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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
W.S. veterans representatives to offer help
“
Native American people
ser ve in the U.S. Armed
Ser vices at a higher rate
than any other group…
Veterans returning home
are entitled to the benefits
that the federal government
has made available. But as
Native veterans return
home and seek to access the
benefits they are entitled to,
veteran services and benefits
for them fall short of their
needs, and are less adequate
than those provided to their
non-Native counter parts. ”
– Statement from the
National Congress of the
American Indians.
T ribal Council and veter-
ans representatives are look-
ing to help remedy this in-
equity among Warm Springs
tribal veterans.
Council met last week
with Mitchell Sparks, Oregon
Department of Veterans’ Af-
fairs Veterans Services direc-
tor. On hand were veterans
activists and advocates AJ
Atencio, Gerald Danzuka, Su-
san Guerin and Charles
Tailfeathers.
Initial discussion was in
regard the difficulty that vet-
erans can experience in ap-
plying for and receiving the
benefits they have earned.
A simple typographical er-
ror on a form can lead to a
prolonged and discouraging
process for the veteran, said
Councilman Jody Calica.
The levels of bureaucracy
can be impossible. For ex-
ample: The Veterans Admin-
istration might refer the tribal
member veteran to the In-
dian Health Service, which
then refers them back to the
VA, etc., said Councilman
Raymond Tsumpti.
The recent Veterans Expo
VASH Housing for veterans
The War m Springs
Housing Authority over-
sees a program providing
housing voucher assis-
tance to tribal member
veterans.
The program is the
HUD Veterans Affairs
Supportive Housing, or
VASH.
Warm Springs Hous-
in Warm Springs was an ex-
ample of the outreach that
provide some help in navi-
gating the system.
The idea talked about last
week at Tribal Council is the
designation of local advo-
cates who can assist tribal
member veterans. “The rep-
resentatives should be
here—the representative can
be the voice of the veteran,”
Mr. Sparks said.
ing is currently helping
some through VASH, but
has funding for more.
The qualifying veteran
can live on or off the
reservation.
The voucher payment
covers the housing cost.
For information,
please contact Housing
at 541-553-3250.
This is a long-standing is-
sue on the reservation, and
there is an earlier Council
resolution and memoran-
dum of understanding re-
garding a local veterans rep-
resentative office.
This may need to be up-
dated. Tribal Council re-
quested the group come
back with a current draft
form for Council consider-
ation.
Summer Slam Powwow
May 23, 2018
Students invited to STRIVE
this summer at COCC
High school stu-
dents—from incoming
freshman through se-
niors—can experience
college life first-hand this
summer.
Dustin Seyler, financial
advisor at the War m
Springs Community Ac-
tion Team, is encouraging
students to consider the
five-day STRIVE pro-
gram at Central Oregon
Community College in
Bend.
“The students will stay
in the dorms, go to dif-
ferent classes in different
departments—They’ll see
the whole campus,” Mr.
Seyler said.
The goal is to have 20
Warm Springs students in
2018 STRIVE, though
more are welcome.
STRIVE stands for
‘Summer Training to Re-
vive Indigenous Vision
and Empowerment.’
This summer the pro-
gram happens just after
Pi-Ume-Sha, and just be-
fore the Fourth of July:
From Thursday, June 28
to Monday, July 2. So the
timing is good for the lo-
cal students, Mr. Seyler
added.
The goal of STRIVE
is to provide cultural and
academic support and
give young Native Ameri-
can students leadership
skills.
The program encour-
ages and gives skills to
youth who have college as
a dream.
Students take classes
from college professors,
and meet with successful
Native American college
students.
Students who are in-
terested should contact
Dustin Seyler at the
Warm Springs Commu-
nity Action Team, 541-
553-3148. Email:
dustin@wscat.org
Or contact Kelsey
Freeman, Native Ameri-
can College Prep coordi-
nator at COCC, 541-330-
4369. Her email is:
kfreeman@cocc.edu
Another contact is
Michelle Cary, COCC
Native American Pro-
gram coordinator, 541-
318-3782. Email:
mcary@cocc.edu
Summer construction camp
Jayson Smith/Spilyay
Drummers perform at the Warm Springs Academy Summer Slam Powwow.
Warm Springs youth ages
16-19 are offered a pre-ap-
prenticeship construction
camp opportunity.
The camp is for five
weeks, from July 9 through
August 10.
Youth will learn about sev-
eral crafts in the construction
industry, green jobs that meet
environmental protection,
carpentry, masonry, welding,
sheet metal, waste manage-
ment, environmental restora-
tion and woodshop.
No high school diploma
or GED is required. The
participant must attend the
Summer Construction Camp
information session on June
27. Warm Springs Work-
force Innovation and Op-
portunity Act (WIOA) will
provide transportation.
Those in attendance must
pass a drug screening. Youth
under the age of 18 must
have a parent or guardian
present during drug screen-
ing.
To any youth who is in-
terested, it is important
that you make contact with
WIOA program at 541-
553-3324 or 541-553-
3328.
Or visit the office, lo-
cated in the Education build-
ing on campus, 1110 Wasco
Street, office no. 307.
Suicide prevention conference
Tribal prevention summit in June at Kah-Nee-Ta
How can you help?
How do I ask? Let’s raise
awareness—and get the
facts.
Warm Springs Preven-
tion and Health and Hu-
man Services will host the
Suicide Prevention con-
ference on Thursday,
June 7 at Kah-Nee-Ta.
The all-day conference
begins at 8, with opening
prayer and introductions
Tribal communities face
unique challenges in meet-
ing the challenge of drug
abuse and addiction.
The nine Oregon tribes
will meet in June at Kah-
Nee-Ta to discuss the prob-
lem, and strategies to battle
epidemic.
The
Confederated
Tribes and Health and Hu-
man Services will host the
Oregon Tribal Summit on
Opioids and Other Drugs,
June 5-6.
The nine tribes will be
at 8:30. Some of the
agenda items include Best
Care, veterans suicide
prevention, small and big
work groups and discus-
sion.
For more information
contact Rosanna Jackson,
Michael Martinez or
Leighton Pennington at
541-615-0036. Or stop
by the Behavioral Health
Center.
Tip Line
The Warm Springs
Police Department has
an anonymous tip line
to help gather infor-
mation from individu-
als who want to remain
anonymous but assist in
providing information
regarding any criminal
activity.
The Tip Line has no
caller identification
program attached. The
caller can leave a mes-
sage after the recorded
message, and it is
checked daily by a staff
member.
If anyone has any
information about any
criminal activity, please
call the anonymous tip
Line: 541-553-2202.
there, with the Native
American Youth Associa-
tion (NAYA), law enforce-
ment, social ser vices,
medical providers, spiritual
and cultural leaders, courts,
prosecution, youth ser-
vices, and others.
Some highlights: Discus-
sion of the High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Areas with
program director Chris
Gibson; and the Oregon
Recovers director Eric Mar-
tin.
On the medical panel will
Historical and inter-
generational trauma—
associated with in-
creased rates of depres-
sion, drug use and
addiction—are addi-
tional issues facing
Native American
communities in dealing
with the drug epidemic.
be Dr. Locker, Indian
Health Service physician
from the War m Springs
Clinic.
Caroline Cruz, general
manager of Warm Springs
Health and Human Services
will lead a discussion of an
inter-tribal memorandum of
understanding proposal.
On a lighter note will be
Native American comedy
during the lunch hour.
For more information
please contact Asa Wright,
Lines for Life Prevention pro-
grams coordinator, at:
asaw@linesforlife.org
Or call 971-247-9072.
Former officer charged with abuse
A for mer Madras
police officer is facing
federal child sex abuse
charges alleging inap-
propriate touching of a
girl living on the Warm
Springs Indian Reserva-
tion.
Before working for
the Madras Police De-
partment, John Joseph
‘J.J’ Wallace Jr. worked
for the Warm Springs
Police Department.
Wallace Jr. was in-
dicted in February, ac-
cused of abusing a girl
aged 12 to 15 who is a
War m Springs tribal
member known to
Wallace, according to the
court records.
Courtesy Madras Pioneer
Wallace at 2015
swearing-in at Madras.
The charges include three
counts of abusive sexual
contact with a child and one
count of attempted sexual
abuse of a minor.
The indictment accuses
Wallace of inappropriately
touching the girl or at-
tempting to do so in inci-
dents between June 1,
2016 and Jan. 1, 2018 and
on or about Jan. 26 of
this year.
Wallace pleaded not
guilty at a March arraign-
ment. He was released on
conditions including GPS
monitoring, no contact
with the victim or her
family and removal of a
firearm.
Wallace became a
Madras police officer in
2015. Before that, he
worked as a War m
Springs police officer for
six years. His trial is cur-
rently scheduled for Au-
gust.