E Coosh EEWA: The way it is
Letters to the editor
Buffalos at
hoops Shootout
The Madras White Buf-
falo girls and boys varsity
basketball teams are playing
this week at the Sisters Holi-
day Shootout, this Wednesday
through Friday, December
28-30.
The girls first kick off
their play at 3 p.m. this
We d n e s d a y
against Kla-
math Union.
The Buffalo
girls are 5-2 in pre-season
play. Klamath Union is 4-2.
Other teams participating are
Sisters, Junction City, Henley,
Crook County, Banks and La
Grande.
In the boys bracket the
White Buffalos open up tour-
nament play this Wednesday
at 5 p.m. against Banks.
Other teams competing on
the boys side are Junction
City, Henley, Mazama,
Gladstone, Klamath Union
and Sisters.
Attention Housing
Authority Tenants
Due to the increased cost
for key blanks, replacement
keys will be $20 per key, ef-
fective immediately. Keys
must be paid in full when
picked up. Thank you.
Warm Springs Housing
Authority.
Dam spill
Several major Pelton-
Round Butte dam mainte-
nance projects coming up in
2023 and 2024. The work
will require spilling water at
Round Butte dam, rather
than passing it through the
powerhouse.
To better protect fish in
Lake Billy Chinook from
getting pulled into the spill-
way, the tribal-PGE team de-
signed and constructed an
exclusion net.
The net was deployed and
successfully tested in No-
vember, with no fish ob-
served and appropriate lev-
els of dissolved oxygen
downstream.
On New Year’s
Wishing all my family a
safe and Happy New Year!
Watch out for those danger-
ous drivers... Love Y'all ~
Donna and Bubba
Birth
Ryan Keven Thomas and
Shaylene Nicole Craig of
Warm Springs are pleased to
announce the birth of their
son Ryan Keven Thomas Jr.,
born on December 23, 2022.
Ryan joins sister Riyan, 13.
Grandparents on the
father’s side are Everette
Windy Boy of Warm Springs,
and the late Sharold Thomas.
Grandparents on the
mother’s side are Kathy Smith
of Madras, and Joel
Queahpama-Craig of Kla-
math Falls.
Stay healthy
Covid 19 and flu vaccines
are available at Warm Springs
Community Health. You can
call to schedule an appoint-
ment at 541-553-2610. Vac-
cinations are the best way to
protect from both illnesses.
Everyone should have
several Covid-19 home test
kits on hand. See the site:
covid.gov/tests
Or stop by Warm Springs
Emergency Management
during the work day to get
some free tests.
Page 4 Spilyay Tymoo December 28, 2022
Great food at the Commodities warehouse
This is one of the
busier times of year at
War m Springs Com-
modities, including a big
Free Food Market com-
ing up on Tuesday, Janu-
ary 3 at the Community
Center.
Meanwhile, the Com-
modities storehouse—on
Holiday Street at the in-
dustrial park—is open
Monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed
during the lunch hour.
Commodities offers
all kinds of top-quality
items—meats and fish,
fresh fruits and veg-
etables, canned goods,
milk and eggs, cooking
oils—mostly anything a
D.McMechan/Spilyay
By the Commodities freezer area, including a new
freezer, are George Picard Jr. and Theodore Zamora.
family would need for
many healthy and nutri-
tious meals.
Theodore Perez Zamora
is the Commodities director,
working there with George
Picard Jr., Raymond Ander-
son and Chester VanPelt III.
An addition to Commodities
that Mr. Zamora is working
on is a nutrition and
cooking education pro-
gram. “We’re looking for
people who have a
knack for cooking with
Commodities foods, who
can share their skills with
the
community,”
Theodore said.
As an idea of the
popularity of Commodi-
ties: Last month, the
team helped 1,800 com-
munity households meet
their food needs.
The frozen foods at
Commodities are kept
in two secure freezers,
one of which is brand
new. These are for some
of the meets, for in-
stance.
Energy project would harm tribal resources, study finds
A proposed energy stor-
age project at Goldendale,
Washington would signifi-
cantly impact tribal cultural
resources, with no ways
around those impacts. That
is the finding of a state gov-
ernment study on the ways
the renewable energy project
could harm the environ-
ment.
The Yakama Nation, the
Confederated Tribes of
War m Springs and the
Umatilla tribes are opposed
to the development.
The Washington State
Department of Ecology re-
leased its final environmen-
tal impact statement this
month after almost a year of
studying concerns about the
project raised by tribes, other
state agencies, citizens, and
advocacy groups.
In its final statement, the
department called the harms
More than 15,000
years ago, the height
of these hills pro-
tected Ka-milt-pah
members from water
that cascaded down
the gorge...
to tribes significant, unavoid-
able and adverse.
The statement also found
potential harm to plants and
wildlife, including golden
eagles, little brown bats and
smooth desert parsley. How-
ever, planners could account
for any loss of habitat or
mortalities the project causes
through mitigation measures
like wildlife deterrents and
additional land purchases for
wildlife habitat.
The Goldendale Energy
Storage Project would be the
largest pumped storage
project in the Pacific North-
west. If built, the
Goldendale Energy Storage
Project would provide 1,200
megawatts of electricity on
demand, the equivalent of
roughly 12 hours of electric-
ity for people living in a city
the size of Seattle.
According to the pro-
posal: A reservoir would be
built high atop Goodnoe
Hills on private land in
south-central Washington.
More than 2,000 feet below,
a second reservoir would
stretch across a small sec-
tion of a former aluminum
smelter site.
The reservoirs would act
as batteries, pumping water
up the hillside when there is
excess energy and storing
the water until there is more
demand on the grid.
While the natural geogra-
phy makes this site a perfect
fit for the Goldendale
project, it also makes this site
sacred to tribal members.
To the Ka-milt-pah mem-
bers, or the Rock Creek
Band of the Yakama Nation,
Goodnoe Hills is a sacred
area known as Put-a-lish.
During the Ice Age Floods
more than 15,000 years ago,
the height of these hills pro-
tected Ka-milt-pah members
from water that cascaded
down the gorge.
Now, traditional plants
and medicines grow in the
area. Tribes also raised con-
cerns over potential visual
changes in the landscape that
could impact cultural and
spiritual practices.
The Yakama Nation, the
Warm Springs and Umatilla
repeatedly have said no
mitigation measures would
help.
On facing a sudden loss
by Dr. Shilo Shaw Tippett for KWSO
Spilyay Tymoo
(Coyote News, Est. 1976)
Publisher Emeritus in Memorium: Sid Miller
Editor: Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our of-
fices are located at 4174 Highway 3 in Warm
Springs.
Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo
should be addressed to:
Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 489, Warm Springs, OR
97761.
Phone: 541-553-2210 or 541-771-7521
E-Mail: david.mcmechan@wstribes.org.
Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $20.00
It is very normal to experience a variety of extraor-
dinarily strong and extremely difficult emotions such as
shock, disbelief, extreme sadness, anger, rage, panic,
and other feelings. It is also normal to go from one
extreme emotion to another without knowing why.
You may experience sudden unpleasant memories,
sleep disturbance and nightmares, lack of concentra-
tion and focus, and feelings of guilt or shame. Some
people will experience hearing the voice of the person
you lost, being drawn to places and things associated
with your lost loved one, feeling guilty to be alive, hav-
ing great difficulty caring about or trusting others, a
preoccupation with thought of your lost loved one, and
feeling that life is empty and lacks meaning.
These reactions are expected when experiencing grief.
You are not going crazy. You will work through these
on your own time; there is no set timeframe for mourn-
ing the loss of people you love.
Grief is a deeply painful process, and it is normal to
want to stop or numb the process for ourselves or some-
one close to us. Losing a loved one makes us feel pow-
erless and vulnerable, but the grieving process is a par-
ticularly important part of healing. You are not alone,
if you need support dial 988 for the national crisis
hotline.
Note: This is the first in a four-part series by Dr.
Shaw Tippett on Facing Sudden Loss.
Housing assistance available at WSHA
Regarding the Bureau of
Indian Affairs Housing Im-
provement Program, HIP:
To apply for assistance, sub-
mit the following to the
Warm Springs Housing Au-
thority.
Applications can be
picked up at the Housing
office during regular business
hours, or call 541-553-3250.
To apply:
Complete the HIP appli-
cation. Make a copy of your
tribal enrollment card (your
tribal ID), plus:
Proof of income for en-
tire household.
Proof of land or obtain a
land lease.
Proof of disability (if
claiming disability in HIP ap-
plication).
Proof of veteran status
(veteran card, discharge pa-
pers, veteran assistance).
There are four categories
of available housing grants:
Category (A): $7,500 in
safety or sanitation repairs
to the house.
Category (B): $60,000
renovation to bring your
house to standard housing
condition.
Category (C): A modest
house. Can only be provided
once.
Category (D): Maximum
of $75,000 assistance to-
wards the purchase of a mod-
est house.
Please fill out and provide
all documentation to the
Housing office no later than
December 28, 2022.
Thank you.
Chet VanPelt, War m
Springs Housing Author-
ity.