E Coosh EEWA: The way it is
Page 4 Spilyay Tymoo November 16, 2022
Letters to the editor
Regarding poaching incidents
Hello Tribal Hunters,
It has come to my atten-
tion that there have been on-
going issues with theft, dam-
age and poaching in and
around the tribal farm, in-
cluding both the Culpus piv-
ots and Moody pivots.
This past fall, during the
buck deer reservation season,
several bull elk were poached
and left to rot and go to waste.
With support from the
Fish and Wildlife Committee,
the Branch of Natural Re-
sources will authorize ‘admin-
istrative No Hunting Areas
on the tribal farmlands.’ This
includes the road passing
through the farm area and
the fenced surrounding re-
gions.
The tribes have invested
hundreds of thousands of
dollars into the farm, and
don’t want to risk further
damage due to shooting or
vehicle traffic damage.
The Tribal Conservation
Enforcement and Branch of
Natural Resources staff will
monitor the area. Any viola-
tion of this administrative
order will violate the Hunt-
Veterans
Correction
The names of three vet-
erans were inadvertantly not
included on the Veterans list
in the previous Spilyay. The
veterans are Raymond Calica
Tsumpti Sr.; Raymond
Calica Tsumpti Jr.; and
Norman A. Nathan. The
Spilyay Tymoo apologizes for
this oversight, and has cor-
rected the current tribal com-
munity veterans list.
Medicare, Social
Security discussion
in Warm Springs
A Medicare and Social Se-
curity presentation is coming
up this week in War m
Springs. The presentation will
explain Medicare Open Sea-
son and enrollment times for
parts A, B, C and D.
The presentation also will
explain the new changes for
the 2023 cost living adjust-
ment, or COLA. Another
subject is the SSA benefit
amounts and cost of Part B
Medicare.
The presentation is this
Thursday, November 17 at
the Family Resource Center
conference room. Lunch will
be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15
p.m., serving garden salad,
pasta with beef, and Geris’
fried bread.
The discussion will be
from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m.
Courtesy CTWSBNR
Tribal area clearly
closed to hunting
(above); and poached
elk left to waste.
Thanksgiving Wishes from
Award Winning Contemporary
artist Travis Bobb.
An introduction to your Veterans Service Office
ing and Trapping Chapter
350 and other tribal codes
as they apply.
Thank you for your time
and consideration on these
matters.
A u s t i n S m i t h J r. ,
Branch of Natural Re-
sources general manager.
Michael Collins, director
of Managed Care, will ex-
plain Medicare Parts A, B, C
and D enrollment dates and
ending dates.
Rose Mary ‘Mushy’
Alarcon will discuss the 2023
COLA changes. A question
and answer session will be
from 1:15 to 1:30 p.m.
Spilyay Tymoo
The Spilyay Tymoo publi-
cation of the tribes is back
to the original spelling. By
way of explanation: Earlier
this fall the Culture and Heri-
tage Department welcomed
the new Ichishkiin dictionary
that contains the most defini-
tive spellings, definitions and
translations of the Ichishkiin
language. The dictionary in-
dicates the spelling of the
words ‘Coyote News’ would
be ‘Spílya Táimu,’ as opposed
to ‘Spilyay Tymoo.’
At the time at the Spilyay,
the thinking was to respect
the work of the dictionary.
However, in hindsight
now, the original Spilyay
name has existed since the
first publication in the spring
of 1976. And the name is
most accepted by, and famil-
iar to the readership of the
publication. So the original
spelling makes the most since;
and the Spilyay Tymoo apolo-
gizes for the mistake.
David McMechan, edi-
tor.
The DD-214 is the Cer-
tificate of Release or Dis-
charge from Active Duty,
and Proof of Military Ser-
vice that all veterans have.
This document is the first
one needed to get things
started. It shows many im-
portant aspects of the ser-
vice member’s time in uni-
form and is critical in deter-
mining receipt or denial of
benefits to the service mem-
ber.
If you don’t have it? I can
help you get it.
It is a sensitive subject
but I hope all of you veter-
ans who haven’t prepared
for the inevitable will bring
your DD-214s in to get
prequalified for the great
beyond.
You know how the VA
monster works, how compli-
cated and time consuming it
My name is Rain Circle
and I am your new Tribal
Veterans Service Officer in
Warm Springs. I am here to
help the veterans, those cur-
rently ser ving, and those
thinking about joining the
military.
I was born in Madras and
raised in Warm Springs. I
enlisted into the U.S. Army
in 1992 and graduated in
1993 from Madras High
School.
I spent 10 years in the
Regular Army, and finished
my career in the Oregon
Army National Guard as a
recruiter, where I learned
even more about the impor-
tance of security in handling
sensitive personal informa-
tion for service members and
their family or ‘dependents,’
so I know the frustration and
confusion of military paper-
work very well.
I am here to work with
the veterans and their de-
pendents with all the aspects
of filing for benefits, re-
questing records or answer-
ing questions they might
have. A first point of busi-
ness for us would be:
‘Bring me a DD-214 or
request one through my of-
fice.’
Comp, benefits
Future of tribal sovereignty in court’s hands
The annual War m
Springs Employee Com-
pensation and Benefits
meetings continue this
Wednesday morning at the
Fire Management training
room. The meetings start at
9, 10 and 11 o’clock.
The deadline for all
forms to be submitted is
We d n e s d ay, N ove m b e r
30.
A hard copy of all forms
must be submitted to the
Human Resources Depart-
ment at the Tribal Adminis-
tration building.
Rain Circle, Veterans
Service Officer of the
Confederated Tribes.
It is a possibly grim sign
for tribal sovereignty that the
Supreme Court last week
heard oral arguments in
Haaland v. Brackeen.
The justices are consider-
ing whether the Indian Child
Welfare Act, or ICWA, which
has governed adoption pro-
ceedings for Native children
for the last 44 years, is a con-
stitutional use of Congress’s
plenary powers over tribal
affairs.
Congress passed the law
in 1978 to end a series of
practices that collectively
amounted to cultural geno-
cide: the adoption of Na-
tive children by non-Native
families who then effec-
tively severed their connec-
tions with their tribes and
their cultures.
However, last week’s oral
arguments are not strictly
about the ICWA, as the law
is also known:
At issue in Brackeen is not
just whether one non-Native
family or many non-Native
families can adopt certain
can be to request the benefits
you are entitled to; so imag-
ine how your survivors will
cope with that. Don’t make
it harder on your depen-
dents: Bring in your DD-214,
and any other paperwork you
have on hand, so we can get
you in the system and line up
your benefits, to be ready.
I am excited and look for-
ward to the coming years as
your Veterans Representative
and I hope the articles I sub-
mit to our newspaper help
you. My contact information
is below feel free to call me
with your questions, thank
you!
Rain Circle, Confederated
Tribes of War m Springs
TVSO, 1144 Warm Springs
St., War m Springs, OR
97761.
Cell: 541-460-8971. Of-
fice: 541-553-2234.
children or whether the tribes
should get a say in their even-
tual placement.
Nor is this case entirely
about precisely when and
how Congress can pass laws
that affect tribal sover-
eignty.
The justices will find it im-
possible to answer these ques-
tions without deciding
whether tribal govern-
ments—and this country’s
Indigenous peoples—are a
legitimate part of the Ameri-
can constitutional order.