Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Community
update
On Monday of this week there
were no new positive tests for
Covid-19 on the reservation, of 61
who were tested. This is praisewor-
thy, health officials say, showing
many in the community are follow-
ing the covid-prevention guidelines.
Meanwhile since the start of the
pandemic, the Warm Springs Health
and Wellness Center has conducted
7,571 total tests for the
coronavirus. Of the total, 6,869
have come back negative; while
675 have returned positive among
the tribal community. Other facili-
ties have also conducted testing of
Warm Springs tribal members, add-
ing another 76 positives, for the cu-
mulative total among the member-
ship of 751.
During the 11 months since the
pandemic began, 78 tribal commu-
nity members have been hospital-
ized with Covid-19. Seventy-four
have been discharged, with four
currently hospitalized. One of the
patients is on a ventilator.
There have been 19 Covid-19
deaths in the communty since last
March.
St. Charles hospitals are at close
to 74 percent occupancy, with the
intensive care at 80 percent.
There are currently 22 people
with active Covid-19 receiving
daily monitoring by tribal and IHS
staff; and 43 close contacts re-
ceiving daily monitoring by the
health staff.
January 27, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 2
Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Students back in class next week
Most of the students in the
Jefferson County 509-J school
district will be back in class start-
ing next week, if all goes as cur-
rently planned.
As in-class teaching resumes
Monday, there will be many
Covid-19 health precautions. For
the district this will be the first
in-class learning since March
2020.
Last week and this week, as
priority workers, teachers and
school staff are receiving their
first Covid-19 vaccines. This is
through the Oregon Health Au-
thority and the county health
programs.
Earlier this month the school
district conducted a survey of
families and students to determine
how many would like to return to
school. The results were 80-percent
for in-class, with 20-percent opt-
ing for the district online CASA
program.
With these numbers the district
was able to plan the logistics—for
staffing, class and bus schedules,
said Laurie Danzuka, school dis-
trict board chairwoman.
The students will return next
week on a staggered schedule, as
the district adjusts to the new rou-
tine. At the high school, for in-
stance, freshmen return first, then
sophomores, juniors and seniors.
The return to classrooms will be
a great help to many students:
Some have done fine with the
Comprehensive Distance Learn-
ing, Ms. Danzuka said; while other
students thrive more with the
teacher-level support at school.
There will be some very notice-
able changes in the schools. The
students and teachers will be wear-
ing masks inside and outside. The
students’ desks will be spaced six-
feet apart. Breakfast and lunch
will be served in the classroom.
The drinking fountains are turned
off, so students should bring their
own water bottles. Bathroom
breaks are scheduled by classroom.
There is no sharing of school sup-
plies. Parents and guardians are
not allowed in the buildings.
On the buses, there will be a
vacant seat between each student.
This requires a change to bus
scheduling, with the drivers mak-
ing two rounds each morning and
afternoon. Like at school, the bus
drivers will have extra masks in
case a student forgets his or hers.
School sports will be back, start-
ing with the fall activities of foot-
ball, soccer and volleyball. Next will
be the spring sports, then winter.
There will be one week of prac-
tice and five weeks of Tri-Valley
Conference play. All of these ac-
tivities will follow the OSAA guide-
lines for safety.
Dave McMechan
Rollout of vaccine continues at clinic
The Warm Springs Indian
Health Service and tribal Com-
munity Health are making great
progress with their Covid-19 vac-
cination program.
Since just before last Christ-
mas, the clinic staff has admin-
istered 600 primary—the first
of the required two—vaccine
doses. This was the total num-
ber of primary doses the clinic
had received.
Meanwhile, the War m
Springs Clinic has received 200
booster doses—the second dose
completing the immunization
cycle. The clinic has administered
all of these as well; so these 200
individuals are now immunized.
The clinic is administering the
Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. This
vaccine is “highly effective”
against covid, according to Cen-
ters for Disease Control (CDC).
The vaccine is estimated to pro-
vide 94-percent efficacy against the
virus.
The clinic follows the CDC
guidelines for administering vac-
cines in the community; and also
follows Tribal Council guidance
for identifying essential and high
priority groups.
This week the clinic begins im-
munizations for those in Phase 1
C (see the chart on page 3 for de-
tails on the vaccination schedule).
The Phase 1 C group includes:
· Elders age 65 and older.
· Adults over 55 with underly-
ing at-risk health conditions.
· Veterans.
· Traditional and culture keep-
ers, as identified by Tribal Coun-
cil.
Covid risk
for tribal
fishers
When calling to schedule your
vaccination appointment, the
clinic staff will ask only for your
name, date of birth, and if you
are interested in receiving the
Covid-19 vaccine. Do not give
personal or financial information
to anyone calling you about a
covid vaccine.
Another reminder: Calls from
the clinic will show as an unknown,
restricted or private number. Please
answer these calls, as clinic staff
may be trying to contact you to
schedule your appointment.
... fishing in 2020
was ‘not super
amazing, though it
could have been
worse.’
by Dawn Stover
underscore.news
for the Spilyay Tymoo
from the pandemic is that Native
American fishers camping or liv-
ing year-round on the river need
better access to health care and
other services.
With 2020’s relatively long fall
season behind them, officials are
planning for the possibility that
COVID-19 will still be a threat
when seasonal fishers return to the
Columbia in the spring.
D epleted salmon runs
and government failure to
improve fishing sites have
already impacted culturally
and economically impor-
tant fish harvests.
The coronavirus pan-
demic is making it even
harder for Native Ameri-
cans to fish along the Co-
lumbia River.
T he Brigham Fish Market
was bustling on a Monday after-
noon. Two women were sharing a
meal at an outdoor table overlook-
ing the Columbia River at Cascade
Locks. In front of the entrance to
the market, a couple dined at a
streetside table behind a fish-pat-
terned metal railing. Inside, an
older couple pointed out a fresh
Chinook salmon fillet in the glass-
fronted display, and several people
waited for takeout orders in an at-
Claims fisherman’s life
Leah Nash photo/underscore.news
Fishers clean the day’s salmon catch at the Stanley Rock Treaty Fishing Access Site in Hood River.
tractive space decorated with Na-
tive American art, blanket samples,
and historical fishing photos.
In the kitchen, Terrie Brigham,
a member of the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Res-
ervation who manages the market,
was preparing a smoked-salmon
quesadilla and Cajun-seasoned hali-
but and chips. Brigham’s sister
owns the business, which special-
izes in fresh and smoked fish from
the Columbia River, mostly caught
by family members.
Brigham says she is “one of the
lucky ones.” The market has
stayed open throughout the Covid-
19 pandemic by relying on take-
out orders, outdoor seating, and
federal relief funding that helped
keep employees on the payroll. A
second location, called Brigham
Fish ’n Chips and located in the
new food court of the Wildhorse
Casino & Resort outside Pendleton,
opened in late September.
The Brigham market is surviv-
ing, but the pandemic has been
hard on many Native Americans
who make their living selling fish
from the Columbia.
Covid-19 has devastated the
restaurant industry, causing a ma-
jor downturn in the market for
salmon. Meanwhile, the living con-
ditions at tribal fishing sites and
villages—long neglected by the
federal government—have made
it difficult for fishers to practice
social distancing and other mea-
sures to prevent the spread of the
virus. One of the lessons learned
On the 147-mile stretch of the
Columbia from Bonneville Dam to
McNary Dam, the only commer-
cial fishing allowed is by the four
Columbia Plateau tribes that signed
treaties with the federal government
in 1855.
The treaties ensure the fishing
rights of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation,
the Confederated Tribes and Bands
of the Yakama Nation, the Nez
Perce Tribe, and the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Res-
ervation.
TRIBAL FISHING continues on 7