Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
February 26, 2020 - Vol. 45, No. 5
Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
Unique census honor for the tribes
T he Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs have been chosen
to host and conduct the first 2020
census count for the entire state of
Oregon.
As with other rural areas, and
reservations in particular, Warm
Springs contends with being under-
represented during census counts.
To help address this problem,
the U.S. Census Bureau for the
Western region contacted the tribes
earlier this month. Julie Lam, cen-
sus regional director, based in Los
Angeles, wrote to the tribes: “We
value our partnership with the tribe,
and are committed to a complete
and accurate count of our nation’s
first peoples,” Ms. Lam said in a
letter to Council Chair man
Raymond Tsumpti.
The tribes and regional Census
Center are now planning an event
for Thursday, March 12. This will
involve the submission, by a Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs
member, of the first 2020 census
count for the state of Oregon.
The tribes will choose the per-
son to submit the first census
count for the state, said Caroline
Cruz, general manager of Health
and Human Services, and chair
of the tribes’ Census Complete
Count Committee. Ms. Cruz last
week updated Tribal Council on
the project, reviewing a proposed
agenda for the March 12 event.
This would begin with a wel-
come address by a tribal leader,
followed by remarks by the 2020
census regional director or deputy
director. The Complete Count
Committee chair is then invited to
speak, followed by a showcase
demonstration of tribal culture
and tradition.
The conclusion will be the first
2020 Oregon census filing—called
the census enumeration operation
activity—with a local enumerator.
The actual census information of
the person chosen to submit the
first enumeration would of course
be confidential, unavailable to me-
dia or the public.
In her letter to Chairman
Tsumpti, Ms. Lam summarizes the
importance of a complete count
of the reservation households and
population:
“Census data not only has a
role in the representation for Con-
gress; it also directly impacts how
the federal government allo-
cates more than $675 billion
every year for programs and
services vital for tribal commu-
nities, like Medicaid, social ser-
vices, housing, public safety, vet-
erans services, emergency pre-
paredness, education, school
lunches and more.”
Shana Radford, from the
Umatilla tribes, is the Census
Tribal Partnership Specialist for
Oregon and Idaho, a division of
the Regional U.S. Census Cen-
ter based in Los Angeles.
Ms. Radford thanked Cheryl
Tom, director of tribal Human
Resources and Complete Count
Committee vice chair; Secre-
tary-Treasurer
Michele
Stacona; and Caroline Cruz for
their help in preparing for the
2020 census count of the res-
ervation households.
Dave McMechan
Competition
winners at
2020 Lincoln’s
Simnasho and the Lincoln’s
Powwow Committee in Febru-
ary welcomed guests from
around the region and beyond
to the Forty-Third Annual
Lincoln’s Powwow. Here are
the competition results (in or-
der of finish, first-, second and
third-):
Junior Girls Fancy: Vera
Johnson, Salem. Jayden
Holliday, Wapato. Valerie
Scabbyrobe, White Swan.
Junior Girls Jingle: Janessa
Abundiz, Wapato. Alimae Jack-
son, White Swan. Madison
Tulee, Warm Springs.
Junior Girls Traditional:
Annie Payer, Goldendale.
Askewin Tom, Warm Springs.
Tiara Price, White Swan.
Junior Boys Fancy &
Grass: Elijah Denny, Warm
Springs. Tonny Nelson Walsey,
Toppenish. Liam Beebe,
Wapato.
Junior Boys Traditional:
Jayson Smith photos/Spilyay
The Saturday of 2020 Lincoln’s.
Elias Nelson Walsey, Toppenish.
Kyle Frank III, Warm Springs.
Darius Walsey, Wapato.
Teen Girls Fancy: Aurora
Whiskeyjack, Pendleton. Gigi
Hintsala-David, Warm Springs.
Teen Girls Jingle: Natasha
Smith, Lapwai.
Clarissa
Morninggun, Wapato. Jasmine
Baney, Portland.
See LINCOLN’S on 5
Children’s Protective Service updates at Council
The Warm Springs Children’s
Protective Services building may
see a new playground, lawn and
other improvements. CPS and tribal
management are planning to meet
this week with representatives of
Every Child, a non-profit group
supporting vulnerable children and
families.
The Central Oregon affiliation
of Every Child would like to help
Warm Springs children and families,
and has met once with Cecelia
Collins, director of CPS. Ms.
Collins pointed out some of the
most pressing needs at CPS, such
as the playground and outdoor area,
and some improvements to the
building.
Another tour is planned for this
week, with tribal management. The
hope is that Every Child would
weigh the idea, and present the
information for their funding. This
in time could lead to playground
equipment, and possible other
needed CPS improvements.
Ms. Collins updated Tribal
Council last week on the matter,
as part of the presentation of the
Health and Human Ser vices
Branch. She also reviewed
challenges facing CPS in response
to the Family First Act. This 2016
federal act includes provisions that
have serious consequences for the
tribal group home.
A central issue is a provision
requiring the child’s temporary
shelter provider, such as the CPS
home, to locate the child to a
private home, such as with a parent
or foster home, within two weeks.
Stays at the group home beyond
that time would no longer qualify
for federal reimbursement. This
would eliminate a large percentage
of the CPS budget.
This provision of the federal
law was done with the idea of
family preservation, a worthy goal,
obviously; yet the tribal
circumstance is unique, and
tribes were not brought into the
planning process.
An example of the potential
problem: Qualifying a household
to serve as a foster home can
take six to eight weeks, in order
to conduct the proper
background check. This process
in itself would be well beyond
the two-week provision.
The state of Oregon has
worked with the tribes in
achieving a temporary waiver,
though this is currently set to
expire in October of this year.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Adding
staff at
Academy
New funding will become
available for the 2020-21 school
year at the Warm Springs Acad-
emy.
The funding, available after
July 1, will create new staff and
teacher positions, helping con-
tinue student improvement, said
Ken Parshall, school district su-
perintendent.
Student success at the Academy
has seen great improvement, es-
pecially over the past few years;
“and we’re planning additional in-
vestments at the K through 8,” Mr.
Parshall said.
An aspect of the new programs
will be addressing gaps that a stu-
dent may have in math or literacy
from a previous grade. A program
to fill in these gaps—math and lit-
eracy intervention—is something
many districts don’t have access to,
due to funding.
Funding to the Academy is
through the program Student In-
vestment Account, part of the
Oregon Student Success Act. The
purpose of the funding is, in part,
to increase academic achievements
and reduce academic disparities for
students of color, and other “stu-
dent groups who have historically
experienced academic disparities.”
This law when fully imple-
mented in Oregon will bring an
additional $1 billion investment in
schools, according to the state
Department of Education.
“It’s exciting that we have addi-
tional resources coming in,” Mr.
Parshall said. “We’re going to in-
vest in the K through 8 to help the
students make the best start pos-
sible.”
With this new funding coming
available, these are some of the
positions the school district will be
looking to fill for the 2020-21
school year:
School counselor. This is a new
position.
Middle school math teacher,
also a new position.
Mental health specialist, new.
Intervention specialists, new for
the 2020-21 year.
More positions include an in-
structional coach for math; a
sixth-grade teacher; and a third-
grade teacher.
Some of these will be new next
school year, funded through a
federal grant, as they remained
vacant this year. In other school
Academy and school district
news:
8th grade family night
The Madras High School
eighth-grade family night is com-
ing up on the Wednesday evening
of March 11, from 5:30 to 7. Din-
ner will be served.
Families will learn everything
they need to know about Madras
High School, including athletics
and activities.