Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
December 7, 2016
Page 7
2016 Year in Review
(The following is a look back
at some of the memorable news
events of the past year on the
reservation.)
The area of the lodge that
once housed the Indian Head
gaming office will be remod-
eled to serve as a training
center for the UAS program.
This will include training
classrooms, space for a UAS
training simulator, offices and
a conference room.
The tribes have received
two grants, each in the
amount of $500,000. Some
of this can be used for the
Kah-Nee-Ta remodel, and to
bring high-speed Internet fi-
ber optic cable to the resort.
January
Being Miss War m
Springs was something
Keeyana Yellowman wanted
to do for some years.
“I’ve always looked up to
the for mer Miss War m
Springs, especially my
mom,” Keeyana said in Janu-
ary, after being crowned
M i s s Wa r m S p r i n g s
2016.
Keeyana’s mom is Merle
Kirk, and her dad is Virgil
Yellowman. Keeyana is a
former Miss Junior Warm
Springs, and Little Miss
Warm Springs.
Keeyana went to Madras
High School, and is a co-
founder and co-president
of the Warm Springs Youth
Council.
During the Miss Warm
Springs Pageant, Keeyana
performed a hand drum
song she had written. The
song was in Ichishkeen:
“My grandma Mildred
Queampts helped me with
the translation,” Keeyana
says.
Keeyana is the fortieth
Miss Warm Springs, carry-
ing on a tradition that be-
gan in 1955, when the tribes
were celebrating the One-
Hundred Year Anniversary
of the Treaty of 1855. In
other January news:
War m Springs BIA
Agency Superintendent
John Halliday met with
Tribal Council regarding the
petition that calls for a vote
on tribal Constitutional
amendments.
The petition suggests a
number of changes to the
Tribal Constitution. The
group that circulated the
petition in 2015 submitted
a total of 1,290 signatures
to the BIA. A minimum of
about 1,183 signatures is
necessary to call for the
vote. Elsewhere this month:
Tribal Council and Warm
Springs Ventures met to dis-
cuss the next steps in the
February
cannabis production
project. One item on the
January agenda was the de-
velopment of regulations
that the tribes will implement
in the operation of the fa-
cility. And this from January:
Deanie Smith, language
coordinator came across an
interesting and important
federal law that has to do
with t r i b a l l a n g u a g e s
and public schools.
Here is some of the lan-
guage in the law:
“The traditional lan-
guages 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 institutions
and values...”
This could be an impor-
tant part of the current dis-
cussion between the tribes
and the school district, re-
garding a new long-term
memorandum of under-
standing. In January news
from Tribal Council:
The construction of
dams on the Columbia
River displaced many tribal
families that had been living
and fishing there for genera-
tions, since time immemo-
rial.
The displacement and de-
struction of fishing sites, in-
dividual homes and villages
along the river, creates an
obligation on the part of the
federal government.
To address part of this
obligation, the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers worked
with the Columbia River
tribes to create fishing access
and in-lieu sites at the river.
As part compensation,
the Corps of Engineers also
built a new longhouse, infra-
structure and homes at
Celilo Village.
These accomplishments
are to be celebrated, but the
outcome has been imper-
fect, said Louie Pitt, direc-
tor of tribal Governmental
Affairs. This is true because
of the scope of the damage
from the dams.
Several decades after the
construction of the dams,
the federal government now
appears ready to address an-
other obligation that exists at
the river—that of housing
to displaced tribal families.
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort will
be a key partner in the
War m Springs Un-
manned Aerial Systems
Center for Excellence for
Wildland Fire Manage-
ment. This will be a mutu-
ally beneficial partnership,
helping the resort and the
Unmanned Aerial Systems
(UAS) program.
Poet Laureate of Oregon
E lizabeth Woody is an
award-winning author of
poetry, short fiction and
essays. She is an educa-
tor and practicing artist.
She won the American
Book Award for her first
book of poetry, Hand
Into Stone.
She later won the Wil-
liam Stafford Memorial
Award for Poetry, among
other literary awards.
Elizabeth was a found-
ing board member of the
national Native Arts and
Cultures Foundation, and
was a founding member
of Soapstone, a group
dedicated to supporting
women writers.
A member of the Con-
federated Tribes of
Warm Springs, Elizabeth
learned in March 2016
that she was named the
Oregon Poet Laureate.
Gov. Kate Brown
made the announcement
on the recommendation of
the Oregon Humanities.
Elizabeth is Navajo,
Warm Springs, Wasco and
Yakama. She was born in
Arizona, on the Navajo
Reservation, and lived
most of her life in Or-
egon.
She is now a judge at
the tribal court.
The three districts held
their Tr i b a l C o u n c i l
nomination meetings in
February.
In the Agency District,
there were 22 nominations,
with one person declining the
nomination; so there are 21
nominees. At Seekseequa,
there were seven nominees.
And at Simnasho, eleven
nominees.
The Tribal Council election
is scheduled for early April.
Warm Springs Ventures
board and management met
in February with the U.S. At-
torney for the District of
Oregon Bill Williams, and
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim
Simmons, who deals with
Native policy matters. A main
point of discussion was the
tribes’ cannabis project.
“They were pleased with
what we presented,” said Ven-
tures’ Don Sampson. “It was
a good meeting, and we in-
tend to continue working
closely with them as we move
forward.”
Meanwhile, Ventures has
identified a preferred site for
the construction of the green-
house. The location is in the
Lower Dry Creek area, past
the landfill on the way to the
water treatment plant.
The construction work will
include a concrete pad, with
the greenhouse—offices and
the growing space—on the
pad. Elsewhere:
T h e Wa r m S p r i n g s
Forest Products Indus-
tries mill had to shut down
this month. The problem was
a log inventory shortage, be-
cause rainy weather had made
the logging roads impassable.
The closure was expected
to be about three weeks, ac-
cording to a mill spokesper-
son. The mill management
and board met with Tribal
Council this month to update
the Council on the closure.
The discussion also turned
to the long-term viability of
the mill, and its plan of op-
eration. The goal has been
to make the mill at least a
break-even enterprise.
The situation at the mill has
repercussions through the or-
ganization. Part of the mill
debt, for instance, is to the
Credit enterprise, and some
is to the tribes in the form
of a Business Investment Re-
volving Fund (BIRF) loan.
And this in February:
YouthBuild welcomed 19
young people to the program.
The new students joined
the program after the two-
week orientation, called
‘Mental
Toughness.’
YouthBuild is part of the
Heart of Oregon youth edu-
cation program.
March
The Madras High School
girls varsity basketball
team traveled to the state
tournament, having won the
Tri-Valley Conference. Else-
where in March:
The Eugene Greene Sr.
American Legion Post and
Auxiliary Unit 48 hosted the
Inaugural Welcome Home
Vietnam Veterans Parade
and Expo. In other news:
The membership is set to
give a definitive answer to
proposed changes to the
tribal Constitution and
By-laws. For the April 11
election, 987 members regis-
tered to vote.
The total number who
were eligible to register was
about 3,550; so nearly 1,000
registrations are a good vot-
ing percentage of that total.
And this:
The Confederated Tribes’
Managed Care program,
and other tribal health pro-
grams, have seen a significant
savings in tribal dollars over
the past few years. This is
due mainly to the increased
billing opportunities.
“The Affordable Care Act
is working for the tribes,” said
Caroline Cruz, general man-
ager of Health and Human
Services.
In recent years the tribes
and IHS have focused on
having as many people as pos-
sible sign up for health insur-
ance, such as through the Or-
egon Health Plan, or Medic-
aid.
The Annual Health System
report for the reservation,
published by the Joint Health
Commission, explains the sav-
ings the tribes have been see-
ing in recent years:
Managed Care saw a
spending reduction of more
than $2.2 million—or 43 per-
cent. Community Counsel-
ing saw a decrease of nearly
$900,000, or about 37 per-
cent. These savings corre-
spond to increases in collec-
tions from outside sources.
Since the Affordable Care
Act took effect in 2012-13,
Health and Human Services
has focused on an improved
billing department.
April
T he War m Springs
Forest Products Indus-
tries mill is no longer a vi-
able and solvent enterprise.
The WSFPI mill cannot re-
sume operation, and the en-
terprise is now going into
court-supervised receiver-
ship.
This will involve the sale
of the WSFPI assets in order
to mitigate the financial loss.
The Confederated Tribes
are WSFPI’s largest creditor,
with loans outstanding to the
tribal Credit enterprise, and
the tribes’ business invest-
ment fund.
WSFPI also owes the
tribes for past due reserva-
tion timber sales. The timber
is a trust asset, and has
funded the Senior Pension
and per capita.
WSFPI and the Confeder-
ated Tribes last year agreed
to a re-payment schedule to
bring the stumpage payments
up to date. WSFPI missed
its most recent scheduled pay-
ment, and the BIA had to is-
sue a cease and desist order
to prevent further extraction
of the timber.
Tribal Council took action
this month to pursue receiv-
ership for WSFPI, on advice
of legal counsel. In other
April news:
The tribes’ truck stop
project is now in the design
phase. The truck stop will
be located at the tribes’ 10-
acre trust property at the
Madras industrial park, just
off Highway 26.
The Twenty-Sixth Tribal
Council approved the project
last year, on recommendation
of the Gaming board.
The tribes’ property at the
Madras Industrial Park—ac-
quired in 1977, as part of the
then-viable mill operation—
has not been used in several
years. The Gaming proposal
calls for development of a
truck stop with gasoline ser-
vice, a restaurant and conve-
nience store, among other
amenities. And this:
The membership on April
4 elected the Twenty-Sev-
enth Tribal Council of
the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs. In other news:
Two of the economic
development projects
Warm Springs Ventures is
working are the unmanned
aerial systems training center
at the Kah-Nee-Ta Lodge,
and a plan, involving Bear
Springs, to increase tourism
revenue to the tribes.
The Kah-Nee-Ta project
will involve a $350,000 in-
vestment in the resort. The
lower floor area will be de-
veloped into a UAS training
center, including flight simu-
lation.
Meanwhile at Kah-Nee-
Ta: there is a renewed ef-
fort by the resort board and
staff to invest in this unique
destination.
The first project has been
a remodeling of the Juniper
Room. The idea for the re-
model came from the resort
food and beverage manager
Alp Kalyon. He suggested the
idea to the board, which gave
the okay.
The remodel work itself
was done completely in-house,
by the resort maintenance
team and other staff.
The Juniper Room is now
a more open area, where the
guests can enjoy the atmo-
sphere of the lodge lobby.
Tribal Council met in April
for discussion about an issue
at the Willamette Falls
fisher y.
Recently, the Oregon Fish
and Wildlife Commission
voted to allow ceremonial
fishing on scaffolds by mem-
bers of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde at
Willamette Falls. Council
members were concerned
that Warm Springs had not
been involved in the process,
as Willamette Falls is a tradi-
tional and Treaty fishery of
the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs. The Council
stated the intent to contact
the state for discussion of the
circumstances.