Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
August 2, 2017
Seventh Annual DRCI Powwow
Inmates at the Deer Ridge Cor-
rectional Institute hosted the Sev-
enth Annual DRCI Powwow last
weekend.
There was a good turnout of
friends and family from Warm
Springs. At Deer Ridge there are
over 900 inmates, with between 30
and 40 being Native American.
On hand from Warm Springs
Behavioral Health were Guy
Wallulatum and Sarah Frank,
among others.
Sarah had just finished another
series of the Wellbriety Celebrat-
ing Families classes at Deer Ridge.
She introduced the four recent
DRCI graduates of the program,
who spoke of the benefits of com-
pleting the course.
She is also conducting the classes
at the Warm Springs Jail. If you
would like more information on
this program, you can reach Fam-
ily Preservation at 541-615-0036.
The DRCI Powwow included the
drum and songs, Grand Entry,
lunch, talks and prayers, and the
sweat lodge. On the menu were
venison and salmon, hamburders,
grilled hot dogs, corn, fry bread and
huckleberries. The new Chaplain
at DRCI, Ken Ball, helped to orga-
nize the event.
Page 5
Nena Springs fire
mostly contained
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Besides the Nena fire, flames kicked up at the site of the old
mill.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
At top, the Deer Ridge drum
during powwow; and at right,
Grand Entry.
The Nena Springs fire
burned across more than
40,000 acres of mostly Warm
Springs Reservation land.
The human-caused fire, lo-
cated in the northeast area of
the reservation, destroyed 10
buildings including six residen-
tial structures, one of which had
been an active residence.
The other buildings were
unoccupied, or were outbuild-
ings. Two of the structures
were old enough to be consid-
ered of historical significance.
The fire started off the res-
ervation on private land, Au-
gust 8. It spread quickly to the
reservation, with wind gusts
and high temperatures creating
extreme fire behavior.
The Simnasho community
and nearby residences were
evacuated. The Warm Springs
Red Cross team set up tempo-
rary shelter for evacuees at the
community center.
By Tuesday of this week the
Nena Springs fire was more
than 60 percent contained.
The cooler weather over the
weekend, bringing some rain
showers, was a great help to
the fire teams.
The response effort in-
cluded more than 440 person-
nel, including 112 firefighters.
The Warm Springs Hotshots
worked on the east side of the
Deschutes River, making sure
west winds did not spot the fire
across the water.
The response included nine
hand crews, three helicopters,
five dozers and 32 engines.
The fire was under the com-
mand of the Northwest Inci-
dent Management Team 12.
When the fire first started,
there was a challenge in gath-
ering resources, because teams
were already at other fires
burning around the state and
region.
2321 Ollallie Lane
(PO Box 6)
Warm Springs, OR
Call 541-
553-1182
Tuesday - Saturday - 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
341 SW Sixth St., Redmond
For an appointment call 541-923-8071