Spilyay Tymoo
January 20, 2016
Coyote News, est. 1976
Vol. 41, No. 2
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
January – Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
Chance for tribal housing at the river
The construction of dams on the
Columbia River displaced many
tribal families that had been living
and fishing there for generations,
since time immemorial.
The displacement and destruc-
tion of fishing sites, individual
homes and villages along the river
creates an obligation on the part of
the federal government.
To address part of this obliga-
tion, the U.S. Army Corps of Engi-
neers worked with the Columbia
River tribes to create fishing access
and in-lieu sites at the river. This
took several years and millions of
dollars to accomplish, the result be-
ing 31 tribal in-lieu and access sites
at the river.
As part compensation, the Corps
of Engineers also built a new
longhouse, infrastructure and homes
at Celilo Village.
These accomplishments are to be
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
celebrated, because of the years of
work that went into the projects, said
Louie Pitt, director of tribal Gov-
ernmental Affairs.
But the outcome has been im-
perfect, he said, because of the
scope of the damage from the dams.
For instance, the Celilo Village
project was and remains conten-
tious, in part because of the ques-
tion of who was receive a new
home.
The planners used historical
records, and to the best of their
ability tried to come up with a fair
solution. But the result was imper-
fect, “And some people are still un-
happy about it,” Mr. Pitt was saying
last week at Tribal Council.
In these situations—because of
the size and cost of the obligation—
the only options seem to be to come
up with some solution in a reason-
ably timely way, or to do nothing at
all.
Several decades after the con-
struction of the dams, the federal
government now appears ready to
address another obligation that ex-
ists at the river—that of housing to
displaced tribal families.
The process for this project will
be at least as complex as the Celilo
Village project, and possibly much
more so.
Time is now
All parties agree that as long as
the dams exist, the federal govern-
ment has an obligation to provide
housing for families and villages that
were displaced by the construction
of the dams.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission has been coordi-
nating the effort to hold the gov-
ernment accountable to the obliga-
tion. CRITFC executive director
Paul Lumley, and CRITFC policy
analyst Laurie Jordan met last
week with Tribal Council on the
issue.
“The potential for tribal hous-
ing at the Columbia River is the
best I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Lumley
said.
“But if we don’t get something
going now,” he said, “we’ll have
to start over.”
There will be a change in the
Presidential administration next
year, Mr. Lumley said. And the
House and some Senate seats are
up for election.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senators
from Oregon and Washington,
and
Congressman
Earl
Blumenauer sent a letter in No-
vember of last year in support
the project.
See TRIBAL HOUSING on 5
Youth Art, ‘Kindred Spirits’
and more at museum in 2016
School
district
agreement
at Council
Deanie Smith came across an
interesting and important federal law
that has to do with tribal languages
and public schools.
Deanie, the tribal Language Pro-
gram director, attended the National
Indian Education Association con-
ference last October in Portland.
At one policy session, she met a
group of Hawaiian Natives who
shared information on how they
have been working to keep their lan-
guages.
They shared with her a copy of
the Native American Languages Act
of 1990. Here is some of the lan-
guage in the law:
“The traditional languages of
Native Americans are an integral
part of their cultures and identities,
and form the basic medium for the
transmission, and thus survival of
Native American cultures, literature,
histories, religions, political institu-
tions and values...”
See EDUCATION on 3
New Zealand lead crystal She Who Watches, by Lillian Pitt.
Reservation photography by Edward Heath
Courtesy photos.
T he Museum at Warm Springs
will open its first exhibit of 2016
next week, with the Twenty-third
Annual Warm Springs Tribal Youth
Art Exhibit.
Young people can submit items
for the exhibit until 5 p.m. this Fri-
day, Jan. 22. The exhibit will have
its grand opening on Thursday, Jan.
28.
The Youth Art Exhibit features
original works by young people of
the community from toddlers
through high school. Talk to
Natalie Kirk at the museum if
you need more information, 541-
553-3331.
In April the museum will fea-
ture, An Eye for the Rez: Ed-
ward Heath Photography.
“More than just snapshots, this
exhibition showcases nature, scen-
ery and cherished memories, and
reveals the beauty of daily life on
the rez.”
See MUSEUM on 8
Youth opportunities with Heart of Oregon
Six young people from Warm
Springs have joined YouthBuild.
They are the first group from the
reservation to join the education and
job skills training program.
“We’re hoping to get more stu-
dents this March, after word gets
out,” said Butch David, Madras
High School community liaison.
YouthBuild is a program of
Heart of Oregon Corps, a Central
Oregon non-profit helping young
people and local communities.
To the students the benefits of
YouthBuild are many: they can earn
high school credits, a high school
diploma, or a college scholarship.
And they learn job skills while earn-
ing a stipend.
In YouthBuild, the students first
attend a two-week orientation at the
Sisters classroom center. This ses-
sion is called ‘Mental Toughness.’
The six Warm Springs students will
be finishing Mental Toughness at
the end of this week.
The students meet early in the
morning at the community center,
and then take a bus to Sisters. The
school district provides the transpor-
tation. After the two weeks, the stu-
dents will spend some days at the
classroom, and some days working
on community projects, such as
building houses.
YouthBuild is 12-month pro-
gram, open to young people ages 16
to 24. Here is an example of when
YouthBuild may be the answer:
A student at the high school gets
behind in credits, for whatever rea-
son. “Sometimes school is not for
everyone,” said Laura Handy, execu-
tive director of Heart of Oregon
Corps.
At some point the student gets
too far behind and gives up hope
of graduating. Through YouthBuild
the student can earn up to 15 cred-
its in one year, about two and a half
years worth of high school credits.
Graduation is now possible.
Butch David learned of
YouthBuild last year while working
with a summer youth crew. “I had
three seniors on my crew, and they
ended up getting scholarships to go
to college,” Butch was saying re-
cently.
He looked into the program, and
introduced it to about 30 stu-
dents, some at the Roots program,
for instance. Six of the students
liked the program, and they
joined.
The classroom experience
through YouthBuild is different
from the high school, said Kara
Johnson,
director
of
YouthBuild. There are three
educators for each student, as
an example.
The YouthBuild experience
out the classroom teaches job
skills. And the students make
employment contacts that can to
job opportunities.
See YouthBuild on 5
Council
discussion on
Bonneville
fishery
The Tribal Council this month will
take up the question of spring sub-
sistence fishing below the Bonneville
dam. The fishery opened last year
in early April.
Council members at a meeting
last week said they want to see the
subsistence fishery open again this
spring below Bonneville.
The tribes first re-opened this
fishery in 2010, and it proved to be
popular with hook-and-line subsis-
tence fishermen. Before the 2010
season, there had been no subsis-
tence fishery at the location for some
years.
In 2014 the below-Bonneville
fishery remained closed to subsis-
tence fishermen, although the 2014
spring chinook run was one of the
best in several years. Meanwhile,
the commercial fishery at the area
was open in 2014, and many saw
this as unfair to the subsistence fish-
ermen.
Tribal Council agreed, and in
2015 opened the subsistence fish-
ery at Bonneville. Council is plan-
ning to meet with the Branch of
Natural Resources on January 25
to discuss the 2016 below-
Bonneville subsistence fishery.
They may also look at some of
the regulations that apply at the fish-
ing site, such as regulations regard-
ing the number of poles per fisher-
man, reasonable access for elders,
and law and regulation enforcement.