers and comm unity officials alike because creating and funding cru cial tribal program s and services is based on population and dem ograph ics, she said. There also is confusion about mak ing out the census forms. CouncE mem b er A u ro lyn S tw yer-P inkham said people should know how to properly fiE them out so the information is docu m ented accurately. T h e b u reau asked tribal council m em bers for one or m ore sites where residents can go to ask census ques tions, or obtain or drop o ff forms. Including N ative A m ericans and Alaska natives in the count has become a higher priority since 2007, w hen the bureau began to im prove its relation ships with these sovereign nations. WhEe the census provides a wealth o f inform ation about the United States and its people, it also aEows for unethi cal behavior by imitators w ho use per sonal inform ation for El-gotten gain. Census questions focus on age, race and address. Som eone asking highly detaEed personal financial questions is an im poster, M aher warned. Census workers carry special identi fication cards that people can ask to see i f th e y are u n s u re a b o u t a questioner’s motives, she added. 4 • • • S J
