Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
December 6, 2017
Page 7
A Year in Review ~ 2017
(The following is a look back
at some of the memorable news
events of the past year around the
reservation.)
January
The year started with Katrina
Blackwolf winning the 2017 Miss
Warm Springs crown. “I’ve always
wanted to be Miss Warm Springs,”
Katrina said after the pageant.
“Especially since I was Little
Miss Warm Springs in 2000, I’ve
looked up to the older girls who
were Miss Warm Springs.”
Over the years she has also been
the Miss Columbia River Powwow
Queen, and Junior Miss Yakama
Nation. She learned tradition and
culture from her grandparents, es-
pecially grandmothers Galen Jack-
son and Katie Blackwolf-Bevis.
Here grandfathers are Amos
Nelson and John Bevis. Katrina’s
parents are Zelma Walsey and Levi
Blackwolf. In other January news:
Tribal Council voted to continue
the Warm Springs Timber Co.
through 2017. By continuing the
company through this year, the
tribes could realize more than $2
million in timber stumpage pay-
ments. The timber stumpage pay-
ments are the source of the Se-
nior Pension and per capita pay-
ments. Elsewhere this month:
Tribal Council approved an
agreement with the state of Oregon
that clears the way for the can-
nabis project.
The agreement was 11 months
in the making, including extensive
negotiation with state officials in-
cluding the Governor’s office and
legal counsel, and the Oregon Li-
quor Control Commission, which
regulates the industry in the state.
This is a unique agreement in
Oregon, and only the fourth such
document in the U.S. The other
three are with tribes in the state of
Washington.
The inter-government agree-
ment is the document that will al-
low the tribes to export its cannabis
products into the state market.
After gold was discovered in the
Middle Fork John Day River in
the 1860s, the waterway and the
ecosystem it supports endured over
a century of damage, degradation,
and destruction. The greatest dam-
age came from the dredge mining
of a two-mile stretch of the river
from 1939 to 1943.
In total, around two hundred
acres of floodplain were impacted,
with soil and vegetation loss,
straightened stream channels, and
tailing piles that affected water qual-
ity.
Bucket dredging was an early
steam-powered method that was
used on the Middle Fork John Day
River. A bucket dredger uses a ro-
tating belt or wheel equipped with
buckets to scoop up material from
the riverbed for processing.
The scouring of the riverbed at
this scale destroys aquatic ecosys-
tems that take thousands of years
to develop naturally.
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs Branch of Natural
Resources recognized that the river
needed help.
The thinking was that by speed-
ing up the river’s recovery, the sum-
mer steelhead, spring chinook
salmon, Pacific lamprey, and bull
trout that depended on the river
would reap the benefits.
The tribes coordinated a large-
scale restoration project, taking a
number years, with a successful fin-
ish and dedication in 2017. In other
news:
The morning of August 21 of
this year, a Monday, will bring a
solar eclipse across parts of Or-
egon. The reservation is in direct
line to see the total eclipse.
A January report at Tribal Coun-
cil: Expect many visitors, as more
populous areas—Portland and Eu-
gene, for instance—are not in di-
rect line to see the total eclipse.
This is an economic opportunity
for the tribes, and plans are coming
together for a variety of events on
the day of the eclipse, and during
the weekend leading up to it.
Indian Head Casino is planning
to feature Native entertainers on
the days leading up to the eclipse.
Working with the casino, the Mu-
seum at Warm Springs has plans for
a gathering on the museum grounds
featuring tribal vendors and dance
demonstrations.
The snowpack this winter in
the region is about 122 percent of
average. This will help the roots and
fish in the spring.
The snowpack this year is
healthy, especially in comparison
with some other recent years. In
2015, for instance, the level was 41
percent of average; and in 2014,
thirty-seven percent of average. In
late January news:
Almost no jurisdiction in the U.S.
still requires a blood test before two
people can obtain a marriage li-
cense. Of the states, only Mon-
tana and Mississippi, plus the Dis-
trict of Columbia, have the require-
ment.
The Tribal Council decided to
eliminate the blood test and health
certificate requirement for people
wanting to obtain a tribal marriage
license.
The action came on recommen-
dation of the tribal Justice Team.
The Justice Team recommended
the elimination of the requirement
as outdated, and because Oregon
no longer has the requirement.
People wanting to avoid the tribal
test could simply go off reserva-
tion to get married; so having a tribal
blood-test requirement was obso-
lete.
February
Tribal member employment is
a top priority of the Twenty-Sev-
enth Tribal Council. In February
they took significant action toward
this goal.
The Council approved a
memorandum of understanding
between the Confederated
Tribes of War m Springs
TERO and the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation.
TERO is the Tribal Employ-
ment Rights Office, housed in the
Warm Springs Ventures building
at the industrial park.
With the ODOT agreement in
place, the Warm Springs TERO
has jurisdiction over federally-
funded transportation projects in
a large area of the region.
This will provide construction
and other employment opportu-
nities for tribal members. TERO
also coordinates training programs
for members.
The office serves the Warm
Springs tribal members, and any
other member of a federally rec-
ognized tribe. The process of
reaching the MOU took a couple
of years, as the parties worked out
the details.
It was a case of being at the
right place at the right time. Like
a hole in one. Or better yet, a
double eagle.
An avid golfer, Brent
Moschetti was a long-time mem-
ber of t h e K a h - N e e - Ta
Courtesy Brigette McConville and family
Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods meets with Tribal Councilwoman Brigette
McConville at the Columbia River. The show, featuring Councilwoman McConville and family,
premiered in February 2017.
cour se. Mr. Moschetti retired
from his medical supplies business
at the end of last year, with the idea
of playing more golf.
A short time later he received
word that the Kah-Nee-Ta Golf
Course was closing, due to finances
at the resort.
He knew that closing the course
for a year or two—letting the fair-
ways and greens go fallow—would
mean the course would probably
never open again, at least not with-
out substantial and costly renova-
tion. “And I would hate to see it
close,” Moschetti was saying in Feb-
ruary.
So he contacted the Kah-Nee-
Ta board and management. His pro-
posal was that he would operate and
maintain the course and clubhouse.
This was a decision based on love
of the game, and a desire to help
the resort, rather than for profit.
So far this year he has already
made improvements at the course,
trimming trees, getting the rough un-
der control, re-sanding the traps,
landscaping around the clubhouse.
March
Marie Kay Williams was named
the interim general manager for
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Spa.
Former resort general manager
Jim Bankson retired based on a
doctor’s recommendation. The
resort board of directors and
interim manager Williams met with
Tribal Council this week for an
update on the developments.
Ms. Williams is a long-time
resort employee, having started
there 18 years ago while in high
school. In other March news:
The Confederated Tribes have
been trying to negotiate a new
long-ter m
education
agreement with the Jefferson
County School District 509-J. This
has been an on-going process yet
to be resolved. Meanwhile the
district is following an agreement
that is past due for renewal. The
tribes may request the matter be
put to mediation. This would be
through the Oregon Department
of Education. In other school
news:
The district 509-J board of di-
rectors hired Warm Springs Acad-
emy Principal Ken Parshall as the
new district superintendent.
Mr. Parshall has been the Warm
Springs Academy principal since
the beginning of the 2015 school
year. For at least the first two years
of his tenure as district superin-
tendent, Parshall will continue to
serve as the Warm Springs Acad-
emy. Elsewhere:
Columbia River tribes support
a proposed law to protect salmon
and steelhead runs in the Colum-
bia River by allowing for more ef-
ficient removal of predatory sea
lions.
Studies by the National Marine
Fisheries Service and others show
that predatory sea lions are hav-
ing an ongoing significant and det-
rimental impact on the fish runs.
NOAA Fisheries Service estimates
that up to 45 percent of a recent
spring chinook run was potentially
lost to sea lions. And this:
The federal lawsuit U.S . v.
Oregon is the ongoing court case
that implements the Treaty of
1855 fishing rights of the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, and three other Columbia
River treaty tribes.
The management agreement
pursuant to U.S. v. Oregon is the
fundamental guiding document
for tribal fisheries at the Columbia.
So having a long-term agreement
with provisions that ensure tribal
fishing rights is critical.
The management agreement
also covers vital matters such as
fisheries restoration at the
Columbia, providing a framework
for all parties in salmon and
steelhead management.
Mr. Ogan gave an update in
March at Tribal Council on the
U.S. v. Oregon management agree-
ment. There was good news, he
said, in that it appears all parties
are willing to extend the current
agreement for another ten-year
term. The existing agreement is
set to expire at the end of this
year.