Page 8
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Museum: ‘Kindred Spirits’ by Lillian Pitt
(Continued from page 1)
Edward Heath works at
Forestry. He started taking
pictures just a couple years
ago.
He focuses on daily life
and scenery of the reserva-
tion—images that people
might pass by without notic-
ing.
He came to the attention
of the museum curator
Natalie Kirk, who heard great
things from people about his
photography. An Eye for the
Rez opens in mid April.
The main exhibit of 2016
will be Kindred Spirits: The
Artistic Jour ney of Lillian
Pitt. As the museum pro-
gram reads:
Lillian creates contempo-
rar y works of fine art that
delight today’s art lovers, and
at the same time honor the
histor y and legends of her
people. Primarily a sculptor
and mixed media artist,
Lillian’s lifetime of works in-
Courtesy photo
Coyote and She Who Watches by Lillian Pitt
Reservation
photography
by Edward
Heath,
coming up
in the
spring at
the
museum.
clude artistic expressions in
clay, br onz e, w earable ar t,
prints and glass.
Her works have been exhib-
ited and reviewed throughout
the Pacific Northwest, nation-
ally and internationally. She
is the recipient of numerous
awards and distinctions. This
visually stunning exhibition
will display the creativity and
spirit of Lillian Pitt.
This exhibit will open in
June, followed by the Twenty-
Third Annual Tribal Member
Art Exhibit.
Some other items on the
agenda this year are the Four-
teenth Annual Honor Dinner,
this year honoring Ted
Kulongoski, Twanat Award
recipient. The lifetime award
recipient this year will be Dr.
Creelman and the late Jeanie
Thompson Smith.
The Youth Art Exhibit
will open with a reception at
5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan.
28.
Learning about business in Warm Springs
By Leah Guliasi
W.S. Community Action Team
There are many opportu-
nities for business owners
and artisans in War m
Springs, and the War m
Springs Community Action
Team is considering develop-
ing programs that can assist
people in starting their own
business.
Since 2013, WSCAT has
been gathering information,
both formally—through sur-
veys and questionnaires—
and anecdotally—by talking
with small business clients at
our office and in our
Indianpreneurship classes.
The information gather-
ing was to learn more about
the hopes and aspirations of,
and challenges and barriers
confronting existing and as-
piring entrepreneurs in the
Warm Springs community.
In the last two years,
WSCAT and its partners
have conducted two surveys
of prospective small busi-
ness owners.
WSCAT and a five-per-
son artisans co-op steering
committee conducted the
first study in late 2013 and
early 2014.
We asked 49 local artisans
what types of work they do,
and whether they would be
interested in forming a Warm
Springs arts and crafts coop-
erative.
In October of this year,
WSCAT conducted a study
of 52 individuals in Warm
Springs, including 36 current
and prospective business
owners.
The goal of this survey
was to better assess the needs
of all types of business own-
ers in Warm Springs, under-
stand the barriers they face,
and determine how WSCAT
can help businesses here suc-
ceed.
dividual artists would be able
to work together to increase
their sales by lowering costs,
increasing what they could
buy, and increasing their abil-
ity to sell products online.
More than 77 percent of
the 49 people surveyed in the
2013-2014 survey were inter-
ested in joining a co-op.
The biggest barriers to ar-
tisans were lack of time to
do their work—primarily due
to work and family require-
ments—, limited resources to
purchase supplies, and lack
of access to markets in which
they could sell their products.
These, and some of the
other challenges they dis-
cussed, could be solved
through participation in a co-
op.
Many of those surveyed
expressed interest in the co-
op having a genuine retail
space and storefront.
They liked that such a
place could help them in-
crease their sales, allow them
to work part-time (just a
couple hours per week), but
not depend upon them to be
in charge of the whole store.
They were enthusiastic
about helping with upkeep of
such a store, and most of
those surveyed were willing
to pay a small membership
fee to ensure the smooth
functioning of the co-op.
Some were also willing to
help manage the shop, dem-
onstrate their craft on-site,
W.S. arts, crafts busi-
ness community
The 2013-2014 artisans
survey taught us much about
the arts community here.
Many people in Warm
Springs make art products,
with beading and jewelry be-
ing the most common.
Some of this art is tradi-
tional and some is contem-
porary. It is sold in many
places, both on and off the
reservation.
If an arts and crafts co-
operative were to form, in-
2321
Ollallie
Lane
Warm
Springs
Call 541-
553-1182
help with marketing, and help
with bookkeeping. While
each individual’s availability to
assist in the store varied, there
was widespread interest in
working at the store.
The larger W.S. busi-
ness community
In the October 2015 sur-
vey, we learned in more de-
tail about the wants, needs
and barriers to business suc-
cess in Warm Springs.
In a series of later articles,
we will discuss these in deeper
detail. In this article, we will
focus briefly on a few points
of interest:
When asked what types
of businesses they would
like to see on the reserva-
tion, the top responses were
locally-owned businesses and
restaurants.
While some were inter-
ested in chain stores, most
felt that small business were
much more important.
Other common responses
on types of small business
desired included a laund-
romat and a movie theater.
Many respondents wished
for a business community that
would allow people to use
services on the reservation
rather than going to Madras
or Bend.
Infrastructure seemed to
be the biggest barrier to busi-
ness development in Warm
Springs.
For a business here to suc-
ceed, respondents felt, it
needs a strong foundation
including a good business lo-
cation, good roads with ad-
equate signage, reliable utili-
ties, a supportive business
code, and support from the
tribal government. An ex-
ample of the latter would be
making the insurance require-
ments less stringent.
Other barriers to business
success included lack of
start-up funding, geographic
remoteness, challenges with
staffing, challenges managing
finances, and lack of demand.
Opportunities for com-
munity members
Starting a business is not
easy, but there are resources
here in this community that
can help you get started.
These
include
the
Indianpreneurship classes,
IDA accounts, loans from
Tribal Credit or the CTWS
Private Business Revolving
Loan (PBRL) fund, and other
resources.
There are also discussions
in the community about cre-
ating a small business incuba-
tor, a food cart pod, and a
youth entrepreneurship pro-
gram.
Are you interested in join-
ing a cooperative, starting a
business, or learning more
about these topics? If so,
please call WSCAT at 541-
553-3148 to see how we can
help you get started.
January 20, 2016
W.S. Co-op business
by Gerald Danzuka, W.S.
Community Action Team
Since early December
2013, a group of local
artisans, crafters and
businesspeople have been
investigating the idea of
starting cooperative busi-
nesses in Warm Springs.
A cooperative business,
or co-op, is a type of busi-
ness comprised of mem-
bers who both own and
make use of the services
provided by the co-op.
Membership in a co-op
provides a range of finan-
cial benefit to the user-
owners of the co-op. In
a co-op comprised of in-
dividual businesspeople,
each user-owner earns
more money by being a
member of the co-op than
they would otherwise.
Different kinds of
business owners create co-
ops for different reasons,
depending on the type of
business they are involved
in. For example, one very
successful cooperative
started in Alaska,
Oomingmak, is a coopera-
tive made up of about
250 Alaska Native women
living in remote villages.
These women knit
products made out of
musk ox under wool, or
Qiviut. Each woman pays
the co-op a yearly mem-
bership fee.
This fee offsets admin-
istrative costs, and each
co-op member also re-
ceives Qiviut yarn and
patterns as part of her
membership. Each co-op
member knits at her own
pace and sells her prod-
uct to the co-op. She also
receives part of the profit
earned by the co-op at the
end of each year.
Oomingmak is a mar-
keting cooperative; thus,
by being a part of the co-
op, members gain the ad-
vantages of a larger mar-
keting footprint and re-
duced marketing costs.
In this case, the women
knitters gain access to an
expanded market for their
product.
Oomingmak sells its
products online and in a
store located in Anchor-
age, which provides a
much larger market for
these women who live in
remote villages in rural
Alaska.
By working together
these women are able to
earn more money than
they would alone.
The Warm Springs co-
op exploratory group is in-
terested in forming a Na-
tive arts and crafts mar-
keting co-op that might
also operate a storefront.
A storefront would pro-
vide co-op members a
dedicated buyer and a
space to sell their products.
Co-op members might
also have the opportunity
to interact with their cus-
tomers and tell the story
of their work with dedi-
cated on-site studio space.
The co-op exploratory
group is holding a meeting
at the Warm Springs Com-
munity Action Team office
on January 26 from 12 to
1 p.m.
If you are interested in
attending or participating,
please call Gerald
Danzuka or Leah Guliasi
at 541-553-3148.