E Coosh EEWA: The way it is
Letters to the editor
First quarter
The first quarter of the
2020-21 school year ends this
Thursday, November 5.
At the high school this is
the last day to have your work
submitted for grading—and
the grades will go on your
transcript.
Material pickup and year-
book-student ID pictures at
the Madras High School com-
mons are from 3 to 7 p.m.
this Wednesday, November 4.
Thursday, November 5 from
noon to 3 p.m. is also mate-
rial pickup at the high school.
The first day of the sec-
ond quarter is Monday, No-
vember 9.
Regarding the 2020-21
MHS Yearbook: All pictures
are due by 4 p.m. on Friday,
January 8. Photos must be in
color, in focus and include
the student only (no friends,
pets, props, etc.). Pictures
should be vertical, or portrait,
not landscape format.
Email to Ms PH on or
before January 8.
Some other school notes:
The Madras Future Farm-
ers of America is rolling out
the 2020 Turkey Raffle
Fundraiser. “We have a lo-
cally raised, bronze turkey
ready for your freezer and
just in time for Thanksgiv-
ing,” says the Madras High
School FFA.
For information on buy-
ing a ticket see:
22webbla@whitebuffalos.net
Or visit the Madras FFA
Facebook or Instagram pages;
or the chapter website. Teen
Hangout at the Jefferson
County Library is Mondays
and Thursday, 4-5:30 p.m.
through December 6.
In-person
student support
Small student groups be-
gan returning this week to
Madras High School for in-
person curriculum support
from 1:15 to 3:15 p.m. each
weekday. Transportation for
returning students is pro-
vided.
This week and next week
the small groups will include
approximately 30 students
from various grade levels that
have been identified by sup-
port teams based on the high-
est need.
Every two weeks, more
students will be invited to re-
turn to the campus based on
highest need for support, said
Brian Crook, Madras High
School principal.
The idea is to provide the
student support while pre-
venting unnecessary risk to
Covid 19, Principal Crook
said. This is a district-wide
effort, and a first step toward
getting students back in the
classroom.
At WEDD
Wayne Miller is the new
director of the War m
Springs office of Workforce
and Economic Develop-
ment, WEDD. Wayne is
now overseeing all programs,
projects and businesses fall-
ing under and within WEDD.
For mer director Ms.
Melinda Poitra retired from
the position earlier this fall.
Currently, Wayne will be
at 541-553-3328. The fax
number is 541-553-2203,
located at Warm Springs
Higher Education. His email
is:
wayne.miller@wstribes.org
Don’t hesitate to wel-
come Wayne, or contact him
with any questions. Thank
you.
SNAP waiver
A waiver approved by the
U.S. Department of Agricul-
ture Food and Nutrition Ser-
vice allows SNAP—the
Supplemental Nutrition As-
sistance Program—and Di-
saster SNAP recipients to
purchase hot or prepared
foods from authorized
SNAP retailers until No-
vember 20.
Approved counties in-
clude Jefferson, Wasco and
Deschutes counties. Nor-
mally, SNAP benefits cannot
be used to purchase “hot
food products prepared for
immediate consumption.”
This restriction is being
waived following conditions
such as the wildfires, leav-
ing some without access to
a kitchen to prepare meals.
Madtown offer
The Confederated Tribes
Human Resources Depart-
ment has set up an exclu-
sive deal for tribal employ-
ees to sign up for a no-con-
tract membership to
Madtown Fitness in Madras.
This incredible offer is a
way to start working toward
a healthier you.
The cost is $40 for the
first month and $30 each
month after. You will have
24-7 access to the largest
sets of gym equipment in
Madras, and free fitness
classes.
You must agree to a pay-
roll deduction for your
monthly membership to re-
ceive this rate. Just show
your employee badge at
Madtown Fitness, 15 SE B
St., to get started. Phone
541-475-6474. If you have
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
Page 4
Spilyay Tymoo November 4, 2020
Native American Heritage Month with COCC
J efferson Greene
and Joie Simtustus-
Chavez of the Confeder-
ated Tribes will add to the
Native American Heri-
tage Month events with
Central Oregon Commu-
nity College.
Mr. Greene works
with the Columbia River
Institute for Indigenous
Development Founda-
tion. With COCC he will
present Keeping Customs
Thriving from 6 to7:30
p.m. this Wednesday
evening, November 4.
Mr. Greene will dis-
cuss the means of sus-
taining culture through
language, cultural har-
vesting, song, dance and
story.
Joie Simtustus-Chavez
will give a fry bread cook-
ing demonstration from
6-7:30 p.m. on Wednes-
day, November 18.
Ms. Simtustus-Chavez
learned how to make the
customary fry bread from
her grandmother and
mother, with the recipe
questions you can also call
Kasheena Stevens at Human
Resources, 541-553-3262.
School notes
In a letter to families the
Jefferson County 509-J
school district reported en-
couraging news from the
state about updated Covid-
19 metrics, and guidance for
re-opening Oregon schools.
Key changes include:
Incrementally increased
access to in-person instruc-
tion at the elementary grades
level; and a two-week ‘look
back’ at the metrics data
rather than one week at a
time over a three week pe-
riod. Other measures the
state guidelines:
Remove state positivity
rate in favor of county posi-
tivity rates.
509-J remains committed
to a return to in-person
learning but also supports
families in making their own
decisions for what is in the
best interest of their stu-
dents.
Preschool promise
Preschool Promise—a
state-wide initiative to in-
crease the number of qual-
ity, affordable spaces for
children ages 3- or 4-years-
old—has expanded to Cen-
tral Oregon, and recruit-
ment is open.
Preschool Promise is a
model for a publicly-funded,
high-quality preschool sys-
tem that leverages high-qual-
ity, local and culturally-rel-
Courtesy COCC Native American program
With the COCC First Nations Student Union
handed down in the oral tra-
dition.
Please have the following
ingredients assembled prior
to the event: flour, salt, bak-
ing powder and warm wa-
ter. Also during COCC Na-
tive American Heritage
evant early child care and
education programs and
makes them available to chil-
dren living at 200 percent of
the poverty level.
Access to quality pre-
school programming ensures
critical childcare needs are
met and provides young chil-
dren with development op-
portunities that directly con-
nect to success in kindergar-
ten and beyond.
The Early Learning Divi-
sion of the Oregon Depart-
ment of Education, through
a grant process, awarded Pre-
school Promise contracts to
eight local providers, includ-
ing 509-J.
Burn permit
The Confederated Tribes
burn ban for the reserva-
tion has been rescinded.
Although extreme fire
danger currently doesn’t ex-
ist, the reservation contin-
ues to have dry fuel condi-
tions, gusty winds and per-
sistent drought and poten-
tial lack of water for fire
suppression.
Everyone is encouraged
to continue to take all pre-
cautions to protect people,
property and resources
from fire.
Remember, You do need
a burn permit to burn any
yard debris, which you can
get from the Fire Manage-
ment dispatch office; and
you do need to call the
Warm Springs Police De-
partment if you are going
to do any burning.
Month:
Responding to a Pandemic:
An Indigenous Perspective is
the focus of a talk from 5-
6:30 p.m. on Thursday, No-
vember 12.
As indigenous populations
are being disproportionately
impacted by the health
crisis, hear firsthand sto-
ries from presenters
Emily Washines and
Chuck Sams on how
some tribes have re-
sponded to the pan-
demic.
Ms. Washines is of the
Yakama Nation, with
Cree and Skokmish heri-
tage.
Mr. Sams is of Cay-
use, Walla Walla,
Cocopah and Yankton
Sioux heritage.
All sessions are free
and open to
the public.
Go to this
site for infor-
mation:
b i t . l y /
COCCNative
AmericanMonth
For information on
these events, contact
Michelle Cary, Native
American program coor-
dinator, at 541-318-
3782.
Or you can email her
at: mcary@cocc.edu