Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
July 6, 2016
Vol. 41, No. 14
July – Pat’ak-Pt’akni – Summer - Shatm
Enrollment question for membership
There are two ways for a person
to become a member of the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs.
A person can be automatically
enrolled, or adopted by the tribal
membership.
The adoption process has proven
to be difficult, because of the 50-
percent voter participation require-
ment. The last two adoption elec-
tions have failed because they did
not meet the 50-percent turnout.
Fifty-percent is a difficult voting
standard: The average voter turn-
out in the U.S. overall, for instance,
is about 40 percent in most elec-
tions.
In the case of the adoption elec-
tions, some voters may choose not
to participate as a way of casting a
no vote, making the 50-percent
mark even harder to reach.
Another approach to enrollment
is the enrollment baseline. Families
this year will be asked for their opin-
ion on the issue.
If the baseline were adjusted
from the current base year of 1960
to some later year, then some non-
member descendants of tribal mem-
bers would become eligible for au-
tomatic enrollment.
To be automatically enrolled, a
person must have a parent who is a
tribal member, and count at least
one-quarter blood of the Confed-
erated Tribes of Warm Springs.
The tribes decide how to define
the one-quarter standard, as the
tribal Constitution does not specify
how to arrive at the calculation.
In the past, the baseline was the
year 1940: For anyone with tribal
enrollment in that year, their amount
of Indian blood was considered
blood of the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs. The quantum
for a descendant of that person was
calculated accordingly.
Later, the baseline was changed
to 1960. This change allowed de-
A first
at COCC
T ruman Merrifield made an
historical achievement this
month at Central Oregon Com-
munity College.
On July 1 he became the
COCC Student Body President:
Truman is the first person of
color to serve in this position.
At COCC he is studying For-
est Resources Technology and
Wildland Fire/Fuels Manage-
ment: Truman is also the first
person from this discipline to
serve as COCC Student Body
President.
He first became interested in
serving as Student Body Presi-
dent earlier this year, while serv-
ing on a Student Fee Commit-
tee that overlooks the Student
Council budget. “I was asked
by multiple faculty if I wanted
to stay involved with student
government,” he was saying re-
cently.
One option was the Student
Body Presidency. So Truman
Courtesy photo.
Truman at a recent President’s Scholarship Luncheon at COCC.
campaigned in May, visiting the
four COCC campuses—Bend,
Redmond, Madras and Prineville—
asking the students what they would
like to see from the Student Coun-
cil.
And in June the students elected
him as the new Student Body
President.
The president is a spokesper-
son for the student body; and
serves as leader of the Associated
Students of Central Oregon Com-
munity College, or ASCOCC, the
scendants to re-calculate their
blood quantum, and some
people became automatically
enrolled.
A question for the member-
ship is whether to re-adjust the
baseline. This would result in
some people becoming auto-
matically enrolled.
Tribal Council is scheduled
to hold an enrollment work-
shop this month on enrollments.
An informational presenta-
tion will be available to the
membership soon on the issue,
said Lynn Davis, director of
tribal Administrative Services.
Student Council.
The Council and president
oversee the funding of the stu-
dent clubs and programs, spon-
sor student activities, events and
programs; and advocate for the
student body on college-wide is-
sues.
As Council President,
Truman now has a vote on the
Board of Directors on the Or-
egon Student Association. The
OSA represents more than
110,000 university and college
students in the state, lobbying at
the state level on college fund-
ing and student matters.
Truman is 28, the son of
Dinah Belgard and the late
Wilbur Merrifield Jr. His grand-
father is Harrison Davis Sr.
His studies and student gov-
ernment work at COCC keep
Truman busy, as he also has a
full time job at Fire Manage-
ment, where he returned mak-
ing this the sixth year.
Truman’s family are his main
focus and desire to achieve and
develop opportunities, for the
better of their future.
See TRUMAN on 8
Dance, Parade results for 2016 Pi-Ume-Sha
The Confederated Tribes and
Powwow committee welcomed hun-
dreds of guests from across Indian
Country for the Forty-Sixth Annual
Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days.
Visitors were here from South
Dakota, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho,
and many places around Washing-
ton and Oregon. In addition to the
Warm Springs dancers.
The Powwow Committee shares
the results of the Dance contests
(in order of finishing, starting with
first place):
Girls Tiny Tots, 6 and un-
der: Elizabeth Beavis, Pendleton.
Jaydev Holliday, Toppenish. Askiwih
Tom, Warm Springs. Rhoda Smith,
Warm Springs. Erin Teeman-Smith,
Warm Springs.
Boys Tiny Tots, 6 and un-
der: Elijah-Villa Penny, War m
Springs. Don Cortazar, War m
Springs. Conan Foltz, Wapato. Baylor
Scabbyrobe, White Swan. Lawrence
Johnson, Pendleton.
Gir ls, 7-11: Jasmine Barney,
Portland. Vivian Walsey, Yakama.
Kayliani Estimo, Warm Springs.
Karlissa Dixon, Warm Springs. Skye
Victorino, Warm Springs.
Boys 7-11: Jayden Esquiro,
Warm Springs. Sheldon Joseph,
Placka, Ariz. Aiden Warren,
Takilma. Hunter Foltz, Wapato.
Sonny Walsey, Toppenish.
Teen Girls Fance/Jingle, 12-16
years: Miriam Walsey, Toppenish.
Samantha Tappo, Warm Springs.
Kaleri Joseph, Pendleton. Heaven
Walsey. Raynee Alani Wak Wak,
Harrah, Wash.
Results continue on page 5
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Change
at Roots
program
The 2016-17 school year in the
509-J district will see the start of
the Bridges Career and Technical
High School. Bridges will have two
sites: one in Warm Springs and one
in Madras.
The Warm Springs component
of the Bridges High School will be
the Roots alternative education pro-
gram. The Madras component will
be the Annex. The two programs
have operated separately, but in the
2016-17 school year will be under
Bridges.
The change was approved by
the school district board, with the
stated goal being to improve gradu-
ation rates, performance and atten-
dance. But the idea is also contro-
versial, at least in Warm Springs.
Roots has so far operated with a
director, Dawn Smith, and one
teacher, Earl Simmons. Under the
Bridges program, Roots will have
two teachers, and no director. In-
stead, there will be a principal of
the overall Bridges Career and Tech-
nical High School.
The idea is to provide more
teaching and counseling services to
the Warm Springs Roots and Ma-
dras Annex students, said Rick
Molitor, school district superinten-
dent.
See ROOTS on 6
UAS KNT
dedication
ceremony
A ground-breaking ceremony for
the Warm Springs Unmanned Aerial
Systems training center is set for this
Thursday, July 7, at Kah-Nee-Ta
Resort. The event is set for 12
noon to 2 p.m., and the community
is invited to attend.
The training center will be lo-
cated on the lower floor of the re-
sort, where the gaming offices were
located when the casino was at Kah-
Nee-Ta. The space had in recent
years been used for storage.
For the ground-breaking, a com-
pany is expected to be on hand dem-
onstrating a drone soil-collecting UAS.
When the training center is open,
Kah-Nee-Ta will be a key partner
in the Warm Springs UAS Center
for Excellence for Wildland Fire
Management. The training center
will include classrooms, space for a
UAS training simulator, offices and
a conference room.
The tribes received a state grant
to carry out this work. Another as-
pect of the project will involve
bringing Telecom fiber cable to the
resort. This is paid for through a
grant as well. The Warm Springs
UAS program is a division of Warm
Springs Ventures.