Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Eclipse
of the
Century
This will be a weekend and Mon-
day unlike any other in the history
of the reservation.
Obviously no one knows exactly
what to expect in terms of the num-
ber of people, but many are expect-
ing a large influx of visitors.
Events start this Friday with the
Community Action Team Outdoor
Market. The market this Friday will
be from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. outside
Indian Head Casino.
Then on Saturday and Sunday
the market will be at the Museum
at Warm Springs from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. And on the Monday of the
eclipse the market will again be at
the casino from about noon to 6
p.m.
There may still be room for more
vendors. If you are interested call
the Action Team at 541-553-3148.
The market this weekend will also
have some vendors in Madras at the
Jefferson County Fairgrounds.
The following is a summary of
many of the other events happen-
ing around the reservation during
the weekend and Monday.
There will be a festival on Satur-
day behind the Warm Springs Com-
munity Center: Wiffle ball and kick
ball start at 9 a.m.
On Sunday at 9 a.m. there will
be an honoring of Warm Springs
Nation Little League All Starts and
final games.
Then on Sunday at 3 p.m. every-
one is encouraged to take in the ac-
tivities at the Warm Springs Acad-
emy. This is a space science event
hosted by the Northwestern Earth
and Space Sciences Pipeline.
For this there will be a Plan-
etarium and student robotics com-
petition, Sunday 3-5 p.m.
Then on Sunday evening at the
Academy 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. there
will be star gazing, open to the com-
munity. The science team will have
powerful telescopes on hand for sky
viewing.
On the morning of the eclipse
the team will launch high altitude
balloons equipped with cameras to
record the eclipse.
Young people from other schools
in the region will be camping at the
Academy football field, where the
Pipeline science team will also be
camping. This is made possible
through an education grant from
NASA.
On Monday there will be eclipse
viewing, plus the high altitude bal-
loons on the K-8 Academy football
field.
Casino, museum
Indian Head Casino will continue
their Native Concert Series on Sat-
urday through Monday, August 19-
21. Performing artists include Kelly
Jackson, Arlie Neskahi & Eagle’s
Jump, and Charles Littleleaf.
The Museum at Warm Springs
will host the Artists Village on Sat-
urday and Sunday.
(Please see ECLIPSE on 10)
August 16, 2017 - Vol. 42, No. 17
August – Shatm – Summer - Shatm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
New School Year Begins at Academy
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
First grade teacher Ramona Kaloi and students begin the 2017-18 school year at the Academy.
A bout 680 students returned
to class this week at the Warm
Springs Academy. The year
began early this year, made pos-
sible by an Extended Learning
Grant. “It’s shown that learning
time during the school year can
have a dramatic effect on student
success,” said Academy principal
and district superintendent Ken
Parshall.
Classes this week are through
Thursday, August 17; and resume
again next Wednesday through Fri-
day. The Warm Springs Back to
School Barbecue will be on Thurs-
day, August 31, from 4-6 p.m. at the
Academy.
At Madras High School classes
for freshman begin on September
6. For all other students at the high
school classes begin on September
7. In other school district news:
The school district board of di-
rectors agreed this week to reinstate
at the Junior ROTC program at
Madras High School.
This summer it looked as if the
program may have been in jeopardy.
At the time there appeared to be no
qualified teacher for the program,
meaning it would have to be discon-
tinue.
Now, a prospective candidate
has been identified, with some as-
pects of the hiring process still
pending. But the school board was
confident enough at their meeting
on Monday to reinstate the pro-
gram.
Safety agencies prepare for event
The tribal public safety de-
partments and tribal manage-
ment are as ready as can be for
the weekend and day of the
eclipse.
An issue, of course, is that no
on knows exactly what to expect.
The Warm Springs Police
Department will be working
double shifts, with double staff,
through the weekend and Mon-
day.
Staff will be in zones at dif-
ferent areas of the reservation,
said Public Safety general man-
ager Stan Suenaga. A question
will be the ability of officers to
get around due to the likely possi-
bility of heavy traffic on the road-
ways.
All of the fire stations will be
manned with double shifts, Mr.
Suenaga said. “We’re going to be
prepared to do what we can to
provide public safety to the reser-
vation,” he said.
The public safety agencies are
asking the community to be pa-
tient during the days in question.
“We’re going to respond as soon
as can,” Suenaga said. “Our pri-
orities as always are protection of
life and property.”
The Oregon State Police will also
have a presence on the reserva-
tion along the highway. Tribal Pub-
lic Safety has been working with
the Jefferson County and Wasco
County sheriffs’ departments, and
Emergency Medical Services in
preparing for this event.
Along with these other essen-
tial personnel, tribal management
will be on duty on the Monday.
Other parts of the organization will
be closed for the day.
Some other things to keep in
mind as the eclipse approaches:
Warm Springs IHS reminds
clients the Nursing Hotline is
available 24 hours, seven days a
week at 1-866-470-2015. You
can speak with a registered nurse
at any time.
The clinic will be open 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. through Friday, August
18. The clinic will e closed Sat-
urday and Sunday, August 19
and 20. August 21-25 the clinic
will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On
Wednesday, August 23, hours of
operation will be 1 to 5 p.m.
(Please see SAFETY on page 10)
Sen. Wyden hosts first W.S. town hall
The future of health care,
and the threat from North Ko-
rea were two of the main top-
ics of discussion at the Senator
Ron Wyden town hall meeting
last week in Warm Springs.
Regarding North Korea,
Sen. Wyden said a diplomatic
solution is the better option than
inflammatory rhetoric. If there
were a way to negotiate a cessa-
tion of the North Korean
nuclear program, then the
trade-off could be the cessation
of U.S. military exercises in the
area of North Korea, he said.
Myra Shawaway asked
whether it appears that the Af-
fordable Health Care Act will
be repealed.
The Senator said the defeat
of the repeal effort earlier this
summer was the result of many
people in the country speaking
out against the proposed alter-
native.
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Tribal Councilwoman Carina Miller introduces Sen. Wyden at the
start of the town hall.
Medicaid expansion under the
Affordable Health Care Act has
helped elders and others most in
need of coverage, Sen. Wyden said.
The town hall at the War m
Springs Academy was the first by
the Senator on the reservation. It
was his eight-hundred and forty-sec-
ond town hall since becoming a U.S.
Senator in 1996, his sixty-second
town hall this year.
Another topic of discussion at
the Warm Springs meeting was eco-
nomic development on the reserva-
tion. Kahseuss Jackson, tribal eco-
nomic development director, said
the reservation is far behind in in-
frastructure development. This pre-
vents many areas of potential eco-
nomic development, he said.
Reina Estimo of Native Aspira-
tions asked the Senator’s opinion on
the tribes’ cannabis economic devel-
opment plan.
Sen. Wyden said that if the state
voters have made cannabis legal,
then it is a legitimate area of eco-
nomic development.
Randy Smith brought up the
long-standing matter of the tribes’
water rights in the Deschutes basin.
The tribal right is the senior right in
the region, Mr. Smith said. Use of
tribal water upstream is contribut-
ing billions to the regional economy,
without compensation, he said.