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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 31, 2009)
H o w la k T ic h u m Civil legal help for victims continues By M ark M atthew s ~ A w a w a n ita ~ M a v is M a y a n n e K irk, O ctober 16,1978 - D ecem ber 16,2009 Awawanita w ent on her journey into the Spirit world on D ecem ber 16, 2009. She was bo rn to Mildred Q uaem pts o f Pendleton and O liv er K irk Jr. o f W arm Springs O ctober 13,1978. May leaves b e h in d h er fiance Leander Williams Jr. and her two precious chil dren, Sunhawk Miliana H ope and Leander Sundance Will iams III; her m other Mildred and father Oliver; grandpar ents Lolita Greeley o f Warm Springs, and Oliver Kirk Sr. o f G a n a d o , A riz, a n d D o n a ld Jo e o f A rdm ore, O kla.; h er siblings M erle, A nnie, D erek and Cecelia; h e r tre a su re d nieces and nephew Keeyana, Marcella and Kaiwin; and all family o f W arm S prings, U m atilla, Yakima and Arizona and many friends. She was preceded in death by U ncle G ab riel Selam, U ncle R o n n ie M o rn in g O w l an d G reat-G randm other Annie Joe o f Umatilla. May lived m ost o f her life in W arm S p rin g s a n d in Pendleton. She enjoyed m eeting new people in the Food Service profession at the Deschutes and Kah-Nee-Ta, and work ing w ith th e elders at the W arm Springs Senior P ro gram. T h ro u g h o u t May’s life time, she enjoyed spending time w ith family and friends, softball, art, beading, poetry, cooking, traveling, and at tending traditional and social events and m otherhood. She has many friends and relatives w ho will miss her, and we all know we will meet her again as long as we keep the creator in our hearts. 2009 Year in Review November Transit expansion Warm Springs Transit, which has been in operation now for the past four years, will soon undergo major changes, accord ing to Dave Conroy, acting di rector o f tribal Social Services. “W e’re looking at a m ajor expansion o f services, b oth in terms o f hours o f operation and areas w h ich th e tra n sit w ill cover,” said Conroy. “W e’ve been working diligendy with the P la n n in g D e p a rtm e n t, o u r driver Evans Spino, and with the Vocational Rehab Program to make these changes happen.” Corridor agreement T he Confederated Tribes o f W arm S p rin g s a n d th e Bonneville Power Administra tio n have n e g o tia te d a new agreem ent allowing BPA the Psge 7 December 31, 2009 Spilyqy Tymoo, Wgrm Springs, Oregon continued use o f an existing transm ission line corridor on the reservation. BPA will pay the tribes $17 million for the use o f the corri dor for the next 50 years. General Council T h e tr ib e s h e ld g e n e ra l council meetings this m o n th in W arm Springs and Sim nasho to g a th e r in p u t fro m trib a l m em bers before the 2010 b u d get is finalized. T h e p ro p o se d b u d g e t in cludes a projected use o f the “rainy day” fund o f $3,612,297, resulting'ai' a balanced /posted budget. December Fish passage T h e first fish were captured o n D ecem ber 1 at the new w a ter intake system at the R ound B utte dam on the D eschutes River. “This is the beginning o f a new era,” said Jim Manion, m an ager o f W arm Springs Power and Water Enterprises. The new era will see migrat ing fish spaw ning above the Round Butte dams for the first time in decades. Trust case settlement A $3.4 b illio n p ro p o s e d settlem ent agreem ent was an nounced in the long-running class action lawsuit, Cobell V. Salazar, which , claims that, the federal g o v ern m en t m ism an aged individual Indians’ tru st accounts. Possibly as m any as 2,000 m em bers o f the Confederated Tribes o f W arm Springs may qualify to p articip ate in th e settlem ent,, and m ay receive some compensation. Victims o f Crime Services Civil legal assistance for on- reservation victims o f dom es tic violence, sexual assault, dat ing violence, and stalking will continue through A ugust 2010 w ith the extension o f a grant. The Legal Assistance for Vic tims (LAV) grant makes avail able civil legal services and rep resentation in tribal legal m at ters to eligible victims o f d o mestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking arising as a consequence o f their abuse o r violence. T he U.S. D epartm ent o f Jus tice funds the Legal Assistance for Victims g rant through its Violence Against W omen O f fice. This is a two-year grant. G wen Leonard is the civil le gal advocate employed by the grant, and her office is located in the Victims o f Crime Services (VOCS) building. L eo n ard appears in c o u rt w ith eligible clients w ho need assistance w ith restraining or ders, divorces, modifications o f fam ily a n d civil o rd e rs, guardianships and other civil le gal matters arising from a situa tion involving violence or stalk ing. Restraining order cases are the m ost frequent type o f case where Leonard appears in tribal court as a spokesperson. Leonard also observes at ar raignment and other tribal court hearings those p erso n crim e cases relating to VOCS and LAV subject matter. I am the LAV grant supervis in g a tto rn e y , a n d I a ssist Leonard with supervision, ad vice, an d w ill su b stitu te for Leonard w hen she cannot ap pear in court. She is a great spokesperson and legal advocate for her cli ents. She understands the issues that her clients face because o f her background as a victims ad- v o cate su p erv iso r, and as a g randm other and com m unity member. Leonard has attended several trainings, including two trainings for legal advocates taught by the National Institute o f Trial A t torneys, and seminar taught by the Southwest Center for Law and Policy. Potential clients w ho need civil legal assistance from the LAV program m ust first have a confidential intake by a VOCS staff member. I f the potential client has le gal problems due to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking, then that p e rs o n w ill b e r e f e rre d to Leonard. Leonard will then determine if the potential client is eligible for LAV legal services. A ccord in g to O ffic e o n V io len ce Against W omen guidelines LAV legal services cannot be p ro vided to those individuals w ho need legal representation for criminal defense or if their chil dren are taken into protective custody. Also, the LAV advocate cannot assist clients in off-res- ervation courts. Leonard will make a referral to either O regon Legal Services in Bend, tribal Legal Aid, or off- reservation attorneys for those individuals who are n o t eligible for the Warm Springs LAV civil legal assistance services. VOCS advocate supervisor Viola G ovenor will assign a vic tim advocate to work with the client and Leonard with non-le- gal services and assistance. T he victim advocate may as sist the client w ith em otional support, information or referral, or personal advocacy. R e fe rra ls to th e V O C S E v e n in g W o m en ’s S u p p o rt G roup, W arm Springs Com m u nity Counseling and other pub lic service agencies are common. Call 553-2293 during office hours if you need civil legal as sistance resulting from dom es tic violence, sexual assault, dat ing violence, or stalking. Officials test disaster plan readiness Tribal public safety offi cials, w ith o fficials fro m other agencies, conducted a successful “table to p ” disas ter plan exercise earlier this month. T he exercise looked at the consequences o f a failure at the dam holding back water at the H appy Valley Reser voir near, Simnasho. The dam was built in the 1930s, and would pose the threat o f failing in the event o f an event like and earth quake o r flood, said D an Martinez, Warm Springs Fire and Safety chief. T he dam itself is under jurisdiction o f the Bureau o f Indian Affairs, b ut the agen cies w ork together on disas te r p re p a re d n e s s , said Martinez. Along w ith Fire and Safety and the BI A, the tribal N atural Resources Branch, Kah-Nee-Ta and the W arm Springs N ational Fish H atchery were also repre sented at the table-top exercise, held at Kah-Nee-Ta. T he H appy Valley reservoir and dam, about two miles from Simnasho, holds a fairly large volume o f water, which would threaten some structures down stream, said Martinez. “Six hom es are in its path downstream, as it goes to the W arm Springs River,” he said. K ah-N ee-Ta would also be in the path as the w ater flows to the Deschutes. There is a low chance for loss o f life as a result o f the dam being breached, b ut there could be some property loss, said Martinez. T h e exercise at K ah - N ee-Ta involved a review o f the tribal disaster miti gation plan, as it would be applied to a failure o f the dam at H appy Valley, said Ju a n ita M ajel, F ire a n d Safety fire fighter and emer gency medical technician. This part o f the plan was about 90 percent on target, w ith som e needed m inor changes— a road name ad justm ent, fo r instance— brought to light by the ex ercise, said Majel. T he res ervoir, she said, is roughly 336 acres in size, and used mainly to teach youngsters to fish, and also is still used for some irrigation. OVED IRA’S SALES & SERVICE, INC. Nathan We've m o v e d o m We are located next to Eagle Cfossi at the old White Horse/ ResWurant Suiküng NOW OPEN Monday - Friday 8AM -5», EXTENDED HOURS WILL STARTT • Federal & State Income Tax Preparation • Refund Anticipated Loan (RAL) • Refund Transfers (RT) • Electronic Filed Indian Exempt Forms • E-Filing and m ore.... Make an Appointment TODAY or Just Drop by (541) 553-1200 Scrap Metal, Used A u to & Truck Parts, Wrecking Service, Diesel Trucks, Pick-ups & Cars
