E Coosh EEWA: The way it is
Time of
transition
by Alyssa Macy
The transition of spring to
summer also marks a new
transition for many students,
as this is the time of year for
graduation. It’s been great to
see all the smiling faces,
graduation photos, and well
wishes for the graduates on
my Face-book timeline. I am
proud of each and every one
of you and excited about
what the future holds for you.
Many of you are heading
off to college
and what an
Spilyay
exciting time
Speaks
this is. My un-
dergraduate
years were some of the best
of my life. I made lifelong
friends while at Arizona State
University (go Sun Devils!)
and a few classes I took
helped greatly in my career
endeavors, and opened doors
I did not even know were pos-
sible.
Several professors were in-
strumental in guiding me
through my education and
encouraging me to think big-
ger. It wasn’t always easy and
there were times I struggled
but I stuck with it and I’m
glad I did.
Whether you are going to
college or starting work, as
you enter into adulthood, you
will be faced with many
choices, some good and some
not so good.
One thing that all of us hu-
mans have in common is that
along the way, we’ve all made
a bad choice (or two). When
you stumble, consider these
learning experiences and op-
portunities to change behav-
iors for the better. One deci-
sion can alter the course of
your life forever—don’t be
the person who makes a bad
choice that costs your free-
dom or worse, your life.
What does it take to be a
good decision maker? There
are a few things that I think
help.
First, trust your gut feel-
ing. Your instincts can be very
valuable and I found them
the most helpful when it came
to making friends. Some-
times, you just KNOW that
certain people should not be
in your inner circle.
Second, work with facts
and data. Don’t make deci-
sions on hearsay. Take the
time to do the research and
understand the facts. Finally,
if you are faced with a big
decision, take the time to
think it through. There is
nothing worse than jumping
the gun on a major decision
and having it turn out bad.
It’s okay to sleep on it.
To this day, I write my
goals down along with
Page 4
Spilyay Tymoo June 10, 2015
Letters to the editor
timelines for getting them
done. I list the steps that I
need to accomplish and en-
joy checking those boxes.
Occasionally when faced
with choices, I still list the pros
and cons and use it to help
me make a decision. I ask for
advice and often pray. I am
always reminded that choices
today influence so many as-
pects of my life including my
credibility and reputation. I
take it seriously and I encour-
age each of you to be smart
with your decision-making.
Indians never forget and a
bad choice now could follow
you for the rest of your life.
I’ve gotten some good ad-
vice throughout my life and
I’ll share some of the tidbits
that I’ve been told. First, you
are born to dream. Dream big
and take the necessary steps
to make those dreams come
to fruition. Don’t let your
past or your upbringing or
the things you didn’t have be
an excuse for realizing your
potential. Be accountable for
your actions, be ethical with
your behaviors, be kind, laugh
and work hard.
And finally, never forget
you are a gift from the Cre-
ator, perfect in your imper-
fections and loved.
I’m rooting for or all of
you! Go forth and make us
proud!
Our resources
Someone once said, We
did not inherit this land and
its resources from our ances-
tors. We are only borrowing
it from our children’s children
and their children.
As stewards of this land it
is all of our responsibility to
create a conservative balance
in nature with what is left of
our once bountiful natural
resources before they are just
history, like the 120-pound
Chinook salmon which is ex-
tinct from the big river. And
including the old growth trees.
Who will get to cut down the
last remaining tree?
The Warm Springs River
is the last of all the Deschutes
watershed tributaries to still
have wild spring Chinook
salmon. They are still listed
as threatened with extinction.
The dams killed off all of the
salmonid species bound for
up-river migration.
The last wild horse, aka
Indian pony, Cayuse, Mus-
tang, this breed of horse is
becoming increasingly rare in
North American. They once
number around one million,
pre-dating long before the
Treaty of 1855. From time
immemorial and before we
were removed here from the
Spilyay Tymoo
(Coyote News, Est. 1976)
Publisher Emeritus: Sid Miller
Multi Media Specialist: Alyssa Macy
Managing Editor: Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our offices are
located at 4174 Highway 3 in Warm Springs.
Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo
should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 489, Warm Springs, OR
97761.
Phone: 541-553-2210 or 541-771-7521
E-Mail: dave.mcmechan@wstribes.org.
Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $20.00
big river, the wild Indian po-
nies were here. There were
thousands. This breed was
and still is beautiful with rare
shades of dun, red roans, blue
grullos and buckskins, pintos
and some Appaloosa.
Indian tribes always did
have horses. These same
horses, this breed the wild
Indian pony, deserves some
respect, as they did serve
many Indian tribes well. They
were used for hunting, pack-
ing, travel and war, also rac-
ing. The high plateaus and arid
steep canyons look much bet-
ter with them than without
them. Their fate is literally
going to the dogs, by route
of the 50 million buffalo.
Respectfully,
Anthony Littleleaf
From Housing
My name is Jonathan
Smith Sr., and I am the new
Resident Opportunity Self-
Sufficiency (ROSS) Residen-
tial Service coordinator.
My office is located at the
Warm Springs Housing Au-
thority building, 1238 Veter-
ans Way, Warm Springs.
I have lived here on the
reservation for over 40 years,
and enjoy the opportunity to
once again work within the
local community.
Here are some facts about
our challenges with the local
community:
Did you know that accord-
ing to the U.S. Department of
Labor, those who have a high
school diploma and a college
degree earn significantly more
money on average than do
those without a high school
diploma and college degree?
The unemployment rate is
higher for those who do not
have a high school diploma or
higher education degree.
Those who earn more in-
come and have higher levels
of education are more likely
to have better health, accord-
ing to the Center for Disease
Control.
Did you know that an es-
timated per capita income in
Warm Springs is below the
poverty rate?
Did you know that unem-
ployment in Warm Springs is
above 60 percent, and the
poverty rate in Warm Springs
is 57 percent higher than the
state of Oregon average?
With these things in mind,
we want to engage the local
community, and create aware-
ness about access to re-
sources that we can offer.
We can help you achieve
some of your personal goals
by coordinating access to ser-
vices you may not know are
available. Access to program
resources can mean the dif-
ference between knowing that
your goals are well organized
and supported, versus having
to face these challenges alone.
Empowering our residents
and tenants to achieve their
goals is our main priority.
Helping our residents and ten-
ants become successful is a
key part of our program.
If you are low rent Hous-
ing tenant, or if you are in
the Mutual Help Program,
please stop by at the Warm
Springs Housing Authority
office to sign up for assis-
tance, or call me personally
to find out more informa-
tion.
Any questions and com-
ments can be directed to me
at 541-553-3250.
Jonathan Smith Sr.,
ROSS Residential Services
Coordinator, Warm Springs
Housing Authority.
Births
Chris James Jim Picard
Gibson Danzuka and
Patricia Jim of Warm Springs
are pleased to announce the
birth of their son Chris James
Jim Picard, born on May 28,
2015.
Chris joins brothers
Gabriel, 4, and Michael, 4.
Grandparents on the
father’s side are LaDonna
Picard-Squiemphen of Warm
Springs, and Vernon
Squiemphen.
Grandparents on the
mother’s side are Christina
Culps, and Shawn Jim, of
Warm Springs.
Jericho Dion Jackson
Jordan Jackson Sr. and
Lyla Williams of War m
Springs are pleased to an-
nounce the birth of their son
Jericho Dion Jackson, born
on May 27, 2015.
Jericho joins brothers Jor-
dan Jr., 4, and Johnatthen, 18
months.
Grandparents on the
father’s side are the late
Louella Squiemphen, and
Gregory Jackson Sr., of Ma-
dras.
Grandmother on the
mother’s side is Judith Kalama
of Warm Springs.
Recent loss
Dear Jefferson County
School District and Education
Service District staff, fami-
lies and friends,
We recently lost a true
community and education
leader, mentor and friend.
Steve Rankin was involved in
a car accident that took his
life and seriously injured his
wife, Lisbet Hornung. Lisbet
is also a retired and dedicated
509-J teacher and active com-
munity member.
Steve was a life-long cham-
pion for children and educa-
tion in our community. He
dedicated his entire teaching
career to the students, staff
and families at Madras High
School, where he worked in
the classroom for more than
36 years.
Following his retirement in
1995, he continued to teach
social studies, civics and ad-
vanced placement govern-
ment at MHS and also pro-
vided exceptional added sup-
port as an academic coach
and head of the MHS social
studies department.
His dedication and passion
for education continued with
nearly seven years of volun-
teer service as a member of
the Board of Directors for
the Jefferson County Educa-
tion Service District.
Sincerely,
Rick Molitor, 509-J dis-
trict superintendent
Hope to hear
To the community of
Warm Springs, Hello, my
name is Stuart A. Smith Sr.
I’m writing to family, friends
and loved ones to let you
know I’ve been sentenced to
20 months in the Depart-
ment of Corrections. Please
feel free to write me at the
address below. Thank you,
humbly and respectfully,
Stuart A. Smith Sr., sid
#12275256, CCCF, 24499
SW Grahams Ferry Rd., PO
Box 9000, Wilsonville, OR
97070.
KWSO welcomes development director
Bruce Irwin has joined
KWSO, and will serve the
radio station and the Con-
federated Tribes as devel-
opment director, with pri-
mary job responsibilities to
secure funding for KWSO
operations.
This will be done
through underwriting,
website sales, special
events, membership pro-
grams, donations, re-
searching, preparing and
submitting grant funding
proposals, and other rev-
enue generating activities.
Bruce was recently em-
ployed as an assistant
planner and grants special-
ist, with the Confederated
Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua & Siuslaw Indi-
ans, headquartered in
Coos Bay.
He started learning his
new job responsibilities on
June 2, and is getting fa-
miliar with his position
duties and how he can de-
velop sustainable financial
resources for the KWSO
Media Center projects
and programs.
Before Bruce’s work
with the Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Siuslaw tribe,
Bruce served in various
administrative manage-
ment capacities in his cho-
sen career field in Parks,
Recreation and natural
Resources Management.
He earned a BA De-
Bruce Irwin
gree from San Diego State
University in Parks and Rec-
reation Administration.
He worked for public gov-
ernment agencies most of his
career, having served in man-
agement capacities in two
state parks agencies (in Wash-
ington and New Mexico), and
five counties: Kitsap,
Whatcom, Lewis, Mason in
Washington State and Los
Alamos County, New Mexico.
Bruce also worked for
four special districts: Parks
and Recreation, and the
Merced Irrigation District in
Merced, Calif., managing ma-
jor big lake recreation areas—
Lakes
McClure
and
McSwain, measuring more
than 8,000 surface acres at
high gross pool.
And he served as director
of a City Parks and Recre-
ation jurisdiction in Hastings,
Nebraska, with a population
of 26,000 residents. In that
job he completed construc-
tion of the Aquacourt, a full
service aquatic park facility
in May 2004.
Throughout his public
parks and recreation career,
Bruce has more than 20
years of grant getting expe-
riences and has endeavored
to earn capital improvement
project (CIP) funds by pre-
paring more than 67 grants
to earn new sources of fund-
ing—$32.5 million—to ac-
complish agency goals and
objectives.
Bruce will be researching
and analyzing the best grant
sources to support KWSO
Media Center’s programs and
services that provide public
benefits to the Warm Springs
tribal organization and local
community.
He plans to research and
identify potential new fund-
ing sources that will assist the
KWSO Media Center to
grow in a variety of ways,
providing for the needs and
benefits of tribal depart-
ments and related enter-
prises.
As a non-profit organiza-
tion founder, Bruce has an
interest to develop plans to
build a fish viewing “stream
profile chamber,” an under-
ground fish viewing facility.
The future visitors to this
unique natural resource inter-
pretive center, featuring an
aquarium-like setting on a
natural body of water, is
where the region’s fish can be
observed and appreciated
in a combination indoor/
outdoor setting.
Bruce is married and
has three grown daughters
who live in other states.
He and his wife intend to
relocate to the Jefferson
County area and get es-
tablished in the local com-
munity in a capacity
whereby they can con-
tribute to better the area
in which they reside.
KWSO’s development
director position is being
funded by a grant from
the Oregon Community
Foundation (OCF) sup-
ported by: the Casey Fam-
ily Fund; the Fred W.
Fields Fund; and the
Daryl L. and Patricia L.
Swenson Fund.
This is a capacity build-
ing grant and the goal is
for the Development Di-
rector to be self-sufficient
in three years. The mis-
sion of the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation is to
improve life in Oregon
and promote effective
philanthropy.
OCF works with indi-
viduals, families, busi-
nesses and organization to
create charitable funds to
support the community
causes they care about.
Through these funds
OCF awards nearly $70
million annually in grants
and scholarships.