Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Community
update
Warm Springs Indian Health Ser-
vice is hosting a Covid-19 vaccine
clinic—Protect Yourself. Protect Your
Family. Protect Your Elders.
This will be an after-hours covid
vaccine event, from 4:30 to 6:30
p.m. on Wednesday, February 16 at
the clinic.
Everyone over the age of 5 is
welcome. All three vaccines are
available. You can receive your first
dose, or second dose. The booster
is available for those 12 and up.
Please call 541-553-2131 to
schedule. Remember to bring your
vaccine card.
Covid incidence
The Warm Springs Covid-19 Re-
sponse Team updated the covid in-
cidence among the tribal commu-
nity, as of February 4. On that date
there were 92 people with active
Covid-19; and 47 close contacts re-
ceiving daily monitoring.
On that date there were five com-
munity members hospitalized with
covid.
Vaccinations
IHS reminds the communtiy: If
you have received two doses of the
Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or one
dose of the J&J vaccine; and it has
been at least five months since your
last dose of Pfizer or Moderna, or
two months since your last dose of
J&J, you are eligible for a booster
dose.
If you are not boosted, or within
six months of your vaccination se-
ries, you will be asked to quaran-
tine if you are exposed to someone
with Covid-19.
If you only received one dose
of Moderna or Pfizer, please return
to complete the vaccine series. You
require the two doses to complete
the series and for fuller protection.
Call to make your vaccine ap-
pointment at 541-553-2131. Ap-
pointments are available Monday-
Friday in the Community Health
Clinic.
For anyone currently in isolation
due to covid, or are in quarantine,
you need to wait until you are out
of isolation or quarantine to make
your vaccine appointment
Being fully vaccinated is one of
the best ways to protect yourself,
your family, and your community
from covid illness. Data show that
boosters help broaden and
strengthen protection against the
virus variants, including pervasive
Omicron.
Precautions
If you have covid symptoms,
please stay home.
Symptoms may appear 2-14 days
after exposure to the virus. People
with these symptoms may have
Covid-19:
Fever or chills. Cough, and short-
ness of breath or difficulty breath-
ing. Fatigue, muscle or body aches,
and a headache.
Another sign is the loss of taste
or smell. Sore throat, congestion or
runny nose; nausea or vomiting.
If you have any of these symp-
toms, please stay home.
February 9, 2022 - Vol. 47, No. 3
Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Council nominations in for spring vote
The three districts of the
Confederated Tribes hosted the
Council nomination meetings in
early February. There were 17
nominees for the Agency
Distict; eight for the Simnasho
District; and six for Seekseequa.
Background checks are re-
quired for all nominees, fol-
lowed by certification of Tribal
Council. As stated in the By-
Laws of the Confederated
Tribes: Article II—Qualifica-
tions of Office: No person shall
represent the Confederated
Tribes on the Council unless the
person is a duly enrolled mem-
ber of the community who has
attainted the age of 21 years,
and who has never been con-
victed of a major crime.
After the background
checks, the nominees’ eligibility will
be certified by Tribal Council.
Council has scheduled April for
the election. The new Council—
the Twenty-Ninth of the Confed-
erated Tribes—would then take
office in May.
Those accepting nomination for
the Simnasho District are: Carlos
Calica, TJ Foltz, Raymond Moody,
Emerson Squiemphen, Jaylyn
Suppah, Lincoln Jay Suppah,
Ronnie Suppah, and Levi Van Pelt.
Accepting nomination for the
Seekseequa District are: Rosa
Graybael, Ruben Henry, Vesta
Johnson, Brigette McConville, Wil-
son Wewa, and Martha Winishut.
Accepting nomination for
Agency are: Reina Estimo, Eugene
Greene Sr., Danni Katchia, Cyrille
Mitchell, Alvis Smith III,
Johnathan W. Smith, Ryan Smith
Jr., and Valerie Switzler. Agency
nominations by written form are
in for: Rain Circle, Michael
Clements, Anita Jackson, Uren
Leonard Jr., James Manion, Daniel
Martinez, Glendon Smith, Jason
Wesley Smith, and Dennis White
III.
So there are eight nominees for
Simnasho; six for Seekseequa; and
17 for Agency. Again, this is the
preliminary list, to be finalized by
Tribal Council certification.
Longest-serving Council mem-
ber and current Council Chairman
Raymond Tsumpti Sr. received a
nomination for the Simnasho Dis-
trict, though Chairman Tsumpti
declined.
Agency and Simnasho each have
three Council representatives, and
Seekseequa has two. Including the
three Chiefs, who serve for life, the
Council includes a total of 11 mem-
bers. Each elected member serves
a term of three years.
The Vital Statistics Department
maintains the voter lists for the three
districts. The lists show the district in
which each voter has voted in the
past to the best ability of Vital Stats.
The department also maintains a
current voter list that may be made
available for inspection, considering
the covid protocols now in place
within the organization.
Any person may change voting
districts by filling out the district
change for m. However, any
registration change must be filed
more than 60 days prior to any
election in order to be effective for
that particular election.
For the
Commissary
business
project
O ne of the most interest-
ing business projects for the
tribes will be the Commissary
incubator enterprise. The
Warm Springs Community Ac-
tion Team has been working on
the business incubator idea for
a few years now.
Like many other things, the
project met with delay caused
by the 2020 arrival of the pan-
demic.
The business incubator en-
visions moving the Commis-
sary—quite likely the oldest his-
toric structure on the reserva-
tion—from its current location
by the Post Office and Police
Station.
The move will be to a site
by Highway 26. This area was
cleared in preparation for the
move, just before covid arrived
in March of 2020.
Recently, a crew with Alpine
Abatement Associates did some
health and safety work on the
Commissary. This involved re-
moving lead paint from the
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
A team with Alpine Abatement Associates safely removes lead-based paint chips from
the outside of the Commissary.
Architects’ conceptual renderings of how the
incubator building may look once in operation.
building; so the eventual move
would not disturb the paint. Once
ready, a contracting firm will trans-
port the building most carefully to
the new location.
In time the plan calls for the art-
ists group Tananáwit to have a spot
at one end of the building. There
will also be a café, an outdoor
food court; and other busi-
nesses that may wish to join the
wholly renovated structure.
On the Tribal Council agenda for February
Monday, February 14
9 a.m.: Covid-19 update with
the Response Team.
view minutes with the S-T.
10: Draft resolutions with the S-
T.
1:30 p.m.: Enrollments with
Lucille Suppach-Samson of Vital
Stats.
2: Tribal Employment Rights
Office (TERO) update with
Wendell Jim.
2:30: Gaming Commission/
Surveillance update with Josephine
Johnson.
Tuesday, February 15
9 a.m.: Secretary-Treasurer
update with Glendon Smith.
9:30: March agenda and re-
Wednesday, February 16
9 a.m.: Human Resources up-
date acting Carol Funk.
9:30: Finance update Isaac
The following are some of the
items coming up on the Tribal
Council agenda for the rest of
Februar y (subject to change at
Council discretion):
Wednesday, Februar y 9:
Open agenda.
George.
10: Procurement update with
Libby Chase.
10:30: Governmental Affairs
update with Louie Pitt.
11: Managed Care program up-
date Michael Collins.
1:30 p.m.: Administrative Ser-
vices update with Glendon Smith.
2: Tribal Court update with Lisa
Lomas.
2:30: Veterans Office update
with Frankie Williams.
3: Health and Human Services
update with Caroline Cruz.
3:30: Education update with
Valerie Switzler.
Thursday, February 17
9 a.m.: Public Utilities update
with Chico Holliday.
9:30: Public Safety update with
Nancy Seyler, acting GM.
10: Natural Resources update
with Robert Brunoe.
Monday, February 21: Orga-
nization closed in observation of
Presidents Day.
Note: All draft resolutions and
ordinances, including any attach-
ments or exhibits, are due by the
first Friday of each month by 5
p.m.
Send
by
email:
gsmith@wstribes.org