Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
November 18, 2020
Museum closure through December 3
The Museum At Warm
Springs is closed to the pub-
lic through Wednesday, De-
cember 2. The re-opening
is planned for Thursday, De-
cember 3.
The closure is in accor-
dance with tribal restrictions,
and the governor’s recent di-
rective to slow the spread of
Covid-19. The new state re-
strictions are also in effect
as of this Wednesday, No-
vember 18.
The Museum at Warm
Springs staff will respond to
emails during the closure,
and will continue with ex-
hibit, and public and educa-
tion program planning for
2021. Staff will continue
with the routine and thor-
ough cleaning and sanitizing
of the museum.
For the past several
months of the pandemic, the
museum has been following
the guidelines for public fa-
cilities, which have been
regularly updated and
closely monitored by the
War m Springs Covid-19
Merle Kirk took these photos of Confederated
Tribes of Umatilla Reservation.
Her work is part of the National Endowment for the
Humanities CARES project, “Living in today’s
Response Team.
Once the museum re-
opens on December 3, ad-
mittance to the main exhi-
bition area will once again
be limited to 10 people with
no more than five in the
gallery at one time.
Visitation to the Mu-
seum Gift Shop will be lim-
ited to two people unless the
visitors are in one car or
unit.
The Twenty-Seventh An-
nual Tribal Member Exhibit
will be on view through
January 9 of 2021. This
juried exhibit celebrates the
artistic excellence of Warm
Springs tribal members.
Select artworks are avail-
able for sale. Sales support
the artists and the museum.
For more information and
updates, please visit:
museumatwarmsprings.org
And see the museum’s
Facebook page. To check the
most up-to-date status of
Covid-19 in Oregon, go to:
govstatus.egov.com/or-
oha-covid-19
pandemic, and historic pandemics and
catastrophes.” CARES provided a grant to the
Umatilla tribes Education Department.
Large donation of covid masks to W.S. community
Jim and Michele James,
working from their bed and
breakfast business in
Clackamas County, started a
program to help communi-
ties during the coronavirus
pandemic.
In May they began by giv-
ing away masks to their neigh-
bors and friends living
nearby. They called their
project ‘Peace, Love and
Safety.’
The original goal was to
give away free masks, face
shields and sanitizer to those
living near them in
Clackamas County.
The project started small,
then grew as the James
couple received more and
more donations of boxes of
masks, and other personal
protective equipment.
Over the summer they
heard from a minister who
was looking for water dona-
tions for the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs.
The minister then asked
about the James’ program,
and if he could donate
4,000 masks.
This was a large number,
but the couple were up for
the challenge. They called
different companies until
they
came
across
Bella+Canvas, a clothing
company based in Los An-
geles.
Bella+Canvas agreed to
send 50,000 masks to the
cause, but first Jim and
Michele had to partner with
a nonprofit. The couple
teamed up with Great Spirit
Church of Portland, which
works closely with Native
American communities.
Earlier his month the
truck arrived, full of boxes
of masks. “It just so amaz-
ing,” Michele was saying. “It’s
such an amazing outpouring
and we’re thrilled to be a part
of it.”
Enough masks were do-
nated to supply each mem-
ber of the Warm Springs
Tribe with three masks each.
This is a very welcome
and needed donation, said
tribal Emergency director
Dan Martinez. “We have a
number of needs to serve
this community. Because of
our location, the distance to
pick up these items has been
a challenge,” Mr. Martinez
said.
The Warm Springs Res-
Study links salmon woes to ocean
A controversial new
study is challenging long-
standing science that pins
salmon declines on dams,
and is roiling the already
rough waters of fish re-
covery.
The work by British
Columbia scientist David
Welch puts the blame for
poor returns of adult
spring and fall chinook
salmon on conditions in
the Pacific Ocean instead
of the dams.
Some salmon re-
searchers are skeptical of
that conclusion and say
the effects of dams can’t
be dismissed.
Welch’s work, funded
by the Bonneville Power
Administration and pub-
lished in the journal Fish and
F i s h e r i e s , argues since
chinook runs in rivers with
pristine freshwater habitat
and those with highly de-
graded habitat have suffered
similar declines, the prob-
lem must be in the ocean.
The work is expected to
be challenged by other re-
searchers.
The Fish Passage Center
at Portland is formally re-
viewing the work, and other
researchers are looking at it
as well. Charlie Petrosky, a
retired Idaho Fish and
Game research biologist who
has written several papers on
delayed mortality, said he has
many concerns with Welch’s
work. Petrosky thinks the
study sets up a false di-
chotomy
between
freshwater and the
ocean.
Michele DeHart, of
the fish passage system,
said boosting survival
of juvenile salmon in
fresh water is critical
regardless of ocean
conditions.
For example, she
said if ocean condi-
tions are really bad,
the best response is to
take steps to ensure as
many juvenile fish
reach the ocean in
good conditions as pos-
sible.
The same applies
when ocean conditions
are good, she said.
ervation has been hit hard by
Covid-19. Martinez said
roughly 400 of the 3,200
people that live there have
been infected by the virus.
If you’d like to help
or donate, you can e-mail the
Jameses at:
info@happyrockinn.com
Page 5
509-J school district
engagement meeting
A public meeting for the Jefferson County School
District 509-J to discuss the evaluation of current
programs, and plans for future educational programs
is coming up on December 1.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m., and is specifi-
cally for Native American parents and guardians.
In response to the current health emergency re-
sulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, this meeting
will be held electronically.
The meeting is a chance to offer comments and
make recommendations relative to the school dis-
trict programs and district outcomes, and offer feed-
back for all programs.
The meeting will be available for viewing via
Zoom. Details to access this meeting will be avail-
able by 1 p.m. on November 30 at the following
website:
jcsd.k12.or.us/