Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
May 28, 2014
Vol. 39, No. 11
May – Xawit’an – Spring - Wawaxam
A thank you to Principal Smith
I t’s not easy to keep a big se-
cret in Warm Springs, because
some way or another everybody
knows each other. So the assem-
bly last week at the elementary
school was unique.
Principal Dawn Smith was
taken by surprise. Everyone had
kept it a secret, though most ev-
eryone knows her. It was a way
of saying, You are a special per-
son in the community.
Principal Smith has been at
Warm Springs Elementary for 40
years, as a teacher, coach, coun-
selor, parent, mentor and school
principal. “I’ve known Dawn all
my life,” Jake Suppah said during
the assembly.
“She was best friends with my
mom. I’ve always thought of her
as a true leader,” he said, “and
I’ve always looked up to her. She’s
done many great things here.”
Jake served as the master of cer-
emonies at the assembly, held in
the gym.
All of the students, teachers
and staff had gathered there a
short time before. They were
joined by many from community
of all ages who have come to
know Dawn.
Everyone kept quiet as teacher
Kevin Rodin led her into the gym.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Dawn thanks the assembly for the kind words.
By some pretext he had her blind-
folded. When she entered the gym
and took off the blindfold, every-
one stood and cheered. It was over-
whelming.
This has been Dawn’s last year
as principal at the Warm Springs El-
ementary School. Everyone gath-
ered last week to thank her and wish
her luck in whatever she takes on
next.
At the assembly Dawn joined
Jake and others on the gymnasium
stage. Chief Delvis Health gave the
opening prayer and song. A group
of young students presented her
with a Pendleton blanket. Arlene
Graham gave her shawl. “This rep-
resents the love you’ve blanketed
the community with,” Arlene said.
Shirley Heath gave her a neck-
lace with a turtle pendant. “She
loves turtles,” Shirley said.
School staff Ellen Ames and
Lucinda Heath presented her
with a turtle foot rest. The Cul-
ture and Heritage drum group
performed an Honor Song.
Dawn’s daughter Ardis Smith-
Clark read a letter from Dawn’s
father, telling of how Dawn first
got into education, starting back
in 1973.
She was in school in Colorado
at the time, and applied for a
teaching internship at Warm
Springs Elementary. Two years
later, after graduating from Or-
egon State, she became a full-
time teacher at the school.
She became principal 20
years ago. One of her first
tasks was to stop the high turn-
over rate among the teachers
and staff. This and other ac-
complishments earned her the
National Distinguished Princi-
pal Award in 2003.
Another highlight of the as-
sembly was a video presenta-
tion, presented by Sue Matters.
There were pictures going all
the way back to Dawn’s own
elementary school days; pic-
tures of her as a teacher; and
a dance video from the back-
to-school barbecue.
Dave McMechan
Mill Creek restoration at Potter’s Ponds
By J.P. Patt
W.S. Natural Resources
Beginning in June, Mill Creek at
the site of the old Potter’s Ponds
will see the beginning of a compre-
hensive makeover, including the
placement of over a thousand trees
and tons of boulders, major earth-
moving, and replanting of native
vegetation—all in an effort to re-
turn the creek to a state roughly simi-
lar to what it was before the log
ponds were built.
But what was there before the
ponds were built? Was there a popu-
lation of salmon or steelhead that
made an annual spawning run to
Mill Creek?
One indicator, the steep gradient
of the creek from its confluence
with the Warm Springs River to the
project site, suggests limited spawn-
ing and rearing habitat, yet biologists
routinely find redds (spawning
“nests”) upstream of the project
site.
Given the tenacity and resilience
of salmon and steelhead, the answer
is most likely that Mill Creek was
home to such populations, as are
most surrounding streams.
So, the purpose of the Mill
Creek Restoration Project is to
create an environment that would
be conducive to repopulation by
salmon and steelhead. But first, a
little history:
Log storage ponds
In the 1940s, Warm Springs
Lumber Co. built two large log
ponds on Mill Creek approxi-
mately seven miles upstream of
the Highway 26 Bridge. The
ponds consisted of thousands of
cubic yards of earth and rock—
material that was once the stre-
ambed—pushed up in the path
of Mill Creek just above the
current B-100 Bridge.
See MILL CREEK on page 12
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Renewed
interest in
motorsports
People in the motorsports busi-
ness have a growing interest in de-
veloping a professional motorsports
park in the Northwest. The national
market for the sport is strong, as
shown by the recent ten-year $8.4
billion deal between NASCAR and
NBC.
NASCAR began in the Southeast
and remains strong in that region.
Over the years the sport has ex-
panded to the West and Northeast
and Midwest, but not yet to the
Northwest.
Investors with
Lionshead Development for some
years now have been working on
developing a motorsports park
somewhere in the Northwest.
After studying the region, the
group determined that the Warm
Springs Reservation has great po-
tential to expand motorsports. The
reservation has dry and sunny days,
and a central location between Cali-
fornia and Vancouver B.C. They
also find the terrain and views to
be ideal for a motorsports park.
The tribal investment would be
the land for such a venture: the pre-
ferred site is 900 acres in the North
Miller Flat area. Benefits to the
tribes would be a major new source
of income, and hundreds of jobs.
Tribal members are already
aware of this information, as the
tribes last year held two referen-
dums on the proposal.
Both of the votes saw a major-
ity in favor, but both referendums
did not see the required one-third
voter participation. The second ref-
erendum, in July 2013, almost
passed. It fell short by 46 ballots.
More than 46 absentee ballots ar-
rived the following day, too late to
count. On-reservation voter par-
ticipation was 40 percent, a high
number for an election.
Tribal Council and Warm Springs
Ventures are putting the
motorsports question to another
vote on July 1.
See MOTORSPORTS on page 8
Concert
season opens
at casino
Indian Head Casino hosted a
three-day series of concerts
over Memorial Day weekend.
These were the first shows of
the summer at the casino. The
stage, seating and hospitality
tents are set up just outside
the casino. The first show on
Friday evening was by Garratt
Wilkin and the Parrot Heads
(right), a Jimmy Buffett tribute
band. The next evening
featured a Country and Rock
Salute to the Armed Forces;
and on Sunday, Grupo Antifaz
performed. Look for more
shows coming up this
summer.
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
MHS graduation
June 7 at JCMS
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The graduation ceremony for the
Madras High School Class of 2014
is at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 7.
The high school stadium is un-
der construction; so graduation this
year will be at the middle school.
To all tribal member gradu-
ates of 2014:
You are invited to the Gradua-
tion Banquet on Thursday, June 12
at the Warm Springs Community
Center. The evening begins at 5:30
p.m. Organizers are asking for
RSVP by June 5. Call Carroll Dick
at 541-553-3311; or Becky Picard
at 541-553-3259. (See pages 6 and
7 for graduates.)