Tymc
Coy o ie News, est. 1976
June 2 7 , 2012
Branch Matthew
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205
Vol. 37, No. 13
31
>S
on
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
June -A tixa n - Spring - Wawaxam
50 cents
Referendum on July 10 to decide k-8 school
B y Dave M cM echan
Spilyay Tymoo
Tribal officials are emphasizing
some im portant facts as the m em
bership gets ready for the July 10
W arm Springs k-8 school referen
dum.
First, the tribal Senior Pension
Fund and per capita will in no way
be affected by the school referen
dum.
The pension and per capita were
never considered among the fund
ing options, said tribal secretary-trea
surer Jody Calica. Instead, there are
two main funding options, he said.
O ne involves the new Indian
H ead Casino. Last year, the tribes
invested $13.5 million in the gam
ing enterprise, in order to finance
the casino construction. This was to
be repaid in dividends to the tribes.
Now, after several m o n th s o f
operation, the casino has a track
record regarding revenue, w hich
could allow refinancing o f the ca
sino construction debt through a
bank. This would free up the $13.5
million for another use, such as for
the school, said Calica.
The tribes would need about $10
million to m atch the $10 million
com m itm ent from the school dis
trict for construction o f the new
school.
A second funding option: The
U.S. D epartm ent o f Agriculture has
a loan guarantee program, whereby
t h e U S D A w ill g u a r a n t e e u p to 90
Getting out the vote a top
priority for school advocates
to-one in favor. B ut the result o f
the May vote was inconclusive.
“It is very im p o rtan t fo r o u r
m em bers to vote,” Calica said, “so
we can get a sense o f w hat they are
thinking, and the value they p u t on
education.”
T he quality o f the school build
ings Communicates directly to the
students the value the adults place
on educafiop.He said-
T he existing W arm Springs El
ementary School buildings are the
oldest in the school district. A nd the
school location by Highway 26 is a
problem.
Too many students are miss
ing school, or even dropping out,
at an early age. A k-8 school in
W arm Springs would help reduce
truancy among students from the
reservation, said U rbana Ross,
tribal chief operations officer.
“I f they can stay here, and go
to school locally,” she said, “they
would miss fewer classes, and stay
in school.”
A local k-8 school would elimi
nate the long daily bus ride to
Madras for m iddle school stu
dents. Parents could be m ore
involved w ith the school, as it
would be local.
Ross and others in the com
munity have been and continue
io w ork diligently at getting out
the vote on July 10. T-shirts and
lawn signs, family, district and
G eneral C ouncil m eetings are
part o f the effort to get oufcdthe
vote. “It is a priority o f Trjbal
Council to get a consensus on this
question,” Ross said.
I f th e tr ib a l re fe re n d u m
passes on Tuesday, July 10, then
the target date for opening the
new school would be the 2Ó14
school year, Ross said.
'The building w ould be 80,000
square feet, about the size o f the
T he W arm Springs school would
be located on E ast Tenino Road,
at the intersection with Chukar.
There is a 20-acre parcel at the
site designated for the school.
N ew school facilities w ould
include approximately 26 class
room s, science, m usic and art
room s, com puter lab, gym na
sium, athletic fields, cafeteria, li
brary, etc.
This is a roughly $20 million
project, w ith the school district
and the tribes splitting the cost.
The district would fund the op
eration o f the school.
T h e sch o o l d istrict v o ters
passed a levy in May that includes
the funds for the W arm Springs
school, plus another $16 million
for a perform ing arts center in
Madras and improvements at the
district schools.
W ith a k-8 school in W arm
Springs, middle school students
w ould have the option o f attend
ing the new school or the middle
school in Madras. “The district
has open enrollment,” Ross said.
School advocates are optimis
tic about the July referendum , as
the one in May show ed over
whelming support for the new
school. .. (More on the referendum on
S e e R EFER EN D U M o n p a g e 7
J e ff e r s o n C o u n ty M id d le S ch o o l.
page 12.)
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
At the Pi-Ume-Sha Traditional Parade, these students, recent fifth-
grade graduates, gathered by the float sponsored by the Office of the
Chief Operations Officer. The theme of this float was participation ih
the July 10 school referendum.
percent o f the school loan.
This would greatly reduce the risk
to a bank in providing a loan to the
tribes for the school, Calica said.
The guarantee reduces the interest
rate; and there are now two banks
that have expressed interested in
participating in such an arrangement,
Calica said.
“We have at least th ese tw o
banks, and they b o th have a track
record working with the USDA,” he
said.
T he school referendum in May
fell short by 374 votes o f the mini
m um needed for a valid vote. Those
w h o d id v o te w e re m o r e th a n th re e -
Parade, BBQ,
fireworksfor
Fourth o f July
Pi-Ume-Sha 2012
The rain cleared up just
in time for Pi-Ume-Sha.
There was serious rain as
late as Saturday morning,
but the clouds mostly
cleared by the start o f the
parade and the powwow on
Saturday afternoon.
The Warm Springs Fourth o f July
celebration will begin w ith the pa
rade.
The parade preparation begins at
9 a.m., lineup and judging at 10, and
the parade wiU start at 11.
T he July 4 parade starts at the
elementary school, ending behind
the community center. The barbe
cue ham burger and hotdog lunch
starts at 12:30 p.m. Family games
start at 2, and there’s also a horse
shoe tourney planned for 2:30. Sign
up w ith A ustin Greene. The fire
works begin at dusk on Wednesday,
July 4.
Beaded
Tapestries at
museum
—
Travel Center considered along highway
Tribal Council has approved two
locations on Miller Flat for a pos
sible travel center along Highway
26.
The travel center would be a new
tribal enterprise. A number o f other
tribes operate profitable travel cen
ters, said tribal secretary-treasurer
Jody Calica.
T h e Cow C reek B an d o f
Um pqua Indians, for instance, op
erates the Seven Feathers Truck and
Travel Center on Interstate 5 at
Canyonville. And the Umatillas own
and operate the Arrow head Travel
Plaza o ff Interstate 84.
These and similar tribal travel
centers are open 24-hours, seven
days a week. They offer truck sup-
phes and services, diesel and gaso
line, the service, convenience store,
clean restrooms and private show
ers.
T he Arrowhead Travel Plaza in
cludes a M cD onald’s Restaurant.
Seven Feathers has the Creekside
Restaurant.
The Arrowhead and the Seven
Feathers are just two o f several ex
amples o f tribaEy ow ned and oper
ated travel centers, CaEca said.
C o u n cil c o n sid e re d ‘a n d a p
proved two possible locations for a
travel center on the W arm Springs
reservation. O ne site is at milepost
93.5 o n Highway 26, and the other
is near the B I40 road, o n MiUer
Flat.
T he tribes have had som e initial
discussion with the BIA regional
director regarding a loan guar
antee for a travel center, CaEca
said.
The tribal economic develop
m ent coordinator is w orking on
a e c o n o m ic an aly sis o f th e
project. “We’re working on pre
paring docum entation to possi
bly get BIA funding, maybe this
year b ut m ore Ekely next year,”
CaEca said.
—
by Dave McMechan
T he Warm Springs Beaded Tapes
tries exhibit opened to a fuE house
last T hursday at the M useum at
W arm Springs.
The exhibit features an outstand
ing coUection o f beaded heirlooms
from tribal members.
“T he them e for this year is ‘Feel
the Spirit,”’ Evaline Patt said. “We’re
very p roud o f the beautiful beaded
items in our coUection because it
comes from our people.”
T he Beaded Tapestries display
will be in the changing exhibit gal
lery at the m useum until Septem
ber 16.
The exhibit opened with a parade
lead by C hief Delvis H eath. C om
m unity m em bers displayed their
horse regaEa.