Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
December 23, 2015
Vol. 40, No. 26
December – Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyam
For Excellence in Community Linguistics
anywhere that native language
teaching is going on,” said Joana
Jansen, linguist with the Univer-
sity of Oregon Northwest In-
dian Language Institute. The
award last year, for instance,
went to a linguist working with
native language in Canada.
Val will travel to Washington,
D.C., in January to accept the
award, at the 2016 Linguistic
Society Annual Meeting. The
Endangered Language Fund is
helping with some of the travel
expenses. Val’s daughter Evaline
is planning to accompany her on
the trip.
Val first heard the tribal lan-
guage while growing up in
Tenino Valley, where her family
had a ranch.
Award recognizes
director’s work on
Native languages
T o Valerie Switzler the Native lan-
guages of the Confederated Tribes
are of the greatest value. “They
are what hold our people together,”
Val was saying recently.
“They help protect what we
have—our culture, hunting and fish-
ing rights, the Treaty.”
Her dedication to the tribal lan-
guages is well-known among indig-
enous language experts. Most re-
cently, a professor at the University
of Kansas nominated Val to the Lin-
guistic Society of America.
The Linguistic Society then chose
Val as the recipient of the 2016
Excellence in Community Linguis-
tics Award.
“This is a world-wide award—
See LANGUAGE AWARD on 3
Val Switzler at Culture & Heritage
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Tribes move ahead with cannabis project
The membership voted in favor
of the cannabis referendum by a
margin of 1,252 in favor, to 198
against. The number of votes—a
total of 1,450—was easily more than
enough for a valid referendum.
In fact the referendum saw the
largest participation by voters in a
Confederated Tribes referendum,
said Lynn Davis, tribal Administra-
tive Services director. Turnout was
high despite the snow and ice dur-
ing the first part of the election day.
Tribal Council approved the ref-
erendum results by resolution on
Friday morning, Dec. 18. The
Council thanked the Warm Springs
Ventures board and staff for their
work on the project. They thanked
the Election Board, all those who
volunteered during the election pro-
cess, and all those who voted.
Compared to other elections, the
cannabis referendum saw many
younger tribal member voters, said
Beulah Tsumpti, chair of the Elec-
tion Board.
Participation by the younger
membership—both at the polling
booths, and in helping to get out the
vote—was a welcome development,
said Council Chairman Austin
Greene Jr.
This may give young people the
incentive to vote in future tribal de-
cisions, as they see the power of
their vote and the ability to make
change, said Don Sampson, Ven-
tures chief executive director.
The result—86.3 percent in fa-
vor, to 13.7 against—gives Tribal
Council and Ventures a clear man-
date to pursue the project. And the
next steps in the process are also
clear, Sampson said.
For instance, the state legislature
will have to correct a law that cur-
rently precludes tribal participation
in the state’s cannabis production
industry. Legislators are supportive
of the change, and are expected to
act in February to make the correc-
tion, Sampson said.
From the start of the cannabis
project discussion, Ventures and
Council have kept federal and state
officials updated and involved.
With the referendum question
now settled, the tribes will be work-
ing in more detail with the U.S.
Attorney’s Office, the BIA, and the
appropriate state officials.
Ventures is scheduled to meet
with Tribal Council on January
5 for further discussion of the
next steps in the process. The
plan for now calls for construc-
tion of the growing facility dur-
ing the summer, with the initial
product sales happening in
about a year, Sampson said.
The tribes are at the fore-
front of this kind of project,
made possible by the legaliza-
tion of cannabis in the state of
Oregon.
“Too often we study these
things until the opportunity has
passed,” Councilman Carlos
Smith said. This time though,
he said, “I’m glad we’re acting
in timely way.”
See REFERENDUM on 3
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Last minute
bazaar
The Recreation Department is
hosting the Last Minute Christmas
Bazaar this Wednesday, Dec. 23,
until 6 p.m. The bazaar is at the
community center gym and social
hall. Stop by and find that perfect
gift, while enjoying some homemade
goodies.
Top news
of 2015
The grand opening of the
Greeley Heights subdivision was
one of the great events of 2015 on
the reservation.
There are 35 new houses in the
subdivision. Funding for the project
was close to $10 million. The project
is unique in Indian Country, involv-
ing a partnership among tribal, fed-
eral, state and private entities. The
Warm Springs Housing Authority
saw this project to completion.
Meanwhile, some other impor-
tant 2015 news developments on
the reservation will have their main
impacts in 2016.
The cannabis referendum is an
example. If the project proceeds
as planned, this would be among
the biggest economic development
projects in the history of the Con-
federated Tribes.
Construction of the greenhouse
is planned for the summer, and the
growing operation is expected to
start later in the year. The first sales
would happen early in 2017.
The benefits are more than 80
new jobs, plus eventual average rev-
enue of more than $27 million a
year. Warm Springs Ventures and
Tribal Council brought this proposal
to the membership.
Truck stop
Second championship
for Series MVP
Andy Leonard and his Portland
Red Sox baseball club this year won
their second National Adult Base-
ball Association championship.
They won their first title in 2012,
after 16 seasons of getting close but
just falling short.
Leonard played second base and
outfield, and was named the series
Most Valuable Player. His batting
average was .645, having gone 20
for 31. He had no strike-outs or
walks, putting the ball in play at each
at-bat.
The performance should help
him decide whether to play for Port-
land again next year spring—in what
would be his twenty-second season
in the adult league. “I’ve always said
I’ll play as long as I can,” Andy was
saying recently.
An MVP award and second
Championship would indicate he
can indeed still play the game.
Andy plays in about 50 adult
baseball games a year. Most are with
the Portland Red Sox, plus other
games at Indian tournaments
around the region. They play the
Adult Baseball Association World
Series in Phoenix, Ariz.
This year he played in two tour-
naments—the 50-and-over, and the
45-and-over divisions. It was with
the 45-and-over team that he won
the 2015 championship.
Andy started playing baseball at
a young age. At age 5 he moved up
to the minor league division, when
the usual minor league age was 8.
He lettered all four years at Madras
High School. Then his adult base-
ball career started at age 27.
These days Andy stays in shape
Another 2015 project that could
prove to be a major development
in 2016 is a truck stop at the tribes’
Madras industrial park property.
This is a project of the Gaming and
Resort enterprise, as approved by
Tribal Council in the summer of
2015. The truck stop will create
between 40 and 60 new jobs, and
will generate an estimated $2 mil-
lion in new revenue.
The tribes have 10 acres of trust
land at the Madras industrial park.
About 1,000 work at the park on a
daily basis. The tribes’ property has
not been in productive use for sev-
eral years now. That could change
next year.
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Andy Leonard with 2015 MVP World Series bat.
in the off-season with regular exer-
cise, helping him avoid injuries when
the season starts.
During the World Series, he stays
at a hotel away from most of the
other players. “I like to be able
to think about what I have to
do, to get ready for the next
game,” he says.
See BASEBALL on 3
Carbon sequestration
Another revenue project is the
carbon sequestration market pro-
gram. This is expected to bring in
its first new revenue in 2016. The
carbon sequestration marketing pro-
gram is a project of the Natural
Resources Branch, Warm Springs
Ventures and the Tribal Council.