Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Community
update
The contagion rate of Covid-19
on the reservation has seen great
improvement recently, with just one
new positive test result in more
than a week.
Since the pandemic began in
March, the Warm Springs Health
and Wellness Center has conducted
4,044 total, with 3,687 negative test
and zero pending, as of Tuesday
this week. There are five close-
contact monitoring cases going one.
Since March there have 386
total positive cases among the mem-
bership, and nine deaths. In a re-
lated matter:
The Health and Wellness Cen-
ter reports that 100 percent of fed-
eral employees on the reservation
have received the seasonal flu vac-
cine. Meanwhile, close to 18 per-
cent of the community has re-
ceived the vaccine.
The turnout for the Halloween
event at the Community Center
appeared to have gone very well.
The people were following safety
guidelines with masks, distancing
and families visiting booths one at
a time, said Caroline Cruz, general
manager of Health and Human
Services.
Following the recommendation
of the Covid-19 Response Team,
Tribal Council decided the usual
district and general council budget
meetings cannot happen this year.
The 2021 tribal budget informa-
tion is being provided to the mem-
bership through the mail and the
tribal portal.
November 4, 2020 - Vol. 45, No. 23
November – Anaku Ipach’aanxa Yaamash
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Twenty-Seventh Member Art Show
Treasures of the Tribal
Member Art Show are now
on display in the Changing
Exhibits Gallery of the
Museum at Warm Springs.
This year the Judges
Choice Awards went to
Reina Estimo for her
beaded medallion (far right),
and Brutis Baez for his
mixed media creation
(right).
Edward Heath won
Honorable Mention (see
page 10), as did Pat
Courtney Gold and Marjorie
Kalama. All of these items
and many more will be on
display through early
January.
Stop by the museum
Tuesday through Saturday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Health
safety measures are
practiced.
Old Skool Bear in the New School World, multi media art by
Brutis Baez –Judges Choice Award – Contemporary. And at right:
Grandma is always with you, beaded medallion by Reina
Estimo – Judges Choice Award—Traditional.
Detail from Water is Life, beaded belt by Marjorie Kalama –
Honorable Mention Award (above). And at left:
Timestamp, woven basket by Pat Courtney Gold – Honorable
Mention Award.
Water system will be a focus in 2021
With so much else going on it
may be easy to forget the critical
domestic water situation on the res-
ervation, in particular the entire
Agency area where most of the
tribal population lives. Some good
news is that many people, within
the tribes and from outside, are
working to resolve this pending mat-
ter.
The federal and state govern-
ments recognize the need and obli-
gation. And the same is true in the
charitable private sector: The
Chúush Fund—project of the
MRG Foundation—is a great ex-
ample.
Through this fund the MRG
Foundation accepts donations on
behalf the tribes, then contributes
100 percent directly to the tribes
for immediate work on the water
system. This ongoing partnership
began last year following the 76-day
Agency water crisis.
At the time the people at the
MRG Foundation heard about this,
and worked with Tribal Council and
management in establishing the
Chúush Fund. Through this effort
half a million dollars has gone to
the tribes for water work.
Se-ah-dom Edmo is the execu-
tive director of the MRG Founda-
tion. She met last week by telecon-
ference for a Chúush Fund update
with tribal leaders, and the Warm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Springs Community Action.
Travis Wells, general manager
of tribal Utilities, explained that the
tribes are looking toward some
large scale repair work next sum-
mer. Anticipated cost may be some-
where between $3.5- to $4 million,
Mr. Wells said. The U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency can man-
date improvements to the water
system, he said, while leaving the
mandates unfunded. The tribes
make the upgrades within the limit
of available funding.
Very briefly, the problem is that
the Agency water distribution sys-
tem, installed by the BIA, dates
back to the 1930s. And the treat-
ment plant is 40-plus years old, and
beyond its projected useful life.
Addressing all aspects of the wa-
ter system will be in the range of
many millions, or tens of millions
of dollars. “And we want to thank
all who are contributing,” said Mr.
Wells.
Marissa Ahern is the project
manager of the Warm Springs
Community Action Team Com-
missary Project. This will be a small
business development project, cre-
ating local jobs and promoting eco-
nomic development of the reser-
vation. This could be a new prece-
dent on the reservation, something
to build on for years and genera-
tions. “The lack of infrastructure
makes it difficult,” Ms. Ahern said.
Reliable water will be especially es-
sential for success, she said. For
more on the Community Action
Team Commissary Project, see the
upcoming website, expected to
launch on November 10:
warmspringscommissary.org
Alyssa Macy is the chief execu-
tive officer of the Washington En-
vironmental Council and Washing-
ton Conservation Voters. She was
the tribes’ chief operations officer
last year during the 2019 water
crisis. It is hard to imagine any
other community in the United
States going 76 days without
drinking water, and without
some kind of national re-
sponse. “If it were anywhere
else,” Ms. Macy said, “What
would have happened?”
Some hope for a remedy
comes from people like those
at the MRG Foundaton, she
said.
1865
document
is no more
The ‘treaty of 1865’ document
is officially a thing of the past, now
just a relique of an attempted fraud
upon the Confederated Tribes.
Earlier this year Congress
passed “A law to nullify the
supplemental treaty between the
United States of America and
the Confederated Tribes and
Bands of Indians of Middle Or-
egon, concluded on November
15, 1865.”
Then last month—on Tues-
day October 20—this legislation
became law.
Official nullification had been
a g oal of Tribal Council and
leadership for decades. T he
1865 document was never en-
forced or recognized by the
tribes or federal government.
Nor has the state relied on its
provisions, which appeared to
relinquish tribal Ceded Lands
off-reservation hunting, fishing
and gathering rights.
In 1865 there was no com-
pensation to the tribes in ex-
change for the alleged transac-
tion; and the few signatures on
the document were suspect.
The recent law disavowing
this document reinforces tribal
sovereignty, and the g over n-
ment-to-government agreement
of the Treaty of 1855.