“I
P.0. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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3ostal Patron
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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.