Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
May 5, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 9
May – Xawit’an – Spring - Wawaxam
From the Pi-
Ume-Sha
Committee
Jayson Smith photo/Spilyay 2019
New path will address pedestrian safety along 26
D.McMechan/Spilyay
The walk-and-bike path will be on the westerly side of the highway, in the area where the bulldozer sits in
this picture. Also as seen here: Pedestrians are required to walk immediately next to highway vehicle traffic,
which often has to cross the center lines to make room for the people walking or biking.
Indian Head Casino. This will be
a most welcome safety addition to
the area, as this stretch of the high-
way is often used by pedestrians.
Another feature will be roadway
repaving. The rock-fall safety work
is now going on the hillside just be-
fore the Deschutes River Bridge.
Tribal Council, ODOT and
state legislators initiated this over-
all safety project three years ago.
The state allocated the funding in
2019, then last year the virus
caused a one-year delay.
Highway repaving will be from
the Highway 26-Kah-Nee-Ta junc-
tion—milepost 103.2—for eight
miles toward Madsras to milepost
111.2.
The traffic volume on High-
Vaccination,
community
updates
Indian Health Service of Warm
Springs reports this week that
among the Confederated Tribes
community, as of May 3, IHS had
administered 2,347 primary Covid-
19 vaccinations. The secondary
booster shot number was at 1,965.
These are excellent numbers, and
IHS reported having more than 200
primary doses on hand, as of May
3; plus 127 of the booster shots.
Also as of May 3, the Warm
Springs Health and Wellness Cen-
ter had administered 10,603 total
tests since the pandemic began last
spring. Among the tribal commu-
nity, the total positive cases since
then has been 749. Hospitalizations
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
U.S. Senate
passes bill
to help
W.S. water
Again this year we have to
cancel the Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days
Powwow and Parade. We treasure the
most natural resource in our commu-
nity—and that is our people.
Vaccinations are still being given, and
we want to keep our community safe.
Last year, the tribe handed out
gifts to commemorate the signing of
our Treaty of 1855, and it’s possible
we can do that again.
We want to celebrate life, when the
right time comes, and honor those who
have passed on. We’re all in this
together, and we wish everyone
continued good health and safety.
Respectfully,
The Pi-Ume-Sha Powwow
Committee.
Construction crews are now
seven weeks into the Warm
Springs Highway 26 Safety
Corridor project. A feature of
the $6.5 million improvement
will be the pedestrian path lo-
cated to the side of the high-
way, from the Shell Station at
Hollywood Boulevard to the
Museum at Warm Springs and
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
way 26 through Warm Springs
is about 6,700 vehicles per day.
The long-standing need has
been for a sidewalk and bicycle
lane within the Warm Springs
corridor. A recent four-year sur-
vey showed 50 reported crashes
along the corridor, a matter to
be addresesed with the current
project.
over this time has been 82. Test-
ing of the membership from
other facilities added another 92
positives, for a total of 841.
This is a 7.06 percent positivity
rate. As of May 3, one person
from the community was hos-
pitalized with covid. Fortunately,
no one was on a ventilator.
As of May 3, there were 20
people with active Covid-19 on
the reservation, receiving daily
monitoring by tribal and IHS
staff; and 27 close contacts re-
ceiving daily monitoring. While
in another development:
The FDA plans to authorize
Pfizer’s covid vaccine for ado-
lescents ages 12 to 15 by early
next week.
Recent vaccination clinic
at Warm Springs Fire
Management
Courtesy Warm Springs IHS
The U.S. Senate last week passed
proposed legislation to improve
water quality and services for tribal
communities. The bill is sponsored
by Oregon’s U.S. Senators Ron
Wyden and Jeff Merkley.
The 2019-2020 water crises on
the Warm Springs Reservation were
a primary motivation for this legis-
lation.
The new law would provide
$250 million for tribal water
infrastruture, and will ensure that
tribes most in need are prioritized.
Following Senate passage of the bill,
Sen. Wyden mentioned specifically:
“Native American tribes like the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, and others nationally that
are facing drinking water crises,
deserve urgent action, and today
the Senate delivered.”
He added, “I’m not going to stop
until this legislation is in black let-
ter law, and until the Warm Springs
reservation is free from boil water
notices and have no questions about
the quality of their drinking water.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley serves as the
chairman of the Senate Appropria-
tions Subcommittee that oversees
funding for both water infrastruc-
ture and for tribal programs. Last
week Sen. Merkley said:
“The crisis at the Warm Springs
Reservation is a powerful example
of how the coronavirus crisis made
existing water infrastructure chal-
lenges even more serious.”
And Tribal Council Chairman
Raymond Tsumpti commented,
“This legislation would throw a life-
line to tribes like Warm Springs that
are in dire need of water infrastruc-
ture improvements to serve the
tribal membership.”
Sens. Wyden and Merkley first
introduced the Western Tribal Wa-
ter Infrastructure Act in 2019. The
bill made some progress in 2020 and
then last week made it through the
Senate as part of the U.S. Drinking
Water and Waste Water Infrastruc-
ture Act of 2021.
The vote in the Senate was 89-
2; and the bill now moves to the
House of Representatives for con-
sideration.
Last year, at the direction of
Oregon lawmakers, the state Emer-
gency Board unanimously approved
$3.58 million from state reserves
to help address the water situation
on the Warm Springs Reservation.
The BIA and Confederated
Tribes for many years have known
the water infrastructure on the res-
ervation needs replacement and im-
provement. The water pipes are de-
cades old; and in some cases, such
as in the Campus area, are made
of wood. This prevents economic
development. In the summer time
the leaking pipes put extreme pres-
sure on the treatment, which itself
is in need of replacement.