Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Attention:
Tribal
artists
Attention Warm Springs Tribal
Artists: The Museum at Warm
Springs would like to announce the
Twenty-Eighth Tribal Member Art
Exhibit will be here soon. Impor-
tant: The deadline to submit art is
5 p.m. on Thursday, October 7.
Please email or call Angela
Anne Smith, museum Curator, if
you have questions. The number
is 541-553-3331; and the email:
angela@museumatwarmsprings.org
Applications are available at the
museum.
Community
update
The Warm Springs Health and
Wellness Center and Covid-19 Re-
sponse Team reported there were
24 people on the reservation with
active Covid-19, as of early this
week.
IHS has conducted 13,506 total
covid tests among the community.
Of the total Warm Springs IHS
tests, 847 have come back positive
since the pandemic began. Other
facilities have conducted testing of
members, with 126 coming back
positive, for a total of 973 positives
among the community.
There were no reported deaths
with this update. St. Charles occu-
pancy was at nearly 80 percent. St.
Charles ICUs were at almost 66
percent occupancy.
On the reservation as of earlier
this week, IHS and Community
Health were monitoring 13 close
contacts.
IHS has given a total of 2,931
total primary vaccines for Covid-19.
Second vaccines among the reser-
vation community, meaning fully
vaccinated, was at 2,462.
Thirty-one people—nursing
home residents, individuals with
underlying conditions, etc.—had
received the third, or booster shot.
Fully vaccinated people in the
community, among those eligible for
the shot, are at 56.5 percent. The
target for the community, as defined
by the Response Team and Tribal
Council, remains 70 percent.
You can call to schedule a vacci-
nation anytime at the Health and
Wellness Center, 541-553-2131.
Anyone 12 and older who is IHS
eligible, or who lives or works on
the reservation, and their family
members can be vaccinated. Vac-
cinations remain the primary way to
bring covid under control.
As much now as ever, it is criti-
cal that everyone practice all safety
protocols. Wear your mask, indoors
and outdoors, when you cannot so-
cially distance outside your house-
hold. In other Covid-19 news:
More than two dozen people
have contacted the poison center in
Oregon after self-medicating against
covid with a drug used to treat para-
sites, Ivermectin, which is not a
covid treatment.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
September 22, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 19
September – Wanaq’i – Fall - Tiyam
Prevention most important this flu season
Flu vaccines this month ar-
rived at the War m Springs
clinic, and tribal and IHS health
workers are at work adminis-
tering the doses.
You can get the seasonal flu
shot at the clinic, while health
workers are also hosting com-
munity events offering easy ac-
cess to this year’s flu vaccina-
tion.
Last week and early this
week IHS and Community
Health hosted the events at
various locations around Warm
Springs. And this Wednesday,
September 22, the flu vaccine
event will be from 9 a.m. to
noon at the Three Warriors
Market in Simnasho.
This Thursday, September
23, the clinic team will be at the
Agency Longhouse parking lot
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Also this Thursday, they will
be at the Warm Springs Clinic
orange tent from 5 to 7 p.m.
Some other upcoming flu
vaccination events: Wednesday,
September 29 at Sidwalter; and
October 6 at Seekseequa.
Other events: October 13 at
Simnasho; October 20 at
Sidwalter; and October 27 at
Seekseequa.
More will be scheduled, so
stay tuned: KWSO 91.9 FM.
Flu vaccination is the best
way to protect yourself and
your loved ones against flu and
its potentially serious complica-
tions.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
At a recent outdoor flu vaccine clinic, held by the Agency Longhouse: Katie Russell, Community Health
director with the tribes’ Dr. Jan, and visiting Pharmacy student Erin Reason with available flu shots.
Flu vaccination prevents millions
of illnesses and flu-related doctor’s
visits each year. For example, dur-
ing 2019-2020 flu vaccination pre-
vented an estimated 7.5 million in-
fluenza illnesses, 3.7 million influ-
enza-associated medical visits,
105,000 influenza-associated hos-
pitalizations, and 6,300 influenza-
associated deaths. Flu vaccination
has been shown in several studies
to reduce severity of illness in
people who get vaccinated but still
get sick.
Flu vaccination is an important
preventative tool for people with
chronic health conditions.
Flu vaccination helps protect
pregnant people during and after
pregnancy. And the flu vaccine can
be lifesaving in children.
During the pandemic
The seasonal flu vaccination
becomes especially important dur-
ing these years of the covid pan-
demic.
Hospitals are seeing more sick
patients than ever with serious the
Covid-19 illness. This leaves
fewer—and in many cases critically
fewer—intensive care unit beds,
ICUs.
The seasonal flu season brings
thousands of more patients to hos-
pitals, with the sick suffering just
from the flu: Add these to the
Covid-19 cases and hospitals face
critical ICU bed shortages.
For this reason alone, it is criti-
cal for community members to re-
ceive a flu vaccination this year.
The flu can cause symptoms
that are similar to Covid-19. This
can cause a critical misdiagnosis,
and serious consequences for pa-
tients. The Centers for Disease
Control says that getting a flu vac-
cine, in addition to mask wearing
and hand hygiene, this year is as
important as ever.
Greater sharing of data for public safety
It can be of critical impor-
tance for restraining orders, is-
sued by the Warm Springs
Tribal Court, to be enforced as
fully off the reservation as on:
The parties involved, for in-
stance, may come in contact in
Madras, as one example.
Law enforcement in the off-
reservation jurisdiction would
need to know about the tribal
restraining order, for obvious
public safety reasons. Ineffi-
ciency in sharing this informa-
tion has been a problem: In
the past, the tribal court order
had to be specifically applied by
Warm Springs Academy
football practice at the school
sports field (right). The
Academy posted the Eagles’
schedule: The team hosts
Three Rivers on Monday,
September 27. They will be
away at LaPine on October 5.
On October 12 they host
Sisters, then play at Sisters
on October 20.
A scrimmage with the Jefferson
County Middle School is
scheduled at Madras High
School under the lights, to
close out the season on
October 26. Spectators are
reminded that face masks and
social distancing are required
at all 509-J schools and sports
competitions.
the off-reservation jurisdictional
court. At best this is not conve-
nient, and in worse cases some
harm can result from the delay.
A new program will address this,
and other public safety matters
regarding communication delays
among the tribal and off-reserva-
tion jurisdictions.
The Tribal Access Program for
National Crime Information will
allow the tribal court order to be
uploaded directly to the federal
data base, accessible to the off-res-
ervation law enforcement.
The tribal records still remain
confidential to tribes and tribal law
enforcement; however, there are
cases when the tribal court, pros-
ecution, Victims of Crime or law
enforcement feel the information
should be shared immediately. A
missing person report on the res-
ervation is another example of
how instantly sharing the informa-
tion could be critical. Registered sex
offender information can be an-
other example.
Warm Springs is one of 12
tribes this year joining the crime
data sharing Tribal Access Pro-
gram—or TAP—joining 108 other
federally tribes already participat-
ing.
TAP is an important re-
source for the Department of
Justice Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Persons Initiative,
and the Presidential Task Force
on Missing and Murdered
American Indians and Alaska
Natives, known as Operation
Lady Justice.
The Department of Justice
began TAP in 2015 in response
to concerns raised by tribal lead-
ers about the need to have direct
access to federal systems. In the
Northwest with Warm Springs,
joining TAP this year are the
Muckleshoot and Cow Creek.
Afternoon Academy Eagles football practice at the school sports field.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay