Page 8
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
KWSO: celebrating 30 years on the air
(Continued from page 1)
Jim Malloy was hired as
the stations’ chief engineer.
The studio site for the ra-
dio stations was the Kah-
Nee-Ta hamlets employee
recreation hall. Remodeling
was done by tribal Public
Utilities under the direction
of Alvis Smith Jr. The re-
model design plans were cre-
ated by Shaw and Malloy.
Eagle Butte is where the ra-
dio tower was erected, along
with a shelter for equipment,
not far from the fire look-
out tower.
In advance of the radio
stations going on the air, ex-
perienced radio people were
hired. One of the tasks these
people had was to help train
tribal members for positions
on KWSO. The people hired
were Greg Parton, Cody
White, Ron Michaels, Steve
Walker and Sue Matters.
Warren ‘Rudy’ Clements,
with the Tribal Training De-
partment, worked with the
Oregon State Employment
division to devise a test to
assist in selecting tribal mem-
bers for employment.
Some were to attend col-
lege, and some were to be
trained on the job. The ini-
tial people who enrolled in
college were Lucas Ike,
Delmar Geary, Mary Sando
Emhoolah, and William
Moses. Tribal members se-
lected for on the job train-
ing were Ronnie Smith,
Kenman Miller, Delson
Suppah, Phillip David and
Billy Jo Bagley McConville.
January 17, 1986: The
commercial station, KWSI
went on the air offering Cen-
tral Oregon Adult Contem-
porary Music and local news.
The station broadcast daily
5 a.m. to midnight, until
1991.
Aaron Grey Horse was
hired to help develop pro-
gramming for the tribes’ pub-
lic radio station, and in Sep-
tember of 1986 KWSO went
on the air.
Initially broadcasting 6
hours a day, there were two
shifts hosted by Bagley
McConnville and Grey
Horse. The station slowly
grew and added more hours
to their broadcast day.
In 1990 Gerald Smith as-
sumed station manager re-
sponsibilities to work on
KWSO’s plan for growth and
service to the Warm Springs
community.
Charles Jackson took over
Economic Development for
Warm Springs, and sought to
make the commercial radio
station more profitable for
the tribes.
KWSI moved to Bend and
became KTWI. The tribes
purchased 98.3 FM KTWS,
and both stations set up in
new studios in Bend to simul-
cast Classic Rock as the
TWINS. Eventually both sta-
tions were sold off and Warm
Springs left the Central Or-
egon commercial radio busi-
ness.
At the non-commercial
KWSO Michael Villalobos
followed Gerald Smith as sta-
tion manager. Mike had
worked for the tribes as pro-
gram director at KTWI-
KTWS in Bend.
He was succeeded by
Mary-Sando Emoolah, one
of the original tribal member
trainees. The station under-
went one more shift in the
manager spot when Sue Mat-
ters transferred from Early
Childhood Education to
KWSO in 2003.
The broadcast industry
was shifting from using ana-
log equipment to digital gear.
Shortly thereafter, radio be-
came “media” and content
expanded from over the air
delivery to online platforms
as well. KWSO was able to
keep up with some key fund-
ing successes.
In 2003 the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs ap-
plied for a Public Telecom-
munications Facilities Pro-
gram Equipment Replace-
ment grant through the Na-
tional Telecommunications &
Information Administration
in the U.S. Department of
Commerce. This was the
same fund used to start the
radio stations in War m
Springs in 1985.
With this money KWSO
was able to replace studio
equipment, add an automa-
tion system, and purchase
and install a new transmitter
and antenna.
The Corporation for Pub-
lic Broadcasting (CPB) Com-
munity Service grant admit-
ted KWSO into their program
in 2004, and continues to be
a significant source for fund-
ing of KWSO operations to
this day.
CPB is a private, nonprofit
corporation
created
by Congress in the Public
Broadcasting Act of 1967.
CPB is the steward of
the federal g overnment’s
investment in public broad-
casting, and the largest single
source of funding for public
radio, television and related
online and mobile services.
Utilizing seed money pro-
vided by the Confederated
Tribes under Secretary Trea-
surer Jody Calica, KWSO suc-
cessfully applied for a Meyer
Memorial Trust Grant, and
with support from Tribal Re-
Extension canning workshop focus on fish
Since the public gained
greater interest in the local
food systems movement—
growing their own food or
buying from a local farmer
for home use—there has
been a steadily increasing in-
terest in preserving abundant
foods for later use.
Pressure canning is the
only safe way to can veg-
etables, meats, fish, poultry,
and wild game. Home can-
ners must use up-to-date,
tested recipes from reliable
resources to avoid causing ill-
ness or poor quality prod-
ucts. Following the recipe
also means adjusting for al-
titude here in the High
Desert to get the tempera-
ture inside the pressure can-
ner high enough to prevent
serious poisoning from botu-
lism.
Working with a pressure
canner can be intimidating,
but is easy to master.
Because of the public in-
terest in learning how to pres-
sure can properly or update
skills, two public workshops
will be offered this fall. Both
sessions will give participants
experience with canning low-
acid foods like meat, chicken
and veggies.
At the Thursday, Septem-
ber 29 session, there will also
be a demonstration on how
to smoke and can smoked
fish.
The next week, on Thurs-
day, October 6, the focus will
be on canning convenience
foods by making and canning
soup. Both of these pressure
canning sessions run from
8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Direc-
tions for all recipes will be
handed out to participants at
both sessions. The cost of a
workshop is $15 per person.
Those interested can sign
up for one workshop, so we
can accommodate our many
requests. Call 541-548-6088
by Monday, September 26.
Class size is limited.
lations Director Rudy
Clements, the radio station
planned for a new facility
closer to the reservation’s
population center.
In July of 2009 KWSO
moved into the new Warm
Springs Media Center along
with the Spilyay Tymoo.
The mission of KWSO is
to provide the Warm Springs
community with high quality
radio programming that:
Delivers news and infor-
mation relevant to our listen-
ers; promotes knowledge of
tribal culture, language and
history; increases awareness
of issues around education,
health and safety; and pro-
vides essential ser vice in
emergency situations.
KWSO’s six full time em-
ployees work hard to accom-
plish that mission every day
and look forward to the next
30 years of service to Warm
Springs. Thanks for Listen-
ing!
September 14, 2016
Recreation plans Star
Wars theme Halloween
Warm Springs Recre-
ation in October will host
the Star Wars—The Force
Awakens: A Darth Hal-
loween, Monday, Octo-
ber 31. There will be
Trunk-or-Treat, a Hallow-
een Carnival, Hoop
Dance, bon fire, and a
Star Wars theme costume
contest.
Costume categories in-
clude best homemade,
scariest creature, best prin-
cess, best rebel and Jedi,
best Empire and Sith,
Special Infant, and best
Ewok.
Booth set-up will be
from 3 to 5:30 at the
Community Center.
There will also be a Hobo
Dance starting at 8:15
p.m.
To sign up for a
booth, or for more infor-
mation, call Recreation at
541-553-3243.
Spiritual Marathon at Deer Ridge
The Deer Ridge Correc-
tional Institution will host its
first ever 500 Mile Ameri-
can Indian Spiritual Mara-
thon. Owen Wallulatum is
helping organize the event.
He volunteers spiritual
services such as sweat lodges
at Deer Ridge a few times
each month.
The spiritual marathon is
planned for September 30,
from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Deer
Ridge.
The tradition of the 500
Mile American Indian Spiri-
tual Run began in the 1980s
in California, and has since
spread to many institutions in
several states.