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
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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.
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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.
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