Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
February 14, 2018 - Vol. 43, No. 4
February – A’A’mi-Ushatch – Winter - Anm
Miss Warm Springs 2018 Thyreicia Simtustus
T hyreicia Stimtustus likes to
ter piloting. Potential career
courses with this degree, she
says, could be as a Medivac,
with a fire agency, or in forestry,
for instance.
The course study so far has
involved knowing essential regu-
lations and technology, plus
simulation flights. Her first time
piloting an actual helicopter will
be next semester.
She has been interested for
some time in being Miss Warm
Springs. “I want to be more
involved with my community,”
she says, “and to help preserve
our culture and languages.”
Thyreicia is the Forty-Sec-
ond Miss Warm Springs. As an
ambassador of the Confeder-
ated Tribes, she will represent
Warm Springs at the local pow-
wows and community events, as
well as at powwows and county
fairs throughout the region.
The month of April will see
the Gathering of Nations in Al-
buquerque, New Mexico, where
Thyreicia and other royalty
from many tribes will compete
in the Miss Indian World com-
petition.
keep busy. She goes to college
in Bend two days a week—
studying to become a profes-
sional helicopter pilot—and
works in Prineville on the other
weekdays. Now she will have
even more things to do, as
Thyreicia is Miss War m
Springs 2018.
After the Pageant, her first
appearance as Miss War m
Springs was at the Lincoln’s
Birthday Powwow, where she
was well received by all.
The tribal royalty part of her
new position—skill at horse-
back riding, for instance—will
be familiar to Reicia: She was
the 2017 Miss Lincoln’s Birth-
day Powwow Queen, and the
2014 Miss Pi-Ume-Sha Prin-
cess.
Thyreicia, 19, is a 2017
graduate of Madras High
School. A memorable event
during her high school career
was with the White Buffalos
Swim and Water Polo team.
During her senior year the wa-
ter polo team was dominant,
winning the Oregon State
Championship.
Thyreicia now goes to Cen-
tral Oregon Community Col-
lege, where she studies in the
COCC Aviation program, fo-
cusing on commercial helicop-
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Miss Warm Springs 2018
Thyreicia Simtustus is given
the crown by Miss Warm
Springs 2017 Katrina
Blackwolf.
Co-managers discuss options for hatchery
Tribal Council and the Branch of
Natural Resources met last week
for a two-day summit with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, discuss-
ing the condition and future of the
Warm Springs National Fish Hatch-
ery.
There are fundamental questions
facing the hatchery, as well as sig-
nificant recent improvements to the
facility.
The first day of the meeting was
for in-depth review and discussion.
The second day included a tour of
the hatchery.
The facility is on the Warm
Springs River a few miles from Kah-
Nee-Ta. Because of the location,
water temperature at the hatchery
is an ongoing issue.
The temperature issue has come
to the forefront in recent years: In
2014 the summer heat required
emergency removal of fish to a
cooler facility, as the water tempera-
ture in the Warm Springs River at
the hatchery site reached the mid
70s.
The following year the fish were
moved in order to allow workers to
upgrade and expand the cooling sys-
tem at the hatchery.
Then last year the work involved
a major electrical system expansion.
The hatchery is one of the largest
Wasco Electric energy customers.
Another recent improvement at
the facility is the development of
lamprey passage.
About the water: The tempera-
ture can be effected by nearby hot
springs, plus a buildup of silt be-
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Council, Natural Resources,
and Fish and Wildlife officials
at the fish intake area
(above), and by the rearing
pools (right).
hind the fish-intake weir. With
years of debris and silt buildup, the
pool behind the weir is shallow,
creating warmer temperatures.
The tribes and U.S. Fish and
Wildlife are partners in the man-
agement decisions of the hatchery.
The management plan, though,
needs to be updated. The five-year
plan of 2011 has expired, and the
sides will be working toward a new
agreement, addressing issues that
have been developing, and con-
tinue to evolve.
The fish hatchery opened in
1978, thirteen years after the
completion of the Round Butte
dam.
Some time after completion of
the dam—among other factors—
the tribes petitioned the federal
government to address the loss
of salmon and steelhead in the
region. This led to the eventual
funding, planning and construc-
tion of the Warm Springs Na-
tional Fish Hatchery.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Positive report
from CPS
Tribal Council heard a promis-
ing report this week about Warm
Springs Children’s Protective Ser-
vices. CPS director Cecelia Collins
and Health and Human Services
general manager Caroline Cruz met
with Council for an update on the
building renovation, and the state of
CPS overall.
CPS had been without a perma-
nent director for a period time, un-
til Ms. Collins last year agreed to stay
in the position. She had been serv-
ing as acting director.
The conditions for staff have
greatly improved over the past sev-
eral months, she said. Cecelia came
to CPS from the courthouse, where
she was the juvenile prosecutor.
When she started at CPS, there
were three caseworkers handling
more than 200 individual files. One
of the workers had 90 cases. Each
case requires weekly attention, in-
cluding appearances at court, so the
situation was untenable.
This is being addressed, with im-
provement already evident. Another
promising point: The foster care
program now has a coordinator.
And the CPS building itself will
re-open soon, wholly renovated,
with the nearby Vern Jackson Home,
also renovated, adding to the re-
sources available to staff.
Longhouse
closed for
a time
The Agency Longhouse has been
closed for the past few weeks, and
will remain closed possibly through
March. Chief Operations Officer
Alyssa Macy and Warm Springs
Housing Authority director Danielle
Wood earlier this week updated
Tribal Council on the situation.
Executive Management closed
the longhouse after at least two ar-
eas inside the building tested posi-
tive for the presence of metham-
phetamine residue.
Additional areas were tested, in-
cluding kitchen area, and results
were positive. The only area that
did not turn up positive was the
main entranceway of the building.
The person or people responsible
were likely using the drug in areas
of the longhouse where they had
some privacy, Ms. Macy said.
The smokehouse behind the
longhouse may also be contami-
nated. Due to unfinished wood used
in the structure, if positive, it would
likely have to be demolished, she
said.
The level of contamination indi-
cates that the person or people had
been using the drug in the longhouse
for some time, said Ms. Wood.
At Housing, she contends with
the hazardous and costly problem
of methamphetamine contamina-
tion of the Housing units. The resi-
due of the drug is toxic to others
who enter the building, affecting the
nervous system.
See LONGHOUSE on 7