Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
August 23, 2023 - Vol. 48, No. 17
August – Shatm – Summer - Shatm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
District report as new school year starts soon
An important question in a re-
cent survey among students of
the Jefferson County 509-J School
District asks, ‘Do you feel like an
important part of your school’s
community?’ Reading the an-
swers, as considered by race-
ethnicity, the Native American
students of the district have the
most positive responses.
Another survey question asks,
‘Do you enjoy school most of the
time?’ Again, the Native students
have the most positive responses—
all good news from the recent 509-
J Performance Indicators Dash-
board student survey.
“The personal and human con-
nection is a big reason why students
feel like they belong,” said Jay
Mathison, 509-J district superinten-
dent. At the Warm Springs Acad-
emy, for instance, “Having Culture
and Heritage there can make the
students feel more at home.”
And clearly, feeling good about
being at school is one of the keys
to improving attendance. Tribal
Council met with the superinten-
dent, the 509-J board and Warm
Springs Academy principal for dis-
cussion as the new school year is
soon beginning.
The performance numbers
First of all and very noticeably:
The 2022-23 school district Perfor-
mance Indicators Dashboard data
still reflects the impact of the covid.
The pandemic abruptly inter-
rupted the 2019-2020 school year,
for which attendance numbers do
not apply.
And the data for the following
three school years, through 2022-
23, shows the lingering impact of
the early 2020 shutdown.
An example is the overall regu-
lar attendance rate for Jefferson
County School District among stu-
dents in kindergarten through the
second grade, very formative years
that can have long-term or perma-
nent results.
Warm Springs Academy Princi-
pal Lonnie Henderson explained
that some years ago, grades k-2
were more recreation-oriented for
the students. This has changed, and
k-2 are now education-oriented; so
a student who is absent, even dur-
ing these early grades, loses impor-
tant learning time.
For k-2 students of the district,
before the pandemic, the ‘regular
attender rate’—meaning no more
than 12 absences during the year—
was at 72 percent.
When in-school classes for the
most part resumed in 2020-21, the
regular attender rate had fallen to
57 percent; then dropped again the
following school year to 43 percent;
followed by improvement last year
to 52 percent—still an overall k-2
student attendance loss of 20-per-
cent from pre-covid years.
This is a serious issue—for 509-
J and nationwide—because atten-
dance is among the most important
factors in whether a student will
graduate and move on, Mr.
Mathison said.
See Schools on 5
Tribes refute state
delegation of authority
to the Grand Ronde
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs has treaty-pro-
tected fishing rights in the lower
Columbia River and its tribu-
taries, including the Willamette
and Sandy rivers. Willamette
Falls in particular is a very im-
portant treaty-reserved fishery
of the tribes. The tribes also
have treaty-protected rights to
hunt on unclaimed lands in west-
ern Oregon, as tribal ancestors
had done since time immemorial.
Earlier this month, the Or-
egon Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sion voted to approve an agree-
ment negotiated between state
Fish and Wildlife and the Con-
federated Tribes of Grand
Ronde. The agreement claims
to delegate certain state of Or-
egon rights to the Grand Ronde
tribe to co-manage fish and wild-
life resources in areas protected
by the Treaty of 1855 of the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs.
The state commission voted
to approve the agreement de-
spite the strong objection of the
Warm Springs tribes, along with
the other treaty-tribes of the
Columbia River: The Yakama,
Umatilla and Nez Perce tribes.
“We are very disappointed,”
said Jonathan Smith Sr., Warm
The treaty tribes are
presently evaluating
the commission ac-
tion, and determining
the best response.
Springs Tribal Council Chair-
man. The tribes are presently
evaluating the commission action,
and determining a response.
Councilman Smith and other
tribal leaders believe the state Fish
and Wildlife Commission “rushed’
its decision regarding its delega-
tion of authority to Grand Ronde.
The decision has the poten-
tial to harm the tribes’ relation-
ship with the state in serious ways
that are not entirely clear.
Warm Springs Council mem-
bers, tribal fish and wildlife offi-
cials, and members who regularly
fish at Willamette Falls regret the
state action, and the failure to
engage in a timely and meaning-
ful way with the Warm Springs
and other treaty tribes of the
Columbia River. The Warm
Springs Council is committed to
addressing the affront to tribal
sovereignty in the manner that
is in the best interest of the tribal
members, and generations into
the future.
Classroom construction at the Academy
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Construction crews this sum-
mer are working on the addi-
tion to the Warm Springs Acad-
emy. The work will last through
the fall and early winter, as the
construction completion date is
in the spring. The project will
add six new early-learning class-
rooms.
The plan at this point fore-
sees the completion date in the
spring of 2024, said Jay
Mathison, district superinten-
dent.
The project—part of the $24
million district bond levy of
2021—is also adding an addi-
tional parking lot at the school.
The Academy construction has a
budget of about $4 million.
The Confederated Tribes and
school district built the Academy
cooperatively in 2013-14, after the
membership voted 3-1 in favor of
the school. The tribes and 509-J
then shared equally the $10.7 mil-
lion construction cost.
The Academy was originally
built to accomodate up to 750 stu-
dents. It was apparent soon after
that more space would be needed
for classrooms, as some areas had
to be temporarily re-purposed for
some student activities. The new
classrooms will help address the
space needs at the school.
Construction crew at the
Warm Springs Academy.
For dedicated staff at W.S. Clinic
IHS Regional
Office recognition
for team effort
during covid
Along with his co-workers,
Edison Yazzie was part of the
Warm Springs Indian Health Ser-
vice clinic team during the worst
time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was the time of the highest
stress, because no one yet knew
anything about the virus except
that it was very dangerous. And
this was especially true for people
in the health care field, who had
to rely more than ever on co-
workers and friends on the job.
“We all helped each other,” Mr.
Yazzie says. “We all tried to help
lift each other, and keep the moral
up.”
Edison worked as the equip-
ment repair and maintenance per-
son at the clinic during covid. “I
got to know everybody,” he says.
“I could see how tired they
were. It was a tough time. Some-
times, maybe I tried to make
people laugh, I don’t know.”
His co-workers appreciated his
attitude, how he kept things in per-
spective, looking forward to bet-
ter days. Experiences growing up,
in the difficult boarding schools
in Arizona, must have helped give
him the strong and in time always
positive view of life.
D. McMechan/Spilyay
Edison Yazzie, now working at transitional housing, with his
IHS Award for Heroism, for his work at the clinic during covid.
As the covid pandemic has
calmed down, the people Edison
worked with referred his name to
the Portland Area office of the In-
dian Health Service. And this
month Cpt. Marcus Martinez, di-
rector of the Portland Area HIS,
awarded Edison with Director’s
Award Covid-19 Pandemic Hero-
ism.
Edison, now working at the tran-
sitional housing center, was surprised
when he heard about the IHS award.
“I guess it meant a lot to everyone,”
he says of the co-workers who
nominated him.
“I want to thank the staff at the
clinic for how they helped out here
during the pandemic,” Edison said.
He is one of among a number
of people at the Warm Springs
clinic who earned recognition
awards for their work during covid.
The Case Management team at
the Warm Springs clinic, for in-
stance, earned Portland Area IHS
Award for Fostering relationships;
the Warm Springs office of ac-
counts receivable team, and the
Warm Springs Health and Wellness
Center Team 1 each earned the IHS
Portland Area Director’s Award.
More on the teams and individu-
als, whose dedication during the pan-
demic helped to save lives and keep
people healthy, on page 4.