Spilyay Tymoo
February 3, 2016
Coyote News, est. 1976
Vol. 41, No. 3
February – A’A’mi-Ushatch – Winter - Anm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
BIA planning Constitution vote by April 11 Lincoln’s
Warm Springs Agency BIA Su-
perintendent John Halliday received
a letter from the agency regional
office approving a membership sec-
retarial election on proposed
changes to the tribal Constitution.
The election will be held some-
time before April 11, Mr. Halliday
said. Members over the age of 18,
who wish to participate in the elec-
tion, will have to register to vote with
the BIA.
The agency is planning to send
out the registration forms as soon
as possible, said Superintendent
Halliday.
There are 3,550 members who
will be eligible to participate.
Meanwhile, a three-person elec-
tion panel is being formed. The BIA
representative on the panel is Denys
White Schjoll. The petitioners have
chose former tribal chief judge
Walter ‘Spud’ Langnese as their
panel member. The third position
will be filled by Tribal Council.
There are several proposed
changes to the tribal Constitution,
as presented in the petition. Some
of the questions can be answered
on the same ballot, while questions
that are not correlated to other pro-
posals will be on separate ballots.
This is being done in accordance
with the BIA legal counsel, Mr.
Halliday said.
If one or more of the proposed
changes passes, this would be the
first time the tribal Constitution is
amended as a result of a BIA peti-
tion election. Proposed changes to
the constitution include:
Reduction of the Tribal Coun-
cil from 11 members to 9, with
no member ser ving for life.
Terms would be for three years
(except for the initial Council,
some members of which would
serve longer terms, until the an-
nual rotation is in place.)
Another proposed change: Three
new Council members would be
elected each year. And elections
would be secretarial, conducted by
the BIA.
Current Council elections are
tribal elections. How the Tribal
Council elections are con-
ducted—by the Confederated
Tribes, or by the BIA—seems to
be an example of a proposed
change that could be subject to
a separate ballot from other pro-
posed changes.
Under the proposed amend-
ments, the Council members
would be elected by the mem-
bership at large, rather than by
district.
Under the existing tribal
Constitution, three Council
members are elected from the
Simnasho and Agency districts,
and two from the Seekseequa
District.
See VOTE on 7
Pottery by Kiani Picard.
Lego House Yvonne Greene
UAS program remodel planned for KNT
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort will be a key
partner in the Warm Springs Un-
manned Aerial Systems Center for
Excellence for Wildland Fire Man-
agement. This will be a mutually
beneficial partnership, helping the
resort and the Unmanned Aerial
Systems (UAS) program.
The area of the lodge that once
housed the Indian Head gaming
office will be remodeled to serve as
a training center for the UAS pro-
gram. This will include training class-
rooms, space for a UAS training
simulator, offices and a conference
room.
The area is currently used only
for storage, and will be remodeled
through funding from state grant
programs. The tribes have received
two grants, each in the amount of
$500,000.
One is from the state Infrastruc-
ture Finance Authority, and the
3 focus areas at W.S. UAS
The War m Springs Un-
manned Aerial Systems-FAA
Center for Excellence for Wild-
land Fire Management is a
Warm Springs Ventures project,
as approved last year by Tribal
Council. The program is in a
unique position in the growing
UAS industry.
There are three main areas
other in the form of a forgivable
loan from the State Revolving Fund.
The loan is forgiven if the tribes
meet certain benchmarks—number
of tribal hours worked on the
project, for instance—over the
course of the next five years.
For the Kah-Nee-Ta remodel, the
The Simnasho community will
host the Thirty-Ninth Annual
Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow, Friday
through Sunday, Feb. 12-14.
This year Lincoln’s will feature
the Lucinda Green Memorial Iron
Woman’s Fancy Shawl Special. First
place is $1,000 cash. There will also
be prizes for second- and third
places. This Special is for dancers
18 and over, and will be on Satur-
day night of the powwow. Contact
Starla or Casey Green for more in-
formation.
Friday, Feb. 12, is for new and
re-joiners, starting at 5:30 p.m. at the
longhouse. Grand entry will be at 7.
Saturday’s grand entry is at 1
p.m., and Sunday at 1:30. There
will be contests in all categories.
A specials this year will be a one-
man hand drum contest. Contact
Kyle Queahpama for details.
Council
sets spring
fishery
Young people at Recreation worked with Carol Sahme to
create the Youth Art Exhibit banner (above). And the exhibit
grand opening at the museum last week included youth
traditional dancers (below).
Jason Smith photos.
Powwow
turning 39
of focus, though new ideas
come up all the time, marketing
and business manager Aurolyn
Stwyer says.
For now the three main ar-
eas, she says, are wildland fire
fighting, utility and transmission
line monitoring, and natural re-
sources management.
See FOCUS AREAS on 3
space already has phone, power,
water and HVAC, for significant cost
savings.
Warm Springs Ventures market-
ing and business manager Aurolyn
Stwyer is overseeing the tribal UAS
program. She said the tribes are
applying for additional funding from
SOAR Oregon, the Bend-based
non-profit that promotes the
development of the UAS indus-
try in the state.
Ventures is planning a ground-
breaking event, possibly at the
end of March, for the Kah-Nee-
Ta remodeling project. The
tribes’ partners in the UAS pro-
gram will be on hand.
These include VDOS Global,
SOAR Oregon, Oregon State
University, Central Oregon Com-
munity College, and the Jefferson
County 509-J School District.
Gov. Kate Brown is invited to
attend, Ms. Stwyer said.
Another aspect of the re-
model will be the extension of
broad-band internet fiber to the
resort. A seven-mile extension is
needed. The provider will be the
Warm Springs Telecom.
See VENTURES UAS on 3
Tribal Council set April 10 as the
opening day of the below
Bonneville spring subsistence fish-
ing season. The closure date was
set at May 10. If the fish run turns
out to be low, Tribal Council can
close the fishery before May 10, at
the request of the Branch of Natu-
ral Resources.
The below Bonneville subsis-
tence fishery will be open seven
days a week. Seniors day—for
those 55 and over, and for those
with a handicap—will be on
Wednesdays. These are some of
the changes from the regulation of
last year’s fishery.
The below Bonneville subsis-
tence fishery last spring was open
Sunday through Wednesday, and se-
niors day was for people 60 and
over. The fishery last year closed
when the catch reached the target
number of 500, and then re-opened
later for a brief time after fisher-
ies biologists determined the run to
be a good one.
At Tribal Council last week, J.P.
Patt suggested the fishery be open
for a period of time, rather than
until the catch reaches a certain
target number of fish. Last year,
he said, the peak of the run passed
while the fishery was closed be-
tween the 500-catch closure date
and the re-opening day.
The spring run this year is not
expected to be as strong as last
year’s. The estimate this year is for
a run of about 180,000 fish, com-
pared to last year’s run of well
more than 200,000, said Brad
Houslet, fisheries manager with the
Branch of Natural Resources.
See FISHERY on 7