Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
July 23, 2014
Vol. 39, No. 15
July – Pat’ak-Pt’akni – Summer - Shatm
Roots program a great chance for students
For a young person on the reser-
vation, now more than ever, having
a high school education is essential
to finding a job.
At the same time, 60 percent of
Warm Springs students who begin
high school do not graduate. The
goal of the Roots program is to help
correct this situation.
Roots is the new alternative edu-
cation program serving the reser-
vation students. The program is
part of Madras High School, based
in Warm Springs.
The Roots director is Dawn
Smith, longtime educator and
former principal of Warm Springs
Elementary School. She is working
with teacher Earl Simmons. He has
taught on the reservation for the
past several years, and is certified
to teach agriculture at the high
school level.
The Roots program is open to
students who have dropped out of
high school, and to those who may
be at risk of dropping out. A stu-
dent can join the class to catch up
on credits to graduate, or to improve
his or her GPA.
Roots classes will begin in Sep-
tember. “This will be hands-on and
active,” Smith was saying recently.
“The students will be very involved.”
The previous alternative educa-
tion program on the reservation
took an on-line approach, allowing
the students to earn credits by com-
puter. About 12 students last year
took advantage of the opportunity.
The goal of roots is to have 30 stu-
dents, Smith said.
Roots will have a computer
component, of course, but the
program is designed to be prac-
tical. “We want to provide stu-
dents with every opportunity of
finding a job,” Simmons said.
Roots will introduce students
to different careers in the broad
Natural Resources field. The
Branch of Natural Resources
and Warm Springs Forest Prod-
ucts Industries are partnering in
the Roots program.
See ROOTS on page 7
K-8 Academy looking good as work finishes
N ext month will see the offi-
cial dedication of the Warm
Springs k-8 Academy. Then in
September the school will host
the Back to School Barbecue
and school supply giveaway.
The first event will be a rib-
bon-cutting on August 27, start-
ing at 10 a.m. Officials will be
on hand from the Confeder-
ated Tribes, the Bureau of In-
dian Affairs, Bureau of Indian
Education, the USDA, and
Jefferson County School Dis-
trict 509-J.
Federal and state lawmakers
will also be invited, said Rick
Molitor, school district superin-
tendent.
The September Back to
School Barbecue and School
Supplies Giveaway will serve as
the grand opening especially for
the students and families. “The
kids will have their first chance
to really the see the building and
facilities,” Molitor said.
Also in September will be the
dedication of the new football
stadium at Madras High
School. This will be during the
first home game, set for Friday,
Sept. 12. Boosters will be work-
ing on how to mark the occa-
sion, such as with a barbecue.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Crews are now working on
landscaping (top photo). At
right, the academy
entrance way.
Showtime Schimmel wins All-Star Game MVP
Shoni Schimmel lived up to her
nickname in her first WNBA All-
Star Game.
Showtime Schimmel won the
Most Valuable Player award in the
wild All-Star game last Saturday.
Schimmel scored an All-Star
game record 29 points. She had
eight assists as the East pulled out a
125-124 victory over the West in
the first WNBA All-Star Game to
go into overtime.
Shoni is a rookie with the Atlanta
Dream. She is a favorite athlete
among Warm Springs residents. She
has family on the reservation, and
many fans who followed her stellar
college career with Louisville Car-
dinals.
Schimmel grew up on the
Umatilla Reservation, in Mission.
She has a vast Native American
following across Indian Country.
In the All-Star game, Shoni broke
the All-Star record of 23 points set
last year by Candice Parker.
Brittney Griner opened the over-
time with a layup, followed by Maya
Moore’s 3-pointer. This put the West
up 124-117 with 1:59 to play.
But Katie Douglas for the East
sank a 3 to cut it to 124-120 with
1:15 to go, then Schimmel made her
seventh 3-pointer of the afternoon
with 41.9 seconds left. This cut the
West lead to 124-123.
Tamika Catchings made a driv-
ing layup for the East, and a final
turnover by the West put an end to
the frenetic contest.
Schimmel was just the third re-
serve to start an All-Star game. And
she put on quite the show: Be-
sides hitting 3-pointers she also
hit a circus over-the-head shot
over Griner.
“The hoop kept getting big-
ger and bigger,” Schimmel said.
“I wanted to lay it out on the
line, and that’s what I did.”
Shoni and the Dream will
play in Seattle on Thursday,
August 7. Many fans from
Warm Springs are planning to
attend.
9
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Fires update
Cooler
weather
just in time
Tens of thousands of acres
burned on the reservation over the
past couple weeks. There has been
good news and some bad, as the res-
ervation again experienced a vola-
tile fire season.
Two tribal member fire fighters,
from Warm Springs Fire Manage-
ment, were injured in a vehicle acci-
dent while responding to one of the
many fires that broke out in mid July.
Both of the fire fighters were
hospitalized, one with serious inju-
ries. Trey Leonard of Fire Manage-
ment updated Tribal Council on the
situation earlier this week.
The fire fighters who were in-
jured, he said, are very popular with
all of the crew. So the accident was
traumatic, adding to an already
stressful time. Everyone is wishing
them a speedy recovery.
During the Shaniko Butte fire,
Patrick “Hermie” Boyd lost his
house, his primary vehicle, four pets,
and historic family items. The house
was located outside of Shaniko, and
burned early during this fire event.
With Leonard, Natural Resources
general manager Bobby Brunoe gave
an update to Tribal Council on Mon-
day. They were joined by the inter-
agency incident commanders, and
BIA officials
The first part of the discussion
focused on the Shaniko Butte fire
to the east, then the Logging Unit
fires to the west.
Later discussion focused on the
overall wild land fire situation on
the reservation: Why are we seeing
major wildfires every summer?
What if anything can be done to
reduce their incidence?
Some of the cause is natural, as
the reservation and surrounding re-
gion are prone to summer lightning
strikes, Brunoe said.
During the storms that sparked
the recent fires, Leonard said, the
reservation saw 300 lightning strikes.
But at least part of the problem
is the result of government policies,
he said. The policy of strict fire
suppression over the past 100 years
is not the way the forest used to
managed, he said.
There are elders who remember
when people would light wild land
fires at certain times of the year for
forest management. These fires
would burn coolly because there was
no accumulation of fuels on the
ground. And this maintained the
health of the forest.
See FIRES on page 6
Huckleberry
Feast
The Huckleberry Feast
is set for Sunday, July 27
at the HeHe Longhouse.