Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
July 18, 2018 - Vol. 43, No. 15
July – Pat’ak-Pt’akni – Summer - Shatm
A t the Warm Springs Commu-
Graphics and photo courtesy of W.S. Community Action Team.
nated design services.
Additional funding requests
are pending, with a great chance
for success, bringing the project
just within reach. And the closer
a project of this kind is to its goal,
the more likely other sources are
to help see it through.
The business park
The main offices and business
space of the Small Business In-
cubator project will be in the
building known as the Old Com-
missary. The building will be
wholly renovated, and moved
across campus to the property at
Highway 26 and Paiute Avenue.
The café will be a central fea-
ture on the ground floor, along
with other businesses. Upstairs
will be offices and the small busi-
ness support staff.
See BUSINESSES on 5
Tribal Council will decide
future course for Kah-Nee-Ta
Tribal Council has taken no ac-
tion on the future operation of Kah-
Nee-Ta Resort and Spa, and the po-
tential operator continues to seek
funding that would allow the resort
to stay open.
The Kah-Nee-Ta board will make
a presentation soon to Tribal Coun-
cil, presenting various options. Re-
ports that Kah-Nee-Ta will close on
September 5 were based on a pub-
lic notification requirement, and the
reports were perhaps premature.
Regarding the notification: The
federal Worker Adjustment and Re-
training Notification Act applies to
companies that employ 100 or more
employees, such as Kah-Nee-Ta.
The WARN act says the com-
pany must give notification if 50 or
more employees are going to be laid
off for more than 30 days.
The notification must be given
60 days before the expected lay-
offs. Kah-Nee-Ta gave this notice
early in July with September 5 as
the potential lay-off date. This was
done in the worst-case scenario of
Kah-Nee-Ta actually closing.
However, Tribal Council has
made no decision; so the matter is
pending, said Jim Manion, Kah-Nee-
Ta board chairman.
In the worst-case scenario, there
are options: A partial closure, a tem-
porary closure, or a permanent clo-
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Canoes ready
for Paddle
to Puyallup
Vision taking
shape for
business park
nity Action Team, Chris Watson
recounts this incident:
Some years ago he and his
wife and parents-in-law were
travelling along the highway,
when they saw a chance to stop
for some refreshments and a
short break from driving.
It was a small convenience
park operated by a Northwest
Indian tribe. In the café they
ordered something to drink, and
then his parents-in-law purchased
$250 in Native American crafts.
The point is this: Just getting
some of the highway drivers to
stop—even if it’s only for a cup
of coffee—can open the door
to any number of small business
opportunities.
And that is the idea behind
the Community Action Team
Small Business Incubator
project.
Mr. Watson and his team have
been carefully planning and
working on this idea for some
time, with large funding compo-
nents now in place.
The Administration for Na-
tive Americans, the Oregon
Community Fund, the Collins
Foundation are examples of the
diverse funding sources so far.
A leading architecture firm—
Hacker Architects, one of very
best firms in the U.S.—has do-
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
sure, Mr. Manion said. And there
remains the hope that the poten-
tial operator will secure the neces-
sary funding.
The potential investor-operator,
Accent Ventures, wants to invest
up to $16 million in Kah-Nee-Ta,
under a long-term lease of the
property with the Confederated
Tribes. Securing the funding has
taken longer than expected, but
could still happen.
The option that the Kah-Nee-
Ta board would not recommend
to Tribal Council would be contin-
ued operation of Kah-Nee-Ta
without at least a break-even bot-
tom line.
“Kah-Nee-Ta has been a finan-
cial drain on the tribes for years,”
Mr. Manion said. “We have to
come up with a model that is self-
sustaining.”
Weighing the potential closure
options is happening at the same
time that Tom Hansen, chief ex-
ecutive officer of Accent Ventures,
is actively seeking the funding that
would resolve the matter.
Kah-Nee-Ta opened in the
1960s. The tribes built the Lodge
in the early 1970s.
This summer there are about
170 employees working at the re-
sort.
Dave McMechan
Architects’ rendering (at top) of the finished Commissary
Project main building; and above, a schematic graphic,
subject to change as the project develops, of the development
site. The Old Commissary is a 5,000 square-foot, two-story
wood frame building, built in the early 1900s or possibly
earlier. The historic structure has not been in use since 1998,
when it housed the tribal Natural Resources Branch.
Indian Head, Plateau
update at Tribal Council
It’s been close to four months
since the Confederated Tribes
and Indian Head Casino opened
the Plateau Travel Plaza.
The new venture is proving
to be a great addition to the
tribal enterprises, said Jeff
Carstensen, Indian Head gen-
eral manager. Mr. Carstensen
and Eric Angel, Plateau general
manager, met with Tribal Coun-
cil last week for an update.
Since opening in mid March,
the travel plaza has sold over
400,000 gallons of gasoline and
diesel. The volume of sale is
increasing steadily month by
month, Mr. Angel said.
Meanwhile the casino and
travel plaza are working on ad-
ditional promotion strategies for
the enterprise. Other news from
the recent update:
There are 75 employees at
the Plateau Travel Plaza: 56
percent are tribal members; 3
percent are married into the
tribes; 13 percent other Native;
and 28 percent non-tribal. And
as of last week there were 12
open positions.
Rail spur matter
Meeting with the Indian
Head Casino team, Tribal
Council also passed a resolu-
tion, as recommended by the
team, regarding a land matter
at the travel plaza property. The
situation can be summarized:
The 10-acre Plateau prop-
erty, which is trust land, once
was part of the tribal lumber
mill. Some years ago the mill
operation included the transfer
of finished wood to a ware-
house that once stood on the
property.
The wood would then be
loaded on rail cars for further
transport. At the time the prop-
erty included a rail spur.
After the mill operation no
longer used the property, the rail
spur strip eventually reverted
from the railroad to the city of
Madras.
The tribes have since bought
the property in question, hold-
ing it so far in fee. The Tribal
Council action last week is part
of the process to bring the rail
spur strip into trust, making the
entire lot trust land.
Care was taken during the
planning of the travel plaza to
ensure that no gaming aspect of
the plaza was located on the rail
spur area, said Howie Arnett,
tribal attorney.
Dave McMechan
The N’Chi Wanapum Canoe
Family of Warm Springs is begin-
ning the Power Paddle to Puyallup
Tribal Canoe Journey.
They leave this Thursday, July 19
for Wallowa Lake. About a week
later, on July 29, they will arrive at
the final destination, Puyallup in the
Puget Sound region.
At Puyallup—in the Medicine
Creek Territory of Puget Sound—
they will meet with the host tribe,
the Muckleshoot, and many other
tribes: Warm Springs is one of 99
tribal canoes that are registered to
make the Power Paddle to Puyallup
2018. The journey concludes with
a week-long celebration.
The very first Northwest tribal
Canoe Journey was in 1989, with
just four canoes. Warm springs
joined the Journey in 2010, after the
tribes acquired the 36-foot N’Chi
Wana canoe in 2009.
Over the years they have paddled
to Makah, Swinomish, Squaxin,
Nisqually, among other destinations.
They practice regularly in the
months leading up to the Journey.
The N’Chi Wanapum Canoe is a
project of the Museum at Warm
Springs, Health and Human Ser-
vices Branch, and the tribes. The
canoe revitalizes the tribal tradition
that suffered after 1855, when the
tribes were relocated from the Co-
lumbia River to the reservation.
Fair and Rodeo
are next week
There will be new carnival attrac-
tions at this year’s Jefferson County
Fair and Rodeo, starting next
Wednesday, July 25.
This year the carnival will fea-
ture a new 3D Haunted House ride.
So far this summer at other fairs:
“This ride has been a big hit,” said
Brian Crow, fairgrounds coordina-
tor.
“For the kids we’re also bringing
in the Kids Fun Faire, and the
Bouncy House Safari,” Mr. Crow
said. “This area will include face
painting, and all kinds of family
fun.” Another new feature will be
a 300-foot zip line, plus the tradi-
tional carnival rides.
On the fair schedule: Honoring
Veterans Day is Wednesday, July 24.
Kids Day is Thursday; Seniors Day
is Friday, and Can Cancer Day is
on Saturday, July 27.
The rodeo starts at 7 p.m. on
Saturday and Sunday in the Corwin
Arena.
There will be all kinds of show
livestock, food vendors and barbe-
cue, and entertainers from around
the region.
From War m Springs, Blue
Flamez will perform on the Les
Schwab Main Stage at 5 p.m. on
Saturday, July 28. The Rock Bot-
tom Boys play that Saturday night.
The Fair and Rodeo includes an
ice cream eating contest,
lawnmower races, exhibits in the
Exhibits Hall, and more.