Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Community
update
The tribal community saw 13
new Covid-19 cases on Monday of
this week, December 27, from 99
tests administered, according to the
update from the Response Team,
IHS and Community Health. Two
of the positive tests came from out-
side facilities, the update says.
As of this past Monday, there
were 20 active cases on the reser-
vation, according to the update. In
addition, 13 individuals were close-
contacts receiving daily monitoring.
· As of Monday of this week,
the Health and Wellness center had
conducted a total of 17,193 tests
since the pandemic began, the re-
cent update says.
· This testing brought results of
1,143 total positive cases since the
outbreak, among the tribal commu-
nity. An additional 167 positive tests
have come from outside facilities,
for a total of 1,310 total cases
among the tribal community since
testing began in 2020. The latest
update reminds the membership:
· Vaccines are saving lives and
keeping people out of the hospital.
Vaccinations are the primary means
of addressing the pandemic.
As of earlier this week, the
Health and Wellness Center had
given 3,063 primary doses of the
covid vaccine among the tribal com-
munity.
Health and Wellness has pro-
vided another 2,580 second doses;
and 764 booster shots.
Regarding New Years and any
other planned gatherings: Please
consider keeping family and friends
safe by continuing to take covid
precautions. This includes wearing
a face mask and maintaining dis-
tance from others. Limit gather-
ings to your immediate household.
If you have not been vacci-
nated, the advice is to do so, for
your safety and for that of others
around you. Make sure to sched-
ule your booster, and if you have a
child 5 or older, he or she too can
now be vaccinated. Call 541-553-
2131 for information.
Appeals court
back in session
The Tribal Council and manage-
ment have re-established the Tribal
Appeals Court. The panel of
judges hears appeals from decisions
of the Tribal Court. The Appeals
Court has been out of session since
2019. Council appointed the ap-
peals judges from among legal pro-
fessionals from a variety of legal
backgrounds.
They sit as a panel of three
judges to hear the appeals. For the
time being, the panel may conduct
the appeals hearings and arguments
virtually, because of the covid situ-
ation, said Councilman Glendon
Smith, Secretary-Treasurer.
With the new Appeals Court
again in session, there are pending
appeals that can now be heard,
Councilman Smith said.
December 29, 2021 - Vol. 46, No. 26
December – Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Spring will see Twenty-Ninth Tribal Council
The tribal membership will
elect a new Tribal Council dur-
ing the first half of 2022. This
will be the Twenty-Ninth
Tribal Council of the Confed-
erated Tribes. The current
Council as soon as January will
discuss the 2022 election pro-
cess, said Councilman and Sec-
retar y-Treasurer Glendon
Smith.
The tribes have been con-
ducting Council elections once
every three years since 1938,
under the terms of the Con-
stitution and By-Laws. The
Constitution defines the pow-
ers of the Tribal Council, the
length of terms, qualifications,
etc.
Regarding the process the
tribes use to conduct an elec-
tion, the Constitution refers to
the ‘prevailing customs’ of the
tribes.
While the membership during
the past 84 years has chosen
twenty-eight Tribal Councils, the
tribes have never had to conduct
a Council election during a pan-
demic: The Great Influenza pan-
demic, or Spanish flu, happened
in 1918-19, twenty years before
the first Council election, held un-
der the 1938 Constituion.
Looking forward, the 2022
Tribal Council election itself could
seemingly happen in a relatively
safe manner, as individuals can
follow the tribes’ covid safety pro-
tocol—masking, distancing, etc.—
while submitting a ballot.
A more immediate and poten-
tially more complicated process
would be the district nominations:
The ‘prevailing custom’ to this
point has been district nominating
meetings at the Agency and
Ther Museum at Warm
Springs Tribal Member
Art Show will be on
display for a little more
than a week longer,
through January 8,
2022. The Member
Show will then be
followed by the Youth
Art Show. Stop by the
museum 9 to 5 p.m.,
Tuesday through
Saturday, masks and
distancing required.
Simnasho longhouses, and the
Seekseequa Fire Hall.
The virus makes the prevailing
customary use of the longhouses
and fire hall potentially dangerous,
as people of all ages—from young
people to the most vulnerable el-
ders—gather together indoors for
the nominations.
The current Tribal Council with
input from the membership and
Covid Response Team will deter-
mine the process for the nomina-
tions. And all of this will happen
around the two-year anniversary of
the pandemic outbreak: The virus
arrived on the reservation in the
spring of 2020.
Since that time many people of
the tribal community have received
their covid vaccines, and a good
number have now received the
booster. Still, these precautions
only go so far, as break-through
cases happen on occasion.
The 2022 nomination and elec-
tion process will be another impor-
tant decision for the current Tribal
Council, which has seen the tribes
through some of the more trying
times in recent memory. As ex-
amples:
Shortly after the Twenty-Eighth
Council took office in early May
of 2019, the Agency water system
failed, making running domestic
potable water unavailable to many
residents for several months. Then
less than a year into the term, the
virus arrived, followed in the sum-
mer of 2020 by another extended
water crisis.
While these events would not
compare with the Celilo inundation
disaster of the 1950s, for instance,
the present-day and ongoing chal-
lenges have been and are very large.
Dave McMechan
Member Art Show works on display until January 8:
beaded vest with elk (left); beaded vest with salmon
and teepees; both by Angela Sampson, Xwt-Xwt.
Coming up in January 2022 at Tribal Council
The following are some of the
items coming up on the Tribal
Council agenda for Januar y
2022 (subject to change at
Council discretion):
Monday, January 3
9 a.m.: Bureau of Indian
Affairs update with Brenda
Bremner, superintendent.
9:30: Bureau of Trust
Funds Administration update
with Kevin Moore.
10: Realty items with James
Halliday.
10:30: Indian Health Ser-
vice update with Hyllis
Dauphinais, clinic chief execu-
tive officer.
11: Covid update with the
Response Team.
1:30 p.m.: Legislative up-
date calls, state and federal.
2:30: Tribal attorneys up-
dates.
Tuesday, January 4
9 a.m.: Appeals Court
Judges meet and greet.
10: Q-Life Network discus-
sion with Matthew Klebes.
11: Bluestone discussion
with John Mooers.
1:30 p.m.: Water treatment
plant discussion with Chico
Holliday, Barry Buchanan and
tribal attorney.
2:30: Chief Judge discus-
sion.
Wednesday, January 5
9 a.m.: Akana update with Said
Amali.
10: Willamette Falls Trust up-
date with Gerard Rodrguez.
11: Heating, Ventilation and
Cooling (HVAC) update with
Chico.
Monday, Januar y 10 – Enter-
prise updates
9 a.m.: Indian Head Casino and
Plateau Travel Plaza discussion
with Jeffrey Carstensen.
10: Warm Springs Power and
Water Enterprise update with Jim
Manion.
10:30: Composite Products up-
date with Jake Coochise.
11: Covid update with the Re-
sponse Team.
11:30: Telecom discussion with
Tim York.
1:30 p.m.: Credit update with
Lori Fuentes.
2: Ventures discussion with Jim
Souers.
3: Warm Springs Housing Au-
thority update with Danielle Wood.
3:30: Timber LLC discussion.
Tuesday, January 11 – Enter-
prise and Committee reports
9 a.m.: Museum at War m
Springs update with Elizabeth
Woody.
10: High Lookee Lodge discus-
sion.
11: Fish and Wildlife Commit-
tee Off-Reservation update.
1:30 p.m.: Fish and Wildlife Com-
mittee On-Reservation update.
2:30: Culture and Heritage Com-
mittee update.
3:30: Education Committee up-
date.
We d n e s d a y, Ja n u a r y 1 2 –
Committee reports
9 a.m.: Timber Committee.
10: Health and Welfare Commit-
tee.
11: Land Use Planning Commit-
tee.
1:30 p.m.: Range and Agriculture
Committee.
2:30: Water Board update.
Monday, January 17
9 a.m.: Secretary-Treasurer up-
date with Glendon Smith, Secre-
tary-Treasurer—Chief Executive
Officer.
9:30: February agenda and re-
view minutes with the S-T.
10: Draft resolutions with the S-
T.
11: Covid update with the Re-
sponse Team.
1:30: Legislative updates, federal
and state.
2:30: Enrollments with Lucille
Suppach-Samson, Vital Stats.
3: Human Resources update
with acting director Carol Funk.
3:30: Administrative Services
update with the S-T.
4: Health and Human Services
update with Caroline Cruz.
Tuesday, January 18
9 a.m.: Governmental Affairs
update with Louie Pitt.
9:30: Managed Care update with
Mike Collins.
10: Administrative Services up-
date with the S-T.
10:30: Procurement update with
Libby Chase.
11: Tribal Court update with Lisa
Lomas.
1:30 p.m.: Public Safety update
with acting general manager Nancy
Seyler.
2:30: Natural Resources update
with Robert Brunoe.
3:30: Finance update with Isaac
George.
Wednesday, January 19
9 a.m.: Education discussion
with Valerie Switzler.
10: Public Utilities update with
Chico Holliday.
Tuesday, January 25
9 a.m.: Akana update with Said
Amali.
Monday—Thursday, Janu-
ary 24-27: Affiliated Tribes of
Northwest Indians convention, vir-
tual.
Items for further consider-
ation: November-December
financials. Columbia River Inter-
Tribal Fish Commission January
meeting.