Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
December 2, 2020
~ 2020 Review ~
M a r c h , 2 0 2 0 - T h e Wa r m
Springs Academy and the other
schools are closed at least through
April, maybe longer. The Commu-
nity Wellness Center is closed to the
public. Children are home with
parents and guardians. The casino
is closed. Many restaurants and
other businesses are closed. The
tribal organization is implementing
a shut-down.
To the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs tribal membership,
The Warm Springs Tribal Coun-
cil per motion declares a State of
Emergency:
“Warm Springs Tribal Council
is responsible for the Health and
Welfare of our people and pro-
motes our general welfare. The
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs in partnership with the
Bureau of Indian Affairs and In-
dian Health Service declares a
State of Emergency as a proac-
tive measure to ensure access to
resources in addressing Covid-19
coronavirus.”
With the concerns of the
coronavirus (Covid-19) increasing
in our community, as well as across
the nation, the tribal government
is working closely with the Warm
Springs Health and Wellness Cen-
ter to evaluate and ensure the health
and safety of our community.
In early March, at the time of
the tribal Declaration of Emer-
gency: There were no confirmed
or presumptive cases of the
COVID-19 on the reservation, as
of today. The War m Springs
Health and Wellness Center mean-
while has activated their Incident
Command Center.
This is to help the community
receive the best quality of care, and
be able to service the community
in an effective and efficient man-
ner. They are having all patients
come through the main entrance
for triage screening. Elsewhere, in
March environmental news:
T here are five separate irriga-
tion districts in the upper
Deschutes River basin, the North
Unit and the Central Oregon dis-
tricts being the biggest.
For 70 years the districts have
competed for river water, which
they would then distribute to the
farm operations and irrigators
throughout the region.
The practice so far has been to
store water in reservoirs during the
cool months of winter, and then
release large quantities of water
within a relatively short period of
time, during the summer months.
This has led to serious degradation
of tributaries of the Upper
Deschutes.
The scenario is now in the pro-
cess of changing, as the irrigation
districts would face perilous legal
and financial consequences, were
the practice to continue. The dis-
tricts are now forced to cooper-
ate, and develop a management ap-
proach that considers a much wider
range of elements.
This is clearly a matter of great
significance to the Confederated
Tribes, a large and senior water
right holder in the basin. The
tribes are also working, at great ex-
pense and effort, to restore fish
runs in the upper reaches.
C ommunity policing is a part-
nership: Law enforcement is a part
(Continued )
of the community.
The officers know the people,
the neighborhoods, the customs.
The officer response to crime, or
potential crime is thereby in-
formed, much more effective and
long term. The philosophy of
community policing is the priority
of Warm Springs Police Chief Wil-
liam Elliott.
To the department Chief Elliott
brings years of experience, from
the region and around the world.
He was among the forces in Af-
ghanistan, during Operation En-
during Freedom, the War on Ter-
rorism.
His work at the Department of
State took him to the territory of
the West Bank and Jordan, and
Beirut, Lebanon.
Stateside in law enforcement,
after military service, Chief Elliott
worked with the U.S. Border Pa-
trol, Klamath County, and as Pub-
lic Safety Director of the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Colville In-
dian Reservation. In the 1980s he
worked with Warm Springs Police
as a Special Agent of the BIA.
Chief Elliott grew up in Califor-
nia. He is an enrolled member of
the Kiowa, Native people of the
Great Plains.
( Review continues on page 7)
H ouseholds of the reser-
Spilyay photo
At the Agency
Longhouse in mid
March, tribal elder
George Aguilar opens
the 2020 Census Count
for the tribes, and for the
state of Oregon.
vation in March began submit-
ting their 2020 census informa-
tion online. At the Census Kick-
Off event at the Agency
Longhouse, some tribal mem-
bers used the computers that
were made available by Health
and Human Services.
As soon as feasible, making
more computers available, and
providing any needed assistance
with the submission, is part of
the outreach of the War m
Springs Complete Count Com-
mittee. The enumerators of
the 2020 census are planning to
bring the submission informa-
tion door-to-door on the reser-
vation. For caution, this will be
done by leaving the information
at the front door.
Development at the Dips
(Continued from page 1)
What is the purpose of the
FEMA trailers, and why do we
call them FEMA Trailers?
The FEMA trailers were se-
cured by the WS Housing Author-
ity from FEMA (Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency) sev-
eral years ago and sold several of
them locally. They have seven left,
four 2-bedrooms and three 1-bed-
rooms, and they are currently lo-
cated at the rodeo grounds
The seven trailers became
known as “the FEMA Trailers”.
One of the funding sources applied
by the H&HS general manager
approved the use of Housing
Cares Act funds to purchase the
trailers to use for quarantine.
The H&HS general manager
proposed this to the Covid-19 Team
and Tribal Council and gained sup-
port.
The purpose would be for quar-
antining those needing a place to
stay.
When COVID-19 is no longer
a threat the homes would be used
as a homeless shelter and for a 90-
day transitional home for those re-
turning back from treatment. This
places populations near services
provided by H&HS.
Why do we need a quaran-
tine site?
Many of our homes have mul-
tiple families living in one house-
hold. When the household has been
exposed to Covid-19 they pass the
virus from one person to the other.
Page 5
The data we collect shows that
the majority of our positive cases
is within households. We can pre-
vent the spread to others within a
household from happening if we
can separate those who have the
virus from others who do not.
Especially when we want to pro-
tect our Elders, those with under-
lying conditions, and those who are
pregnant.
There is no place within many
homes to protect them due to lack
of space. We have an obligation
to protect the community. We have
lost several members already due
to this virus. At the time of this
article we have had more than 500
positive cases since the pandemic
began.
So the FEMA Trailers Quar-
antine Project will not only be
used for those who have the
virus?
That is true, the trailers would
house those who need to be quar-
antined because they have the vi-
rus or they do not have the virus
but need a safe place to be away
from the virus within the house-
hold.
Who authorized this?
The Covid-19 Team presented
this Quarantine Project to the
Tribal Council, a resolution was
passed, and this project was put on
the fast track to get the project go-
ing.
The original site was on Kalama
street near the Health and Wellness
Center.
The Warm Springs Housing Au-
thority had not received approval
for the Dips at this time and
wanted to join the H&HS at this
site to keep cost down since we
would be targeting the same popu-
lation once the virus crises ends.
Once the Dips was approved
Warm Springs Housing invited the
H&HS to join them at the Dips.
This occurred in September, the
funds were approved by Tribal
Council, a contract was granted
with Ventures and work began with
the Quarantine Project with a goal
to have the FEMA trailers ready
by the end of December.
Can others catch the virus
from the quarantine trailers?
The FEMA trailers will be
across the street from the trailer
courts, the winds come down
the dips and then to the trailer
courts. What is the probability
of catching the virus?
The virus is spread by droplets,
once in the air it drops downward.
There is no evidence that the vi-
ral particles can go through walls or
glass, and with the distance of the
trailers, traveling across the street
is highly improbable.
The virus needs a host to stay
alive; the further away the virus is
from a host the more likely it will
die off.
This is the main reason why we
practice social distancing, wearing
masks and using sanitizers to pre-
vent the virus entering our bodies.
Those who will be housed at the
Quarantine FEMA trailers will not
all have the virus. We will house
those needing to be quarantined, so
some will not have the virus but
cannot stay at their homes when
others in their household or posi-
tive and they have no place to go.
Why was there not commu-
nity input to the site?
Once the new site at the Dips
became available we moved for-
ward with that site. There was no
intentions to leave the community
out but we did and we apologize
for that.
Questions? Contact Caroline M.
Cruz, Health and Human Services
General Manager at 541-615-0140.
Or email
caroline.cruz@wstribes.org
Note: Please continue to wear
your masks, social distance a mini-
mum of six feet when you are out,
use sanitizers, have sanitizers avail-
able in your vehicle(s), your homes,
workspace and make it a habit to
use.
If you need masks or sanitizers
they are available at Emergency
Management or the Family Re-
source Center.
Be safe!