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.
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