Page 2
Spilyay Tymoo
November 16
Students reflect on inspiring time at NIEA
A s Dasan Begay packed
‘ You should keep
his bags to fly for the first
time in his life, he was ex-
cited about what he was
about to experience.
He was about to attend
the National Indian Educa-
tion Association—NIEA—
Conference in Oklahoma
City.
Dasan is a junior attend-
ing Madras High School in
Jefferson County School
District. He was one of
three students the district
sponsored to attend the con-
ference this school year.
Dasan joined fellow jun-
ior Kahmussa Green and
senior Allison Medina on the
trip.
All three grew up in
Warm Springs, and have at-
tended school in the 509-J
district since they were in
kindergarten.
The three students were
accompanied by Mariah
Stacona, Madras High Na-
tive American Liaison, and
Tony Summers, high school
principal.
The NIEA Conference—
the theme this year was Edu-
c a t i o n S o v e r e i g n t y —O u r
Choice—brought together
middle, high school and col-
lege students: They came to
learn from inspirational, ac-
complished and indigenous
speakers. Some speakers for
the student sessions included:
Chance Rush, Mike and
Bone Pawnwee, Hud
Oberly, Raven Morgan, Dr.
Daryl Tonemah, and the
Lady Force Football team
from Oklahoma City.
“The speakers, they all
made a life for themselves,”
Allison Medina said.
“It’s showing that Native
Americans aren’t just the ste-
reotype that everyone thinks
they are.”
Allison’s career aspira-
tions include going into law
enforcement. She wants to
be a police officer and then
work her way up to becom-
ing a detective.
Her inspiration for her
interest in law enforcement
is because of family. She had
several family members
who were cops and has a
family member currently in
the FBI. She thought about
her career goals when listen-
ing to the speaker’s message.
“They spoke a lot about
sticking to it, and doing the
things I want to do like col-
lege and having a good ca-
reer,” Allison said.
“I need to remember to
trying to achieve
your dream, even
if somebody
thinks it’s not
good... ’
Courtesy 509J Communications
Students Kahmussa Green, Dasan Begay and
Allison Medina joined school liaison Mariah
Stacona and Principal Summers for the NIEA
Conference in Oklahoma City.
stick to my guns and keep
doing what I’m doing.”
Kahmussa Green picked
up a similar message from
the speakers. She wanted to
attend the conference be-
cause of the experience it
would provide her. In addi-
tion, she was hoping to get
great advice on how to be-
come successful and start a
business.
“It was honestly really
something else,” Kahmussa
said. “To hear everybody
else’s stories and what
they’ve been through and
how they got this solution to
start this or that and that it
is okay to leave the reser-
vation and become success-
ful.”
“They still have the same
problems as us and they’re
trying to do the same things
or better.”
Everybody has a dream
was another key takeaway for
Dasan. He learned that while
everyone has that dream, not
everyone achieves it. His
message now is to not stop
until he accomplishes his
dream. For Dasan, his dream
is to earn an education de-
gree and become a teacher
and eventually a principal.
“You should keep trying
to achieve your dream even
if somebody thinks it’s not
good for you or whatever.
You should just follow it and
achieve it,” he said.
Seeing the city
Inspirational talks
Each of the students
came away from the confer-
ence inspired: Inspired to be
better every day by listening
to the speakers share their
stories with them.
Something that stuck
with the students was that
the message was coming
from people who said they
were in similar situations
when they were younger.
Another encouraging sign
for the three students was
seeing students from all over
the country descend on
Oklahoma City for the con-
ference.
“It was good to know
there are people in the same
boat as us you know, even
way down south or way up
north,” Dasan Begay said.
All three students recom-
mend future students take
advantage of this opportu-
nity, should it come up again.
“I think they should go just
to have the experience,”
Kahmussa said.
“There’s a lot you can
learn. I’m really happy I got
chosen to go because it’s
helped me and this really in-
spired me a lot.”
Both Mariah Stacona, as
Native American liaison, and
Principal Summers ensured
the students made the most
of their conference experi-
ence. It was the first time for
each of the students to at-
tend an event like this.
“I would say it was fun
watching them get outside of
their comfort zone. They had
to meet other students and
go up to the keynote speak-
ers to introduce themselves,”
Mariah said. “It was just fun
watching them grow within
themselves.”
In addition to the confer-
ence, the three students also
got a chance to check out the
city with Mariah and Princi-
pal Summers. These experi-
ences outside of the class-
room gave the group time to
develop and grow their rela-
tionships with one another.
“The best part of it was
actually talking with the kids,
to be honest,” Mr. Summers
said.
“At one point, we went to
dinner and we had some
pretty in-depth conversa-
tions about stuff like culture,
how they feel they’re being
taught in classes, how they
perceive things, and how
they take certain things
they’re taught.”
Some of the highlights of
the trip were checking out
the University of Oklahoma
and the First Americans Mu-
seum.
“They have a lot of pre-
served things like dresses,
belts, moccasins, and weap-
ons, and they speak a lot
about our history and their
history,” Allison Medina said.
“It correlates with those
as well down here in Warm
Springs. I think that’s really
cool they got to make a huge
museum dedicated to Native
American people.”
After reflecting on his
time in Oklahoma City,
Dasan wants to use this ex-
perience to benefit not only
himself but serve as an in-
spiration for those around
him.
“My hope is to just come
back and be a good example
for my fellow peers,” he said.
“Help them maybe real-
ize and maybe try to do
more stuff in the commu-
nity. For other students,
teachers, parents, and fami-
lies. If you have a dream,
go achieve it.”
Story and photo,
School District 509-J
Communications
Public notice: Livestock
on Kah-Nee-Ta property
On January 24, 2021,
the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs/Tribal
Council made the deci-
sion to reinvest and re-
open the Kah-Nee-Ta Vil-
lage/Resort. An aggres-
sive, major renovation
has commenced, and the
resort is scheduled for re-
open in 2023.
Kah-Nee-Ta tempo-
rarily closed in September
2018. In the following
months, livestock owners
allowed their cows and
horses to graze on the
tribally owned property.
Through the construc-
tion/remodel, livestock
caused damage to the
pool area and landscap-
ing.
Ordinance 33, Chap-
ter 345 (Livestock Con-
trol in Populated Areas),
Sections 345.10.4 and
345.20 specifically ad-
dress the Kah-Nee-Ta
Resort property. Per
Tribal Ordinance 33, the
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort is
closed to livestock, the
livestock owners are re-
spectfully requested to
remove their animals im-
mediately. This notice is
to inform the member-
ship that any unautho-
rized ‘at large’ livestock
on resort property is in
violation of Tribal Ordi-
nance 33; fines, restitu-
tion, court and other costs
are addressed in the ordi-
nance.
Thank you for your
cooperation. The re-
opening of the Kah-Nee-
Ta Resort is an exciting
time for the tribes and the
membership.
Public meeting notice:
Commissary Project
The War m Springs
Community Action Team
(WSCAT) is applying to
the USDA Rural Develop-
ment, Community Facili-
ties Loan and Grant Pro-
gram for funding of the
Commissary Small Busi-
ness Incubator project.
WSCAT is seeking
$450,000 in funding.
WSCAT will hold a
meeting open to the pub-
lic to discuss project
progress, discuss the ap-
plication, discuss how
community-based entre-
preneurs can access office
and retail space at
the Commissary, and pro-
vide an opportunity for
the public to comment.
The meeting is a re-
quirement of the USDA
application. The meeting
will be held on the Tues-
day afternoon of No-
vember 29 at 12 p.m. at
the WSCAT building at
1136 Paiute Avenue.
For more information
on the USDA Rural De-
velopment application
please contact Chris
Watson at:
chris@wscat.org
Or Starla Green
(starla@wscat.org) at ei-
ther email:
starla.@wscat.org
Or call WSCAT at
541-553-3148.
Tribal Council in November
Monday, November 21
9 a.m.: Secretary-Trea-
surer update.
10: November agenda
and review minutes with the
S-T.
11: Draft resolutions.
1:30 p.m.: Legislative
update calls, federal and
state.
2:30: Enrollments with
Lucille Sampson of Vital
Stats.
3: Indian Health Services
update
with
Hyllis
Dauphinais.
Tuesday, November
22 – Tribal Council meet-
ing with committees.
9 a.m.: Culture and Heri-
tage.
9:30: Education.
10: On Reservation Fish
and Wildlife.
10:30: Off Reservation
Fish and Wildlife.
11: Health and Welfare.
11:30: Land Use Planning.
1:30 p.m.: Range and Ag-
riculture.
2: Timber.
2:30: Election and Count-
ing Board.
Wednesday, November
23
9 a.m.: Approve 2023
tribal budget and resolu-
tion.