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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Tribal community covid update
The Warm Springs community
update, as of earlier this week, in-
dicated four active cases of Covid-
19 on the reservation. In addition,
there were 15 close contacts re-
ceiving daily monitoring.
Regarding vaccinations among
the community: The Warm Springs
Covid-19 Response Team reported
that health workers had adminis-
tered 1,951 primary vaccines
among community members.
In addition, 1,420 secondary or
booster doses have been adminis-
tered.
The Johnson & Johnson vac-
cine, requiring a single dose, ar-
rived at the clinic; and so far 55
doses have been administered.
Some of the tribes’ guidelines:
You must be 18 or older; and
be Indian Health Service eligible,
or live or work in Warm Springs
to receive a Moderna or Johnson
& Johnson vaccination.
There is an opportunity for 16-
and 17-year-olds to get vaccinated
this Wednesday, March 24, from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.. This will be a op-
portunity for a first-dose of the
Pfizer vaccine.
This Thursday, March 25
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will
be a vaccination clinic, administer-
ing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine,
at the Simnasho Longhouse. This
will be open to qualifying individu-
als 18 and older.
To schedule a Covid-19 vacci-
nation appointment at the Health
and Wellness Center; for this
Wednesday’s Pfizer vaccine clinic;
or for the Simnasho Johnson &
Johnson clinic: Call 541-553-
2131.
Symptoms of Covid-19 can in-
clude fever, cough, shortness of
breath or difficulty breathing; chills,
muscle pain, headache, sore throat,
and loss of taste or smell.
To talk with a medical profes-
sional, call the IHS Covid-19 Nurse
Triage Hotline at 541-553-5512.
Outside of business hours you
can call the Registered Nurse
Health Advice Hotline at 1-866-
470-2015.
Vaccine success among NW tribes
A
cross much of Indian Coun-
try, Native American tribes are see-
ing some of the most successful
Covid-19 vaccination campaigns in
the U.S. Three Indigenous prin-
ciples have helped provide the im-
petus to get vaccinated, according
to activist Allie Young, a citizen of
the Navajo Nation:
Recognizing how Native Ameri-
cans’ actions will impact the next
generations.
Acting in honor of ancestors
who fought to ensure their survival,
and elders who carry on their tra-
ditions and cultures.
Holding on to ancestral knowl-
edge.
Many Native American tribes—
in Oregon, for instance, the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs,
the Siletz Indians, and Umatilla
Tribes—are seeing great success
with their vaccination clinics.
“In Oregon and the broader
Northwest, it’s been very good for
tribes,” says Bryan Mercier, North-
west regional director of the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs.
He says tribes have strong so-
cial networks, and have also lever-
aged existing resources such as In-
dian Health Service clinics to pro-
mote positive messaging about the
Covid-19 vaccines.
“So what I’ve seen regionally, not
just in Oregon, are tribes surpass-
ing their state colleagues because
of those infrastructures and net-
works,” Mr. Mercier says.
Perhaps those having the hard-
est time accessing the vaccines are
tribal members living beyond the
reservation and the city.
In the Columbia River Basin are
traditional village sites that mem-
bers of the War m Springs,
Yakama, Umatilla, Nez Perce and
other tribes have shared for gen-
erations, largely for fishing.
The lack of modern infrastruc-
ture limits communication and pan-
demic protocols considerably, as
the federal government has yet to
rebuild fully the original sites
flooded by dam development back
in the 1950s.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission applied for grants
through the Oregon Community
Foundation, and with One Com-
munity Health based in The Dalles
and Hood River area, received a
specialized medical van for testing
and vaccination for the Native
people living in the basin area.
“It’s a lot of effort to get the
vaccine if you’re 200-300 miles
from your reservation,” says
CRITFC’s Jeremy FiveCrows.
Mr. FiveCrows recounts their
first Columbia community tribal
vaccination venture was in Janu-
ary at the Celilo Village site. In less
than a day, all 100 doses were ac-
counted for, something he at-
tributes to a “brute force” outreach
campaign with partner The Next
Door.
“They went from site to site, just
knocked on doors or campers and
told them, ‘If you’re in these age
groups, you’re eligible. Can we sign
Courtesy photo.
Vaccination event recently at Celilo Village.
You also wonder how
much of that is from
the cultural memory of
how different pandemics
swept through the tribal
populations... ’
‘
you up?’” FiveCrows said. “It took
a lot of effort to get the success
that they did.”
He says there are more mobile
clinics planned for the village sites,
and he credits the higher interest
among Native Americans in get-
ting the needle in the arm for that
success.
“You also wonder how much of
that is from the cultural memory
of how different pandemics swept
through the tribal populations and
decimated us,” FiveCrows said.
“So how much of that played
into trying to fight that, knowing
we probably have grandparents or
parents that may have died from
other pandemics?”
March 24, 2021
School board vote in May
The last day to register to vote in the May 18 election will be
April 27. The election is to fill several positions on a number of
boards of directors within Jefferson County.
Three positions are open on the Jefferson County School Dis-
trict 509-J Board of Directors.
Candidates for position no. 3 on the school district board
are Jaylyn Suppah of Warm Springs, and Jacob Struck of
Madras.
The May 18 election will be conducted entirely by mail. Bal-
lots are mailed out on April 28, and must be received 8 p.m. on
May 18. (See page 4 of this publication for more on the upcoming
election.)