Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
June 7, 2017 - Vol. 42, No. 12
June – Atixan – Spring - Wawaxam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Youth
teams plan
for eclipse
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The Madras High School tribal member graduates last week visited the Warm Springs Academy for the Honor Walk. The k-8 students
gathered in the hallways and cheered as the high school seniors walked through the building.
The Class of 2017 Graduation
Banquet is coming up on
Wednesday, June 14 at the
Warm Springs Academy.
The Graduation Banquet is a
celebration of this year’s Native
graduates, including students
who are graduating from high
schools, including boarding
schools, college and vocational
schools, Job Corps and GED
students. This year the
banquet also celebrates the
eighth-graders who are moving
on to high school. The banquet
is hosted by the Warm Springs
Education Committee, Johnson
O’Malley Committee, and the
Warm Springs Academy (see
page 8 for details).
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
The traditional cap toss at the conclusion of the graduation ceremonies, held on Saturday at the
Madras High School football field on Saturday.
Tribal Council reviews situation with Kah-Nee-Ta
The Kah-Nee-Ta board and man-
agement recently met with a poten-
tial business partner, as the resort
board is hoping to find an invest-
ment and possible operating part-
ner.
No agreement was reached with
the prospective partner, but the
meeting was positive and the per-
son was impressed with the prop-
erty, the board reported at Tribal
Council this week.
On another positive note, the
Memorial Day Weekend saw an in-
crease in resort revenue compared
to last year, said Marie Kay Will-
iams, Kah-Nee-Ta interim manager.
The junction, or general
manager’s house has been reno-
vated, and rented out during the
eclipse for $10,000, Ms. Williams
reported. The house can now be-
come part of the regular room in-
ventory at the resort, she said.
There is a possibility in the fu-
ture of partnering with Mt. Hood
Meadows on developing a moun-
tain biking feature at Kah-Nee-Ta,
Williams said.
There are 97 tribal member
employees at the resort; seven
MITs; 14 other Indians; and 45
non-Indians, she reported. Mean-
while Kah-Nee-Ta is still hiring for
the summer season.
Tribal Council late last year ap-
proved a $400,000 loan to Kah-
Nee-Ta, using the Business Invest-
ment Revolving Fund as supple-
mented by the state gas tax refund.
This transaction was needed in or-
der to avoid seeing the resort fall
into receivership. Council is now
regularly reviewing the progress at
Kah-Nee-Ta, as late July is a time
when some long-term decision
may be needed. Some other items
from this week’s meeting:
Brent Moschetti is doing a great
job managing and improving the
Kah-Nee-Ta Golf Course, said
War m Springs Chief Delvis
Heath.
Moschetti is a long-time mem-
ber of Kah-Nee-Ta golf, and of-
fered to run the course when he
learned the resort was thinking of
shutting down the operation.
UAS center
Councilman Lee Tom asked
about the unmanned vehicle sys-
tems Center for Excellence that
will housed at the resort.
The project is nearly complete,
and will be a significant draw for
Kah-Nee-Ta. The center will have
drone flight-simulation computers
and software, plus access to the
nearby tribal UAS test sites.
Warm Springs Ventures and
Construction have made great
progress on the space that will
house the center. “It looks in-
credible. It really turned out
beautifully,” said Aurolyn Stwyer,
Ventures marketing director.
The remodeling work was
done through an Oregon infra-
structure grant. Additional fund-
ing is now expected to help with
the final components, such as
furniture and computer, Ms.
Stwyer said.
Since last fall Kah-Nee-Ta
has been a separate enterprise
from Indian Head Casino. This
transition has been difficult, said
Councilman Raymond Tsumpti,
but it was a change the mem-
bership wanted to see.
Councilwoman Brigette
McConville commended the
Kah-Nee-Ta board members
for serving without compensa-
tion.
Legal action possible for start of County Line 2 fire
In the summer of 2015 the
County Line 2 fire burned across
almost 70,000 acres of reservation
land. More than 600 fire personnel
were involved in the suppression
effort.
This was a costly event for the
tribes, in terms of land that was
The state transportation depart-
ment is estimating that a million visi-
tors will be in Oregon for the Au-
gust 21 solar eclipse.
As many as 100,000 visitors are
expected in the immediate region of
Warm Springs and Madras, where
the totality of the eclipse will be
seen. In other words the crowds
will be bigger than anything experi-
enced before in the region.
The Confederated Tribes, the
enterprises and Warm Springs Acad-
emy have special events planned for
the eclipse, and during the Saturday
and Sunday leading up to that Mon-
day morning.
Indian Head Casino has a week-
end of music from national-level
artists, featuring Kelly Jackson, Arlie
Neskahi and Charles Littleleaf. The
Museum at Warm Springs will host
the Artists Village, featuring the
works of Native American artisans
such as Lillian Pitt and Mr. Littleleaf,
among other local artisans.
Activities around the reserva-
tion—vendor stations and camping,
for instance—are also be part of
the reservation plans. Public safety
will be a big factor, as mid to late
August is the height of the fire sea-
son, not to mention the traffic con-
cerns.
burned, and the cost of combat-
ing the blaze. Many homes were
also threatened, with the Red Cross
shelter housing up to 30 people.
Tribal Council recently autho-
rized the pursuit of legal action
against the person or persons re-
sponsible.
The County Line 2 fire began
as a series of brush fires along
Highway 26. These then combined
to form the one large wildfire.
The brush fires started as a per-
son drove on the highway, towing
a trailer or motor home. Part of
the rig was dragging on the high-
way, or had a defective wheel.
This caused sparks, according to
the investigation and reports at
the time. A lawsuit for dam-
ages from the County Line 2 fire
could be filed in Tribal Court,
or in U.S. District Court, accord-
ing to the Council resolution.
From the Edge of Space
During the eclipse, teams of stu-
dents from Idaho, Washington,
Warm Springs and other parts of
Oregon will work with the Space
Grant Consortium, based in Mon-
tana, on the launching of helium
balloons equipped with special cam-
eras.
The balloons ascend to the very
edge of space, where they will video
record the eclipse from this unique
perspective. The program is in part-
nership with NASA.
The Warm Springs student teams
will be among several in the U.S. that
are participating in the eclipse bal-
loon project. About half a dozen
balloons will launch from Warm
Springs and Madras. Across the en-
tire path of the eclipse to the Atlan-
tic Coast, students will launch about
70 high-altitude balloons to view the
eclipse.
The balloons eventually deflate,
and then fall back to earth, where
the cameras can be retrieved.
In Warm Springs the students will
arrive at the Warm Springs Acad-
emy on the Sunday before the
eclipse. They’ll camp there, and
then launch the balloons the follow-
ing morning. The eclipse will hap-
pen in Warm Springs shortly before
10:20 a.m.
Air traffic is expected to be very
heavy on the morning of the eclipse.
The helium balloons, though, will be
high above the regular aircraft
space, and safety precautions are a
priority. The August 21 total solar
eclipse will last about two minutes
and two seconds in Central Oregon
skies.