Spilyay Tyrooo, Wdirn Springs, Oregon Page 3 December 28, 2011 Memorable time for Sacred Thunder Hoops tourney this week The Warm Springs All In dian Mens Holiday Basket ball Tournament is scheduled for this Wednesday-Saturday, D ec. 28-31 at the W arm Springs Community Center. Defending champions are Swantown, from White Swan Wash. Runner-up last year was C alifornia W olf Pack from H oopa, C alif.; and Stonghold of Chiloquin and Warm Springs. Invitations have been sent out to various team across Indian country to come and participate. Sessions will begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28, for opening round action, followed by the full schedule of 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The Thursday schedule will have two sessions: 12 noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., followed by a break, and the next session begins at 6 p.m., Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay Sam McCracken of Nike (at center) with Sacred Thunder team at the Chiles Center in Portland B y Yvonne Iverson S pilyay Tymoo Winning a game against last year’s league champions, playing in a packed college gym, meet ing Shoni and Jude Schimmel... oh, and preventing diabetes—it has been a busy few weeks for a group o f tween girls who make up the Sacred Thunder basketball team. The girls have been practic ing from 7-9 p.m. three nights a week for the past four months to prepare for the Central Or- egon Basketball Organization (COBO) season. T heir hard w ork was re warded with a season opening w in again st the B end Lava Bears, who defeated them in the championship game last season. “I was nervous, but I had fun p layin g ,” says 11-year old Sydonia David. The team was invited to play during halftime of the Louisville v. University of Portland game and got a chance to get pictures and autographs from Shoni and Jude Schimmel. They also got a chance to meet Sam McCracken, general m anager o f N ike’s N7 pro grams. “I learned how to read la bels,” says Annalise Whipple, as the girls share what they learned from the nutrition class, coor dinated by Coach Shawn Harry and M ike H olyan, Y outh Wellness Coordinator. “Diabetes has touched all of our lives,” Coach Harry explains, “and it is important to do things like this to learn how to prevent it at a young age.” Experiments and inform a tion were shared by Linda Por ter, nutritionist, and Ron Berry, family nurse practitioner. “There are 23 teaspoons of sugar in a Rockstar (drink),” says JoyDee Smith after completing the experiment. “I better not catch you drink ing that,” Harry warns. Sacred Thunder continues to practice through the w inter break from school, and will play their next COBO game on Sun day, January 8 in Culver. Community Health Education hosts 3D Project The Community Health E ducation Team recently held the 3D P ro ject for Kids. The purpose of the 3D P ro ject is to raise youth awareness of the danger of Drinking and Drugged Driv ing. The event, held on Dec. 20, involved crafting such as making cards, coloring, and making key chains. After morning crafting, special guest Wayne Miller, p rev en tio n co o rd in ato r, spoke of what the signifi cance of red ribbons, which are awareness of drug pre vention. A n o th er gu est, Scott Kalama, tobacco prevention coordinator, then spoke of the danger of tobacco, and The Warm Springs Spring Into Action Coalition will host the Elvis Birthday Bash from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Community Center. The bash w ill feature a look-alike contest, dance- alike contest, and sing-alike contest. P rizes aw arded to top three contestants in dance and sing-alike contests. Prizes to top three contestants in each age category in look- alike contest. Age categories in look- alike contest are 0-4; k-5th grade; middle school; high school, adult, and senior. Birth announcement M ason E%ra Sanders F red Sanders and Isab el W hite o f W arm Springs are pleased to announce the birth of their son Mason Ezra Sand ers, born on December 7, 2011. Mason joins sister Annaliyah, 6 . Grandparents on the father’s Tribal C ourt and Fi nance are w orking to gether to better serve our community. In doing so, a Finance staff member will receipt in all payments and send out funds effec tive January 3, 2012. Payments will be received side are Je ff and Shirley Sand ers of Warm Springs; and the late Robert Sanders of Warm Springs. G randm other on the mother’s side is Lottie White; great grandm other is Evelyn Dick-Sam of Warm Springs. at the Tribal Court build ing on the top floor. Pay ments will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. If you have any ques tions you may contact Tribal Court at 541-553- 3278. News from Indian Country Courtesy photo. Anita Davis of CHET instructs youth at the recent 3D Project. then the kids continued with crafts. For more information on this and sim ilar projects, contact E velyn A guilar, Com m unity H ealth E ducatio n Team (CHET) secretary at 541- 553-2211; or email: evelyn.aguilar@wstribes.org Effort to bring beavers back to help coho setting out to sea for a year or two, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reports. Beaver ponds are also criti cal for other species of salmon, including cutthroat and steel- head. The beaver-made ponds are nutrient rich from falling leaves and rotting wood. To bring beavers back to Benton County, Oregon State U niversity and governm ental agencies are examining reloca tion efforts, as well as the in troduction of beaver-friendly foliage. Some landowners are wary, but a local watershed council is pursuing grant funding to sup port additional outreach to land- owners and the development of a formal plan for beaver resto ration. Environmental groups sue US over flood management SEATTLE (AP) - The Na tional Wildlife Federation filed a motion in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, asking a judge to stop the U.S. governm ent from issuing any more flood in surance policies for new devel opment in flood-prone areas around the Puget Sound until it changes its flood plain plans to consider the impact on endan Elvis Birthday Bash in Jan. Tribal Court and Finance Announcement Salmon News FIVE RIVERS, Ore. (AP) - To help restore coho salmon in Benton County, fish biologists are turning to the fish's bushy- tailed ally: beavers. Beavers are critical to coho habitat by giving young salmon cover while they bulk up before 7:30 pm and 9 pm. Friday will have two ses sions with the first at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., followed by session two at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (semi-finals). Saturday will have two ses sions with the placing games, including the Championship round. Sessions will be at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. (consolation and fourth-place games), fol lowed by championship round session at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Teams will compete for top honors of Pendleton jackets with awards o f runner-up, third thru fifth place awards, M ost Valuable Player, All- T ournam ent team , Team Sportsmanship, Mr. Hustle and Tournament High Scorer. For more information you may contact Austin Greene, tournament director, at 541 - 553-1953 (h) or leave a mes sage at 541-553-3243 (w). gered species like salmon and orcas. The motion for a preliminary injunction is the latest move in a decades-long fight to get the Federal E m ergency M anage ment Agency to pay more atten tion to endangered species, said Jan Hasselman, an attorney for Earthjustice, the environmental law firm that filed a motion in Seattle, on behalf of the Na tional Wildlife Federation. The environm ental group w on a law su it in 2004 that found FEMA did not create its flood plain management stan dards w ith the E ndangered S p ecies A ct in m ind. Hasselman said the National M arine F isheries Service in 2008 issued a plan for chang ing the flood standards, setting various deadlines, the last of which recently passed. “They’re continuing to issue flood plain insurance for new developments in flood plains, incentivizing activities not just harmful to salmon, but harm ful to people,” Hasselman said. “Time’s up.” Native American images for mascots bring debate GARY, Ind. (AP) - The is sue of using Native Americans as mascots and images in sports has long been debated with some terming the practice offensive. However, numerous Indiana schools and teams use Native American mascots. They say it’s a way to honor the nation's 19th state, which was once inhabited by Indian tribes for thousands of years. One of the most common nicknam es for Indiana high school teams is the Warriors, ranking at No. 2. Calumet High School in Lake Ridge Schools uses the nickname. The issue of school mascots came up for discussion recently w ith the Lake Ridge School Board in Calumet Township and in Portage Township Schools in Portage. Rick Lowe, Lake Ridge board president, wants to see the Calumet High mascot, af fectionately known as C hief Wahoo, back on the school's sign. S u p erin ten d en t Sharon Johnson-Shirley said the mascot on the school’s front sign was taken down m ore than two years ago when contractors were doing renovation work around the building. However, the mas cot is evident throughout the building, including at the en trance on floor mats. With the exception of School Board member Annette Wells, who told fellow board members that putting an Indian mascot back on the building might be offensive to some people, no one disagreed with Lowe. C alum et P rin cip al Tim Pivarnik said he has never had any resident complain about the signage. He said they've made a template of the original sign, using exterior grade wood, and a group of students will paint it. Pivarnik said the mascot will be hung on the Ridge Road side of the building. He hopes this will be done before the end of the year. In Portage, Superintendent Mike Berta said he sees the In dian mascot, with the head of an Indian chief in steel in front of the high school building, as a tribute to a heroic group of people, but he adds, “I guess oth ers can see it differently.”