Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
December 5, 2018
Fish platform decision draws opposition
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs—and other treaty
tribes of the region—oppose a
state decision regarding a fishing
platform at Willamette Falls.
The Yakama Nation and Con-
federated Tribes of Umatilla join
Warm Springs in opposing the state
approval of the Grand Ronde fish-
ing platform at the falls.
The Grand Ronde have no
treaty fishing rights. Yet, “Every
time they gain back some sort of
recognition—like getting permis-
sion from the state for this plat-
form—it creates a reality that they
have certain rights,” said Louie Pitt,
Warm Springs’ director of Gov-
ernmental Affairs.
Earlier this fall Oregon Depart-
ment of State Lands director Vicki
Walker approved the Grand Ronde
plan to build the scaffold, made of
metal and concrete.
The state gave the approval
without consultation with the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs.
In a letter to the state, Warm
Springs tribal attorney John Ogan
wrote:
“The Warm Springs Tribes are
extremely disappointed by the con-
duct of the state for their inexpli-
cable departure from government-
to-government consultation proce-
dures.”
After the treaty tribes voiced
their opposition, the state recon-
sidered the decision; and then in
late November re-affirmed the ap-
proval.
A native perspective on climate change
Jeremy FiveCrows, a spokesman
for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission, remembers fish-
ermen pulling sockeye from the
Columbia River—fish that were
infested with a strange white fun-
gus.
As he walked the banks of the
river in 2015 near Celilo, the banks
were choked with dead sockeye.
“We would see whole schools con-
gregating in cold-water refuge ar-
eas,” Mr. FiveCrows said. “But they
were trapped there.”
It’s not just the fish, either. First
foods—vital resources the tribes of
the Pacific Northwest have relied
upon for centuries—have been
changing as well. Root harvests
come earlier. The elevations at
which huckleberries grow has been
climbing.
“We’ve been witnessing climate
change effects a lot longer than
most people have been aware,” Jer-
emy says. “Being so connected to
the land, it’s made us much more
aware of the changes that have
been invisible to a lot of people.”
Indigenous knowledge systems
can play a role in advancing un-
derstanding of climate change, and
in developing more comprehensive
climate adaptation strategies. This
knowledge is valuable in part be-
cause a focus is on understanding
relationships of interdependency,
relying on multi-generational
knowledge of ecosystem phenol-
ogy—the study of cyclic and sea-
sonal natural phenomena—and
ecological shifts.
Indigenous adaptation planning,
including considerations of issues
such as flooding and water rights,
benefits from a greater focus on
participatory planning in natural re-
source management.
This planning incorporates lo-
cal knowledge and values from
conception through implementa-
tion in ways that ensure the pro-
tection of indigenous knowledges,
and indigenous peoples’ rights not
to share sensitive information. In
this way, traditional ways of know-
ing are contributing to sustainable
land management practices under
changing environmental conditions.
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs, through the Natu-
ral Resources Branch, has com-
pleted many
Report critical of federal prosecution rate
In 2017 the U.S. Department
of Justice declined to prosecute
more than a third of cases re-
ferred to them in Indian Country.
A recent report reveals that U.S.
attorneys’ offices left 37 percent
of referred cases from Indian
Country unprosecuted in 2017.
Federal crime data has long
suggested that Indian reservations
have higher rates of violent crime
than the national average, espe-
cially when it comes to violence
against women.
Of the cases that went unpros-
ecuted, over a quarter were alle-
gations of sexual assault against
children and adults.
Page 7
Tribal housing at
river going forward
The tribal housing project at
the Columbia River has re-
sumed.
The decision by the federal
government comes after more
than a year of delay.
The obligation to build the
housing dates back more than
80 years, when tribal housing
was flooded by dams on the
Columbia.
The Oregon and Washing-
ton Congressional delegation
sponsored the bill that would
provide the funding for the
housing. This was done with
support from the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs,
Yakama Nation, Umatilla and
Nez Perce.
The Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission has
been another advocate.
With the funding in place,
the Corps of Engineers can
plan the housing construction.
At that point funding would be
needed for the actual construc-
tion.
Meanwhile, a separate bill is
proposed that would fix the ex-
isting 31 fishing sites on the
Columbia. The sites are main-
tained and operated by the Co-
lumbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission, which took on the
task because no one else was
doing it. The fish commission
largely focuses on salmon res-
toration and managing tribal
fishing on the Columbia River.
The money to maintain the
sites is quickly running out be-
cause it was created with esti-
mates that undercounted how
many people would use the
sites.
The Columbia River In-Lieu
and Treaty Fishing Access Sites
Improvement Act would allow
the U.S. Bureau of Indian Af-
fairs to evaluate what improve-
ments are needed at the sites
and how much money it would
take to bring them up to a safe,
sanitary standard.
The bill has already passed
out of the Senate and is with
the House, awaiting a vote.
From there, it would go to Presi-
dent Trump for approval.
Native woman missing in Wash.
after going to casino two months ago
Rosenda Strong, a member
of the Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reserva-
tion, has been missing for al-
most two months in Washing-
ton state.
Strong, a 31-year-old
mother of four, went to the
Legends Casino on the Yakama
Nation on October 2. She
hasn’t been seen by family
since.
“Bring her home! That’s all
anybody ever wants,” Roxanne
White, an advocate for miss-
ing and murdered Native
women and girls, said at a
prayer walk and vigil for
Strong on the reservation.
A new law in Washington re-
quires the state to identify Na-
tive women who have gone
missing. A report is due June
1, 2019, in hopes of address-
ing what advocates have called
an epidemic.
A Year in Review ~ 2018 ~
“You have to have a positive
mind set and a good heart to ac-
complish that,” said Scott Kalama
at Prevention.
January
T he year began with the crown-
ing of Miss War m Springs
2018 Thyreicia Stimtustus.
The Miss Warm Springs Pag-
eant was a part of Thyreicia’s busy
schedule. She goes to college in
Bend two days a week, studying
to become a professional helicop-
ter pilot, and was working in
Prineville on the other weekdays.
The tribal royalty part of her
new position—skill at horseback
riding, for instance—will be famil-
iar to Reicia: She was the 2017
Miss Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow
Queen, and the 2014 Miss Pi-
Ume-Sha Princess.
Thyreicia is a 2017 graduate of
Madras High School. Thyreicia
now goes to Central Oregon Com-
munity College, where she studies
in the COCC Aviation program,
focusing on commercial helicop-
ter piloting.
Thyreicia became the Forty-
Second Miss Warm Springs. As
an ambassador of the Confeder-
ated Tribes, she represents Warm
Springs at powwows and other
community events. In other news
from January 2018:
The New Year saw job fairs
hosted by the Plateau Travel
Plaza and Indian Head Casino.
Jobs are available at the casino, and
soon will be open at the Travel
Plaza, set to open in early spring.
Elsewhere this month:
The school district 509-J is en-
A remote camera set up in the
forest and monitored by the tribal
Branch of Natural Resources
shows two wolves on the Warm
Springs Reser vation.
This is the first time multiple
wolves have been confirmed in the
northern portion of the Oregon
Cascade Mountains, since the ani-
Jayson Smith photo/Spilyay
Miss Warm Springs 2018 Thyreicia Simtustus is given the crown
by Miss Warm Springs 2017 Katrina Blackwolf.
gaging Warm Springs families in
developing Impact Aid Indian
Policies and Procedures. The
district conducted a survey about
the draft policies and procedures.
Results were shared in early Janu-
ary with the Warm Springs com-
munity. And this:
Tribal Council began the year
with enterprise updates—including
the latest on Kah-Nee-Ta Resort.
Elsewhere:
One of the memorable activi-
ties at the Winter Prevention
Camp was the building of a natu-
ral fire, using only sticks and a bow
strung with parachute chord. From
Warm Springs, Silas Howtopat was
able to get the fire going.
mals returned in the late 2000s.
Confirmation of multiple wolves
together is significant.
There have been many reported
sightings over the years of single
wolves in the region. A single wolf
traveling alone could indicate the
animal is moving through the area,
looking for a more permanent ter-
ritory.
More than one wolf—a pair or
pack—could indicate the animals
are living in the region more per-
manently, and possibly breeding,.