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December
28, 2011 f
December 28, 2011 Voi.
Coyote News, est. 1976
36, No. 26
Spilyay Tymoo
Growing up and working on his grand-
parents’ ranch in Eastern Oregon,
where his first job was feeding the
horses, Carlos Smith didn’t even have
the opportunity to stay in a hotel. To
day, he runs one.
His grandparents, Wilbur and Louise
Williams, taught Smith the value of
hard work and instilled upon him the
value that good work is rewarded with
more than just a paycheck.
“After I graduated from high school,”
Carlos said recently, “I moved back to
the reservation and lived with my grand
mother, Faye, and my great-grand
mother, Fannie Wahenekah. I started
working at Kah-Nee-Ta in 1994.”
The ranch taught Carlos to give his
all. He had never worked in a hotel
before in his life, but he wasn’t afraid
50 cents
to give it a try.
“I found that there was always an
opportunity in the hotel industry, be
cause you’re always going to have both
unhappy guests and employees. I threw
myself into any door that opened to
me, whether it was being a bellman or
washing dishes or working the front
desk.”
His hard work was soon noticed.
“A non-tribal member who was hired
on as the general manager started up
the tribal member management trainee
program,” Smith said.
“He kept his eye open and several
of us were chosen to participate.
Scott Moses was one of them. We all
know where he is today. Rusty Calica
Carlos Smith
is another one, and today he’s the
head purchasing manager for the new
industry.
casino.”
“He pretty much opened the door
For three years, Carlos and the other
five chosen were thrown into the duty for us,” Carlos says. “At the time that I
of learning every aspect of the hotel was working for the tribe, I was also
studying Computer Science. So it
really taught me that if you’re will
ing to work hard, they will call you
in when someone doesn’t show.
You’ll become the go-to guy.”
After 12 years, in 2006, Carlos
left Kah-Nee-Ta.
“It was time to move on,” he
said, “and my eyes were on the
Portland market. I got a good job
working for the D oubleTree.
They’re the third largest hotel in
the state. I worked with them for
four years.”
Carlos was then promoted to
General Manager for the Hilton
Garden Inn in Lake Oswego.
“After a while, you really become
used to the strict rules that they have
on how to run a hotel. Everybody
plays by the rules. Hilton knows how
to run a profitable hotel.”
See SMITH on page 6
Cardinals
visit
A large part of the Warm
Springs community was on hand
for the Louisville Cardinals vs. Port
land Pilots women’s basketball
game, Dec. 17. The tribes had
1,500 tickets that were given away
to tribal member students-and-their
families.
The event, at the Chiles Center
in Portland, featured a half-time 12-
and-under game between the Sa
cred Thunder team from Warm
Springs vs. Nixaawii of Umatilla (see
page 3).
Another attraction was the Car-
dinals-Pilots game, featuring Shoni
and Jude Schimmel, who play for
Louisville. The Schimmel sisters
are Umatilla tribal members with
family and many fans on the Warm
Springs Reservation.
Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay
Shoni and Jude Schimmel at the Chiles Center in Portland.
2011 Year in Review
Telco, casino, fires notable stories of 2011
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
The year 2011 saw a milestone in the
effort to bring migrating fish back to
the rivers above the Pelton-Round
Butte dams, when adult summer steel-
head returned to the Pelton fish trap.
These were the first fish to accomplish
the feat as part of the réintroduction
project.
In Warm Springs, the year 2011 saw
the resolution of Housing and Urban
Development complaints about the
Warm Springs Housing Authority.
And the tribes successfully lobbied the
Oregon Legislature to address the is
sue of tribal police authority off the
reservation.
The Wasco people met several times
regarding the Chieftainship vacancy.
This question remains open as we be
gin 2012.
The StoryCorps history recording
group visited Warm Springs during the
summer of 2011; and the Warm
Springs Library opened, among the
many 2011 news events on reserva
tion.
Each December the Spilyay at
tempts to list the significant events that
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•
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
December - Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyám
Resort welcomes Smith as new GM
By Duran Bobb
P.0. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
Tribes
approve
eel plan
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
The four Columbia River treaty
tribes that make up the Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission have ap
proved a plan to halt the decline of
lamprey and reestablish the eel popula
tions.
The four Columbia River treaty
tribes are Warm Springs, Umatilla,
Yakama, and Nez Perce.
Eels, also known as asm in the
Ichishkiin language, have been harvested
as a traditional food by the Warm
Springs tribes.
The plan laid out by CRITFC seeks
to improve passageways for lamprey,
restore and protect habitat, and will
reduce toxic contaminants and will help
to aid in re-colonization of the eels
throughout the basin.
Some of the gathering places for
eels, said atwai Emily Wahenekah in a
previous interview, were Sherars Falls,
Celilo Falls, and at Willamette Falls near
Clackamas. “Willamette was at one
time an Indian word,” the atwai said in
her interview. “The White man couldn’t
say Wilampt, that’s what we called it be
fore. That meant Like Blue. In the
language, lampt is blue.”
Once the eels were harvested, atwai
said, they were often brought back to
He-He where families had certain ar
eas along the river for soaking, clean
ing and drying.
“That’s one quality about drying,”
Neda Wesley said. “Salmon have it,
and eels have that same quality. If you
bring it home to dry it just won’t come
out the same way. You have to dry it
by a river, because the water has a re
lationship with our food.”
Most of the eel was used, including
the meat, which was hung to dry after
soaking in the water. The oil was also
gathered as the eel dried and was good
for the hair. The skin was crisped by a
fire. And the soft backbone of the eel,
called shiyat, was dried and eaten.
“The eel tails were given to the ba
bies,” aturn Emily Wahenekah said. “It
was like a pacifier. It would help them
while they were teething, or just kept
them busy.”
Dried meats such as eels and fish
were also used when people would go
camping in the mountains, tribal elder
Suzie Slockish remembers. “They
would come in handy then, because out
in the woods after a hard day of work
it would taste so good.”
See EEL PLAN on page 2
Architect’s drawing of the casino, set to open in February.
happened in the community during the
year.
The year 2011 saw these develop
ments on the reservation:
W.S. Teleco
First, the Warm Springs TeleCo
made great progress toward serving the
reservation. New staff came on board,
and the new teleco office opened at the
industrial park were.
The teleco will bring high-speed
Internet, telephone and video to the
reservation: About 1,000 local homes
and businesses will have access to the
company’s services.
The enterprise itself will in time
employ 19 people. Board members
i
i
believe the improved telecommunica
tions on the reservation will bring new
business and more employment oppor
tunities.
The Warm Springs TeleCo (WSTC)
is only the ninth tribally-owned tele
communications company in the U.S.,
out of a total of 565 federally recog
nized tribes. The teleco enterprise was
funded through a federal agrant and
loan.
opening is set for February 2012.
The new casino will be housed in
a 40,000-square foot building beside
the plaza. There will be 500 slot
machines, and eight blackjack tables;
plus a restaurant with seating for
120, serving breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
There will be a snack bar with
seating for 30, and a gift shop. The
casino will be open 24-hours, em
ploying 280 people.
New casino
As the tribes face future budget
Probably the most visible, if not the cuts, the hope is that the casino will
most anticipated, project of 2011 has increase gaming revenue, alleviating
been the new Indian Head Casino.
some of the budgetary stress.
Construction began in early May at
the Highway 26 construction site. The See YEAR IN REVIEW on page 2
%
•
•
Simnasho
End of Year
Dance Friday
The End of the Year Round Dance
at the Simnasho Longhouse is set for
this Friday, Dec. 30.
Masters of ceremony will be Ken
neth Scabbyrobe and Carlos Calica.
Stick man: Colin Chief.
All singers invited. Dinner at 6 p.m.
Round Dance will start after the meal.
Everyone is welcome to join the
Simnasho community for this event.
Sponsored by members of the
Simnasho community. For more infor
mation, contact Captain.
University of Oregon Library
Received on: 01-04-l£
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