Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Employment in the region
approaching pre-pandemic rate
The most recent update to
the regional employment situ-
ation shows a much stronger
job performance than initiallly
estimated.
The Employment Depart-
ment revision was based on
the more accurate indicator of
payroll records.
For Jefferson County, in-
cluding the reservation, the
employment numbers are be-
ginning to approach the pre-
pandemic levels of February
2020.
The unemployment rate
for October, for instance,
was 5.8 percent, down from
6.2 percent the month be-
fore. For comparison: The
February 2020 unemploy-
ment rate in the county was
4.1 percent.
Total non-farm employ-
ment rose by 70 jobs in Octo-
ber. For Jefferson County, job
gains over the past year have
been diverse, with strong ad-
ditions in local government, re-
tail trade, leisure and hospital-
ity, and manufacturing.
The only notable job losses
were in private education and
health services that shed 30
jobs from October 2020.
Deschutes County: The
adjusted unemployment rate
dropped significantly in Oc-
tober to 4.9 percent from 5.2
percent in September.
The unemployment rate
remains higher than before
the first impacts from Covid-
19 in February 2020 when it
was at a record low of 3.3
percent; however, levels of
unemployment are now well
below the 10-year average of
6.9 percent.
Crook County: The unem-
ployment rate dropped signifi-
cantly to 6.2 percent in Oc-
tober, down from 6.6 percent
in September. The pre-pan-
demic rate for Crok was 4.4
percent.
December 1, 2021
Page 5
Around Indian Country
Yakama win appeal in 42-year case
State authorities cannot regulate
the number of acres the Yakama
Nation irrigates on its reservation,
the Washington State Supreme
Court ruled last week.
The ruling was in response to
three appeals in the massive 42-year
case known as Acquavella, which
adjudicated water rights throughout
the Yakima River Basin.
The state Department of Ecol-
ogy initiated the water-rights case
involving 2,100 complainants in
1977. It concluded in May 2019,
when a Yakima County Superior
Court judge approved an order that
divided the basin into multiple
subbasins, each with specified wa-
ter rights.
Three parties filed appeals chal-
lenging portions of the order.
The Yakama Nation challenged
the state’s authority to regulate the
number of acres it could irrigate.
The Rattlesnake Ditch Association
claimed the order did not consider
expert testimony on the loss of
water during delivery, resulting in
users getting less than their fair
share. And the Ahtanum Irrigation
District argued that two natural
creeks were unfairly deemed irri-
gation canals that couldn’t be
tapped outside the irrigation sea-
son.
Last week, the state’s highest
court decided in favor of the
Yakama Nation and the Rattle-
snake Ditch Association, but not
the Ahtanum Irrigation District.
The final order approved by a
Superior Court judge served as an
umbrella over multiple suborders
defining each subbasin and its re-
spective water rights.
The Yakama Nation took issue
with the final order because it lim-
ited the tribe’s irrigable land to
120,000 acres. The tribe said
there’s more irrigable land than
A Year in Review ~ 2021 ~
(from page 4)
March
The Warm Springs Senior
Wellness Center will remain
closed until further notice due to
water damage from vandalism.
The flooring needs to be replaced,
so Senior program staff in March
have focused on removing every-
thing from the building; and be-
ginning to remove the damaged
flooring tiles.
All programming, including the
Seniors Meal program, are on
hold. The cooks are planning to
use the Agency Longhouse kitchen,
in order to resume the Meals pro-
gram, which many Elders rely
upon.
The Senior Meals are provided
weekly to hundreds of people in
the Warm Springs community.
The water damaged happened
when someone turned on an out-
side faucet of the Seniors build-
ing. The water apparently ran dur-
ing the weekend of March 12-14,
until staff arrived and turned it
off. And this:
The artwork of Lillian Pitt
was featured in April at the Co-
lumbia Center for the Arts. Ms.
Pitt is among the most highly re-
garded Native American artists in
the Pacific Northwest. Born on
the Warm Springs Reservation,
Lillian is a descendant of Wasco,
Yakama and Warm Springs heri-
tage.
File photo
March covid vaccination event at Celilo Village.
year the event saw turnout of
about 30 tribal members. Mead-
ows provided the ski and
snowboard gear, lessons, lift tick-
ets and lunch. Attendance was
down a little this year, as the bus
space was limited for safety.
Meanwhile:
Across much of Indian Coun-
try, Native American tribes are
seeing some of the most suc-
cessful Covid-19 vaccination
campaigns in the U.S.
Three Indigenous principles
have helped provide the impe-
tus to get vaccinated, according
to activist Allie Young, a citizen
of the Navajo Nation:
Recognizing how Native
Americans’ actions will impact the
next generations.
Acting in honor of ancestors
who fought to ensure their sur-
vival, and elders who carry on their
traditions and cultures. And hold-
ing on to ancestral knowledge.
Many Native American tribes—
in Oregon, for instance, the Con-
federated Tribes of Warm Springs,
the Siletz Indians, and Umatilla
Tribes—are seeing great success
with their vaccination clinics.
April
Oregon’s U.S. Senator Ron
Wyden stopped at the War m
Springs Media Center in April to
broadcast his virtual town hall
meeting. “I would rather meet
with people eye to eye,” Sen. Wyden
said. But with the covid restrictions,
he said, the next best option is a
Facebook Live broadcast, during
Spilyay photo
Mt. Hood Meadows hosted the
Tribal Ski Day in March. This
The Western Tribal Water
Infrastructure Act would provide
up to $62 million specifically for
long-neglected Western reservation
infrastructure. In other March
news:
Like last year, there will be no Pi-
Ume-Sha Treaty Days Powwow
this year. Elders made the decision
in April at the Root Feast, held safely
this year outdoors at the Commu-
nity Center Pavillion area.
After prayer, Ms. Whitford and
103 other tribal members from
throughout the Columbia River
Gorge received first doses of the
Covid-19 vaccine at the Celilo
Longhouse.
It was a vaccination event that
required collaboration between
two states, four counties, the Co-
lumbia River Inter-tribal Fish
Commission, a number of social
service agencies and transporta-
tion partners.
Leading the effort was one of
the Oregon Health Authority’s
partners, One Community
Health—OCH for short—based
in Hood River and The Dalles. In
March 2021 school news:
Madras High School athlet-
ics are back in full swing, after a
year of teams not being able to
compete. The March 2021 sports
include volleyball, boys and girls
soccer, cross country and football.
Tradiotionally, these are fall sports,
now in play because school was
closed last fall.
School sports activities are pos-
sible because the Jefferson County
Covid-19 risk level in March im-
proved from ‘extreme’ to ‘high,’
and then last week to ‘medium.’
Elsewhere:
that on the reservation and argued
the federal government, not the
state, has authority to set those lim-
its.
The Yakama reser vation is
served by the Wapato Irrigation
District, which is operated by the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Nation pointed to the or-
der defining the tribe’s water right,
which set no limits and conflicted
with the final overarching order
called the Final Schedule of Water
Rights, or FSOR.
Ecology conceded and issued a
brief saying as much.
“We accept Ecology’s concession
and remand to the superior court
to strike the acreage limitations in
the FSOR and reiterate that fed-
eral law governs how diverted wa-
ter may be allocated within the
Project,” justices wrote in their
unanimous decision.
Sports returned in March 2021, with the year starting
with the fall sports, including football.
which he fielded questions from
the Warm Springs and Madras
communities.
For the Confederated Tribes,
the first topic of discussion was
the water infrastructure on the res-
ervation. Sen. Wyden, with Sena-
tor Jeff Merkley, are the primary
sponsors of the Western Tribal
Water Infrastructure Act, which
would help address the tribes’ wa-
ter, and some other infrastructure
needs. This bill recently crossed a
major hurdle toward becoming law;
so in related April 2021 news:
Tribal Council Chair man
Raymond Tsumpti Sr., and other
tribal leaders, advocated to the U.S.
Senate Committee on Indian Af-
fairs for passage of a Wester n
tribal infrastructure bill.
The Senate committee then
approved the bill, sponsored by
Oregon’s U.S. Senate delegation.
This is encouraging news, as on
average only one in four bills are
reported out of committee.
Infrastructure needs on the
reservation exceed $40 million,
with immediate improvement to
the watery system estimated at $5-
$6 million, Chairman Tsumpti said.
Investment in infrastructure could
lead to economic development and
employment for the membership,
Mr. Tsumpti said.
The Senate first heard the
proposal to fund Western tribal
infrastructure—inspired in large
part by the condition of water
system serving the Warm Springs
Reser vation—two years ago.
The Museum at Warm Springs
in April hotsed Sacred Reflec-
tions: The Art of Umatilla Artist
Ellen Taylor.
Ms. Taylor is renowned for her
Contemporary Native American
paintings, a description of her style
being: “Picasso meets Native
American type of Contemporary
art in Andy Warhol’s living
room…”
By the latest count, as of mid
April, the Indian Health Service at
the Clinic had provided 2,268 pri-
mary doses of Covid-19 vacci-
nation. In addition, IHS had pro-
vided 1,828 secondary doses.
Some of these vaccines were
administered to qualifying mem-
bers living off the reservation.
However, most have gone, and are
going to people of the immediate
reservation community.
With the vaccination numbers
steadily increasing, there is cause
for optimism. Meanwhile, the ob-
ligation to continue the safety mea-
sures—for yourself, family and
community—is more important
than ever, as some end finally may
be coming into view. In education
news:
With many safety precautions
in place, the Jefferson County
School District 509-J schools
early this year began the second
term on-site. This was an achieve-
ment, as less than a third of the
schools in the state were able to
re-open on site. In the 509-J dis-
trict, 80 percent of students chose
to return to in-person learning; so
the demand was obvious.
The April jobs report for the
region shows something of a surge
in employment—the strongest
monthly jobs gain in year, since the
first summer of the pandemic.
More Review in the next Spilyay