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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2012)
P.0. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ECRWSS )stal Patron April 4, 2012 Coyote News, est. 1976 Vol. 37, No. / April - Hawit'an - Spring - Wawaxam School measure prompts registration drive B y D ave M cM echan Spilyay Tymoo The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming May county election is April 24. T he May 15 ballot includes the school district bond measure that would fund half o f the construction cost o f a new k-8 school in W arm Springs. Tribal leaders are encouraging members 18 and over to register by the deadline, if they have not done so already. As o f earlier this week, there were 778 registered v o ters in Je ffe rso n County precinct 14, which includes the 509-J school district area o f the reser vation. The num ber o f voters in the county overall is 9,412; so the reserva tion voters clearly could make a sig nificant difference in the election. O ne o f the easiest ways to register to vote is to go to the website: , Oregonvotes.org. Dave McMechan/Spilyay Proposed site of the new school, at East Tenino and Chukkar. A person could also mail in the reg istration form, or visit the county clerk’s office in Madras. The clerk’s office is expecting to mail the ballots for the May 15 election by April 27. The proposed school bond would raise a total o f $26.7 million. This w ould fund a variety o f district im provem ents, including a perform ing arts center in Madras. The single-larg est item could be the Warm Springs school, which would cost o f a total o f $18-20 million. The bond would cover half the cost, and the tribes would pay for the rest. A t the same time as the county elec tion, the tribes are planning a refer endum o f the membership regard ing the school proposal. To vote in the referendum, a m em ber m ust be 21 or over, or married. The idea for a new school serv ing Warm Springs students has been discussed for several years.' The current Warm Springs Elementary School is housed in form er BI A buildings," some dating back to the 1930s. The location by the highway is also an issue. For middle school students, a local school would greatly reduce the com m ute to and from school. The school district bond proposal w o u ld re s u lt in no overall tax increase for property, owners in the district. This is true because the bond that funded construction o f the Jefferson County Middle School is nearly paid. Colorful Scene at Casino S. Postage ’RSRTSTD „ OR 97761 50 cents New fishing access site opening T he Columbia River tribes and the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Com mission are hosting a ceremony in April to open a treaty fishing access site. The site is at Dallesport, in Klickitat County, Washington. T he Corps o f Engineers and the BIA will joins the tribes and CRITFC at the opening cer emony, set for Wednesday, April 25. T he C orps o f Engineers was re quired by law to acquire, develop and transfer lands on the Columbia River, to be used traditional fishing by the Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs, Yakama Nation, The N ez Perce, and Confederated Tribes o f the Umatilla Reservation. The Dallesport site includes marine structures such as a boat ram p and floating boat dock, access road, fish cleaning station, campground facilities, among other im provem ents.. The ceremonies on April 25 begin at 10 a.m. w ith the opening prayer. Speakers include representatives o f the treaty tribes, including Warm Springs Chief Delvis H eath, who has been part o f the D allesport access site project since its inception. O th e r speakers include Stanley Speaks, B IA regional director; the CRITFC executive director; and the Portland District engineer o f the Corps o f Engineers. Following th e speakers, there will be a presentation o f the Colum bia R iver T reaty F ish in g A ccess Sites Map. T here are fram ed m aps for each o f the tribes. S Veterans and families at HeHe in April Courtesy of Indian Head Casino. There are serious restrictions that apply to taking photographs inside casinos. Security personnel will confiscate a camera from someone taking unauthorized pictures inside the building. There are a variety of reasons for this restriction. One reason is that some of the people at the machines may not want their picture taken, and their privacy must be respected, said Indian Head general manager Ken Billingsley. The picture above is a properly authorized photograph, showing the colorful interior design of Indian Head Casino. Tribes mourn loss of elder Councilwoman was fluent in Sahaptin W arm S p rin g s ■ trib a l eld er, B ernice T. M itchell passed away over the weekend. Bernice began serving on Tribal Council in 1955, when she replaced James Palmer. She then w ent on to serve eight more terms spanning 25 years. Bernice also taught H ead Start while the program was located at the Community Center. Fluent in the Indian language, Bernice said in an interview last year; “I belong to the Sahaptin language people. The Sahaptins were one o f the tribes that were brought here from the Columbia River.” Bernice was one o f the singers on the album, Songs of the Warm Springs Indian Preservation. O thers singing in clu d ed E lle n S q u iem p h en , S usan M oses, Ada Sooksoit: and A deline Miller. T he album was released by Can yon Records in 1975. Bernice said many people stayed with her family to learn the Indian lan guage. “It was fun to teach,” she said in the interview. “They’d say it so different than us. We’d say it over and over again. W hen we w ent to school, we had to leave that af hom e.” B ernice rem em bered d uring the boarding school days how difficult it was to keep the language. ‘W e’d get full o f demerits and have to clean our school house all the time,” she said. “That’s how they tried real hard to get rid o f our lan guage.” During the boarding school days, Bernice remembered outbreaks o f tuberculosis and smallpox. “First thing they got rid o f was the cover sets on the beds. They burned them all up. But we made it throughout that winter. N ow we get a little snow and a hard wind blow ing and we freeze. This whole world ju st tu rn s o v er an d o v er— and changes. T hat’s what our old people say.” — by Duran Bobb T he Veterans and Family Healing Circle Gathering will be held Thursday- Sunday; A p ril 26-29 at th e H ehe Longhouse. O n Thursday, the longhouse will open at noon for travelers, music and storytell-ing. Friday, there will be a light ing o f the healing fire, veterans honor ing, flute playing, healing touch and sweat lodge. Saturday, will feature speakers, cer emonies, a talking circle, sweat lodge, silent auction and raffle. Sunday will be a closing ceremony at 10 a.m. For more inform ation call Larson Kalama Sr. 541-553-3093. Gearing up for fire season Weather conditions this winter and spring could result in a busy fire sea son in the region, “We’re thinking it could get hectic,” said R obert Medina, dispatcher at Warm Springs Fire Man agement. There has been rain in recent weeks, he said, b u t conditions earlier w ere dryer than usual. The region saw about 85 percent o f its usual snow- and rainfall, according to a recent irrigation district report. The m ost recent fire season on the reservation, specifically August-Sep tem ber 2011, was one o f the busiest in recent years. O ver 100,000 acres burned on the reservation in the Cas cade Complex fires. Luther Clements at Fire Manage m ent is organizing an emergency fire crew that will be prepared to respond to summer wild-land fires. This would be a supplement to the existing agen cies and crews. Meanwhile, the fire camp crew train ing courses at Fire M anagement are coming up at the end o f this month. Crew supervisors can contact Medina o r William Wilson, assistant Fire Man agement officer, 541-553-1146. “We’re hoping to hear from the su pervisors a week before the training,” said Medina, “so we have an idea o f how many crews we might have.” Anyone interested in working on the emergency crew can contact Clements at the phone num ber above. T he camp crew training this year includes a physical fitness program. Participants will be required to take a three-mile pack test before taking the classroom part o f the training.
