SCH
OrColl
Spi lyay Tyme ?-1
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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January 12, 2011
Zoyote News, est. 1976
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Vol. 36, Ne
Eugene OR y
S pilyay Tymoo
The Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs and the state of Oregon now
have a federally approved gaming com
pact for the tribes’ proposed Cascade
Locks casino.
The tribes and the state submitted
the compact to the Department of the
Interior for approval in November of
last year. The agency took no action
regarding the application, which results
in approval.
The com pact sets out term s of
agreement between the tribes and the
local community of Cascade Locks,
regarding law enforcement, fire protec
tion, the number o f slot machines,
among other issues.
Provisions for a scholarship fund
from gaming proceeds are included in
the compact, as is an agreement by the
tribes not to build on property located
outside of Hood River, if the Cascade
Locks property is taken into trust.
That recendy approved compact is
an updated version of one that the state
and the tribes negotiated in 2005, which
the federal government rejected. The
Interior Department at that time de
clined to approve the compact because,
the Secretary of the Interior said at the
time, the land in question was not yet
in trust. The land is still not in trust,
but the compact is now place.
There will need to be a “two-part
determination” before the critical step
is taken to bring the Cascade Locks site
into trust. The two-part determination
test of the Indian Gaming Regulatory
The two-part determination,
and the new Governor’s
response to the determina
tion, remain significant
challenges fo r the Cascade
Cocks casino proposal.
Act requires a finding that the proposed
gaming enterprise is in the best interest
of the tribes and its members, and does
not harm the neighboring communities.
Gov. Kitzhaber will have to concur
with the two-part determination. Mean
while, the Interior Department has in
dicated that no hew two-part determi
nations for tribal casinos will be issued
until spring. The two-part determina
tion, and the Governor’s response to
the determination, remain significant
challenges for the Cascade Locks ca
sino proposal. Still, the approval of
the compact was good news.
“The compact is important be
cause it establishes the legal frame
work for operation of a gaming fa
cility at Cascade Locks,” said Louie
Pitt, director of tribal Government
Affairs.
Following the release of the Fi
nal Environmental Impact State
ment last August, “The approval of
the compact means that another
major hurdle has been cleared, lead
ing the way to final federal approval
for the project,” said Pitt.
The casino would provide 400
construction jobs and 1,700 full
time jobs once the facility is in op
eration.
Oregon Ducks fans show
team spirit Monday before
the BCS Championship
game. Gathering at the
administration building were
Delson Suppah and
Francelia Miller (front);
JoyDee Smith, Beverly
Surface, Benson Heath,
Rena Suppah and Toby
Smith-Morales (middle row
from left); Jonathan Smith,
Charles Jackson, Will
Robbins, Buttons Miller and
Lonny Macy (back from
left). Benson Heath,
director of tribal personnel,
is an alum of Eastern
Oregon University, but is
now among the most
ardent of Duck fans. It was
unfortunate, to say the
least, that in Monday night’s
game the Auburn Tigers
edged the Ducks 22-19.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Teleco Update
Project w ill bring 19 local jobs
S pilyay Tymoo
/-phe Warm Springs Telecommunica
tion Com pany m ain office w ill be
housed in the former apparel building
at the industrial park.
“It’s an ideal building for our pur
poses,” said Adam Haas, the company
general manager. “There’s a large open
area that we can use to build out the
central office.”
The central office area will house
electronic equipment, office space for
the staff, and the customer service
area.
The apparel building has been mostly
vacant for several years, with the tribal
Construction enterprise currently using
only part of the building.
The Warm Springs Telecommunica
tions Co. (WSTC), tribally owned and
chartered, will create new 19 local jobs,
said Marsha Spellman, company mar
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Duck
Spirit
By Dave McMechan
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January - Wiyak’ik’ila - Winter - Ânm
Casino clears hurdle, still faces challenge
By Dave McMechan
ECRWSS
)stal Patron
keting and regulatory director.
The company last year was awarded
$5.5 million in funding, as a grant and
a loan, last year through the federal
stimulus program.
When in operation, the company will
provide telephone and other commu
nications services to the reservation.
WSTC recendy chose an architect,
Steele and Associates of Bend, to de
sign the rem odeling o f the apparel
building. The Construction Enterprise
will remain at one end of the building,
and the WSTC offices and electronic
center will be at the other end.
The plan is for the office to be in
o p eratio n by late sum m er, said
Spellman. The first two WSTC custom
ers will be Kah-Nee-Ta and the tribal
administration building, followed by
residences and other organizations on
the reservation.
An early challenge facing the WSTC
is the recruiting of people to fill the 19
positions. Some of these jobs will re-
“ To be a success, this has
to be run and operated
by the members.»
Adam Haas
WSTC general manager
quire specialized training in the main
tenance and operation of telecommu
nication equipment. Other positions will
require office skills such as bookkeep
ing and customer relations.
A p rim ary go al o f the W ST C ,
along with successful operation, is the
employment of tribal members, said
Haas. “To be a success, this has to be
run and operated by members,” he
said.
W STC is w o rkin g w ith M arcia
Soliz, tribal Human Resources em
p lo ym en t serv ic e s m an ager, and
Laura Switzler, job placement special
ist of Workforce Education and De-
velopm ent Department, on hiring
and other aspects o f the teleco
project.
Soliz and Switzler recently visited
the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation
in California, near Nevada, where
the tribe operates a telecommunica
tions company. The visit to Fort
Mojave was a chance to see first
hand the operation of a successful
tribal telecommunications enterprise,
Soliz said.
The experience was educational
and inspiring, said Soliz. (H er report
on the visit is p rin ted on p a ge 4.)
The WSTC board of directors at
this time are Sal Sahme, chairman;
Robert Macy, secretary-treasurer;
Ken Smith, and Mitch Moore, board
vice chairman, who is the general
manager of Clear Creek telecommu
nications company.
WSTC estimates a tim eline of
about three years to bring its services
to the entire reservation.
Tribes
heard at
Summit of
the Horse
By Terri Harber
S pilyay Tymoo
The amount of attention the first
time event received was “fantastic,” said
Sue Wallis, one of the organizers of
The Summit of the Horse, held last
week in Las Vegas.
Singer M ichael M artin Murphey,
known for the 1970s radio staple “Wild
fire,” lent his support to the cause
through a written message. Dr. Temple
Gradin, an autistic woman who became
a successful veterinarian and author
im m ortalized in an aw ard-w inning
HBO film, signed autographs for the
attendees.
This summit focused on the sensi
tive issue o f resurrecting the horse
slaughtering business in the U.S., and
drew attention from m edia outlets
across the country and even gained
some international coverage.
Protesters also abound, however.
They stood along the Strip with signs
and spoke out loudly against the event.
Others opposing the idea of restarting
the practice attended and asked ques
tions of anyone who was interested in
conversing.
More than 200 ranchers, govern
ment officials, wildlife advocates and
tribal officials— including representa
tives of the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs— attended the summit,
said Wallis, vice president of United
Horseman.
“We were impressed with their fo
cus, their efforts,” she said o f the
people there rep resen tin g N ative
American tribes. “They were well rep
resented.”
Horse processing was halted in the
U.S. in 2007 after animal rights activ
ists made public poor practices at
slaughterhouses. There were only three
of them in operation then.
It’s still not illegal to be in the horse
slaughtering business. There aren’t any
federal inspectors to look over horse
carcasses meant for human consump
tion , ho w ever, b ecause C ongress
stopped allocating money for it, accord
ing to Wallis.
She and other critics of the 2007
federal action contend it has contrib
uted to the horse overpopulation prob
lems that plague federal lands and In
dian reservations. They also say it hurts
the U.S. because the operations simply
go on in Canada and Mexico, and that
the current arrangement allows more
harmful and potentially unsanitary pro
cessing practices to occur.
The group has created standards of
operation and is involved in a variety
o f outreach endeavors to get their
message across: It’s a viable business.
Range overpopulation
Horses are livestock, said Jason
Smith, manager of the tribes’ Range
and Agriculture Department. He is in
volved with United Horsemen and is
president of the similarly focused and
renamed National Tribal Horse Coali
tion. He was also one of the featured
speakers at the summit.
“Nobody is buying horses right now
because they know they can’t get rid
of them. And it’s affecting our natural
resources,” he said after returning home
last week from the summit.
See HORSE SUMMIT on page 6
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