Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
January 7, 2015
Vol. 40, No. 1
Alyssa Macy/Spilyay.
2015 Miss Warm Springs Suzanne McConville.
Jazmine perfor med the
Bunny Hop social song. She
learned this last year, during
the Journey to Bella Bella with
the Warm Springs Canoe Fam-
ily.
Suzanne, 18, is from
Wishram. She is in her first
year at Eastern Washington
University, studying criminal
justice. Her plan is for a ca-
reer in law enforcement, either
on the reservation or at the
Columbia River.
Outside school her hobbies
are basketball, basket weaving,
and going to powwows. Her
dad is Alfred McConville Jr.
As Miss Warm Springs, she
said, “I would like to get very
involved in the community, to
help bring the community
closer together.”
Helping fight drug and al-
cohol abuse is one of her pri-
orities. “I know when people
feel alone in the world, they
might turn to drugs and alco-
hol. I want to help change
that,” Suzanne said.
“I want to be a great role
model for younger generations
to come.”
During 2015, Suzanne will
represent the tribes at pow-
wows, parades, rodeos, fairs,
tribal government events, and
other occasions.
Dave McMechan
Measure 91 and
Indian Country
Telecom becomes self-
sustaining enterprise
The state of Oregon this
year will legalize the possession
and use of marijuana. The new
state law has no effect on the
Confederated Tribes, which is
sovereign. The tribal criminal
code refers to the federal list of
controlled substances, which in-
cludes marijuana.
There is, however, some re-
cent change in the federal ap-
proach to the legalized marijuana
issue. The U.S. Attorney’s office
prosecutes major crimes in In-
dian Country, including the
Warm Springs reservation.
“With a number of states le-
galizing marijuana for use and
production, some tribes have
requested guidance on the en-
forcement of the Controlled
Substance Act on tribal lands by
the U.S. Attorney’s offices,” ac-
cording to a recent memoran-
dum from the Department of
Justice.
With these requests in mind,
the director of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Justice provided some
guidance to all U.S. Attorneys,
their staff and tribal liaisons.
“Indian Country includes nu-
merous reservations and tribal
The Confederated Tribes
launched the War m Springs
Telecom early in 2012. Beginning
its fourth year, the Telecom has seen
steady growth and improvement.
A major accomplishment during
2014: The Warm Springs Telecom
became a self-sustaining enterprise.
“That was a big step for us,” said
Jose Matanane, Telecom general
manager.
The Warm Springs Telecom now
reaches 87-percent of the potential
customers on the reservation. “We
have over 900 residential custom-
ers,” Matanane said, “and additional
600 department phones.”
A goal for 2015 is to reach 97
percent of the potential customers
on the reservation. Once all the
needs of the reservation custom-
ers are met, the Telecom could be-
gin serving residences and busi-
nesses off the reservation with wire-
less broadband.
Edging out from the reservation,
and expanding the customer base,
is the natural progression for a tele-
communications
enterprise,
Matanane said.
In 2014 the Telecom provided
the fiber to the Warm Springs Eagle
Academy, which has state-of-the-art
Internet. “For a school in a rural
lands with diverse sovereign gov-
ernments, many of which
traverse state borders and fed-
eral districts,” the memo reads.
“Given this, the U.S. Attor-
neys recognize that effective
federal law enforcement in In-
dian Country, including mari-
juana enforcement, requires
consultation with the tribal part-
ners in the districts, and flexibil-
ity to confront the particular, yet
sometimes divergent, public
safety issues that can exist on
any single reservation.”
The U.S. Attorneys, then,
should work with each of the
tribes in determining how to
proceed with the handling of
marijuana cases.
The Department of Justice
memo also refers to an earlier
document, “the Cole Memoran-
dum,” that provides guidance to
U.S. Attorneys in handling off-
reservation marijuana cases in
states where it is legal.
The Cole memo lists eight pri-
orities to keep in mind when de-
termining how to handle a mari-
juana case. The priorities in-
clude:
See MEASURE 91 on 7
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
January – Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
Miss Warm Springs 2015 Suzanne McConville
Suzanne McConville likes to
find inspiring words. “If I’m
feeling down, or happy, or just
trying to get motivated,” she was
saying recently, “I’ll look up
quotes.”
One of her favorites is: “If
your dreams don’t scare you,
then they’re not big enough.”
A good example happened
last week at the 2015 Miss
Warm Springs Pageant. “I was
nervous and scared—all emo-
tions mixed in one,” she was
saying.
“But I went after it and
chased it, and here I am. You
really don’t know what you can
do until you try.”
Suzanne won the 2015 Pag-
eant following a close competi-
tion with Jazmine Ike Lopez.
“We had two wonderful girls
who ran this year,” said Miss
Warm Springs 2014 Charmaine
Billey. “I’m so proud of both
of them for stepping up, and
wanting to represent the tribes
in a positive way.”
“Both of the girls did great,”
said Emily Yazzie. “They both
had really good answers to all
the questions.”
In the talent category
Suzanne showed her basket-
weaving technique, displaying
a yarn basket. She learned the
skill from her mom Laura
Slockish.
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
area, that is rare,” Matanane said.
The technology at the acad-
emy is at least equal to the ser-
vice at schools in metropolitan
areas. The Telecom also brought
fiber to the Roots education pro-
gram.
A project in 2015 will be to
provide fiber service to the new
subdivision at Greeley Heights.
Those new homes will be the first
residences to have the Telecom
fiber service.
The final customer to join the
Telecom in 2014 was the Mu-
seum at Warm Springs, which
saw cost savings through this
change.
The Telecom in 2014 added
three new employees, all tribal
members. The total number work-
ing there now is 13. The enter-
prise began with seven employ-
ees.
Last July, when wild fires broke
out on the reser vation, the
Telecom provided service to two
separate fire camps one enlisted
800 firefighters. “We responded
to the needs of the community,
public safety and fire manage-
ment,” Matanane said.
See TELECOM on page 12
Coming
up at
museum
Warm Springs artist Travis Bobb
will have his own exhibit this year
at the museum. His paintings and
drawings are a creative and funny
reflection of the life and character
of the reservation.
Travis’ cartoons are a regular
feature in this publication. He made
the Spilyay logo at the upper left
of the page.
His show at the Museum at
Warm Springs will feature about 20
of paintings plus pen-and-ink draw-
ings, said Natalie Kirk, museum
curator. Travis’ show, Q u i e t
Strength, is set to open in April.
Youth exhibit
Later this month the museum
will feature the Twenty-Second An-
nual Tribal Youth Art Exhibit: Young
at Art. The show opens on Janu-
ary 22, and runs through March.
Young at Art features traditional,
contemporary and classroom art
created by tribal youth, from tod-
dlers to high school.
Main exhibit
The main exhibit at the museum
for 2015, opening in June, will be:
Royal Legacy—Honoring the Miss
War m Springs of Our Past and
Present.
“As role models to young ladies,
Miss Warm Springs has represented
the beauty and culture of our
tribes,” the show description says.
“Learn about the protocol, his-
tory and responsibilities of bring
Miss Warm Springs.”
Illusion
of Elvis
at Casino
Indian Head Casino is hosting its
first concert of 2015 later this
month, when Danny Vernon brings
The Illusion of Elvis to the casino.
The concert will be on Sunday, Jan.
25, from 7-9 p.m.
The concert will be in the Cot-
tonwood Restaurant. Tickets are
$10. The event is for people 21 and
over.
Danny Vernon’s professional ex-
periences include being a singing
server at a revolving restaurant,
strumming guitar and singing acous-
tic folk and rock tunes in lounges
and nightclubs, and recording an
original country album in Nashville
receiving national airplay. This broad
backdrop of skillful versatility helps
give stability and genuineness to his
Illusion of Elvis show.
He performs numbers from all
three decades of Elvis’ career, in-
cluding the “recklessly abandoned”
hillbilly cat of the 1950s, the sleek
‘60s movie years including the
Comeback Special, and the ‘70s
jumpsuit years.