E Coosh EEWA: The way it is
Page 4
Spilyay Tymoo June 3, 2020
Letters to the editor
Birth
ArVonius Daniel Smith
ArVonius Ke-Shone
Smith and Shannon Rae Wil-
son of Warm Springs are
pleased to announce the
birth of their son ArVonius
Daniel Smith, born on May
8, 2020.
ArVonius joins brother
Osius, 3; and sister Jennius,
2.
Grandparents on the
father’s side are Chris Webb
and Jennifer Smith.
Grandparents on the
mother’s side are Jeannie
Brisbois and Sherman Wil-
son.
From
CRITFC
The Columbia River In-
ter-Tribal Fish Commission
would like to thank you for
your understanding and pa-
tience as we all work to re-
spond to the constantly
evolving Covid-19 pan-
demic. While our first prior-
ity is the safety of our em-
ployees and the tribal com-
munities we serve, we are
firmly committed to fulfill-
ing our mission and respon-
sibilities to our member
tribes with the least amount
of disruption possible.
We have particularly fo-
cused on being able to safely
continue our public health
and safety responsibilities
that our CRITFC Enforce-
ment and Fishing Site Main-
tenance teams provide.
All our offices are now
closed to all visitors, with only
limited access by essential
staff to maintain critical
functions and operations. All
other employees are under
mandatory telework. Many
are working flexible hours to
balance their family and per-
sonal needs resulting from
this unprecedented situation.
Reach out to them as you
normally would, but please
be patient if response time
is delayed.
You can help us navigate
these extraordinary circum-
stances in several ways:
· Please send requests or
other communications to us
electronically as you would
normally. You can find em-
ployee emails and office
phone numbers in CRITFC’s
online staff directory
(critfc.org). Some staff are
forwarding their office
phones or leaving alternate
contact numbers in their
outgoing voicemail message
or at the end of their emails.
· With this limited capac-
ity, we are prioritizing our
resources at this time. Please
advise us as to the urgency
and significance of your re-
quests and specify any impor-
tant timeframes or deadlines
so that we can do our best to
respond accordingly.
· All CRITFC travel has
been halted. We will be con-
ducting the monthly Com-
mission meetings by tele-
conference for the duration
of this situation. All in-per-
son meetings will be by tele-
conference or phone or
postponed.
We are committed to up-
holding our mission amidst
the challenges of the Covid-
19 pandemic and to continu-
ing the important work we
have underway with our many
partners.
We are confident that we
can do so through continued
communications, coordina-
tion, and collaboration with
you and others.
Please stay healthy, safe,
and in touch.
Jaime Pinkham, CRIFC
executive director
Home gardens
Interest in home garden-
ing has skyrocketed during
the Covid-19 pandemic. In
response, the Food Hero
team at Oregon State Uni-
versity Extension Service is
offering a unique opportu-
nity to grow vegetables and
fruits at home.
Anyone can join using
their own seeds, but the first
3,000 who sign up will be
mailed a free packet of veg-
etable and fruit seeds with
four varieties like tomatoes,
carrots, melons, strawber-
ries and herbs.
Register for the challenge
on the website or on the
Food Hero Facebook page,
where anyone can view
weekly Facebook Live gar-
dening segments Tuesdays
at noon. Questions will be
answered by AmeriCorps
volunteer Halie Cousineau,
a seasoned gardener who
has starred in 12 gardening
videos that are posted on
the website.
With thanks and appreciation
Courtesy Louie Pitt/CTWS Governmental Affairs
The Warm Springs Clinic staff
has been hard at work for months
now, helping the community to keep
the Covid-19 at bay here on the
reservation.
The National Guard fly over in
May, community appreciation and
lunch for the healthcare workers was
a wonderful expression of thanks and
appreciation for the tireless working
being done during this Covid-19
pandemic.
Tribal Council members, the
Secretary-Treasurer and several
general managers pitched in to
provide the healthcare workers with
lunch.
Pizza, soda and cake were served,
with all the precautions of social
distancing , good hand hygiene and
face covering required.
The Warm Springs Clinic staff
Employment numbers show impact on Central Oregon
With the release last week
of the official April 2020
employment and unemploy-
ment estimates, we get our
first glimpse of the substan-
tial impacts of the Covid-19
pandemic on the local
economy.
Monthly employment
losses were unprecedented,
with the share of jobs lost
in Central Oregon higher
than the state.
For some context: These
employment and unemploy-
ment estimates are a reflec-
tion of the labor market in
mid-April, as the Covid-19
shut-down was a month un-
der way.
Based on trends in unem-
ployment insurance claim fil-
ings, job losses continued
through the remainder of
April and into May.
Despite the dramatic rise
in the unemployment rate,
the Oregon Employment
Department has said we
have not reached the peak.
Expect the unemployment
situation to continue to
worsen when the May fig-
ures are released on June 23.
As of the most recent
employment release date,
May 27, the April seasonally
adjusted unemployment
rates are not available for
counties, due to processing
delays caused by large in-
creases in unemployment.
Seasonally adjusted un-
employment rates are not
being used for this release:
In shot, these numbers re-
flect April’s increase in un-
Spilyay Tymoo
(Coyote News, Est. 1976)
Publisher Emeritus in Memorium: Sid Miller
Editor: Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our of-
fices are located at 4174 Highway 3 in Warm
Springs.
Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo
should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 489, Warm Springs, OR
97761.
Phone: 541-553-2210 or 541-771-7521
E-Mail: david.mcmechan@wstribes.org.
Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $20.00
employment related to the
Covid-19 pandemic. (Sea-
sonally adjusted unemploy-
ment rates for April will be
available at a later date.)
Jefferson County: The
non-seasonally adjusted un-
employment rate was 14.3
percent in April, up from
5.4 percent in March.
Jefferson County’s rate
was notably lower than ei-
ther Deschutes or Crook
counties, and more consis-
tent with what we saw na-
tionally—14.4 percent.
In Jefferson County the
number of unemployed
workers rose to 1,409, up
from 532 in March.
Job losses in Jefferson
County businesses were
more consistent with the
rest of Central Oregon
with employment down 13
percent from March—a
loss of 840 jobs.
As with most counties
the largest losses were in
leisure and hospitality—
down by 240 jobs.
There were also notable
losses in local government,
as well as manufacturing.
Crook County: The
non-seasonally adjusted un-
employment rate rose to
18.6 percent in April, up
from 5.7 percent in March.
The rate was the fifth high-
est of Oregon’s 36 coun-
ties.
The number of unem-
ployed workers skyrock-
eted to 1,811, an increase
of 230 percent from
March.
Deschutes County:
The non-seasonally ad-
justed unemployment rate
rose to 18.2 percent in April,
a dramatic rise from 4.0 per-
cent in March. The unem-
ployment rate in April rep-
resents the highest rate in the
series going back to 1990.
The April unemployment
rate was the highest of
Oregon’s metropolitan areas.
There were around 17,550
unemployed workers in
April, up from only 3,800 in
March. Deschutes County
shed 13,260 total nonfarm
jobs in April, down 15.4 per-
cent from March.
Storm a-brewin’
Edward Heath caught this image of the weekend storm that blew through Central Oregon.
Census statement on 2020 operations on reservations
The U.S Census Bureau
is committed to a complete
and accurate count of the
American Indian population,
wherever they live.
The population is diverse
and geographically dispersed
across the country.
While most do not live on
designated tribal lands or res-
ervations, those who do are
among groups historically
undercounted in the census.
For years, the Census Bu-
reau has been working
closely with tribal govern-
ments to change this—and
make sure everyone counts
in the 2020 Census.
As part of this effort, cen-
sus takers are set to go house-
hold to household and drop
off census materials at front
doors in tribal communities.
This operation, dubbed
Update Leave, promises to
up the count by allowing us
to confirm each household’s
physical location and pro-
vide a special Census ID
number in materials tied to
that location. Due to Covid-
19, we delayed U p d a t e
Leave to protect the health
and safety of our staff and
tribal communities.
We made the move
knowing we could still
achieve a complete and ac-
curate count—and are
working closely with tribal
leaders to determine the
right time to resume this
important operation.
Currently, we are doing a
phased re-opening in areas
where it is safe to do so.
We understand there are
many questions about how
to participate in the 2020
Census. The Update Leave
operation generally affects
rural households that use
post office boxes to receive
regular mail or lack tradi-
tional mailing addresses.
Most urban households
use physical street addresses
for mail delivery, so we
mailed invitations and re-
minders with instructions on
how to respond to the cen-
sus.
As a result, many Native
people who live outside des-
ignated tribal lands have al-
ready received census invi-
tations with a Census ID
linked to their specific ad-
dress. Using a Census ID
when completing the census
helps us get an accurate
count and avoids the need
for follow-up by a census
worker to confirm house-
hold information.
We continue to encour-
age any household with a
Census ID to respond
online at 2020census.gov,
by phone or by mail and
look forward to being back
in tribal communities when
it is safe to do so. We are
committed to working to-
gether to shape our future.
U.S. Census Bureau