Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Powwow,
feasts set
to return
Tribal Council voted in March
for Pi-Ume-Sha to return in June.
The Council motion also includes
provisions for the return of Fourth
of July activities, and all feasts.
The action comes as the tribes
have seen a sharp decline over re-
cent weeks and months in the inci-
dence of Covid-19 among the com-
munity.
Earlier this week, for instance,
there were no known cases of covid
on the reservation. Monitoring in-
cluded the standard practice of
checking wastewater for the pres-
ence of the virus.
The Covid-19 Response Team
met with Tribal Council eariler this
week regarding possible changes to
the tribes covid protocols. At that
time there were no changes made
to the existing requirements includ-
ing masking in tribal buildings, tem-
perature checks, vaccinations for
employees, etc.
The Response Team is set to re-
turn to Council on Monday, April
11 to continue the discussion. Lis-
ten to KWSO early next week for
the latest on any potential changes.
All of this has been great news,
said Caroline Cruz, general man-
ager of Health and Human Ser-
vices, and member of the Re-
sponse Team.
However, as has happened in
the past with Covid-19, the emer-
gence of variants can quickly be-
come a matter of concern.
The first of these was the delta
variant that last summer spread
rapidly across Africa and Europe,
then arriving in the U.S. including
on the reservation. Then the omi-
cron covid variant became the
dominant strain in the U.S.
Now, the concern is the omicron
variant called BA.2, believed to be
the the most contagious variant de-
tected so far.
On a brighter note, BA.2 does
not appear to cause more severe
illness than the original omicron
variant, called BA.1.
And BA.2 has not caused a wide-
spread rise in hospitalizations in
Europe, though researchers are still
learning more about this latest
variation.
Another important question in
dealing with all of the variants, is
whether the vaccinations are effec-
tive in preventing serious illness,
were a person to come in contact
with a variant.
At this point, studies show that
people who are fully vaccinated and
have gotten boosters have strong
protection against hospitalization
from both BA.1 and BA.2.
For a covid vaccine appoint-
ment, call the Health and
Wellness Center during business
hours to schedule a day and time.
Call 541-553-2131.
The tribes have a vaccine re-
quirement for tribal employees,
with exceptions for people who
qualify under a religious or medi-
cal exemption.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
April 6, 2022 - Vol. 47, No. 7
March – Wiyalppt – Spring - Wawaxam
Members choose Twenty-Ninth Tribal Council
The membership last week
chose the new Tribal Council.
There was an excellent voter
turnout for all three districts,
the Election Board reported.
The ballot counting process
also went smoothly, with ev-
ery single ballot cast included
in the final tally, the board re-
ported.
There will be five new mem-
bers on the Twenty-Ninth Tribal
Council. Meanwhile, three in-
cumbents of the Twenty-Eighth
Tribal Council won re-election
to the tribes’ policy decision-
making body.
Lincoln Jay Suppah and
Raymond ‘Captain’ Moody are
retaining their seats for the
Simnasho district, and Wilson
Wewa Jr. retains his place for the
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Scene at the polls, the morning of March 30, 2022.
Seekseequa District. The Agency
District saw a change in all three of
its elected positions. Here are the
results by district:
Agency District: James
Manion, Alvis Smith III, and
Jonathan W. Smith.
Seekseequa District: Rosa
Graybael and Wilson Wewa Jr.
Simnasho District: Carlos
Calica, Raymond Moody and Lin-
coln Jay Suppah.
The elected members will join
the three life-time members, Warm
Springs Chief Delvis Heath,
Simnasho District; Wasco Chief
Alfred Smith Sr., Agency District;
and Paiute Chief Joseph Moses,
Seekseequa District.
Tribal Council last Thursday,
March 31, confirmed, accepted
and adopted the election results, as
certified and presented by the Elec-
tion Board. The Twenty-Ninth
Tribal Council is scheduled to be
sworn in on Monday, May 9 outside
the tribal administration building.
Dave McMechan
Big move for WSCAT Commissary project
T he Commissary building is
now settling into its new location
by Highway 26, at the corner of
Wasco and Paiute streets on the
campus area.
Moving the two-story, 126-
year-old structure took just a few
hours this past Monday. There
was a light rain during the move,
which nevertheless went very
quietly and smoothly.
During the morning and af-
ternoon, people were pausing to
take pictures and videos, witness-
ing the rare site of a 5,000-
square-foot structure making its
two-block trek.
The Warm Springs Commu-
nity Action Team is now well on
the way toward fulfilling its Com-
missary business development
plan.
Over the coming year the
building will see a complete
three-stage remodel.
Stage one will be the upstairs,
to become a resource center for
small businesses; with the down-
stairs becoming storefronts for
local crafters and small busi-
nesses. Phase two will add an
outdoor food pavilion, spaces
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Commissary building on the move to new location by Highway 26.
for food carts, and a stage. A later
phase will add a commercial kitchen,
and other welcome amenities.
The Warm Springs Community Action Team hosted a space for
watching the move. The light rain required the tent covering.
There was a good turnout for the historic building relocation. At
left, the building move as viewed from across the highway.
On the Tribal Council agenda during April
The following are some of
the items already discussed, and
coming up on the Tribal Coun-
cil Agenda during April
(aagenda subject to change at
Council discretion):
Monday, April 4
9 a.m.: Bureau of Indian Affairs
update with superintendent Brenda
Bremner.
9:30: Office of Special Trustee
update with Kevin Moore.
10: Realty items with Greta
WhiteElk.
10:30: Legislative update confer-
ence calls.
11: Indian Health Service up-
date with clinic CEO Hyllis
Dauphinais.
11:30: Covid update with the
Response Team.
1:30 p.m.: Tribal attorneys up-
date.
3:30: Water treatment plant up-
date with Barry, Chico and Ellen.
Weekly check-in with Blue Stone
Strategy, via Zoom.
AGENDA continues on page 2