Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
September 27, 2017 - Vol. 42, No. 20
September – Wanaq’i – Summer - Shatm
Tribes celebrate new Indian education law
Oregon now has a state law
recognizing the importance of
accurate Native American his-
tory and culture lessons in the
public school system.
During this Oregon legisla-
tive session, Councilwoman
and Culture and Heritage di-
rector Val Switzler testified two
times in favor of Senate Bill
13, signed into law last week
by Gov. Kate Brown.
Oregon is the third state to
have this kind of law, Coun-
cilwoman Switzler said. Mon-
tana and Washington State each
have similar existing legislation.
She and others worked with
educators in those states to
come up with the Oregon ver-
sion of the law.
They also worked in gov-
ernment-to-government meet-
ings with the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education on the
project.
Tribal Government Affairs
director Louie Pitt was another
advocate and facilitator of the
process.
The tribes will develop
Courtesy Louie Pitt
At the Governor’s signing, tribal Councilwoman Valerie Switzler
and Kiksht language teacher Intern Rosie Johnson were among
the guests.
their own history and cultural
guides that will be the basis for a
new curriculum. Culture and Heri-
tage, the Museum at Warm Springs,
Natural Resources and others will
be involved, giving a complete pic-
ture of the tribes, Council-
woman Switzler said.
Within the school system in
the state, “There is a lot of in-
accurate information about
tribes,” she said. The new ap-
proach will correct these inac-
curacies.
The new law says the state
Education Department “shall
ensure that the federally recog-
nized Indian tribes in Oregon
are given the opportunity to col-
laborate in the development of
the curriculum...” The depart-
ment may also make funding
available to tribes to help with
this project.
The Native American cur-
riculum, once adopted by the
Education Department, will
then be made available to all the
districts in the state.
The curriculum—conveying
“the Native American experi-
ence in Oregon”—will be for
grades kindergarten-12 through-
out the state.
The 2019-20 school year is
the target date for implementa-
tion of the curriculum.
Regional Finals Rodeo this weekend
DMJ Cattle this weekend will host
the Western States Regional Finals
Rodeo, a first for Central Oregon.
The Western States Finals Rodeo
2017 will be Saturday and Sunday,
September 30 and October 1, at the
Jefferson County Fairgrounds rodeo
arena.
In the past, the event—a year-
end chance to qualify for the Finals
Rodeo in Las Vegas—has been held
in Klamath Falls.
This year the organizers there
couldn’t host the event, and the
DMJ stepped up and agreed to help.
It was a lot of work with not much
time, but the family put in a great
effort.
The rodeo will feature the stan-
dard events, plus three specials,
said Shana Johnson, of DMJ.
Mutton Busters, Wild Cow Milk-
ing and the 2-plus-1 event will be
the specials.
The standard competitions in-
clude bareback, bull riding, junior
bull riding, saddle bronc, steer
wrestling, ladies breakaway, senior
and junior breakaway roping, bar-
rel racing, junior barrel racing, team
roping, and senior team roping.
As this is a rodeo year-end
event, there will be competitions
that are Finals Rodeo elimination
rounds for some riders.
In competition from Warm
Springs will be Tribal Councilman
Lee Tom (senior breakaway rop-
ing), Jenna Johnson (ladies
breakaway roping), Clint Bruised
Head (steer wrestling), and Mike
Holyan (calf roping).
The weekend will feature a Sat-
urday barbecue after the rodeo,
and a live musical performance.
The buckaroo breakfast is on
Sunday morning.
Kedo Olson, voice of the Pa-
cific Northwest rodeos, will be the
announcer.
The rodeo on Saturday starts
at 1:30 p.m., and on Sunday at
11:30 a.m. You can get tickets
at DMJ Auto, or at the rodeo
gate. There will be a raffle with
the top prize being two nights
and three days at the South
Point Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas, during the National Fi-
nals Rodeo.
While this is the first locally-
hosted Western States Regional
Finals Rodeo, the hope is to
make it an annual event, Shana
Johnson said. There are many
future possibilities, such as hav-
ing a powwow as part of the
show, she said.
Academy
Language
session
Tribal language instructors
are now teaching during the
regular school day at the
Warm Springs Academy. This
is a new program at the
school.
The language class schedule
now allows the option for all
students at the Academy to
choose to take a Native
language, whereas before
instruction was only available
before the start of the regular
school day, and afterward.
Each child, with his or her
parent’s permission, may
now join a class.
This had been a long-
standing goal of the Culture
and Heritage Department,
Education Committee and
others who seek to preserve
the tribal languages.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Culture and Heritage language teachers Jefferson Greene and Suzie Slockish teach at the Academy.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Council
posts 2018
proposal
Tribal Council voted this week
to the post a proposed 2018 bud-
get. Members will be receiving the
budget mailing in the near future,
and the district and General Coun-
cil meetings will happen within the
next 45 days.
Council approved a proposal as
recommended by the Secretary-
Treasurer. Tribal Council also ear-
lier in the month heard detailed pre-
sentations from the enterprises and
departments.
At management and Finance, the
budget process began several
months ago, in February or March.
The initial numbers foresaw a
projected shortfall. A goal in de-
veloping a balanced budget rec-
ommendation was to see no tribal
employee lose his or her job, said
Secretary-Treasurer Michele
Stacona.
A cost-saving idea involves the
discretionary tribal contribution to
the employee 401(k) plans, currently
at 5 percent for those who qualify.
Substantial savings can be had by
suspending the contribution for a
year, and this is part of the 2018
proposal. Employees could still con-
tribute to their own plans, if they
so choose. This approach that would
allow for no employee layoffs in
2018 under the proposed budget.
Promising
meeting with
National Guard
Tribal Council met with a team
from the Idaho National Guard this
week, to discuss a program that
could be of help to the tribes.
The Guard’s Innovative Readi-
ness Training program helps com-
munities with many kinds of
projects—from housing and infra-
structure, to medical exam services,
among many others.
The program also makes equip-
ment—road and construction ma-
chinery, for instance—available to
the organization, the only cost to
the tribes being delivery of the item
from the base where it’s located.
All branches of the Armed Ser-
vices participate, so the variety of
available equipment and services
is extensive, said National Guard
Maj. Gen. Sayler.
He met with Council along with
Guardsman Russ Johnson, and the
Guard’s cultural resources advisor
Jake Fruhlinger.
Their meeting in Warm Springs
came about through earlier contact
from Councilmen Lee Tom and
Ron Suppah. They had learned of
the opportunity through the Return
of the Boise Valley People tribal
event in Idaho. During the meet-
ing here this week, Chief Opera-
tions Officer Alyssa Macy men-
tioned housing, and the downtown
infrastructure as areas of particu-
lar interest. The drinking water sys-
tem is another area of interest.