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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2012)
r Spilyay Tymcx Coyote News, est. 1976 March 7, 2012 Tribal Council last week heard the first gaming report since the opening o f Indian Head Casino on Highway 26. Revenue from the enterprise was reported as on target, and the first weeks o f operation have been success ful. “I have nothing but praise for our staff,” said Ken Billingsley, Indian Head general manager. “This has been the best team effort we’ve had in a long time,” said gaming board m em ber Deepak Sehgal. Bring ing the casino into operation in less than a year required cooperation am ong Council, the board and gaming staff, Utilities and public safety, among the many partners, he said. Tribal Council C hairm an Stanley Buck Smith asked whether there had been any problems so far. Billingsley said that having the ca sino open on dedication day, Feb. 4, was a major challenge. “We had techs work ing-around the clock” in the days be fore the opening, he said. For various reasons-—the physical Voi. 37, No. 6 M a rc h - Wiyalppt - Winter-Anm 5 0 cents m o v e fro m K a h -N e e -T a , fo r in- stance— not all o f the 500 machines w ere o p e ra tin g o n th e firs t day, Billingsley said. A nd during the first weekend, there were two ATM m a chines at the casino, which proved to be n o t enough. O ne o f the machines was filled three times during the first day. O n the Monday following the dedi cation, Billingsley said, “We w ent back to the drawing board.” Staff worked out the issues that had arisen during the dedication weekend and following days, and by the grand opening, Feb. 24-26, the casino was operating much m ore smoothly. Council Chairman Smith asks about the parking situation. “Employees have been parking at the museum,” Billingsley said, “b ut they are moving back to the casino this spring.” A row o f spots in the casino lot will be designated for the employees, he said. A plan with the state for exten sion o f the turn-lanes should be in place by June, he added. See TELECOM on page 3 Determination fuels success at law school B y D u ra n B o b b Spilyay Tymoo M a r y B odine rem em bers a day when her dream seemed far away. There was a time w hen people told her that she wasn’t good enough. “Every time someone tells you that you can’t do it, prove them wrong,” she says now. “D o it ten times better than w hat they thought was ppssible.” Bodine is the granddaughter o f G reta Polk, Tom m y M cD onald, Mary E ster Bodine, and Edw ard B odine. W hen she was 17, she graduated from David Douglas High S c h o o l as v a le d ic to ria n . “I was interestedln the medical field then, and thought about doinjr toxicology,” she says. “T hen I de cided I wanted to work on the policy and legal ends of salmon and toxic contam ination. I applied to law school.” A t the age o f 20, Mary was ac cepted to Lewis and Clark Law School. This May, she will have one year o f law school to complete her goal. “I ’ll graduate with a JD, mosdy hav ing focused on Indian Law and Envi ronm ental Law. Later down the road, I might pursue a PhD. O ne day I ’d like to w ork with tribes in some capac ity and also to w ork in the legal field in environmental law a n d /o r Indian law.” Competition in Hawaii Recently, Bodine competed in the National Native American Law Students Association Annual M oot C ourt Com- petitions'in Hawaii. So many students applied for the competition that teams had to qualify to become representa tives. A t trie competition, teams were pre sented with a hypothetical legal scenario. “ We were inform ed by the author o f the problem th at Rebecca Guiao and I were the only team to spot an issue in the scenario. We w rote about this in our competition brief. Later, the author had to re-write her brief to the panel judges because o f our find ing.” Mary Bodine Last m onth, Mary was selected to be a Udall C ongressional In tern in Washington, D.C. The internship will be next summer. “I ’m excited for this amazing oppor- tunity,” she said. “ It’s a chance to see the East Coast. I ’m a bit anx ious, since I have never been out o f O regon or away from my fam ily for m ore than two weeks.” D uring her free time, Mary en joys camping and snowboarding with her boyfriend o f three years, Dominic Stromberg. She also en joys expressing herself through tra dition. “I ’m a part o f a Native Ameri can d an ce co m p a n y called N orthstar Painted Sky,” she says. “I have been dancing with them for about six years. We do perfor mances throughout the Northwest, to help educate people about tribal dance and tribal issues. I am a fancy-dancer and on occasion en joy jingle dress dancing.” As far as motivation, Mary is certain o f one point. “You have to keep on m oving forward. Find the positive things that motivate you to become an even better per son.” Tribes, state plan for adult fish return above dams This summer and fall, a good num ber o f adult salmon and steelhead are expected to return for spawning in the u p p e r D e s c h u te s , C ro o k e d an d Metolius rivers. This would be the first time in several decades that migrating fish go past, and spaw n above the Pelton and Round Butte dams. The tribes and the state o f Oregon have management responsibility o f the fish, and the tw o entities recently worked out a plan for the upcoming fish runs. The tribes and the state each con ducted two-year studies on the re-in- troduction o f migratory fish above the dams, said Jim Manion, general man ager o f Warm Springs Power and Wa ter Enterprises. Based on these studies, the tribes and state developed a single management plan. T he plan calls for release o f half the adult fish above the dams into Lake Billy Chinook. The expectation-is that these fish will migrate upstream for spawning. H alf the returning adults this year will be kept at the Round Butte hatch ery to be used as brood stock. Juve niles from the hatchery will later be released upstream next year. Biologists are expecting that a good num ber o f fish will return this year, said Manion. Based on observa tions over the past couple o f years, he said, “The system is working.” The tribes and P G E have worked for several years on a fisheries p ro gram to return the migrating fish above the dams. T he effort included development and operation o f the fish collection tower and facilities at the Round Butte hydroelectric dam. Fifty-five years ago At right is an R. Metheny photograph of Celilo Falls, courtesy of the Museum at Warm Springs. This week marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of the flooding of the falls by The Dalles Dam. The flooding happened on March 10,1957. On that date, hundreds of observers looked on as rising waters silenced the falls, submerging the fishing platforms and the village of Celilo. This ended a tribal existence at the falls that had existed from time immemorial. Celilo was the oldest continuously inhabited community on the North American continent. The rock formations of the falls still exist below the surface of the reservoir. • % • 4 a Branch Matthew 1200 SW Park Ave. Portland OR 97205 PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 Positive first report on new casino B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo P.O. Box 870 VA/arm .Qnrinns DR 97761 May ballot to decide W.S. school B y D u ra n B o b b Spilyay Tymoo T ribal officials are encouraging members to register to vote, as an im portant local issue—-a k-8 school in Warm Springs— is on the May ballot. Tribal C hief O perations O fficer U rbana Ross said it is im portant for tribal m em bers to register as soon as possible in preparation for the u p com ing vote. T he existing k-5 school in W arm Springs is the oldest operating school building in the district. A new school in W arm Springs, proposed at Greeley Heights, would cost between $18-$20 million. Passage o f the school district bond measure in May w ould fund half o f the construction cost. The tribes would fund the other half, If the m em bership agrees by tribal referendum. Total of $26.7 million Jefferso n C ounty school district community members recently gathered to examine the conditions o f existing school buildings, identify priorities for construction and repair, and make rec omm endations to the school board on possible funding sources. T he facilities com m ittee recom mended, among other items, construct ing a new school in W arm Springs. They also recom m end construction o f a perform ing arts auditorium in Ma dras, and the refurbishing existing ath letic facilities. T he total proposed bond for the district is $26.7 m illion, the W arm Springs k-8 school being the single largest item. R eservation resid en ts in W asco County are also a part o f the school district, Ross commented; so they will be able to vote on the Wasco ballot for the school referendum. Tribal m em bers will vote once for the school district bond proposal, and then again in the tribal referendum . No tax increase The overall goal o f the school dis trict bond proposal is to improve school facilities, while maintaining the current yearly property tax rate in Jefferson County. This would be possible because the bond that funded coiistruction o f the Jefferso n C ounty M iddle School is nearly paid. Passage o f the upcom ing May measure would result in no prop erty tax increase, as the middle school bond is retired. T h e m iddle school b o n d rate is $3.04 per $1,000 o f assessed property value. The new proposal calls for $3 or less per $1,000 o f assessed prop erty value. The bond measure ballot will be due on May 15. The Confederated Tribes could conduct a tribal referendum at the same time. I f th e b o n d m e a su re fails in Jefferson County, funds for facility improvements will be factored into the general school district budgets over the coming years. D istrict leadership will weigh and prioritize facility needs and their potential to im pact staffing lev els, class sizes and the n u m b er o f school days for students. There will be a meeting at the school support building across from the Ma dras H ig h S chool this W ednesday evening March 7 at 6 p.m. F or m ore inform ation, contact Superintendent Rick M olitor at 541-475-6192. • j 4 A -v & fí fi
