Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
September 23, 2020
Page 7
Health impact of Lionshead was the smoke Intel ‘Future Skills’
donation to schools
For a time last week much
of the West, including the
reservation, had the most
unhealthy air quality on
earth. The conditions are
better now, though the recent
Branch of Natural Re-
sources Air Quality Report
was still evaluating the res-
ervation air as ‘unhealthy.’
Tim Outman, air quality
specialist with the Branch of
Natural Resources, has been
monitoring the reservation
air on a daily basis since
2008. “I’ve never seen any-
thing like that,” Mr. Outman
said of last week’s blanket
of smoke.
The bad air—during the
height of the Lionshead
blaze—was unique not only
in the density of the smoke,
but also in the number of
days that the conditions per-
sisted.
Courtesy Tim Outman/WSBNR
The Purple Air Sensor
outside the Branch of
Natural Resources
building. The device is
about the size of a
softball. A second sensor
is outside the clinic.
“During a fire, we might
see that—in the unhealthy
range—for a day or two,”
Outman said.
The Lionshead extreme
conditions last days. As a re-
sult, the organization had to
close for a day and half, plus
late start days, including into
early this week.
Last week the smoke
level brought a rating of
“very unhealthy.” This is
defined as, “Health warnings
of emergency conditions.
The entire population is
more likely to be affected.”
The definition of “un-
healthy air quality”—regis-
tered earlier this week—is:
“Everyone may begin to ex-
perience health effects;
members of sensitive
groups may experience
more serious health effects.”
The very worst air, “Haz-
ardous,” is: “Health alert:
Everyone may experience
more serious health effects.”
In response to the condi-
tions, the Branch of Natu-
ral Resources received from
the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency two ‘Purple Air
Sensors.’ These are now lo-
cated at the Natural Re-
sources building, and at the
clinic. The plan is also to
place one at Simnasho.
The current air quality
data from the sensors can
be accessed at any time on
the Internet. These are the
sites:
Indian Health Services
senor:
w w w. p u r p l e a i r . c o m /
map?opt=1/m/i/mAQI/
a
1
0
/
cC4&select=59961#12.19/
44.72248/-121.25415
Branch of Natural Re-
sources:
w w w. p u r p l e a i r . c o m /
map?opt=1/m/i/mAQI/
a10/cC4#12.19/44.75178/
-121.23597
Holistic Health tips for dealing with pain
by Alicia Oberholzer
Physical Therapist
W.S. Holistic Health
The human body comes
equipped with a living alarm
system composed of 45 miles
of interconnected nerves.
The nerves are constantly
alert and buzzing with elec-
tricity, armed to keep us safe.
When an injury occurs,
such as touching a hot stove,
the alarm system is tripped.
The nervous system fires a
message that travels from
your hand, to your spinal
cord, up to your brain telling
you to move your hand im-
mediately. Pain is not a bad
thing, as it is normal and nec-
essary to keep us safe.
Immediately following an
injury, the human alarm sys-
tem is on high alert. This ex-
tra sensitivity, commonly felt
as lingering pain, should ide-
ally diminish over time. How-
ever, research has indicated
that in 25 percent of indi-
viduals, the alarm system
does not return to it’s pre-
vious resting level. Instead,
the nerves remain extra sen-
sitive. If the pain lasts for
more than three months, it
is termed as chronic.
For individuals with
chronic pain, activities and
experiences that used to be
well tolerated begin to cause
pain. Research has shown
that pain thresholds can be
further affected by factors
such as life stress, extreme
temperatures, poor sleep, or
illness.
Example: Sally broke her
wrist when she slipped and
fell on the ice. Her x-ray
showed good healing within
months. Six years later, Sally
continues to experience wrist
pain, especially when it is
cold outside. When she is
chilly, even small movements
or light chores are painful.
In this case, even though the
fracture has healed, her
nerves are still sensitive.
Her nervous system con-
tinues to be on high alert
from the trauma of her old
injury. It now takes less
stimulus to trigger the alarm
system and send a “danger”
signal through the nervous
system for the brain to in-
terpret as pain.
Chronic pain is unique, in-
dividual, and very real. It can
be exhausting, frustrating,
and life changing. The good
news is that new research in-
dicates that there is hope for
desensitizing sensitive ner-
vous systems. Encouraging
results have been found us-
ing pain management pro-
grams composed of graded
movement progressions,
aerobic exercise, sleep hy-
giene, nutrition, meditation,
acupuncture, and manual
therapy.
If you are struggling with
chronic pain, Warm Springs
Holistic Health is here to
help. If you are interested in
learning new strategies to
help improve your activity
tolerance and quality of life,
ask your medical doctor if
a referral is appropriate for
you.
Warmly, The team at
Warm Springs Holistic
Health
If you have further ques-
tions, feel free to contact a
physical therapist at Warm
Springs Holistic Health for
more information.
War m Springs Holistic
Health is open 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., Monday through Fri-
day. Appointments are re-
quired. Call 541-777-2663
to learn more. The center, a
program of Managed Care,
is located on campus next to
the courthouse.
Treaty: Tribes never agreed to ‘1865’ document
(Continued from page 1)
A summary statement of
the proposed repeal law con-
tains this brief summary:
The Indians of the Warm
Springs Reser vation neither
complied with the 1865
treaty nor understood its pro-
visions.
Affidavits taken by the
U.S. Department of Justice
from Warm Springs Indians
present at both the 1855
and 1865 treaty signings
show they understood the
later treaty simply to provide
a pass system for Indians
leaving the reservation to ex-
ercise their of f-r eser vation
rights.
Additionally, the United
States, the other party to the
1865 treaty, has consistently
ignored the 1865 agreement
and has on numerous occa-
sions over the past 154 years
enacted legislation affirming
the Tribes’ 1855 off-reser-
vation treaty rights.
It appears that no federal
government agency has ever
asserted that the 1865
treaty was enforceable or had
any legal effect.
The Treaty of 1855 cre-
ated the Warm Springs Res-
ervation while recognizing
the tribal right to hunt, fish
and gather at usual and ac-
customed places and on “un-
claimed lands” within and
beyond the 11-thousand
square miles of the Ceded
Lands. This is the only foun-
dation document of the
modern era Confederated
Tribes.
Analysis: Columbia steelhead numbers up
Steelhead numbers are up
this year, but don’t call it a
rebound. At least not yet.
Dam counts and passive
integrated transponder, or
PIT, tag analysis indicate fish
returning to the Snake River
this fall and next spring will
post their best return in
more than three years.
Through last week, more
than 81,400 steelhead had
been counted at Bonneville
Dam. That is ahead of the
55,800 counted at this time
last year and better than the
returns of about 66,600 in
2018 and 77,400 in 2017.
But some context is re-
quired. Steelhead returns
have been abysmally poor
the past three years. While
the run is showing improve-
ment in 2020, its projected
performance still falls well
below the 10-year average
of about 173,000. More
context: The 10-year aver-
age has been shrinking be-
cause of the recent poor re-
turn years replacing more
robust years in the data set.
Just four years ago it was
270,000.
“The last three years are
the worst three years since
we have seen since collect-
ing PIT tag data,” said Joe
DuPont, regional fisheries
manager for the Idaho De-
partment of Fish and Game
at Lewiston. There also is
some promising news for fall
chinook and coho. DuPont
said it appears the fall
chinook run may exceed ex-
pectations “but we are not
sure if the run is early or just
above forecast.”
Earlier this month,
Jefferson County School
District 509-J was the proud
recipient of a donation from
Intel Corporation of Future
Skills kits.
The kits are designed to
help students strengthen
their technology and essen-
tial skills, and build their con-
fidence and capacity for in-
novation, complex problem-
solving and persistence.
Intel donated 600 Future
Skills Activity Kits, along
with 150 goodie bags to stu-
dents in Jefferson County.
The kits came in four dif-
ferent STEM/Design think-
ing-based activities:
Paper Circuits – Create
interactive art using copper
tap, LEDs and a coin cell bat-
tery to build a flat paper cir-
cuit to bring your art to life.
Slime – Create and test
basic slime recipes and then
concoct a new slime creation
of your own design.
Scribble Bot – Create a
simple robot that can au-
tonomously scribble or draw
on paper.
Lunar Lander – Using
only the materials listed, de-
sign and build a device that
will keep an “astronaut” safe
when dropped from various
heights.
“We have been very for-
tunate to be the recipient of
Courtesy Shannon Ahern/509-J
First-grader Wyatt
Bennett, building lunar
landers.
Intel’s kindness and generos-
ity in helping to prepare our
students for their future
through hands-on learning
that incorporates both social
emotional and technical skills
through creative and fun
project-based learning,” said
Melinda Boyle, director of
curriculum and instruction
for the school district.
The kits will be available
to Jefferson County School
District students once in-per-
son classes resume.
Jefferson County School
District 509-J was also re-
cently named one of seven
school districts in Oregon
that will receive grants next
month to support students at
Title I schools with laptops,
internet connectivity, and
LEGO Education learning
solutions as part of the Cre-
ative Learning Connections
grant program.
Fishery through Friday
A zone 6 tribal fish-
ery is open through 6
p.m. this Friday, Septem-
ber 25. Allowed gear is
set and drift gillnets with
an 8-inch mesh size re-
striction.
Allowable sales are
salmon (any species),
steelhead, shad, yellow
perch, bass, walleye, cat-
fish and carp. Fish many
sold or retained for sub-
sistence. Fish landed
during the open periods
are allowed to be sold
after the period con-
cludes.
Sturgeon many not
be sold, but sturgeon
from 38 to 54 inches
fork length in the
Bonneville pool, and
sturgeon from 43 to 54
inches fork length in The
Dalles and John Day
pools may be kept for
subsistence only.
Closed areas: The
river mouth and dam
are closed areas appli-
cable to gillnets. The
Spring Creek hatchery
sanctuary will be reduced
to 150 feet around the
hatchery ladder.
Covid-19 guidelines:
Please review the Safe
Fishers, Safe Fisheries
guidelines to help prevent
the spread of the virus
and protect the vulner-
able members of the
tribal community. See:
Critfc.org/safe-fish-
ers-safe-fisheries
There will be a Com-
pact hearing to consider
additional fishing this
Thursday, September 24
at 10 a.m. The zone 6
platform, and hook and
line fishery regulations
remain unchanged.
If you have law en-
forcement or safety con-
cerns please contact Co-
lumbia River Inter-Tribal
Enforcement in Hood
River at: 1-800-487-3474
or 541-386-6363. For
information on market-
ing tribal caught fish, con-
tact Buck Jones, Salmon
Marketing Specialist at
503-238-0667.
Off reservation hunting
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs has
adopted the off-reservation hunting seasons and
regulations. Current off-reservation seasons are:
Pronghorn antelope: Now through October 31.
Archery, deer and elk: Through October 2.
Off reservation buck and deer, rifle: Through
October 31.
Early elk, cow and spike: Through October 16.
Bull elk: October 17 through November 30.
Late elk, cow and spike: December 1 through
January 31, 2021.
Bighorn sheep hunts: Through November 30.
John Day Canyon mule deer buck: November 1
through November 29.
John Day Middle Fork white-tail hunt: October
3 through November 30. For assistance you can
email: wildlife.tags@ctwsbnr.org
Or call 541-553-2001 during business hours.