Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
$2 million
for new
housing
The Confederated Tribes,
through the Warm Springs Housing
Authority, are moving forward with
a new affordable housing project on
Kuckup Loop. This is made possible
by a $2 million grant that will in time
fund the construction of eight single-
family homes. “We’re very excited
about this, and hoping for the best
project possible,” said Danielle
Wood, Warm Springs Housing Au-
thority Executive Director.
This type of funding—a $2 mil-
lion Housing and Urban Develop-
ment Indian Community Develop-
ment Block grant, or ICDBG—is
an annual grant opportunity with the
grant application process being com-
petitive. “This has been a team ef-
fort,” Ms. Wood said, “and I have
the best team.” While demonstrat-
ing the pressing need for new
houses, past and current grant per-
formance and compliance, having
qualified staff, and timely audit sub-
missions are key to qualifying,
Danielle said.
The eight new stick-built homes
will be built on vacant lots along
Kuckup. The first phase of the
project will be an environmental as-
sessment and cleanup. The construc-
tion process will take some time
though the project holds great prom-
ise; the Housing Authority already
is working on a new grant that may
fund phase 2 of the Kuckup im-
provement project. A good thing is
that this particular area of Warm
Springs already has established in-
frastructure in place, Ms. Wood
said.
Spay-a-Thon
beginning
this weekend
The June and early July week-
end Spay-a-Thon in Warm Springs
begins this Saturday, June 3. The
series of veterinarian clinics are
free to resident pet-owners, de-
signed to improve the lives of dogs
and cats, and the pet owners of the
reservation.
The Spay-a-Thon is hosted by
Fences for Fido with First Nations
Veterinary and Clinic HQ.
The clinics will be during the four
weekends in June and the first Sun-
day in July at the Warm Springs
Agency Fire Station. There are two
ways to register for the event:
First, You can visit:
firstnationsvet.com/warm-springs-
nation
Or you can make and ap-
pointment by phone at 503-451-
0765. Each pet will receive a spay
or neuter, vaccines, microchip and
flea and tick medicine. Require-
ments are:
Pets must be between 2 months
and 5 years old, and weigh less than
60 pounds. The clinics are open to
residents with pets who live within
the boundary of the reservation of
Confederated Tribes.
May 31, 2023 - Vol. 48, No. 11
May – Xawit’an – Spring - Wawaxam
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Inspiring stories at Medicine Wheel Recovery
Evaristo Antunez is the men-
tor supervisor at Medicine
Wheel Recovery Services, lo-
cated at St. Helens on the Co-
lumbia just north of Portland.
He first arrived at the Medi-
cine Wheel center some years
ago seeking recovery. Since
then the changes in his life have
been profound, and now he is
helping to change, and even
save the lives of others.
“Evaristo is a success story,”
said Tana Howtopat, co-execu-
tive director of Medicine
Wheel Recovery Services.
Mr. Antunez went to Medi-
cine Wheel Recovery for help,
and made the successful tran-
sition. Evaristo then decided
to stay in St. Helens and assist
others in overcoming addiction.
“We provided the education,
and now he is the recovery su-
pervisor,” Tana says.
Evaristo is from Warm
Springs, and Tana also lived
here for several years; so their
names may be familiar, as may
be the names of others from
the Warm Springs community
who have made new lives
through Medicine Wheel Re-
covery Services.
Leroy Smith and Erickson
Lucei work at the Medicine
Wheel child wellness drop-in
center. Clarissa Howtopat,
Tana’s daughter, is the clinical
supervisor for the men’s pro-
gram.
Isaiah Teewee, Stuart Smith,
Tana Howtopat photo
At Medicine Wheel: Tony Gilbert, Leroy Smith, Stuart Smith, Tommy Napyer, Everisto Antunez,
Izaiah Tewee, Erickson Lucei. Not pictured is Johnnie Smith, Clarissa Howtopat, Tanner Yallup and
Doris Lawrence (from left).
Johnnie Smith and Tony Gilbert are
certified recovery mentors. Doris
Lawrence is a Medicine Wheel fam-
ily support specialist. Tommy
Napyer is the transportation super-
visor, and Tanner Yallup is the Hu-
man Resources specialist.
As mentioned, and as Warm
Springs is a close community, these
individuals are likely known to
many. “Each of them is currently
in recovery from substance abuse,”
Tana says. “And all have made sub-
stantial life changes, now working
to help others attempting recovery.”
Their stories are inspiring for any-
one facing these kinds of problems.
Before coming to Medicine
Wheel Recovery, many of the in-
dividuals had never had a driver’s
license or a job. They may have
been in trouble with the law, or
with family and friends. “It can feel
hopeless to live in Warm Springs,”
Tana says. “There are not that
many job opportunities, and many
people are using substances.”
Lives can fall almost com-
pletely apart with no ready solu-
tion. And then with some help
there is a chance for recovery.
“All of this goes to show people
can change,” Tana says, “and with
some purpose in the heart, we can
do amazing things.”
Tana recounts an incident that
happened the other day at the re-
covery center: Walking into one of
the discussion rooms, she over-
heard some of the conversation.
“They were talking about credit
scores and financing a vehicle,”
she says. “They were sharing fam-
ily recipes. They have their chil-
dren in their lives again They have
their lives back.”
Anyone interested in learning
more can reach out at:
thowtopay@medicinewheel
recoveryservices.org
Dave McMechan
An early closure to Columbia spring tribal fishery
Spring tribal fisheries were
closed in mid May on the Co-
lumbia River, after it was deter-
mined that fewer fish are return-
ing this spring than initially pre-
dicted. After the tribal closure,
non-tribal fisheries were allowed
another six days on the river
because they had caught signifi-
cantly fewer fish than tribal fish-
eries, according to the Colum-
bia River Inter-Tribal Fish Com-
mission.
Initially, it was predicted that
198,600 fish would return to the
Columbia River, but that forecast
was downgraded to 139,000 on
May 14—a decline of 60,000
fish, said CRITFC spokesman
Jeremy FiveCrows. “That’s a
pretty significant drop when you
talk about those numbers,” he said.
This was the earliest the spring
tribal fishing season had closed in
recent history, said Stuart Ellis, com-
mission harvest management biolo-
gist. “This is a fairly early one,” he
said. “We’ve closed in early June in
the past. It’s not very often that we
run out of fish in the spring.”
Fish allocations on the Colum-
bia River are split between tribal and
nontribal fisheries.
The updated May forecast
resulted in each getting 7.4 per-
cent of the run. That’s to allow
enough fish for tributary fish-
ing and spawning. About the
time of the tribal closure, tribal
fisheries had caught 9,907 fish
while nontribal fishers had
caught 2,831, according to
CRITFC. More on the fisher y
on page 3.
For better water
Lawmakers and federal
agency officials joined tribal
leaders this week to launch the
construction process for a new
drinking water treatment plant
to serve the tribes. Close to $29
million from various sources—
mainly through Indian Health
Service and Environmental Pro-
tection Agency—is now avail-
able for the project.
The last several years of do-
mestic water service to most of
the reservation “are a shameful
legacy,” Sen. Wyden commented.
“The tribes have waited for too
long for what is a basic right,
clean drinking water.”
“Water is central to every-
thing,” Sen. Merkley added last
week during the project launch
gathering at the treatment plant.
“From our crops, to rivers and
oceans, and human consumption.”
On behalf of the tribes, Coun-
cil Chair man Jonathan Smith
thanked the senators, and the EPA
and IHS officials for their support.
“For us, water is life,” Chairman
Smith. “It’s the first thing we set
down at the longhouses and at
feasts. And clean water and water
infrastructure are at the top of
Tribal Council priorities,” he said.
The new treatment plant will be
built next to the existing one, on the
Deschutes River in the Dry Creek
area. The timeline for the design
and planning, biding and construc-
tion is in the range of 4 to 5 years.
For the new treatment plant, IHS
is contributing $14 million. The
EPA is adding another $10.3 mil-
lion. And Senators Wyden and
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Cpt. Mat Martinson, EPA Region 10 manager for Permitting,
Drinking Water and Infrastructure; Alex Dailey, IHS director of
Sanitation Facility Construction, Area 10; Sen. Wyden; Chairman
Smith at the podium, and Sen. Merkley (from left).
Merkley championed the inclusion
of $5 million in the Infrastructure
and Jobs Act of 2021.
Sen. Merkley is on the Senate
Appropriations Committee, and Sen.
Wyden is on the Finance Commit-
tee.
They’ve worked together the
past number of years in making the
reservation water system a funding
priority. The new treatment plant
will replace the current one that was
built in the 1980s, and is well be-
yond its projected lifespan.