Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
April 22, 2020 - Vol. 45, No. 9
April – Hawit`an – Spring - Wawaxam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Extension of shutdown, change to retirement fund policy
Tribal Council took two key ac-
tions regarding the immediate work
future of most tribal employees.
Council extended the organization
shut-down stay-at-home adminis-
trative leave policy for an additional
two weeks, through May 8. Coun-
cil also added a coronavirus relief
provision to the employee 401-k
plan.
The 401-k plan addition gives
employees, who experience finan-
cial hardship because of the pan-
demic, a means to access their re-
tirement account funds without the
immediate 10-percent early with-
drawal tax penalty. The amount
withdrawn will be subject to taxa-
tion, to be spread over a three-
year period.
The change to the 401-K policy
came on the recommendation of
the tribal Pension Committee, as
presented by Catherine Langford,
committee attorney.
The Council vote to add the
coronavirus hardship provision
to the retirement fund policy,
like the vote on the extension of
administrative leave, was unani-
mous.
The change to retirement fund
access, and waiver of the 10-per-
cent penalty and tax deferral,
would be in effect through Decem-
ber 31. The change is called a
‘coronavirus-related distribution,’
or CRD; and is part of the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Eco-
nomic Stability—Cares—Act.
Interpretation and application
of the CRD policy to the retire-
ment fund access is flexible. An
employee would not necessarily
have to have Covid-19, for in-
stance. The employee may be hav-
ing trouble with day-care, making
it impossible to go to work, as an
example.
Ms. Langford emphasized that
employees need to realize the se-
riousness of accessing retirement
savings, including the tax conse-
quence. The current economic
situation has also reduced retire-
ment accounts
At this point no tribal employee
has requested access to retirement
funding due to the coronavirus,
said Cheryl Tom, Human Re-
sources director. She said an em-
ployee could expect to receive a
check within about a week of put-
ting in the request.
In a separate action Tribal
Council voted to extend the admin-
istrative leave of “non-essential”
tribal employees through May 8.
Added safety measures
at High Lookee Lodge
Residents at long term care
facilities are among the high-
est at risk from the coronavirus.
In the starkest of terms, the
long-term care residents are the
most likely to die from the
coronavirus, given their ad-
vanced age and the prevalence
of other health conditions, ac-
cording to the Centers for Dis-
ease Control.
During the Covid-19 pan-
demic, these facilities are
among the hardest hit: In Or-
egon half of all deaths from
the virus have happened among
residents of long-term care
facilities. Clearly, extreme pre-
caution is required to protect
our most vulnerable, and those
who care for them.
The staff at High Lookee
Lodge take all measures to best
ensure the safety of the 16
residents and 15 staff, 24 hours
seven days a week. Yet there
is an issue being addressed in
these extraordinary times:
High Lookee Lodge is
closed to the general public.
Staff only, with the exception
of medical providers and nec-
essary delivery workers—fol-
lowing all proper precautions—are
allowed in the building.
At the same time High Lookee
Lodge is a fully licensed assisted liv-
ing facility, meaning the residents
themselves are allowed to come
and go as they wish. In a vehicle
family or friends can pull up in
front of High Lookee, pick up a
resident, go for a drive, stop by a
residence or store; and then return
to the lodge.
Obviously this poses a very real
and life-threatening risk to the in-
dividual, to the other residents, and
to the staff. “This is a challenge,”
said Jolene Greene, director of
High Lookee Lodge. “Please real-
ize these actions affect many
people, not just yourselves.”
All in this together means we
consider and look out for one an-
other, Ms. Greene said. Ignoring
social distancing, then returning to
the lodge hold the potential for the
most dire of consequences, all very
avoidable, she said.
During these weeks of quaran-
tine and staying at home, we are
kept physically away from friends
and family. Neverthless this is the
approach the experts say will most
quickly end the pandemic. While in
Because the letters with the ID
number were only mailed to people
who get their mail at a street ad-
dress, most people in Warm Springs
do not have the census ID num-
ber: On the phone, just say you
don’t have one.
They ask for your street ad-
dress, if you rent or own your
home, your sex, age and date of
birth, your heritage and race.
They will also ask about who was
living in your home on April 1; how
they are related to you, their age
and so on. For Native American
households it’s best to have the cen-
sus completed by someone who is
Native American. Tribal members
and descendants should fill in ‘Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs
See TRIBES on 5
Covid-19
community
update
Spilyay archive
related news from the lodge:
High Lookee is coordinating
with the Warm Springs Indian
Health Services clinic to obtain the
necessary personal protection
equipment, the masks and
gowns needed by the health
workers and care givers.
Time to submit census information extended
The 2020 Census is under way
on the reservation and among
tribal members. Because of the
coronavirus and stay-at-home re-
quirements, the time to submit
your census information is ex-
tended from the previous end date
of July to October 31.
The easiest way to complete the
2020 Census during the Covid-19
pandemic is to do it online at
my2020census.gov
If you don’t have the ability to
do the census online, you can do
the questionnaire by phone. Call
844-330-2020. They will begin by
asking you for your census iden-
tification number. (You may be on
hold for a while, so please be pa-
tient.)
The Council members also agreed
to meet again soon to consider a
course following the extended two-
week shut-down.
Before the vote on Tuesday,
Council heard three options re-
garding the immediate future for
the organization.
One option was to open the of-
fices and return to work next
week. This was against the recom-
mendation of the tribes’ Covid-
19 team, and health experts’ ad-
vice regarding the ongoing state
of the pandemic.
Oregon.’
Whether you do the 2020 cen-
sus online or by phone, the Warm
Springs Complete Count Com-
mittee asks that you take the time
to submit your information, if
you haven’t already done so.
The complete count commit-
tee had many activities planned
for the 2020 U.S. Census. Public
events and gatherings are now
postponed because of social dis-
tancing restrictions and the stay-
at-home health conditions.
“Most important is our safety,
and we must continue to practice
social distancing,” said Caroline
Cruz, general manager of Health
and Human Services, and com-
mittee chairwoman.
Listen to KWSO 91.9 for
further details in the upcoming
weeks.
Census data directly im-
pacts how the federal govern-
ment allocates more than $675
billion every year for programs
and services vital for tribal
communities.
These include Medicaid
and Medicare, social services,
housing, public safety, veter-
ans services, emergency pre-
paredness, education, school
lunches and more.
Tribal members and reser-
vations have historically been
under-counted in the census,
resulting in unfair and dispro-
portionate funding allocation.
Important: Anyone who at-
tended the Salmon Feast in Celilo
may have been exposed to the
Covid-19 virus.
If you attended the feast,
please call Community Health
Nursing at 541-553-2460. Please
stay home until Sunday, April 26,
regardless if you do not show
symptoms or test negative.
Monitor yourself for symp-
toms: Cough, fever and shortness
of breath. If you develop symp-
toms, please call the clinic to make
a plan of care.
This emphasizes the importance
for everyone in the community to
monitor themselves for symptoms
of cough, fever and shortness of
breath. If you develop symptoms,
call the clinic at 541-553-5512 to
speak to a nurse to develop a plan
of care.
It is also important to stay home.
Do not visit others. Only leave for
necessities such as grocery shop-
ping and medical appointments.
Wear a mask when you leave the
house. Only have one person do
the shopping—Don’t take others
with you.
Do not have visitors in your
house. Do not invite others from
far away to come to War m
Springs—especially if they live in
an area with high Covid-19 cases
such as Washington and California.
Everyone, please be respectful
of the community and stay home.
Staying home today ensures that
we will be able to see each other
for many days to come. Remem-
ber, You do not know who anyone
has been in contact with.
The clinic’s after hours nurse
triage hotline is 541-553-5512.
Regular hours, 541-553-1196.
Face masks should be cleaned
daily or when dirty. Wash using soap
and warm water. Using a washing
machine, hand wash or a dishwasher
are all equally good options. Use a
dryer or air-dry until completely
dry.
~ Message from the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs ~