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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2023)
Page 6 Spilyay Tymoo From the Probate Department by Valerie Squiemphen Public Administrator The Native American Pro- gram, Legal Aid Services of Oregon is a non-profit law firm specializing in free civil legal services to income eli- gible Indian Tribal Members. NAPOLS offers free will drafting services and other estate planning assistance to tribal members in Oregon who qualify. To qualify for NAPOL services, you must be low- income among other require- ments that we verify during an initial intake meeting. A Will allows YOU to de- cide who will receive your property when you pass. Many tribal members own interests in property held in trust by the federal govern- ment. Without a Will, fed- eral law controls who will in- herit trust property. Also, without a Will, tribal and/or state law will control who inherits non-trust prop- erty. NAPOLS will be in Warm Springs on July 26, 2023. To make an appoint- ment call 503-223-9483 ASAP. Department get the ad- dresses from Vital Stats for any heirs to an estate. It’s important that every- one keep their address up- dated with Vital Stats. We’ve gotten a lot of re- turned mail because the ad- dress has not been updated in Vital Stats. In some cases, the heir has not picked up their inheritance check. Notice to creditors - We send out Notice to Creditors to those departments within the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs that a de- ceased person might use throughout their lifetime (i.e. Utilities, ECE, Telecom, Credit, Construction, High Lookee, Tribal Court, Com- pliance, Housing, etc.). If there is anyone else that we need to add to the list, within the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, please contact Probate so that we can add you to our list of people to send No- tice to Creditors to. The order of importance on the Notice to Creditors is: · Taxes or debts of what- soever nature due the United States. · Any amount due The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. · Debts which, at the death of the decedent, are liens upon his or her prop- erty or any right or inter- ested therein, according to the priority of their several liens. · Expense of Administra- tion · All expenses of last ill- ness and burial expenses · All other claims against the estate (2) Sale of Personal Prop- erty. After filing the inven- tory and appraisal, the Ad- ministrator may petition the Court for authority to sell personal property of the es- tate for purposes of paying the expenses of last illness and burial expenses, ex- penses of administration, claims, if any, against the estate, and for the purpose of distribution. If, in the Court’s judg- ment, such sale is in the best interest of the estate, the Court shall order such sale and prescribe the ter ms upon which the property shall be sold. (3) Sale of Real Property. When the proceeds of the sale of personal property and other funds of the es- tate have been exhausted, and the charges, expenses and claims against the estate have not all been satisfied, or when it appears to the satisfaction of the Court that it would be in the best interest of the heirs, devisees or legatees that all or a part of the real property of the estate be sold for purposes of distribution, the Admin- istrator shall petition the Court for authority to sell real property of the estate, or so much thereof as may be necessary for that pur- pose. If, in the Court’s judg- ment, such sale is in the best interest of the estate, the Court shall order such sale and shall prescribe the terms upon which the real property shall be sold. If any such real property has been specifi- cally devised, it shall be ex- empt from the operation of the Order of Sale. Store your will in a safe place - It is important to keep your will in a safe place and to let somebody know where that is. The Probate Department can store your Will in our Probate vault. You don’t have to, but it helps especially if your family does not have a copy of the Will. Our Probate file is locked every day when we leave and no one has access to it except me and the Probate Assistant. Mailing address - Just a reminder that the Probate Sale of property - Court approval is required for the sale of anything from the probate estate. You must present, in written form, to the Probate Department and we will submit the request to Tribal Court. Here is the code for Sale of Property: 1. 320.048 Sale of Prop- erty. (1) Court Approval Re- quired. No sale of property of an estate is valid unless made pursuant to an order of the Court. Administrator of the Estate - On occasion, there is an immediate family mem- ber that would like to be made the Administrator of an estate. That is possible, but a re- quest must be made, in writ- ing, to the Probate Depart- ment, which will be submit- ted to Tribal Court. Once the paperwork is signed, you will be given a copy of the Probate Code book and you must follow what is written. You must also make your- self available to the Probate Once again, please remem- ber : The Probate Department would appreciate your assis- tance by dropping off a copy of the Memor y Card for your loved one, so that we can put it in their Probate file. Thank you, in advance. Legal Assistance - Rohan Hiatt of the Native American Program of Legal Aid Services—NAPOLS—is taking over the estate plan- ning for NAPOLS. He sub- mitted the following: Notes... The Confederated Tribes’ graduation cel- ebration, honoring 2023 graduates, is planned for Saturday, July 1. There will be a parade at 11 a.m. on that day, and a meal at noon at the Com- munity Center Pavilion. Everyone is welcome to join in celebrating graduates from Head Start, eighth grade, high school and col- lege. LaPine Frontier Days is July 1-4, and they are seek- ing Warm Springs drummers, dancers, flute players, story- tellers and vendors to be part of the celebration. If you are interested, contact Kat at 805-248-9413. War m Springs Voca- tional Rehabilitation is lo- cated at 1110 Wasco Street in the Culture and Heritage building. Services include: Consultation, Assistive tech- nology, vocational planning, placement and mentoring. Learn more by calling 541- 553-4952. June 14, 2023 Department, to sign paper- work and to approve what- ever is presented to Tribal Court (must sign in person). It, then, becomes your re- sponsibility to follow thru on the steps of Probate. The Probate Department will as- sist you in typing up the forms with all of the information; it is up to you to make sure everything is accurate, before submitting to Tribal Court. Power of Attorney - We have a General Power of At- torney form and a Durable Power of Attorney form. Burial instructions - Along with fill-in Will, there are burial instructions form that a person can fill out. We try to include that along with the fill- in Will. This will be so your fam- ily can follow your wishes. Inheritance checks are ready Inheritance checks are ready for pick up at the Probate Department. Some expire as early as July 2023. Adams, Alicia R. Adams, Jessie Adams, Samuel Bates, Shawresa M. Bates-Perez, Cadaleana Buck, Joseph G. Chiquito-Katchia, Evaione Courtney, Marisol L. Harvey, Gene Jr. Heath, Charisse C. Heath, Melanie Johnson, Lisa M. Johnson-Ching, Elamina Katchia, Gary R. Lira, Mitchell F. Strong, Leora J. Stroschein, Samantha Van Antwerp, Carl Wahnetah, Haley Warner, Joshua J. Warner, Robert R. Yazzie, Alicia Yazzie, George Yazzie, Vivian Call Probate at 541- 553-3246, or 541-553- 3476, as soon as pos- sible, or stop by at 1 2 3 3 Ve t e r a n s Wa y, Warm Springs. Around Indian Country Welcoming salmon to the Upper Columbia Each spring, Northwest tribes celebrate the first foods of the season. At a Colville ceremony marking the return of migrating salmon, ecological challenges were top of mind. The sun just started to rise over the Columbia River in Bridgeport, Washington, when a Colvile fisherman caught the first salmon of the season. “Every year we acknowl- edge our first foods, and it’s like a pay-it-forward-pro- cess,” said Darnell Sam, the Salmon Chief and a mem- ber of the Sn’ps’quosa tribe, which is part of the Colville Confederated Tribes. “We always think about the future when we think about our foods. We give thanks for that food, and we continue to ask for that food for the fu- ture to come,” Sam said. The tribes are worried about what that future might look like. Young salmon migrate to the ocean, where they grow strong and large. This time of the year, a lot of them try to come back to the Up- per Columbia River to spawn. But Sam said they can’t return because of the Chief Joseph Dam. “Chief Joseph down here is named after one of our chiefs, but essentially, this is as far as the salmon can come on to Columbia. Any- thing above there is consid- ered the blocked area,” he said. Concrete dams have blocked salmon’s historic mi- gration pattern for about a century. Fish biologists say that’s been devastating for salmon populations in the Northwest. Combined with warming waters and low wa- ter flow from climate change, some salmon runs are at risk of extinction. “There’s all kinds of documentation in the past that when the salmon would come, tribes would literally feast for five days,” Sam said. Some dams have fish lad- ders to help adult salmon upstream, but Chief Joseph doesn’t have one, and nei- ther does the nearby Grand Coulee dam. Both are important power producers for the region. But there’s also no way for young salmon to get around the hydroelectric turbines as they head out to the ocean.
