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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2012)
Spilygy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Page 3 January 25, 2012 Staff on board at Indian Head Casino The ceremonial ribbon-cutting will take place at about 2:30 p.m., and the doors will then be opened. B y D u ra n B o b b Spilyay Tymoo A fte r two job fairs in recent months, 450 people applied for jobs at the New Indian Head Casino. In order to operate around the clock, the casino needs a total of 215 employees. In d ian p e rs o n n e l figures show that 107 o f the 215 are tribal members. Fifty-three are non-tribal members. Twenty-six are married into the tribe. And 29 are other Native Americans. “This m eans that over 75 p e rc e n t are tribal m em bers, married into the tribes, or other Native Americans,” said gaming board chairman Deepak Sehgal. “A num ber o f casino em ployees and K ah-Nee-Ta em ployees transferred to Indian Head Casino,” he said, “Only a few p o sitio n s are left to be filled.” For the time, K ah-N ee-Ta Resort seems a little lonely with out the casino. But the staff are very busy g ettin g ready for spring break. Indian Head Casino general m anager K en Billingsley has been taking time between clos ing o f the casino at Kah-Nee- Ta, and the opening o f the new Indian Head Casino. “H e’s training the staff in a variety o f areas, including cus tom er service,” said Sehgal. “T he staff have also been Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay Casino new hires and transfers participated in team-bulding exercises at a training workshop at the Community Center. responsible for much o f the la bor needed to move the casino equipment and office equipment to the new casino. They’ve done a great job.” The dedication o f the New Indian H ead Casino will take place on Feb. 4, starting at 1 p.m. and ending at 6 p.m. All tribal members are invited to the dedication, along with a number o f specially invited dig- nitaries and guests. “The casino is an adult en terprise venue,” said Sehgal. “Everyone over 21 years o f age is allow ed o n to th e gam ing floor.” The ceremonial ribbon-cut- ting will take place at about 2:30 p.m., and the doors will then be opened. “There will be a number of surprises for everyone who at tends and stays for refreshments and plays the gaming machines.” Tribal members are welcome to bring their guests. At 6 p.m. the casino will open to the gen eral public. “The casino staff and gam ing com m ission are working extra hard to get the casino ready for the opening date,” Sehgal said. “We have arranged for a large ten t for the dedication. L et’s hope and pray the weather gets better for the ceremony!” ' As for the space left at the re s o rt once the new casino opens, the Kah-Nee-Ta board will be reviewing the options and making decisions in the near future. Washanaksha grant winners announced The Confederated Tribes o f W arm Springs Cultural T ru s t C o m m ittee has a w a rd e d f o u r W a sh a n a k sh a grants. O ne o f the grants will help youth w ho will learn Waskalikt Services following their participation in Sunday Washut service at the Agency Longhouse. The grant, sub mitted by group instructor Deanie Johnson, helps pro vide th e y o u th w ith th e chance to learn im portant cultural songs and dances o f the tribes. Rose Ball received a grant to conduct doll-board classes, and breast-plate work. One o f the classes is scheduled for this week, at the Early Childhood Education Center. A later class date has not yet been set, Ball said. ■ Another grant goes toward a cultural exchange between Dave McMechan/Spilyay Rose Ball, Deanle Johnson and Jefferson Greene (not pictured, Suzle Slockish.) the C onfederated Tribes and Clatsop-Nehalem tribes. Warm Springs Canoe Family leader, and Museum at Warm Springs p ro ject developer, Je fferso n G reen e a ccep ted th e g ra n t award for this project. T h e S im n ash o H eritag e Packaging facility considered B y D u ra n B o b b Spilyay Tymoo As m uch as 20 percent o f the salmon in the tribal freezer is lost to freezer burn. TribalCouncil vice-chairman Ron Suppah may have found a solution to the problem, when he was in tro d u c e d to M ark Whitham. C o u n cilm an Suppah m et W hitham through a contact at the Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission. Whitham is a seafood specialist with Oregon Sea G rant Extension. Suppah and other represen tatives o f the tribes visited the seafood development lab at the O SU E x p erim en t Station in Astoria to learn from Whitham advanced preservation methods. “G rant funding applications were submitted in the past two years,” secretary-treasurer Jody Calica said. “The last one was close, b u t n o t fu n d ed . T h e USDA wanted us to subm it a planning grant application to assess doing a phased fish/sea food and meat processing facil ity. We will try again.” The proposed facility on the reservation w ould use re to rt pouches to preserve traditional foods. T here is even talk o f packaging Chinook salmon for sale o ff the reservation. “T aking care o f o u r fish right away is very im portant,” Fish and Wildlife C om m ittee Chairman Bruce Jim said. “The m eat could be vacuum-sealed and then frozen. Then when we need them, we have them. That can save a lot.” Jim said the product could be used to teach tribal members the traditional way o f making pow dered salmon. “We could teach classes on how to dry, can and everything else. There could be a certain amount o f salmon set aside for tribal canning alone. There could be salmon canned for such things as the senior pro gram , funerals, name-givings. That’s how im portant this food processing plant is.” In time, Jim said, m ote foods could be incorporated such as roots and berries. The Fish and Wildlife Com mittee held discussions last week with Whitham to go over a wish list and the different scenarios o f the proposed plant. O ne idea is a 2400 square foot facility, enclosing the equip m en t to the existing freezer. Another proposal was to utilize the existing building for hanging game and designing an entirely new building. There is also talk o f including a teaching area and a m o re tra d itio n a l sm oking house to be added later. The p ro p o s e d p ackaging facility could create as many as 18 jobs. group received a g rant to document traditions, language and history o f that commu nity, and teach tradition to youth. Suzie Slockish, o f the tribal language program, ac cep te d th e g ran t fo r this project. They plan on doing demonstrations and sharing at the Tygh Valley Fair. The Washanaksha grants are funded by the O regon Cultural Trust. The goals are fo prom ote tribal members’ u n d erstan d in g o f and in volvement in cultural activi ties, traditions, arts, ceremo nies, language, dance, history, and music. The grants help with the passing on o f tribal knowl edge and practices to youth o f the tribal community, and to help youth feel m ore con nected to the tribal culture. Applications are available in the fall and are awarded in Jan. The next deadline to submit items to the Spilyay Tymob is Friday, Feb. 3. 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