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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2010)
“I P.0. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ECRWSS 3ostal Patron J.S. Postage ----------------- PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 C o yo te News, est. 1976 April 21, 2 0 1 0 Voi. 35, No. 8 50 cents Seniors Day to mark 20th anniversary Recovery act brings housing Federal econom ic recov ery act m oney is helping build m uch-needed new hom es on the reservation. Five hom es are b e in g b u ilt in th e S unnyside area, said T o m Strong, project manager. Funding is in the am’o u n t o f $626,000. A long w ith the new hom es, the project has created four jobs, and o p p o r tunities for m em bers to bid on aspects o f the project, said Strong. T he H ousing crew is do ing the construction w ork and th e in fra stru c tu re su ch as w ater, sew er and electrical. T h ere will be th ree 4-bed- room hom es, one 3-bedroom and o n e 5 -bedroom . C o n s tr u c tio n s ta r te d in la te M arch, and th e anticipated completion date is in October. Duran Bobb/Spilyay Nathan Williams and Kanim Smith of Housing pour the concrete foundation of a new under construction at Sunnyside. D esignation will help fight drug problem B y D u ra n B o b b Spilyay Tymoo Sjgna to rs R o n W y d e q ^ n d J e f f M erkley have anno u n ced th e designation o f the W arm Springs R eservation as a H igh I n te n s ity D r u g T ra ffic k in g Area. “Police C hief C arm en Smith asked fo r the designation b e cause o f th e high am o u n t o f drug activity on and around the reservation,” said Jim Soules, director o f W arm Springs P u b lic Safety. “T he request for the desig nation was part o f an effort to form a N orthw est Indian Coun- try D ru g Task Force to deal with m arijuana grow ers, m eth and oth er issues,” said Soules J n 1 9 88, th e A n ti - D ru g A buse A ct granted the director o f the O ffice o f N ational D rug C ontrol Policy the authority to designate any area in the U.S. as a H igh Intensity Drug. Traffick ing Area (H ID T A ). T he rationale was to create a m echanism for directing addi tional assistance to the w o rst d ru g traffick in g areas in th e country. In a letter to th e Senate A p propriations subcom m ittee on Financial Services and G eneral G overnm ent, dated M arch 30, 2010, twenty-five senators re quested $239 million in funding for H ID T A s program in fiscal year. 2QJ.l.t.7J|. “Since 2005,” the letter states, “H ID T A has dismantled o r dis rupted 13,830 drug trafficking and m oney laundering organiza tions, o f w hich 8,747 were ei ther multi-sfate o r international in sc o p e . I n th e p ro c e s s , H ID T A initiatives seized m ore than 13,144 tons o f marijuana, 418 tons o f cocaine, 34 tons o f metham phetam ine and 123 tons o f heroin.” In A ugust o f last year, W arm Springs tribal police seized a crop o f marijuana in Jefferson Creek canyon w ith an estim ated tribal law en fo rcem en t the street value o f $5 million. In July tools to do exactly th at.” T ribal law en fo rcem en t o f 2007, trib al police seized over 30,000 m arijuana p lam sx authorities from the N o rth - estim ated street value o f $33.5 w est have reported that 55 million. p ercent o f gangs active on H ID T A designation means tribal lands are involved w ith that the reservation is now eli drug trafficking on the reser gible for federal funding that will vation or transporting to an help tribal authorities to fight the other reservation. G row ers, w ho are often growing problem o f illegal drugs non-tribal m em bers, seem to on the reservation. “ I f w e w a n t to p r e v e n t be attracted to the reserva d ru g s fro m d e v a sta tin g o u r tio n b e c a u s e it p ro v id e s families and our com m unities,” plenty o f hiding spaces and S e n a to r M e rk le y said , “w e inhospitable terrain, am ong n e e d to crack d o w n o n th e other reasons. crim inals peddling them . T his See HIDTA on page 8 designation will give local and Condor summit reports progress o f recovery B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo T here are now 350 Califor nia condors. O f the total, 181 are in the wild, and 169 are in captive breeding program s at zoo facilities. T he num bers show progress fro m th e 1980s, w hen few er than 30 o f the birds were alive, and all had to be taken in to cap tivity. T here has been progress in their recovery, b u t the condors still face m any deadly threats. L ead p o is o n in g is a serious threat: T he condors ingest lead from spent am m unition in ani mal carcasses, and som etimes pass th e toxic m etal to their chicks. C o n d o r advocates suggest hunters use copper bullets as an alternative. “I think our ceremo nial hunters should switch to the n o n -le a d b u llets,” said F red Wallulatum. H unters w ho use the all-cop per bullets say they are at least and maybe m ore effective than conventional bullets containing lead. W allulatum was am ong the speakers at th e Pacific N o rth w est C ondor Summit, held April 13 at the O regon Zoo. Topics o f discussion at the sum m it included lead reduction, the current status o f the co n d o r recovery program , and the cultural legacy o f the condors. Culturally to Wascos the con dor, o r T hunderbird is sacred, said Wallulatum. T he bird, w ith its nearly 10- foot wingspan, is associated with storm s, lightning and thunder. Journals o f the Lewis and Clark expedition describe young con dors being kept in Wasco villages, p erh ap s fo r p ro te c tio n fro m storms. A Wasco story says die condor is the only bird th at can overcom e the eagle in a contest o f strength and flying. Oregon joins program W asco C h ie f N e ls o n Wallulatum is a longtim e advo cate o f th e c o n d o r reco v ery program , including any effo rt Dave McMechan/Spilyay Cultural importance of the condor can be seen in basketry of weaver Pat Courtney Gold. These baskets were on display at the recent condor summit. that may return the bird to the wild in O regon. C ondors once lived in m any areas o f O regon, b u t as non- Indian setders arrived the birds began tò disappear. T h e last of ficial sighting o f a c o n d o r in O regon was in 1904. T he C ondor Recovery P ro gram began in California in the 1980s, and the first birds were released back into the wild in the 1990s. T he O regon Z oo joined th e co n d o r recovery program a few years later. In May o f 2004 the O r egon condor program saw its first milestone: the hatching o f a condor chick. I t was the first such event on record. R ecognizing th e signifi c a n c e o f th e b ir d to th e tribes, the zoo asked C hief Wallulatum to name the chick. C hief Wallulatum nam ed the young bird Kun-wak-shun. In the K iksht language this means “T hunder and Light ening,” referring to the sacred T hunderbird o f the Colum bia River. A t age 15 m o n th s K un- w ak-shun was released into the wild in central California. H e w ore a tracking device so b io lo g is ts c o u ld m ap his m ovem ents. K un-w ak-shun holds the record for the far thest recorded flight o f any released condor in California. See CONDORS on page 14 T his year m arks the T w en tie th A nniversary fo r H o n o r Seniors Day. T h e po p u lar event happens M ay 14 a t th e A g e n c y L onghouse in W arm Springs, w ith the them e being the tw o- decade m ilestone. “T h ey ’re th e ones w h o ’ve gone before us, they teach us,” Law rence Squiem phen, o f the S enior P rogram , said o f those started H o n o r Seniors Day. T h e event brings h undreds o f visitors to the reservation. M any arriv e th e day b e fo re and stay at K ah-N ee-T a. T h e guests com e from the C en tral O re g o n reg io n , and fro m trib e ’s th r o u g h o u t th e N orthw est. G uests and participants b e gin arriving at the L onghouse at 8 a.m. o n H o n o r S eniors Day. R e g istra tio n b e g in s at 8:30. T h e n it will be tim e to p o st colors and recognize veterans. A t 10 a.m . th e r e w ill b e a children’s powwow, sponsored by th e E arly C hildhood E d u cation Center. S nacks an d lu n c h w ill be served at noon. F un and games s ta r t a t 1 p .m . A n e v e n in g lo n g h o u se-style salm on bake d in n er w ith all the fixings is served at 5 p.m. O th e r tips fo r th o se w ho p lan o n attending: seating is lim ite d a n d o n w o o d e n benches so bring a cushion to sit o n . A lso b rin g d a n c in g shoes. C o n tact th e senior citizen p ro g ra m to re g iste r p a rtic i p ants, to v o lu n teer o r to in fo rm o f any disabled atte n d ees w ho m ight need special as sistan ce, 541-553-3313. Fax th e in fo rm a tio n to 541-553- 2240, o r e-m ail to: lew uxen02@ yahoo.com ; or, lschuster@ w stribes.org. T h ere are several places fo r out-of-tow n visitors to stay, in c lu d in g K a h - N e e - T a H ig h D e se rt R esort and Casino, 1- 800-554-4786, an d a variety o f sites in M adras, such as the C hateau Inn, and In n at C ross K eys Station. New Council taking office on May 3 T h e m e m b e r s o f th e T w en ty -F ifth T rib al C o u n cil o f th e C o n fe d e ra te d T rib es are scheduled to take office on M onday M ay 3. T h e sw earing-in cerem ony happens at the tribal administra tion building at 10 a.m. In other Council business: Council and guests were plan ning to take a to u r o f the Ceded Lands this week w ith the Land Use Planning Committee. C o u n c il is s c h e d u le d to m e e t M o n d ay , A p ril 26, in cham bers, and th e n will c o n d u c t w o rk sessio n s at K ah - N e e -T a o n T u esd ay an d W ednesday, A pril 26-27.
