E Coosh EEWA: The way it is
Page 4 Spilyay Tymoo July 14, 2021
Letters to the editor
Your input
The tribes are asking the
community to participate in
a survey regarding the Low
Income Home Energy Assis-
tance Program—LIHEAP.
The survey is collecting
input for tribal Social Ser-
vices, and will determine the
tribes’ best use of the
LIHEAP funding.
The survey asks questions
such as:
Your tribal affiliation. Do
you live on the Warm Springs
Reservation?
What is the size of your
family? Have you applied
for LIHEAP through Warm
Springs Social Services in the
last 12 months?
What type of dwelling do
you live in? Are you living
with others? Is there more
than one ‘family’ in your
dwelling?
Are you an elder or do
you share your home with an
elder? Are you disabled or do
you share your home with a
person with a disability?
Your participation in the
survey is valued and greatly
appreciated. You can fill out
the brief survey at follow-
ing website:
https://f or ms.g le/
r9CDeVL5B6LzommE8
The program has led to a
98-percent high school gradu-
ation rate for participating stu-
dents, a rate that surpasses the
state’s graduation rate for
Native American students.
Additionally, approxi-
mately 76 percent of the
students in the program go
on to college.
Christy Walker, COCC
director of diversity and in-
clusion.
To W.S. youth
Do you know a young
person ready to make a
change? Heart of Oregon
Corps is now accepting
appilcations for this summer
and fall.
The Heart of Oregon
Corps Thrift Store in Ma-
dras is now open.
Stewardship crews are
now hiring.
We are excited to an-
nounce that Heart of Or-
egon programs AmeriCorps
and Stewardship are open
for applications for Summer
2021 and YouthBuild is ac-
cepting application for Fall
2021.
All programs are cur-
rently operating in person
following our custom Covid-
19 protocol.
Birth
Youth camp
Audri Tziavi Switzler
Cody Switzler and Hillary
Camas of Warm Springs are
pleased to announce the birth
of their daughter Audri Tziavi
Switzler, born on July 2,
2021.
Audri joins brothers J.J., 10,
and JoJo, 7; and sister Jeba,
4.
Grandparents on the
father’s side are Danielle
Wood of Warm Springs, and
Victor Switzler Sr. of Warm
Springs.
Grandparent on the
mother’s side is Eugina Camas
of Madras.
The Warm Springs Pre-
vention team is hosting
Building Youth Resiliency
Day Camp next week, Mon-
day through Friday, July 19-
23.
The camp will be at the
Behavioral Health campus
area, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. each day, open to youth
ages 9 to 18.
Meals and snacks will be
provided. Monday night will
be Movie Night. A Commu-
nity Powwow will be Tues-
day night, Youth Dance on
Wednesday night, and
Round Dance on Thursday
night.
For youth who attend all
week, Friday will be a trip
to Jefferson County Fair.
Native program
Central Oregon Commu-
nity College received a grant
that will help fund the
college’s Native American
college prep program.
COCC wishes to thank the
Central Oregon Health
Council for the $88,501
grant.
The support will enable
the college to keep its Native
American college prep coor-
dinator funded through Au-
gust 2022.
The Native American col-
lege prep program is cur-
rently offered in five Central
Oregon high schools and
serves approximately 40 to
60 students annually.
Basketbal
court mural
The Warm Springs Com-
munity Action Team and
Papalaxsimisha are working
together with community part-
ners and youth to renovate
the outdoor basketball court
on campus and they are seek-
ing a mural artist.
The chosen artist will help
create a court mural. Submit
your ideas to Mallory at
wscat.org
The deadline is this Friday,
July 16 at 5 p.m.
Spilyay Tymoo
(Coyote News, Est. 1976)
Publisher Emeritus in Memorium: Sid Miller
Editor: Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our of-
fices are located at 4174 Highway 3 in Warm
Springs.
Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo
should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 489, Warm Springs, OR
97761.
Phone: 541-553-2210 or 541-771-7521
E-Mail: david.mcmechan@wstribes.org.
Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $20.00
Vaccine public service message: To Protect My Loved Ones
O
ne of the Oregon
Health Authority Coro-
navirus daily information
updates this month in-
cluded a spot by Warm
Springs Prevention Spe-
cialist Scott Kalama.
The 30-second public
service announcement is
called To P r o t e c t M y
Loved Ones.
In the Health Author-
ity video, linked to
YouTube, Mr. Kalama re-
lates why he got vacci-
nated. His reasons:
To p r o t e c t m y l o v e d
ones, to protect my Elders,
to protect my family...
W ith the vaccine I’m
excited to go see my fam-
ily, to see my friends—To
enjoy giving each other a
hug again, giving each
other a high five—normal
Child tax credit
The Child Tax Credit in
the American Rescue Plan
provides the largest child tax
credit ever and historic re-
lief to the most working
families ever. Most families
will automatically receive
monthly payments without
having to take any action.
All working families below
specific income limits will get
the full credit. If you’ve filed
tax returns for 2019 or 2020,
or if you signed up to receive
a stimulus check from the In-
ternal Revenue Service, you
will get this tax relief auto-
matically. You do not need to
sign up or take any action.
Beginning this month, people
will receive the child tax
credit in monthly payments.
For SNAP
Most people who receive
Supplemental Nutrition As-
sistance Program—SNAP—
benefits will receive emer-
gency allotments this month.
The federal government
has approved emergency al-
lotments every month since
March 2020, to give SNAP
D.McMechan/Spilyay
A screen shot from the Health Authority service announcement by Warm
Springs Prevention’s Scott Kalama.
things, the things we take for
granted...
I look forward to going
back to our Salmon Feast ,
our Root Feast, our Huckle-
recipients additional support
during the Covid-19 pan-
demic. Emergency allot-
ments became available on
Tuesday of this week, July
13 for current SNAP house-
holds.
New SNAP households
will receive the emergency
allotments July 30 or Au-
gust 3. SNAP recipients do
not have to take any action
to receive these supple-
mental benefits as they will
be issued directly on their
EBT cards.
Scholarships
Applications for the 2021
Oregon Native American
Chamber Scholarship are
now available. For the 2021-
2022 academic year, ONAC
Student Academic Awards
will range from $2,500 to
$5,000.
For additional details, and
to apply, please visit:
onacc.org/resources/schol-
arships
ONAC will accept applica-
tions through July 30. Notifi-
cation of scholarship awards
will be made by August 31.
berry Feast.
There’s hope out there with
this vaccination...
The OHA ser vice an-
nouncement then refer-
ences viewers to the state
website where you find an-
swers to the covid vaccine:
Covid.Vaccine.Oregon.gov
Highest vaccination rate
American Indians
have the highest Covid-
19 vaccination rate in
the U.S. The Centers for
Disease Control re-
cently announced that
its covid data tracker
now displays U.S. vacci-
nation progress by race
and ethnicity.
The tracker is called
‘Percent of People Re-
ceiving Covid-19 Vaccine
by Race-Ethnicity, and
Date Reported to the
CDC.
The early July data
shows that American In-
dians and Alaska Natives
have the highest vaccina-
tion rate in the country.
The rate was with 45.5
percent having received
at least one dose, and
39.1 percent fully vacci-
nated.
The American Indian
rate was followed by
Asians at 36.6 percent
vaccinated; and whites,
33.7 percent.
Native Hawaiian-Pa-
cific Islanders were at
35.9 percent; Hispanic-
Latinos at 31.8 percent;
and Black people.
American Indian vac-
cination rates were higher
than white vaccination
rates in 28 states, includ-
ing New Mexico, Arizona,
and Alaska, where many
Indigenous people receive
care from the Indian
Health Servic, and tribal
health centers.
The CDC’s vaccination
rate data counters
longstanding assumptions
about vaccine hesitancy in
Indigenous communi-
ties—assumptions that
were already disproven in
January by the results of
a survey conducted in ur-
ban Indigenous communi-
ties.
From the desk of the W.S. Veterans Representative
Agent Orange
exposure and
Veterans Affairs
disability
compensation
by Frankie Williams
Warm Springs Tribal
Veterans Representative
Agent Orange was a tac-
tical herbicide the U.S. mili-
tary used to clear leaves and
vegetation for military opera-
tions mainly during the Viet-
nam War.
Veterans who were ex-
posed to Agent Orange may
have certain related illnesses.
Veterans Affairs has added
three more presumptive con-
ditions related to Agent Or-
ange
· Bladder cancer.
· Hypothyroidism.
· Parkinson disease.
If the VA denied your
claim in the past for any of
these conditions, we need to
file another claim.
If you have an illness
that’s not on the list of pre-
sumptive diseases, but you
believe it was caused by
Agent Orange exposure,
you can still file a claim for
VA disability benefits. But
you’ll need to submit more
evidence: Keep reading to
learn about service require-
ments and supporting evi-
dence.
Service requirements
for presumption of ex-
posure
Frankie Williams, W.S.
Veterans Representative
The VA bases eligibility
for VA disability compensa-
tion benefits, in part, on
whether a veteran served in
a location that exposed you
to Agent Orange. This is
called this having a pre-
sumption of exposure.
You have a presumption
of exposure if you meet at
least one of the service re-
quirements listed below:
Between Januar y 9,
1962, and May 7, 1975,
you must have served for
any length of time in at least
one of these locations:
· In the Republic of
Vietnam, or
· Aboard a U.S. military
vessel that operated in the
inland waterways of
Vietnam, or
· On a vessel operating
not more than 12 nautical
miles seaward from the de-
marcation line of the waters
of
Vietnam
and
Cambodia, or
· On regular perimeter
duty on the fenced-in pe-
rimeters of a U.S. Army in-
stallation in Thailand or a
Royal Thai Air Force base.
These bases include U-
Tapao, Ubon, Nakhon
Phanom, Udorn, Takhli,
Korat, or Don Muang.
Or at least one of these
must be true. You:
· Served in or near the
Korean DMZ for any length
of time between Septem-
ber 1, 1967, and August
31, 1971, or
· Served on active duty
in a regular Air Force unit
location where a C-123 air-
craft with traces of Agent
Orange was assigned, and
had repeated contact with
this aircraft due to your
flight, ground, or medical
duties, or
· Were involved in trans-
porting, testing, storing, or
other uses of Agent Orange
during your military service.
For more information on
Agent Orange or filing a
c l a i m , c o n t a c t t h e Wa r m
Springs Tribal Veterans Ser-
vice Officer, Frankie W ill-
iams, 541-460-0605 or
541-777-2957