Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Community
vaccine
update
In partnership, the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Warm Springs and
Indian Health Service are among
the models of how best to protect
a community against the Covid-19.
As Dr. Bud Beamer, Public Health
Officer for Jefferson County, re-
cently commented, “With the vac-
cine, mandatory masking and ex-
tensive testing, the Confederated
Tribes and IHS have proven that
these measures work.”
The Indian Health Service and
tribes are now beginning a next
important phase in the strategy
against community spread of the
virus: Indian Health Service and
the tribes are now working on the
rollout of booster shots against
covid.
This is a locally coordinated re-
sponse to recent federal govern-
ment approval of a third, or booster
covid shot for individuals, said
Hyllis Dauphinais, chief executive
officer of Warm Springs IHS.
Following the Centers for Dis-
ease Control guidelines, some of
the booster vaccines have now been
administered to community mem-
bers who are immuno-compro-
mised.
Next month the booster should
become available to more people.
This rollout could follow the
model established during the initial
phase of the vaccination, Mr.
Dauphinais said: This would mean
starting with more elderly individu-
als, and others who are especially
vulnerable to the disease.
At this time, September 20 is a
target date for greater availability
of the booster shot.
In the meantime, Warm Springs
IHS and Community Health are
developing a list of people to con-
tact and inform of the availability.
“We’re ramping up for the third
dose,” Mr. Dauphinais said, “as the
September 20 date approaches.”
The reason for this, he says, is clear:
“Our mandate from Tribal
Council is to save lives. That is the
number one goal, as we put this
plan in place.”
Full approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Admin-
istration this week granted full ap-
proval to the Pfizer/BioNTech
Covid-19 vaccine for people age
16 and older. This is the first
coronavirus vaccine fully approved
by the FDA, and is expected to
open the door to more vaccine
mandates. The Department of
Defense, and the New York City
School District are recent notable
examples of groups that are now
mandatingd the vaccine for em-
ployees.
August 25, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 17
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In victory over the Huntington scandal
The Treaty of 1855, signed
on June 25 of that year, has al-
ways been the only recognized
and enforceable treaty between
the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs and the United
States. And the treaty clearly rec-
ognizes the tribal members’
rights to off-reservation hunting,
fishing and gathering at all usual
and accustomed places on the
vast Ceded Lands.
Shortly after the signing of
the treaty, Indian people fishing
along the Columbia River and
other areas of the Ceded
Lands—as they had done from
time immemorial—became a
source jealousy and irritation to
settlers of the region. The set-
tlers brought their grievance to
then-superintendent of the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs for Or-
egon, J.W. Perit Huntington.
In response, Huntington was
able to obtain a ‘supplemental
treaty.’ This document, from
1865, purported to relinquish
off-reservation rights recognized
Mitchell Lira photos/KWSO
U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley meets
with Tribal Council office manager
Doris Miller (left). The medallion
(above) commemorates the
nullification of the Huntington
document.
by the 1855 Treaty; and to confine
Indians to the reservation without
written BIA permission to leave.
From its inception, the 1865
document has been viewed as a
fraud: Neither party to the
Treaty of 1855—the tribes or the
United States—has ever viewed the
Huntington scandal as legal. And
yet over the decades it remained ‘on
the books.’
Finally, last year the federal gov-
ernment officially nullified the Hun-
tington document. Former Con-
gressman Greg Walden introduced
the nullification legislation in 2019.
U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron
Wyden sponsored the bill in the Sen-
ate, with support of Gov. Kate
Brown. And it passed in October
2020, signed by then-Pres. Trump.
Last week the Tribal Council and
staff hosted a gathering to officially
mark the nullification. On hand for
the event, Sen. Merkley explained
that he first learned of the tribes’
treaty history 20 or so years ago,
when Governmental Affairs direc-
tor Louie Pitt invited him to Pi-
Ume-Sha. And since that time, the
senator has always been in support
of the Huntington nullification.
Senator Wyden, Gov. Brown and
others also sent the tribes their best
wishes on the occasion (see page 4
for the gover nor’s comments).
Tribal water legislation making progress
Funding for tribal reserva-
tion water infrastructure is part
of the $1 trillion Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act. The
U.S. Senate this month passed
the Infrastructure and Jobs Act
on a bi-partisan vote. The bill
is now at the House of Repre-
sentatives.
The law would include the
Western Tribal Water Infra-
structure Act of 2021, with its
funding at $250 million. Sena-
tors Ron Wyden and Jeff
Merkley introduced the Tribal
Water Infrastructure Act in
2019, and it passed last year.
The Tribal Infrastructure Act
also has strong bi-partisan support;
and its inclusion in the overall In-
frastructure and Jobs Act brings it
closer to becoming law.
In 2019, when Sens. Wyden and
Merkley introduced the Tribal
Water Infrastructure Act, they cited
the condition of the Warm Springs
water system as an example of the
problems tribes experience as res-
ervation domestic water systems
are increasingly old and unreliable.
Tribal Council Chairman Raymond
Tsumpti Sr. gave testimony before
the lawmakers in favor of that leg-
islation.
Then last year came the
coronavirus pandemic, and an-
other prolonged water outage on
the reservation. Sen. Merkley,
chair of the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee, said at the time:
“The crisis on the Warm Springs
Reservation is a powerful example
of how the coronavirus crisis
made existing water infrastructure
challenges even more serious.”
This month 19 Senate Republi-
cans joined the 50 Democrats in
passing the $1 trillion Infrastruc-
ture and Jobs Act. The House for
now continues to work through its
process, before the bill would go
to Pres. Biden for signing. Some
other regional items in the infra-
structure bill that Merkley and
Wyden helped secure:
· $162 million for Klamath
habitat restoration. That area, in-
cluding Klamath tribal land and
resources, is experiencing envi-
ronmental consequences of ex-
treme drought.
· $6 billion for wildfire risk
mitigation and forest health treat-
ments, including an additional
$100 million for the Collabora-
tive Forestry Landscape Restora-
tion Program.
Dave McMechan
Academy would see new classrooms with district bond
Voters of the Jefferson
County School District 509-J will
see a $24 million bond measure
on the November 2021 ballot.
The bond would address health,
safety and security matters in all
of the district’s schools.
If it passes, the bond would
fund the construction of six new
early learning classrooms at the
Warm Springs Academy. Madras
High School work would include a
new roof and insulation; upgrades
to the Career and Technical Edu-
cation area; heating, cooling and
ventilation improvements; a new
soccer concession and restroom
area, and facility and field lights.
The other schools in the district
would also see improvements. Full
details are available at the school
district bond website. You can find
the site at:
509jscoholbond.org
The school district has not passed
a bond measure since 2012. That
bond paid for half of the construc-
tion of the Warm Springs Academy,
as the tribes funded the other half.
The 2012 measure also funded the
Madras Performing Arts Center at
the high school.
Tribal situation
Like all other areas, the reser-
vation has seen a recent increase
in Covid-19 cases, as the delta vari-
ant continues to spread.
As of Tuesday of this week,
there were 17 people in the com-
munity with the disease; plus 35
close contacts receiving daily moni-
toring.
Mitchell Lira photos/KWSO
Mt. Hood Meadows and the Confederated Tribes
last week hosted a Huckleberry Gathering Day
for the tribes; and there were many berries out
this year. Among those who made the trip, Mary
McNevin, Riyah Stacona and Janice Smith (left);
and Joni Wallulatum (above).