n
r
P^ge 10
December 14-, 2011
Spily^y Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
2011 Year in Review
January
provided by Oregon law to state
and local law enforcement of­
ficers. This would allow tribal
officers to cite non-Indians, over
whom the tribe lacks criminal
jurisdiction, into state court for
state law violations.
(The following are some o f the
notable events o f 2011 on the res­
ervation.)
The company LNG withdrew
its apphcation with the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
for a gas pipeline that would
have been partly on reservation.
The 220-m ile-lo n g Palom ar
pipehne would have run down
the Willamette Valley, crossing
over to Molalla, making its way
through the Cascades, and over
reservation lands on its way to
join a larger p ip elin e near
Shaniko.
Palomar General Manager
Michael Burke gave a number
of reasons for withdrawing the
application, originally filed in
2008. First, the partner com­
pany, NorthStar, filed for bank­
ruptcy in the spring of 2010.
Then, demand for compressed
liq u efied n atural gas has
dropped during the recession.
The W arm Springs T ele­
com m unication Com pany
was planning in January to re­
model the the former apparel
building at the industrial park.
The teleco would use the build­
ing for its main office
“It’s an ideal building for our
purposes,” said Adam Haas,
teleco enterprise general man­
ager. The central office area
w ill house electronic equip­
m ent, o ffice space for the
staff, and the customer service
area.
The apparel building has been
mosdy vacant for several years,
with the tribal Construction en­
terprise currendy using only part
of the building. Also in January:
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs and the state of
Oregon officially approved the
gam ing 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 2010.
The agency took no action, re­
sulting in approval. And this
January news:
Tamera Rae Moody won the
2011 Miss Warm Springs Pag­
eant. Tamera is a student at
Lane C om m unity C o llege.
Norene Sampson was runner-
up. The pageant started with
some words from the outgoing
Miss Warm Springs, Jaycelene
Frank, and a give-away. And this
news:
The Warm Springs Housing
Authority announced the de­
partment was close to resolving
several issues raised in 2010 by
the Department of Housing and
Urban Development. Housing
Authority employees made their
repo rt this m onth to Tribal
Council.
Tribal leaders in February
said they were hoping to have
the temporary highway 26 ca­
sino in operation by late this
winter or early spring 2012. The
temporary casino could provide
“a financial shot in the arm,” as
the tribes face a serious revenue
shortage. Elsewhere:
The court-ordered process
o f notifying individual class
members of their right to par­
ticipate in the Cobell Indian
Trust Settlement got underway
this month. Notices are being
sent to an estimated 500,000 af­
fected class members.
The h isto ric class action
settlement concerns Individual
Indian M oney accounts and
land held in trust by the federal
go vern m ent. M any W arm
Springs tribal members are en­
titled to file claims. And this:
Tribal Council in February
authorized the removal of sev­
eral old BIA-owned buildings
on the reservation. In consult­
ing with the chief operations of­
ficer and director of tribal Utili­
ties, Council determined that
buildings cannot be renovated.
Council had the option of
accepting title to the buildings
L
from the BIA, but rejected the
offer. Removal of the buildings,
by the BIA at the agency’s ex­
pense, will provide space for
new building development, in ac­
cordance with the downtown de­
velopment plan, said Chief Op­
erations Officer Urbana Ross.
Elsewhere:
The LongestWalk 3 team
visited Warm Springs in Febru­
ary, on their way to Washington
D.C. The walk began in Port­
land, and is an effort to spread
awareness about diabetes and its
impact on Native Americans.
v
March W
The N’Chi Wanapam Canoe
Family was preparing for its sec­
ond season on the water. This
year the Canoe Journey will be
the Paddle to Swinomish 2011.
The destination, the Swinomish
Indian Reservation, is in north­
ern Washington on Skagit Bay.
The Canoe Family held a ca­
noe dedication in March at In­
dian Park, with salmon bake
and giveaway, canoe heritage and
cultural presentations. Muckle-
shoot, Puyallup, Nisqually and
Tulalip tribal members were on
hand. And this news:
A t one tim e M ichelle
Wells-Elliott wondered if she
still had a soul left, as a prisoner
of addiction. “I was homeless,”
she said. “It was that bad. I
was doing a lot of jail time. I
was running the streets. I just
didn’t care anymore.”
At the height of her addic­
tion, Michelle lost her mother.
“That’s my biggest regret. I was
in full-blown addiction while my
mother was on her death bed.”
Guidance came to Michelle
in the form of a court order,
when Heather Crow-Martinez
was sent to do an assessment on
Michelle in jail. Heather became
Michelle’s mentor.
Michelle went to treatment at
Visions of Hope in Redmond
in 2006. The program lasted
28 days, but the lessons for life
continue.
“I started COCC in the sum­
mer of 2008, majoring in ad­
diction studies. It was tough!
I’m not going to He.”
In 2010, Michelle tested at
the state level, and became a cer­
tified drug and alcohol counse­
lor. Today, Michelle is reminded
of her soul. “Every day, there
comes a reminder of spiritual­
ity. I still have my soul and I
understand why God protects it
now. I know my mom is proud
of me in heaven”
Northwest Energy Systems
C om pany out o f B ellevue,
Wash., is proposing a biomass
plant to be located just south of
the Warm Springs landfill. Bio­
mass renewable energy is pro­
duced by burning wood waste
in a boiler, creating steam that
powers a turbine which gener­
ates electricity.
The wood m aterial to be
burned in the plant would come
from reservation and off-reser­
Levi B lackw olf won the
Outstanding Calendar Award at
the 2011 North American In­
digenous Image Awards.
The awards ceremony was
held at the Hard Rock Hotel in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Blackwolf, owner of Wolfn
Photographies, won the award
for his Powwow Model Calen­
dar.
vation lands. The 38-megawatt
plant would produce enough
electricity for 35,000 homes.
Construction would cost an es­
timated $150 milhon.
The W arm Springs T ele­
communications Co. began
work on remodehng the old ap­
parel building. The building wiU
be the main office of the tele­
communications company, hous­
ing electronic equipment, offices
and customer service area. The
Warm Springs Telecommunica­
tions Company last year received
$5.3 milhon— half by grant and
half as a loan— from U.S. De­
partment of Agriculture Rural
Development.
With Gov. Kitzhaber stand­
ing at his side, Warm Springs
C hief Delvis Heath gave the
invocation at the ceremony on
May 13 in Salem, recognizing
A m erican Indian W eek
throughout the state of Oregon.
Tribal Council met with the
N atural Resources Branch in
May to discuss the timber har­
vest on the reservation, and the
possible impact on the Warm
Springs Forest Products Indus­
tries mill. Tribal Council faces
a difficult decision regarding
forestry, as the annual timber cut
from the reservation may have
to be reduced.
Council members and Natu­
ral R esources agreed that a
workshop of two or three days
is needed for further discussion.
The difficulty of the situation
can be explained as follows:
To operate year-round, the
WSFPI mill would require an
annual cut of at least 45 million
board feet. However, Natural
Resources studies show that an
annual cut of 45 milhon board
feet is not sustainable. Natural
Resources said to Council that
an annual cut of about 30 mil-
Hon board feet from the reser­
vation is a maximum sustainable
number.
Representativesof Oregon’s
tribes met at Kah-Nee-Ta in
April to discuss matters of con­
cern to all tribes. The Cobell
settlement process was a key
item on the agenda.
A Head Start review team
was in Warm Springs in April,
observing the operation of the
Warm Springs Head Start pro­
gram. The five-person review
team arrived at the request of
Tribal Council.
A bout 75 tribal m embers
gathered in Apirl to discuss their
ideas of the role o f the next
Wasco chief. “There are so
many people who want to rep­
resent us,” Wana Calica said.
“And they’re all good people. We
need to hear what everybody
has to say.”
(Continued in the next Spilyay)
The Madras White Buffalo
girls varsity basketball team
went to the Oregon School Ac­
tivities Association 4A Girls Bas­
ketball State Tournament, finish­
ing third in the tourney. Else­
where:
A fter in terv iew in g three
firms, the Temporary Casino
Planning Team hired the Worth
Group out of Nevada as the
architects for the new casino.
The architectural firm, with of­
fices in Las Vegas, Reno and
Denver, specializes in Native
American casinos. The board
will also meet with four general
contractors for the project. And
this:
Warm Springs Forest Prod­
ucts Industries felt the impact
of the earthquake and tsu­
nam i that devastated Japan.
WSFPI is a leading exporter of
lumber to Japan. About 80 per­
cent of the housing construc­
tion wood product from the
WSFPI mill goes to Japan. In
other March news:
Tribal Council passed a reso­
lution to address the Simnasho
d rin k in g w ater problem .
Through the resolution, the
tribes are now pursuing up to
$450,000 in Housing and Urban
Development grant money for
work on the Simnasho-SchooHe
Flat water system. And this:
The Oregon legislature held
a hearing on Senate Bill 412,
an effort by Warm Springs and
the other Oregon tribes to make
changes to state law regarding
the definition of “pohce officer.”
One provision o f the bill
states that it would provide tribal
pohce officers in Oregon with
the same powers and protections
Tribal members and guests gathered in early May for the ground-breaking at the new
casino building site.
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