Spilyay Tymoo
June 2, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 11
Coyote News, est. 1976
New Covid-
19 Protocols
Tribal Council last week ap-
proved new covid safety proto-
cols, based on the recommenda-
tion of the Covid-19 Response
Team.
The new protocols become ef-
fective Monday, June 7.
The recommendation and Coun-
cil resolution align with the state and
Centers for Disease Control guide-
lines, and the reservation Covid-19
data. Provisions of the new proto-
cols include:
· Fully vaccinated individuals will
no longer need to wear a mask in-
doors in public places where the
vaccination status of all individu-
als is checked.
· Your card or a picture of your
card will need to be shown to enter
tribal buildings. If proof cannot
be provided, masks needs to be
worn.
Masks will be required in areas
where people are not asked about
their vaccination status.
· Masks are no longer required
for people who are outdoors,
though masking is still encouraged,
especially in crowded places and for
people who are unvaccinated.
· It is managers and supervisors’
roles to provide a protective work
environment, this includes more
stricter rules according to job du-
ties.
· Continue with 100 percent
workforce with tribal offices.
· Each building will be required
to submit a plan to their general
manager or director with how they
will slowly return back to opening
buildings.
Hours open to the public needs
to be posted.
· Temperature taken daily and
logs needs to be kept on file in case
there is an exposure in the building
so contact tracers can access if nec-
essary.
· Buildings no longer will be
closed when there is an exposure.
Each case will be reviewed and
evaluated separately and sections
will be sanitized.
· Those who use tribal vehicles
as part of their job and have pas-
sengers need to wear masks at all
time.
· If any tribal employee travels
out of state and they have no covid
symptoms, they can report to work,
but if they had not been vaccinated
they are required to take a Covid-
19 test within four days upon their
return with documentation that
they are negative.
Some of the other recent
Covid-19 news:
Last Friday, May 28, IHS and
the tribes’ Covid Response Team
reported there were eight active
cases of the disease on the reser-
vation; and 12 close contacts re-
ceiving daily monitoring.
You can call to schedule a vac-
cination at the Warm Springs Health
and Wellness Center at 541-553-
2131.
Anyone 12 and older who is In-
dian Health Service eligible, or who
lives or works in Warm Springs can
be vaccinated.
June – Atixan – Spring - Wawaxam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Class of 2021 graduation Saturday
T
he Madras High School
graduation is coming up this Sat-
urday, June 5 at the football sta-
dium. The day will begin with
the Bridges Graduation at 9 a.m.
at the stadium, followed by the
other MHS Seniors Graduation
at 11:30 a.m.
Some other graduation activi-
ties coming up this week for the
seniors include the Senior
Awards and Scholarship Cer-
emony, and the Walk the Halls
visit to the Warm Springs Acad-
emy and other schools of the
district. (See pages 4 and 5 of
this publication for more on the
MHS Class of 2021.)
Details on some of the
graduation events coming up
this week and weekend at the
high school:
This Thursday, June 3, se-
niors must report to the high
school by 7:45 a.m. for line-up
instructions. The Senior Awards
and Scholarship Ceremony starts
at 10 a.m. at the Performing Arts
Center. Seniors will be wearing
their cap and gowns for this
event—cap and g owns only,
please, no stoles, cords or tassels.
The Senior Awards and Schol-
arship Ceremony is mandatory for
seniors wanting to walk at the
graduation ceremony. The Thurs-
day ceremony is not open to fam-
ily and friends, due to covid restric-
tions.
Walk the Halls: Directly fol-
lowing the Senior Awards and
Scholarship Ceremony, seniors will
have the opportunity to visit pre-
vious 509-J schools to Walk the
Halls in celebration of your suc-
cess with former teachers, staff
and students.
This Friday, June 4 is Gradua-
tion Practice. This event is man-
datory for seniors wanting to walk
at the Graduation Ceremony. Se-
niors must report to the high
school by 8 a.m. for graduation
practice.
Students, Please do not wear
your cap and gown to practice.
It’s recommended that your bring
sunglasses, baseball caps and sun-
screen, as this event will be out-
side most of the day.
The Graduation Barbecue for
Seniors will follow directly after
graduation practice. Due to covid
restrictions, this event is only open
to seniors.
Graduation: Saturday, June 5.
Bridges at 9 a.m. MHS Seniors
Graduation Ceremony at 11:30
a.m. at the Madras High School Sta-
dium. Additional Graduation Day
information:
Seniors must have approval
from the principal prior to deco-
rating your caps in any way. Stu-
dents who do not get the appro-
priate approval prior to the cer-
emony will not be allowed to walk
during the graduation ceremony.
Graduation tickets for each
Madras High School senior will be
given out after graduation practice
on June 4. Handicapped seating
is available upon request. Please
contact Cassie Piercy at 541-475-
7265 ext. 2316; or option 3, by
this Thursday, June 3 to guaran-
tee reserved seating.
New home loan program for membership
The Warm Springs Com-
munity Action Team and Tribal
Council this week announced
a new home loan program for
tribal members. The HUD-
184 Native American Home
Loan Program is for any mem-
ber of a federally recognized
tribe, to be used on or off the
reservation.
Applicants can build a
home, purchase a home, pur-
chase and rehabilitate a home,
rehabilitate your current
home, or refinance.
The Action Team and
Council have been working on
this project for about three
years, said Dustin Seyler, Small
Business Program manager
with WSCAT.
During that time, in order
to meet the program stan-
dards, Tribal Council had to
update some of the reserva-
tion housing policies, based on
WSCAT recommendations
and tribal attorney counsel.
The changes were in regard to
certain tribal lease provisions,
and any potential foreclosure
‘
In a few months we
should start seeing
new home building
on the reservation... ’
Dustin Seyler, WSCAT
situation, for example. Then last
year the pandemic also slowed the
process, plus the new administra-
tion in January brought some
changes to HUD.
The HUD-184 Home Loan
Program is now available. In fact,
13 families are already working
with on financing through the pro-
gram. In a few months, “We should
start seeing new home building on
the reservation,” Mr. Seyler said.
There are many benefits to
members participating in the pro-
gram. These include:
· A low down payment require-
ment of 2.25 percent on loans
over $50,000.
· An interest rate based on the
current market rate, as opposed to
the applicant’s credit score.
· A large list of lenders avail-
able to provide the loan.
· An upfront one-time loan
guarantee fee of 1.5 percent and
annual mortgage insurance.
· Protection from predatory
lending,
· Access to knowledgeable staff
in the U.S. Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development Of-
fice of Native American Program
(ONAP) to help navigate the spe-
cial circumstances of home own-
ership on reservations.
In the event of foreclosure,
homes purchased through HUD-
184 on the reservation cannot be
sold to anyone outside of the tribe.
HUD-184 program managers
recommend that applicants enroll
in first-time homebuyer classes and
receive financial counseling. The
Warm Springs Community Action
Team offers both of these for
free, plus offers individual devel-
opment accounts—IDAs—in
which applicants can save $1,200
over thirteen months and receive
$6,000 in matching funds—a five-
to-one match rate—totaling
$7,200 that can be used for a down
payment, building, purchasing or
renovating a home.
OR-93 GPS collar has gone silent
The California Department
of Fish and Wildlife reported
recently that the GPS tracking
collar on the wolf OR-93 had
gone silent. OR-93, originally
from the White River wolf
pack on the Warm Springs
Reservation, for a time became
one of the more well-known
wild animals in the West.
OR-93 was born on the res-
ervation about three years ago.
The animal was among the first
of the litter born to a pair of
wolves that had traveled, pos-
sibly from Idaho, to the reser-
vation. The tribes’ Branch of
Natural Resources first spot-
Austin Smith Jr./CTWSBNR
Wolf OR-93 on the reservation after receiving the GPS collar.
The ONAP, which is re-
sponsible for administering the
HUD-184 program, released a
statement forecasting they
would reach $1 billion in loan
guarantees by the end of this
federal fiscal year, September
30, 2021. The office recom-
mends applicants get their ap-
plications approved before
then, or risk not getting ap-
proved until next year.
The Community Action
Team has already identified
and begun connecting Warm
Springs community members
with approved lenders, and is
happy to provide community
members with access to these
lenders.
To inquire about HUD-
184, or the Action Team’s
other programs, please call
541-553-3148. Or email
Dustin Seyler:
dustin@wscat.org
Other contacts are:
Leah Guliasi at:
leah@wscat.org
And Nettie Dickson at:
nettie@wscat.org
ted the wolf pair, and then the pups
in 2018, said Austin Smith Jr., BNR
wildlife biologist. Natural Resources
was able to put a GPS collar on OR-
93. Then last year the wolf left the
reservation, making its way south.
As it traveled in search of a fe-
male to start its own pack, the ani-
mal crossed major highways, mak-
ing its way almost as far as Yosemite.
Its progress was tracked by wild-
life agenices and various media, in-
cluding The San Francisco Chronicle:
This was the first time in more than
100 years that a wolf had been spot-
ted in the Yosemite region.
Then last month the GPS
stopped pinging. The cause for this
is not yet known. OR-93 may still
be alive, though its collar may not
be functioning, Mr. Smith said.