Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
February 28, 2018 - Vol. 43, No. 5
February – A’A’mi-Ushatch – Winter - Anm
Travel Plaza opening in March
T he Plateau Travel Plaza will open
in just a few short weeks. This will
be the first new business enterprise
of the Confederated Tribes—really
a sister enterprise of Indian Head
Casino—in a number of years.
And the benefits are already be-
ing realized. The casino and Travel
Plaza hosted four jobs fairs over the
past several weeks, and there was a
great turnout among the prospec-
tive employees.
There are about 70 jobs at the
Travel Plaza. All but seven have
been filled by tribal members, said
Eric Angel, Travel Plaza general
manager.
Many of the new employees are
young people. For some of them
this will be their first jobs. For oth-
ers the Travel Plaza offers a chance
at a new career.
Lori Courtney-Rose worked for
more than 20 years at the Forest
Products mill. Over the years she
took on positions of increasing re-
sponsibility. She lost her job in 2016
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Reviewing operation procedures at the Travel Plaza convenience store: fuel attendant Ronald
Maitland, cashier Waylon Winishut, lead cashier Susan Wommak, shift supervisor Desirae
Wallace, and shift supervisor Amber Henson (from left).
when the mill closed.
Her husband works as a me-
chanic, and Lori could have chosen
to retire after the mill shut down.
“But I have to be doing some-
thing—I like having a job,” Lori was
saying earlier this week.
She is now one of the shift su-
pervisors at the Plateau Travel
Plaza, which is scheduled to open
to the public on March 24.
Dave McMechan
Pi-Ume-Sha Committee plans for 2018 powwow
The Pi-Ume-Sha Committee has
started planning for the Forty-Nine
Annual Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days,
this year commemorating the One-
Hundred and Sixty-Third year of
the signing of the Treaty of 1855.
The theme this year is “Chuush
iwa naami waq’ishwit” (Water is our
life). Pi-Ume-Sha will be June 22-
Buffs
teams in
post season
this week
Both the Madras White Buffa-
los varsity boys and girls teams have
post-season games in the next few
days.
In Round One of the state tour-
nament, the girls will play Valley
Catholic at home.
The game is at 6:30 p.m. this Fri-
day, March 2.
The boys play at 3 p.m. this Sat-
urday, March 3 at Banks. The boys
last Friday won their play-in game
against Tillamook, 95-86.
In that high-scoring game Kanim
Smith lll had 38 points; Danni
Herkshan added 13, Byron Patt 11,
and Donnie Bagley 10, among the
high scorers.
After the games this Friday and
Saturday, the state tournament con-
tinues on March 8 at Forest Grove
High School/Pacific University.
In their high-scoring play-in
win over Tillamook, the White
Buffalo’s Kanim Smith lll led
the team with 38 points, two
picks, and three dunks (one of
them pictured here at right).
Jayson Smith photo/Spilyay
24.
Co-chairs of the committee are
Isaac Mitchell and John Katchia.
Arena directors are Carlos Calica
and Captain Moody.
Pi-Ume-Sha features the indi-
vidual and team dance competi-
tions, Ol’ Style and other Specials,
Men’s Round Bustle and Women’s
Shell Dress.
Favorite events are the Tradi-
tional Dress Parade, the Endur-
ance Horse Race, Pi-Ume-Sha
Rodeo, boxing, golf tournament,
fun run, and men’s and women’s
softball.
This year the Museum at Warm
Springs will have a special exhibi-
tion, as the museum is celebrat-
ing its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary.
The exhibit will be Memory
of the Land: The Treaty of the
Middle Columbia River Tribes
and Bands.
Information contacts for Pi-
Ume-Sha are Cassie Katchia and
Louise Katchia.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
School
meeting
at Academy
A Jefferson County School Dis-
trict community engagement meet-
ing is this Wednesday evening, Feb-
ruary 28, at the Warm Springs
Academy.
There will be a dinner starting
at 5:30, with district data and other
information available for review.
The meeting will then start at 6:30.
The meeting is for discussion
and the evaluation of current pro-
grams, and plans for the future—
a chance for school teachers and
officials to hear suggestions about
what programs are working, and
ideas for improvement.
Attendance project
Ramona Halcomb, Indian Edu-
cation Specialist with the Oregon
Department of Education, visited
with Tribal Council earlier this
month. She talked about two state
grant-funded programs of the
Jefferson County School District
509-J:
One of the programs—the
Tribal Attendance Pilot Project—
is now in its second year; and the
other—career pathways for teach-
ers—is in the planning phase, and
will then continue for at least two
additional years.
The idea for the Tribal Atten-
dance Pilot Project came about
after a 2013 study—called the
Condition of Education for
Oregon’s Tribal Students—con-
ducted by the Chalkboard Project,
in cooperation with tribes and
school districts.
At the time a key finding of the
study was that on average nearly
one-third of Native American stu-
dents, in all grades, were ‘chroni-
cally absent.’
Chronically absent means miss-
ing 10 percent or more of school
days. For comparison with the
Native American rate, the chronic
absenteeism rate among all other
students was 19 percent.
The intent of the Tribal Atten-
dance Pilot Project is to strengthen
the links between tribes and the
school that serve the membership.
One aspect of the project is a
tribal liaison who works with stu-
dents and families that have shown
absenteeism issues. The liaison for
Warm Springs is Tony Cortizar.
The point is to find out what
are the barriers to the student’s
attendance, and to address the situ-
ation.
Career pathways
A new program in the district is
the career pathways collaboration
grant. A team—the program de-
sign committee—is currently
working on a plan to implement
the program.
A successful plan would lead to
two more years of funding for the
implementation phase. A number
of teachers from the War m
Springs Academy are the design
committee.
See TEACHERS on 8