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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2023)
Spilygy Tyrr PO Box 489 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ? S 0N W' storical society 1230 SW PARK AVE. PORTLAND, OR 97205 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD , OR 97761 September 6, 2023 - Voi^ Coyote News, est. 1976 Council considering 2024 budget proposal M uch o f the T ribal C ouncil agenda during the m o n th o f Sep tem ber is focusing o n the 2024 tribal organization budget,.before the O ctober district budget and G en eral Council meetings. T he following are som e o f the item s com ing up o n the Septem ber agenda (subject to change at Council discretion): Monday, September 11 Invocation 9 a.m.: BIA D etention Center update with Brenda Bremner, BIA Agency superintendent. 10: Realty item s w ith G reta W hite Elk, BIA Realty. 10:30: .Legislative update calls, federal and state. 1:30 p.m.: Tribal attorneys up dates. Tuesday, September 12 — B ud g et presentations. 9 a.m.: B udget overview with Secretary-Treasurer Robert Brunoe and Isaac George, Finance. 10: Secretary-Treasurer. 11: Community assistance. 1:30 p.m.: Public Safety w ith Nancy Seyler. 2:30: Utilities with Chico Holliday. 3:30: H elath and H um an Ser vices with Caroline Cruz. Wednesday, September 13 — B udget p resentations. .9 a.m.: G overnm ental Affairs w ith Raymond Tsunipti Sr. 10: H um an Resources with Wil liam Sam. 11: E d u c a tio n w ith V alerie Switzler. .1:30 p.m.: N atural Resources with Austin Smith Jr. 2 :3 0 : F in a n c e w ith I s a a c G eorge. 3:30: G&A, debt service, capi tal, tribal gatherings with S-T and Finance. 4:30: Tribal C ourt with Gayleen Adams. Thursday, September 14 — B ud get presentations. 9 a.m.: Tribal Council with Doris Miller and Minnie Yahtin. See Tribal Council on 3 Septem ber- Wanaq’i - Fall - Tiyam $7.5 million for new affordable housing T he W arm Springs Housing Authority just received a $7.5 million grant for new housing on the reservation. The award comes following a highly competitive grant ap p lic a tio n p ro c e ss: W arm Springs H ousing is the only tribal organization in Oregon, and one o f only 22 across the nation to receive one o f the C om petitive Indian H ousing Block G rant awards. The grant provides funding to build ten new single-family hom es o n 7.5 acres o f tru st land located on the reservation, on Kalama Lane. The affordable homes will be for low-income families. All housing units will be four- or five-bedrooms to accommodate larger families. The new housing development will include in frastru ctu re and roads. Warm Springs Housing will also m itig ate th e th re a t o f clim ate change by constructing units that are resistant to fire, extreme heat, and drought. This project is ex pected to be completed no later than July o f 2028, said H ousing executive director Danielle Wood. Warm Springs H ousing is com m itted to addressing the critical housing needs o f the tribal com munity. “We have a housing short age, which is resulting in many fami lies living in overcrowded and sub standard conditions,” Ms. W ood said. “Being able to provide an addi tional 10 new larger hom es for larger families will help reduce overcrow ding and increase the a m o u n t o f affo rd able ho u sin g available for low-income families on the reservation,” she said. “This grant is a true opportu nity for 10 o f our families to fi nally be able to enjoy a hom e o f their own. I can’t wait see families moved in and children playing in their own yards.” Ms. W ood said. She credits the boundless efforts o f U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and W a W a W WARM SPRINGS « O liS IN O A IiT H O R IT Ï Jeff Merkley, w ho have-helped se* cure funding to provide safe and a f fordable housing for low-income families living on the W arm Springs Reservation. O ne o f .the biggest challenges facing Warm Springs is low housing stock which results in overcrowd; ing and leads to substandard housi ing. These senators are listening and w orking to help overcom e these challenges, Danielle said. Community liaison ready for new school year M adras H ig h S ch o o l is am ong th e m o st im p o rtan t p arts o f th e W arm Springs tribal community. “I want our students to feel proud to be here, to feel at hom e,” says Mariah Stacona Alexander, the school Native American Com munity Liaison. “A nd I think we’re moving in .the right di rection.” ' As liaison, “The sole reason I ’m here is to help the students, I work for them,” Mariah says. “So my job is different for each student. My goal is to do any thing to help each one succeed, to. push them in the right di rection.” H er ow n experiences in life make Mariah a perfect person for the job. H er childhood was n o t easy, growing up one o f I I children in a single-parent household, doing w hat they needed to pay the bills and get by. As a teenager Mariah went to Madras High School, learn ing and studying, while excel ling at her favorite sport, bas ketball. G rad u atin g in 2015, she w ent to N orthw est University in Kirkland, Washington on a full bask etb all scholarship, graduating from there in 2019 with a degree in Business A d ministration. T hen two years Native American Community liaison Mariah Stacona last week at the Madras High School Native American Lounge. ago she m oved back to Central O r egon to be around family, as she and husband H eath were expecting their first child Anirah, now 2, joined last year-by Sophia, age 1. Because o f her experience grow Important health and safety message O f the drug overdose emer gency calls made to the W arm Springs Police D e p a rtm e n t over the last five years, 92 per cent have been related to fen tanyl use. A nother 14 percent were related to other prescrip tion or non-prescription medi cations. A n d W arm S p rin g s law enffocement and leaderhsip are concerned that the fentanyl epi d em ic— a n a tio n a l an d internation problem — contin ues to escalate in the tribal com munity. ECRWSS Postal Patron T ribal law en fo rcem en t and leadership urge the com m unity to increase the awareness o f the syn thetic drug fentanyl, and the toll it is taking o n the tribal people, families and the com m unity as a whole. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin, and up to 100 times stronger than morphine, easily leading overdose. It is the major contributor to fa tal and non-fatal overdoses in the U.S.: According to the Centers for Disease Control, many o f the m ost recen t cases o f fentanyl-related o verdose are linked to illicitly m anufactured fentanyl, distrib uted through illegal drug markets. Jaycelene Brisbois is the Opioid Prevention Coordinator with thé W arm Springs Prevention Team. T h e m an n er o f dru g abuse, w eather w ith alcohol, m e th .o r. opioids, can be seen as related one to th e other, Ms. B risbois said. “A perso n can be on m eth for so long th at the high is just n o t getting th em high anym ore, so they look for som ething else. “They resort to heroin, fenta ing up and going to school here,' Mariah connects and talks easily w ith students who may be having some hard time at home, at school, o r with some part o f life in gen eral. n yl a n d p a in m e d ic a tio n ,” Jaycelene says. “T hey re so rt to smoking pills and injecting pills, anything to find the high.” With fentanyl being sold illegally, and with m ore drugs being laced w ith fentanyl, the drug is now widely used, and at the same time the m ost deadly. A few grains o f fentanyl can kill you, and there is no way to know w hat is in street drugs. W arm Springs Police encour age everyone to stay inform ed: E ducate yourself and your fam ily ab o u t the risks o f fentanyl, and th e very likely risk o f over dose. Learn to recognize overdose sig n s, a n d h o w to re s p o n d . “I didn’t have a perfect life grow ing up but it could have been worse,” she says. “Now, I w ant to be a per son who can make a difference in a kid’s life. I f a student is in trouble or making a bad choice, I w ant to help them change that, to say ‘This is w hat’s going to happen if you go down that path. L et’s change that so you have a better life for your self, and your family.’” Native American students from the reservation do face some unique challenges at the high school, if only because o f the com m ute to and fro m re s e rv a tio n . In te rm s o f ethnicity, the school is about one- th ird N a tiv e A m erican, a th ird Latino and one-third White, approxi mately. A t the high school w hen it comes to racial or ethnic groups, “We’re all in the same classes, on the same sports teams, and I think the students here get along here,” Mariah says. “T hat’s very nice to see.” H er office is in the new Madras High School Native American Stu dent Lounge, an open and com fort able space where the N ative stu dents can feel at hom e while they study, visit or take part in any num ber learning programs. T he furni ture in the room is very nice-—this was a primary goal in choosing the couches, chairs and tables, Mariah says— and there are four new com puters available to the students. See School Liaison on 3 Jaycelen and the W arm Springs Prevention Team have educa tional inform ation available. Every Wednesday the team offers training o n how to use N arcan, a em ergency treat m ent, easy to adm inister, that can save som eone’s fife, if the p erson overdoses on opioids. T o le a rn m o re , c o n ta c t Jaycelene at the P revention Team , located in the form er W arm S p rin g s e le m e n ta ry gym building. Please see page 7 fo r a mes sage about the crisis from the Warm Springs Police Depart ment, Public Safety, and the Health and Human Services Branch and departments. YOU NEED A JACKPOT. nt mt m u mut PlateauTrdvelPlaza.com • 541-777-2815 • 215 NW Cherry Lane, Madras, OR 9774
