Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
June 25, 2014
Page 3
HHS welcomes new branch manager
T racy Bray comes to Warm
Springs from the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Chehalis
Reservation in Washington.
She is the new general
manager of the War m
Springs Health and Human
Services Branch. Tracy has
one overall goal for the
branch: “To make sure the
children and families of this
community have access to
amazing services.”
This requires all of the
departments of Health and
Human Services—and there
are several—working to-
gether. Tracy started in her
new job just last week. She’s
been meeting with the depart-
ment heads, learning about
everyone’s goals, and how to
coordinate the various ser-
vices.
In time, she was saying re-
cently, the goal will be to
work more closely with the
other tribal branches, such as
Public Safety. But the focus
for now is on the Health and
Human Ser vices Branch,
which overall has about 200
employees.
Community Counseling,
Community
Health,
Children’s Protective Ser-
vices, Community Wellness,
the Early Childhood Educa-
tion Center, Family Preserva-
tion, Culture and Heritage
and Voc Rehab are among the
departments in the Health
and Human Services Branch.
For the Chehalis Tribes,
Tracy worked as director of
Children and Family Services,
and then as Director of Edu-
cation. She explains that
some years ago at Chehalis all
of these services were under
one department.
The tribe decided to sepa-
rate the services, creating
Children and Family Services
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Health and Human Services General Manager Tracy
Bray has her office at the Family Resource Center.
and Education, and Tracy
became the Education direc-
tor.
She moved to Chehalis
about 17 years ago, when she
married her husband Kevin,
who is a tribal member. The
Chehalis have about 840
members.
The health and human ser-
vice programs, and funding
sources that Warm Springs
uses are very similar to the
ones she worked with at
Chehalis. “That was an excit-
ing part for me,” she said,
“seeing the many similarities.”
The Warm Springs IHS pro-
gram is the one big differ-
ence, she said.
The states of Oregon and
Referendum:
(Continued from page 1)
We do not need to take
land into trust, such as the
case at Cascade Locks. We
don’t need approval from the
federal or state governments.
We have a development part-
ner to fund the pre-opera-
tional start up cash required
to get to financing.
Myth: We’ll lose our sov-
ereignty over the land.
Fact: The land is not be-
ing contributed into the joint
venture. The value of a long
term lease (25 to 99 years de-
pending on the negotiations)
is being contributed into the
joint venture.
Myth: This project will
adversely affect our natural
resources.
Fact: The project will
have to clear Integrated Re-
source Management Plan be-
fore it is allowed to move for-
ward. This project would take
pressure off of our existing
natural resources—timber
and water—to generate rev-
enue.
Myth: This project will put
per capita and the senior pen-
sion at risk.
Reality: Per capita and se-
nior pension are already at
risk, and are funded through
restricted funds not available
for economic development.
Based on preliminary projec-
tions, the motorsports pro-
posal is probably the only
option available to save per
capita and the senior pension.
Myth: If this business
fails, then we’ll lose the land.
Fact: The land is not col-
lateral for the loan, and there-
fore cannot be foreclosed on.
Washington also seem to
have different attitudes to-
ward the tribes. For instance
in Washington, which has 29
federally recognized, the
state government depart-
ments all have tribal liaisons.
The Chehalis and Warm
Springs communities face
similar challenges: “It can be
difficult to access services,
and to secure employment,”
Tracy was saying. “That can
be true for many rural com-
munities, not just tribes.”
Warm Springs is bigger
than Chehalis in population
and geography. “I feel like
I’m in the big city here,” she
says. Her parents live in cen-
tral Washington and her
brother lives in Nevada, so
being in Central Oregon will
be a central location.
Her education background
has a focus on Native Ameri-
can studies. She first received
a two-year degree from
Belleview College, then a
four-year Bachelors Degree
from Evergreen State. This
degree was in the Reservation
Based Community Deter-
mined program, focusing on
issues of tribal sovereignty,
Native culture and other as-
pects of reservation life. She
then earned a Master Degree
in Public Administration.
Tracy and her husband
have six kids, ranging in age
from 14 to 20. They are
Kaleb, 20, Jordan, 19,
Kaileen, 18, Jordan, 17,
Jacquelyn, 16 and Kelsey 14.
(The parents each had a child
Jordan when they married.)
Tracy also has a back-
ground in basketball. She
played in high school, and one
year at college. Her high
school team was very good,
going to state all of her years
there.
She later coached the high
school girls at Oakville, head-
quarters of the Chehalis
Tribes. It’s a very small
school. Her focus at
Oakville, she said, was not
really on winning games, but
on helping the girls make
good decisions, like staying in
school.
“We might not have been
a winning team in the tradi-
tional sense,” she says. “But
the girls graduated on time.”
During her last year of
coaching at Oakville, the
three seniors on the team all
graduated and went on to
college.
Breakfast for Seniors trip
There will be fundraiser
breakfast on Pi-Ume-Sha
Saturday morning, June
28, for the Senior Wellness
trip to Washington, D.C.
The breakfast will be in the
Social Hall at the Commu-
nity Center, starting at 7.
Tuesday youth culture classes
Summer Recreation in-
cludes Soaring Butterfly and
Warrior Spirit at the Com-
munity Center on Tuesdays.
The classes will include
culturally based teachings,
crafts and learning activities.
“Our goal is to share our
unique culture as a form of
prevention,” said Sarah
Wolfe, program coordinator.
The classes are fun and
culturally educational. “Cul-
ture is prevention,” Sarah
says. The classes run through
August 12, from 9-11 a.m.
For more information call
Carol at 541-553-3243;
Deanie at 541-553-3442; or
Sarah at 541-553-3205.
Prevention Power at Center
Summer Recreation is
hosting Prevention Power on
Fridays this summer at the
Community Center. All ages
are welcome. Prevention
Power sessions, from 1:30-
2:30 p.m., will run through
August 8. Topics:
Culture is Prevention, al-
cohol and drug prevention,
leadership, self-care, random
acts of kindness, dangerous
decibels, tobacco, bullying and
diabetes prevention.
Camp Naimuma in July
The Warm Springs Culture
and Heritage Department will
host Camp Naimuma from
July 13-17 (boys) and July 20-
24 (girls). The camp is for
youth ages 8-15. For informa-
tion call Greg Arquette at
541-553-2390.
The Warm Springs IHS Clinic has suspended
their Thursday late clinic through August 28.
This is due to short staffing.
Look for the Grand
Re-Opening in July
Dave McMechan
motorsports questions and answers
The right to use the land will
be collateral, though and the
tribes would have a say on the
ultimate use of that land un-
til the debt is satisfied.
Myth: A yes vote on the
referendum means that we
are committed to the project,
even though we don’t have
all the information and an-
swers.
Fact: The referendum is
only looking for tribal mem-
ber support to see if the
project is viable. There are
many hurdles—the IRMP
process, and mitigation plan,
infrastructure, for instance—
that could prevent this project
from happening.
The negotiation with the
potential partner, and a full
feasibility study are other po-
tential obstacles.
Myth: All we would be
doing is creating jobs for non
tribal member.
Reality: This could hap-
pen, but not because the op-
portunity is flawed but be-
cause we let it happen. The
Tribal Employment Rights
Office (TERO) is but one
tool to ensure that jobs are
created for tribal members
throughout the project
Myth: The motorsports
project is only for race cars.
Fact: The motorsports
park is a way to bring much
needed infrastructure to the
highway. This infrastructure
can then be used to support
other tribal business oppor-
tunities: Casino, water park,
amphitheater, rodeo and pow-
wow grounds, sports complex.
– New Hours –
– New Inventory –
New Location - Next to the
Warm Springs Market