sea
University of Oregon Library
Received on: 10-21-11
Spilyay tymoo
OrColl
E
75
« S66
v. 36
no. £1
October
Spi my Tyrocx
19, £011
Coyote News, est. 1976
October 19, 2011 Vol. 36, No. 21
Acquisition DepUSerials
Knight L'brarV
Oregon
^ " ÜnWoeR 97403-1205
Eugene
woidye
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
October - Anwicht’ash Fall - Tiyam
50 cents
-
Gaming focus turning to new casino jobs A first
By Dave McMechan
S pilyay Tymoo
There will be as many as 200 local
job openings early next year, when the
new temporary casino opens.
Gaming planners are preparing for
a jobs fair, and soon they will have a
list of the positions that will be avail
able.
Current employees at Kah-Nee-Ta
will be coming to work at the new In
dian Head, but more employees will be
needed, said Margie Tuckta, Kah-Nee-
Ta board member and gaming director
of special projects.
The gam ing board is currently hir-
ing a new casino general manager and
a human resources director. Once
these positions are filled, the focus
w ill be on filling the rest o f the jobs,
Tuckta said.
More employees— cashiers, floor
staff and security—will be needed for
the gaming portion of the casino. Other
openings will be in the restaurant and
gift shop, in maintenance and house
cleaning, among other areas.
A total of 280 employees w ill be
needed at the new enterprise. Some
positions w ill be filled by the Kah-
Nee-Ta workers, but most will be new
jobs.
Meeting the demand will require job
training. Gaming will be working with
Workforce Development, tribal Hu
man Resources, and the rest of the
organization to meet the challenge, said
Tuckta.
She and other board members met
with Tribal Council last week to dis
cuss the new casino. Councilman J.P.
Patt said the employee aspect o f the
enterprise is the key to its success.
This is a hospitality industry, he said.
“The casino is just a building with ma
chines in it,” Patt said. “If we’re ex
pecting people to stop, there has to be
a reason, or they’ll just drive by.”
The Northern Quest Resort and
Casino of the Kalispel Tribe, in Spo
kane, is a model for the industry, he
said.
Open 24 hours
The new Indian Head casino on
Highway 26 w ill be housed in a
40,000-square foot building beside
the plaza.
The casino is temporary, as a Cas
cade Locks resort and casino is the
long-term plan of the tribes.
At the new temporary facility,
there will be 500 slot machines, and
eight blackjack tables; plus a restau
rant with seating for 120, serving
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The building will house a snack
bar with seating for 30, and a gift
shop. The casino w ill be open 24-
hours, part o f the reason w hy
many new employees are needed.
Possible
solution
for mill
Warm Springs Forest Products In
dustries and the tribal N atural Re
sources Branch may have developed a
plan to keep the mill operating for at
least the next few years.
WSFPI and Natural Resource rep
resentatives met with Tribal Council last
week, and reported they may have
come up with a timber harvest plan
that would meet the mill’s needs.
The plan would require the acquisi
tion of additional timber for the mill
from off the reservation.
The issue is, however, still unre
solved; and Tribal Council wants to
hold a workshop on the question in the
near future.
Earlier this year, WSFPI and Natu
ral Resources were far from having a
mutually acceptable allowable timber
harvest proposal for 2012.
J;-
Art Show
Duran Bobb/Spilyay
Chieftainship selection moving forward
S pilyay Tymoo
At last week’s Wasco Chieftainship
Protocol meeting, facilitator Charles V.
Jackson presented the people with a
recommendation compiled by the fami
lies of nominees, George Clements,
A lfred Sm ith Jr., G arland Brunoe,
Derek Tasympt, Grant Clements Sr.
and John Katchia Sr.
“No sm all group or handful of
people can make a decision for the
entire group of Wascos,” Jackson said.
“Even though not all of us come to
these meetings all the time, I think at
some point we need to realize that we
have to make a decision and move for
ward. We want to hear your concerns,
and whether you have thoughts about
this recommendation, either pro or
con.”
The proposal is to request that the
tribes support the voting process. “It
may require additional funds for the
election board and Vital Statistics,” Jack-
son said.
“The constitution says it’s supposed
to be by tradition,” Emma Smith said.
Cassie Katchia read from section
seven of the tribal Constitution. ‘“The
election shall be by secret ballot or cus
tom as desired by the prevailing dis
trict.’ So it is up to the district,” she
said.
Jackson called for a show-of-hands
vote, asking how many of those present
wanted to select the next chief by elec
tion. Sixteen people out of an estimated
60 raised their hands.
Tommy K alam a was concerned
over the meaning of “Agency District”
in the proposal.
“I grew up in Hollywood and I vote
Seekseequa,” he said. “But I’m Wasco.
I shouldn’t have to run down to Vital
Stats and change my district to vote for
the next chief.”
Mona Smith-Cochran said, “I think
the gentlemen of the Wasco people
should come together and meet in a
good way, with a good heart, and make
the selection of who is going to repre
sent the Wascos.”
Tribal elder Perthina W hite then
spoke of when she was a young girl
and her father was asked by tribal lead
ers to become the next chief. She said:
“The Wasco Chief had passed away
then. All the Wasco men got together
and decided on who they were going
to ask to be the next chief. The elders
of the Wasco men came to our house
to see my dad. They told my dad that
he had been chosen, but he turned them
down because my mother was sickly.
He said he was honored. But my
L
This month saw a milestone in the
endeavor to bring migrating fish back
to the rivers above the Pelton-Round
Butte dams.
On October 9, an adult summer
steelhead returned to the Pelton fish
trap: This was the first fish to accom
plish the feat, as part of the réintro
duction project.
The fish was reared naturally in the
Crooked or middle Deschutes sub ba
sins. Then, as a smolt in 2010, the
young steelhead migrated downstream
through Lake Billy Chinook, and past
the new Round Butte Dam downstream
fish facility.
Biologists know the steelhead is one
of the reintroduced fish because of a
specifically clipped bone. Biologists had
clipped the right maxillary bone on all
anadromous smolts that were moved
from the fish transfer facility to the
lower Deschutes River.
The fish, and others like it, spent a
year in the ocean, and then returned
this month.
The fisheries réintroduction is a
project of the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs and Portland General
Electric, as owner-operators of the
Pelton-Round Butte hydro-facilities.
An overview
The Museum at Warm Springs
is hosting the Tribal Member Art
Show, on display in the
Changing Exhibits room.
Anita Davis won the Judges
Choice Award in the
Contemporary Category for her
beadwork (above). Travis Bobb
entered one of his paintings
(right).
See TIMBER on page 7
By Duran Bobb
for fish
passage
The next meeting is sched
uled fo r Oct. 26, hosted by
the Smith family.
•
mother would have to take charge of
the position, if he was chosen. She
would have to go with the other women
and dig roots and go huckleberry pick
ing for the feast.”
Her father couldn’t allow her to do
the things she would be required to do
while she was sick.
During the meeting last week, Mike
Clements said, “I’ve read the prevail
ing customs statement over and over
again. When the last chief was with
us, he said you guys can do it the way
you want the people to do it. The
Tribes can’t tell you how.”
The first chief, George Meacham,
wore the bonnet from 1932 until he
drowned in the high lakes in 1943,
Clements said. At that time the Wascos
went without a chief for 11 years.
In 1953, the Wasco men presented
names for candidates as the next chief.
They were Joe McCorkle, Walter Miller,
Cy Katchia, and Roy Meacham. As
Clements recalls, McCorkle won by a
single vote.
“They identified all the Wasco people
they knew, from all districts. They
didn’t limit the votes to one agency.”
Chief McCorkle passed away in
1958. There was another election
involving five candidates. Three of
them were M illers: Floyd M iller,
Avix Miller and Walter Miller. One
of then was Bill McCorkle. The
other was adw ai C h ief N elson
Wallulatum.
Chief Wallulatum began serving
the people in 1959.
“I worked closely with adwai
Chief Wallulatum,” Roberta Kirk
said. “He gave us direction. He
had services for the remains of our
ancestors that we brought back. So
whoever our next chief w ill be,
we’re going to come to him for di
rection. That’s a huge responsibil
ity. We have ancestors in museums
that need to be brought home. So
being the next chief means remem
bering the people today and not for
getting about the ancestors.”
G eorge C lem en ts, G rant
Clements Sr, and John Katchia Sr
all gave short statements and pre
sented their lineage. The next Wasco
Chief meeting is scheduled for Oc
tober 26 with dinner at 6 p.m., hosted
by the Smith family. All candidates
are requested to be present for ques
tions and answers.
Fish passage above Pelton-Round
butte has not happened since 1968. The
problem over the years was the lack
of a downstream current in the lake
behind the dams. There were also
changes to the water temperature due
to the dams. So rather than migrate,
the juvenile fish remained upstream.
The tribes and PGE spent several
years developing a plan to correct the
situation, and reopen the many miles
of upstream habitat to the fish.
The unique aspect of the solution
was construction and operation of the
273-foot underwater tower and fish col
lection station above Round Butte dam
in Lake Billy Chinook. The fish are col
lected, sorted and transported down
stream, so they can continue their jour
ney to the Pacific.
When Round Butte dam was built
in 1964, it included a fish passage sys
tem: a gondola/tramway system for the
upstream journey; and an intake/col
lection system for the downstream mi
gration. This original system, however,
did not work, due to the unforeseen
changes in river currents and tempera
tures. Eventually, the system was aban
doned and a fish hatchery was built
below Round Butte Dam instead.
The new underwater tower modifies
the currents and temperature to mimic
the natural conditions o f the river.
Meanwhile, the hydro-dams can con
tinue to generate power for sale.
Total cost of this project is estimated
at $130 million.
Jim M anion, m anager o f W arm
Springs Power and Water Enterprises,
said many individuals have worked dili
gently on the specific project that saw
this month’s fish return. Some of them
are: The Round Butte hatchery crew
who produced the fry for réintroduc
tion, tribal and Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife personnel who coor
dinated the fry releases; the m any
agency and public volunteers who
helped with releases; the Pelton project
research crew; and the fish passage
crews working for Power and Water and
PGE; and the Pelton-Round Butte
maintenance and electricians.
•
%
tr
l
•
•