Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
July 9, 2014
Team on board at Voc Rehab
Committees of Tribal Council
These are the committee
members of the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs,
as appointed by Tribal Coun-
cil:
Culture and Heritage
Chair, Lepha Smith; vice
chair, Joann Moses.
Paiute: Joseph Henry and
Joann Moses. Alternate:
Brigette Scott.
Wasco: Radine Johnson
and Lepha Smith. Alternate:
Ramona Baez.
Warm Springs: Roberta
Kirk and Lavina Colwash.
Alternate: Priscilla Frank.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Voc Rehab counselor Mona Cochran, office manager Sharon Jones, project director
Jolene Estimo Pitt; Jackie Minson, counselor, Gayleen Poor Bear, lead counselor, and
Marcia Soliz, job/coach developer (from left).
V ocational Rehabilitation
has a strong team on board
to serve clients of the reser-
vation. Voc Rehab director
Jolene Estimo-Pitt encourages
all qualified individuals to
make full use of the depart-
ment services.
The goal of the program
is to improve outcomes of
Native Americans with dis-
abilities by providing effective
tribal vocational rehabilita-
tion. Orientations for general
information are at 3 p.m. each
Monday. The office is located
at the industrial park.
Examples of qualifying
disabilities include amputa-
tions, blindness, hearing prob-
lems, learning disabilities, or-
thopedic problems, seizure
disorders, alcohol and drug
addiction, among other con-
ditions.
Voc Rehab offers counsel-
ing and guidance, diagnostic
examinations, assistive devices
such as artificial limbs, hear-
ing aids, wheelchairs; voca-
tional training, transportation
during rehabilitation, refer-
rals, job direction, among
other services.
The program in Warm
Springs started in 1993, and
is funded by federal grant.
Warm Springs competes with
other tribes for the funding.
You can contact the depart-
ment at 541-553-3415 or -
4952.
Page 5
Education
Chair, Deanie Smith; vice
chair, Ardis Smith-Clark; and
June Smith. Alternate: Anita
Jackson.
Fish and Wildlife
Chair, Bruce Jim Sr.; vice
chair, Donald Winishut Sr.;
Ryan Smith Sr.; Emerson
Squiemphen; Jonathan W.
Smith; Brigette Scott. Alter-
nate: Leslie Bill.
Health and Welfare
Chair, Janice Clements
vice-chair, Yvonne Iverson;
Urbana Manion. Alternate:
Lepha Smith.
Land Use Planning
Chair, Jonathan W. Smith;
vice-chair, Francelia Miller;
Joel Holliday. Alternate:
Jimmy Tohet Sr..
Range, Irrigation and Ag-
riculture
Chair, Delford Johnson
Sr.; vice-chair, Magdaleno
Colazo-Holliday; Stanley
Buck Smith Jr.; Magdaleno
Colazo-Holliday. Alternate:
Terry Squiemphen.
Timber
Chair, Levi Vanpelt; vice-
chair, Terry Squiemphen;
Levi Vanpelt; Anthony
Holliday. Alternate: Lyle
Rhoan Sr.
The Tribal Council mem-
bers are:
Agency
Wasco Chief Alfred Smith
Jr.; Council chair, Eugene
Greene Jr.; Councilmen
Kahseuss Jackson, and Carlos
Smith.
Simnasho
War m Springs Chief
Delvis Heath; vice chair,
Evaline Patt; Councilmen
Raymond Tsumpti, and
Orvie Danzuka.
Seekseequa
Paiute Chief Joseph
Moses; Councilmen Scott
Moses, and Reuben Henry.
Jake Suppah, Officer for
Tribal Council, Secretary-
Treasurer.
Summer meals
Toward restoring fish runs
by Paul Lumley
CRITFC executive director
A recent meeting in Astoria
on the Columbia River Treaty
brought together representa-
tives from 15 Columbia Ba-
sin tribes. Our discussions
focused on the Columbia
River and how to best serve
its needs along with our own.
During the three-day
meeting, we got the opportu-
nity to tour several sites from
the estuary to the river mouth.
I am always impressed to see
the waters of N’Chi Wana
return to the ocean from
which they came.
Some of this water began
its journey 1,365 miles up-
stream in Yellowstone Park.
Some of it began 1,240 miles
upstream in the Canadian
Rockies of British Columbia.
The Columbia empties nearly
2 million gallons of water into
the Pacific Ocean every sec-
ond.
Equally amazing to this
flood of water flowing into
the ocean is the flow of
salmon and other fish swim-
ming back up.
Many of these fish swim
hundreds of miles each way
during their lifecycle, with
sockeye travelling the fur-
thest. This year’s sockeye run
is expected to be quite large,
and they are primarily from
the Okanogan River in
Canada. The success of this
run underscores the impor-
tance of restoring upriver
passage into Canada.
If we can get salmon into
Canada and central Idaho,
they can take advantage of
their former range, some of
which is pristine wilderness
habitat.
Reopening passage, im-
proving degraded habitat, and
committing to the actions and
recommendations in the
newly updated Wy-Kan-Ush-
Mi Wa-Kish-Wit tribal salmon
restoration plan will all play a
role in bringing back healthy,
sustainable fish runs through-
out their entire historical
range.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Many are served at the elementary school cafeteria.
The Summer Lunch program is
serving free lunches to Warm Springs
youth at two locations each weekday.
At the community center cafeteria lunch
is served from 11-11:30 a.m..
Improved drinking water at fishing sites
Threats to drinking water
can come in many ways: Im-
properly disposed of chemi-
cals, animal wastes, pesticides,
human wastes, naturally-oc-
curring substances or improp-
erly maintained distribution
systems may pose a health
risk.
Eleven of the fishing ac-
cess sites have water systems
that the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency is currently
reviewing for compliance with
the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The Indian Health Service
works with the EPA to estab-
lish and monitor drinking
water standards throughout
Indian Country.
Over the summer and fall,
the EPA will designate 8 of
the 11 in-lieu and treaty fish-
ing access sites with wells to
be public water systems.
The sites are Celilo, Cooks,
North Bonneville, Stanley
Rock, Dallesport, Maryhill,
Preacher’s Eddy, Pasture
Point and Roosevelt.
Last year, IHS surveyed
the water safety status of all
None of the fish-
ing access sites
constructed prior to
2001 were de-
signed with safe
drinking water
standards in mind.
the Columbia River in-lieu
and treaty fishing access sites
with wells.
The surveys, completed
earlier this year, identified
possible significant deficien-
cies that must be corrected
before these sites can be des-
ignated as public water sys-
tems.
None of the fishing access
sites constructed prior to
2001 were designed with safe
drinking water standards in
mind. The sites built after
2001 were designed to meet
some of the standards, but
not all.
In an effort to protect the
tribal members who use and
rely on the these sites, the
Columbia River Inte-Tribal
Fish Commission and its
member tribes are working
with IHS and the EPA to en-
sure they have clean water
that meets safe drinking wa-
ter standards.
To meet the goal of full
Safe Drinking Water Act com-
pliance, the sites must undergo
retrofit construction and re-
pairs, some of them major.
The retrofit construction
and repair projects, already
under way, will continue into
this month.
The work may require
shutting off the water on the
site for short periods of time,
but notices will be posted
prior to any shut off. Water
will only be shut off at one
site at a time and for as short
a time as required to make
the necessary retrofits and
repairs.
North Bonneville and
Cooks will be the first two
sites to received upgrades and
repairs. These two sites have
the oldest wells and pump
systems and will require the
most extensive work. This will
be followed by work on the
Stanley Rock and Celilo sys-
tems.
The EPA goal is to ensure
safe, clean water is available
to those who use these water
systems. The CRITFC’s goal
is to provide tribal fishers with
safe water for drinking and
processing their fish harvest.
Potable water is the cor-
nerstone to any sanitary plan
and is required for compli-
ance with HACCP standards
and the upcoming Food
Safety Modernization Act
Regulations.
CRITFC’s Fishing Site
Maintenance Department
has worked hard to provide
potable water to tribal fish-
ers and their families who use
the fishing access sites and will
continue to do so. If you
have any questions or con-
cerns, please call Michael
Broncheau, Manager, FSMD
at 503-866-8375.
At the elementary school cafeteria,
lunch is served from 11:45-12:30. The
program, sponsored by the Jefferson
County School District 509-J and the
USDA, runs through mid August.
Tribal summer fisheries
in full swing through July
By Stuart Ellis
CRITFC Harvest Biologist
The tribal summer sea-
son fisheries are in full
swing.
The summer manage-
ment period runs through
July 31. The pre-season
forecast for Upper Co-
lumbia summer chinook
is 67,500 at the river
mouth.
The sockeye forecast
is 347,100 at the Colum-
bia River mouth, but of
that we only expect
1,200 to be Snake River
sockeye.
The actual allowed
catch for both of these
species depends on the
actual run size, not just the
forecast run sizes.
If the chinook run
comes in near the forecast,
the tribes should be able
to catch about 18,500
chinook.
The allowed sockeye
harvest rate is 7 percent.
If the sockeye run comes
in near forecast, we can
expect an allowed sockeye
catch of just over 24,000
fish.
The first two weeks of
summer gillnetting were set
with two separate three-
night fisheries.
A seven-inch minimum
mesh size is in place to
help control the sockeye
catch so we can try to
make sure fishing can oc-
cur throughout the sum-
mer season.
After these first two
gillnet fisheries, we expect
the tribes to set additional
gillnet fisheries. Platform
and hook-and-line fishing
is planned to continue
through the summer sea-
son.
Go to critfc.org for
infor mation on tribal
fishing. The commission
can be reached at 503-
238-0667.