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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2023)
Spilyay Tymoo Coyote News, est. 1976 The holiday happenings T.Bobb Warm Springs Recreation is host- ing the annual Warm Springs Car Lights Parade this Thursday evening, December 14. The theme this year is Frosty’s Coming to Town. Parade line-up starts at five o’clock by the former elementary school. The parade starts at six. The Jolly Jamboree Toy Give- away for Warm Springs parents and guardians to find a free gift for kids 18 and younger, will be at the former elementary school gymna- sium this Thursday, December 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and again this Friday, December 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will be set up as a store for adults; so parents and guardians can pick up unwrapped gifts for children, then wrap them. Supplies are provided, hosted by Health and Human Services. The Warm Springs Academy Elementary Music Winter Pro- gram is this Wednesday, Decem- ber 13 from 1-2:30 p.m. in the school gym. Warm Springs Recreation will host a last-minute Christmas Bazaar next Wednesday, Decem- ber 20 at the Community Center. Then Recreation is hosting the In- dian New Year Walk on Thurs- day, December 21 at noon at the Community Center. December 21 is the first day of winter. Simnasho’s New Year’s Eve Celebration and Powwow will be on Sunday, December 31 at the Simnasho Longhouse. There will be a potluck dinner at 5:30, Washut to open the floor at 6:30 and the tra- ditional powwow, social dancing and games begin at 7:30. Miss Warm Springs 2024 The Office of Tribal Council and Miss Warm Springs coordinator are seeking candidates who would like to take part in the 2024 Miss Warm Springs Pageant. Candidates who are interested can stop by the Tribal Council of- fice at the administration building for an application; or call 541-553- 3257. Or for the application form and additional information, email to: minnie.yahtin@wstribes.org sandra.danzuka@wstribes.org See page 5 of this publication for candidate details. December 13, 2023 - Vol. 48, No. 25 December – Nch’i-An - Winter - Yiyam PO Box 489 Warm Springs, OR 97761 ECR WSS Postal Patron U.S. Postage PRSRT STD Warm Springs, OR 97761 Kah-Nee-Ta experience again in 2024 Village will need 100- plus new employees; recruitng to begin early next year. The Kah-Nee-Ta Village first opened more than 60 years ago, in 1962, and for decades after was a popular and for many a beloved resort attraction. The hot springs were always a main feature, along with the culture and people of the tribes. Sadly, the tribes had to close the Vil- lage five years ago, the result of bad economic times and lack of money for some vital improve- ments. Today, returning this unique jewel of a property back to its first-class resort status is a true challenge. Fortunately, the team working on the project is dedi- cated to realizing its vision. “When we first started we knew there would be obstacles we didn’t see at the time,” said Kirk Hanna, presi- dent of Mt. Hood Skibowl, and partner with the tribes on the Kah- Nee-Ta renovation. “And each day has been a new chance to test our skills in address- ing the issues as they arise,” Mr. Hanna says. The Skibowl team is led by Kirk and his brother Derek, general manager of Kah-Nee-Ta redevel- opment and ongoing operations. They joined the tribes on the project about two years ago, after Jim Souers approached Tribal Council with the idea. Mr. Souers is the chief executive officer of Warm Springs Economic Develop- ment Corporation (WSED), and acting chief executive officer of Kah-Nee-Ta Hot Springs Resort. W.S. Economic Development The architect’s conceptual rendering of the pool area when finished. A condition of the proposal at Council was that Skibowl would be a long term operating partner, Mr. Souers said, in part because the Hannas and Skibowl over decades have developed friendships and partnerships with the Confeder- ated Tribes; and also because Kirk Hanna has great and proven suc- cess with resort properties. He purchased Skibowl in 1987 when it was closed and in bank- ruptcy. He focused on expanding the operation to attract visitors year- round, rather than just in the win- ter, so the employees could have full-time and better jobs. Kah-Nee-Ta continues on 3 Important year coming up for Power, tribes The Bethel-Round Butte transmission lines upgrade project will be among the top priorities of 2024 for the tribes and Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprises. The upgrade project is large-scale, with an estimated final overall cost of $600 million, and will take a number of years to complete. Power and Water and the tribes learned only earlier this fall that the U.S. Department of Energy had awarded the tribes $250 million to help fund the work. So the first part of 2024 will involve further negotiation with the DOE toward conclud- ing this significant grant award, said Cathy Ehli, Power and Wa- ter general manager. This in- volves finalizing the terms and conditions of the award, and the reporting requirements to DOE, for example, Mrs. Ehli said. At the same time, Power and Water will be working with tribal leadership and the community to determine the best course of Andrea Lonas/PGE Edward Heath/CTWS action for the tribes going into the future, as this project will have fi- nancial, enterprise and other impacts for generations to come. An example of one of the com- plex questions to be answered: What ownership interest may the tribes want to acquire in the new trans- mission lines? The new system will replace the existing 1960s-era lines, currently owned by PGE, that run from Pelton-Round Butte to the Salem area. There are various own- ership directions, each with long- and far-ranging consequences. Meanwhile next year, PGE will Power and Water, the tribes, and PGE hosted the Bethel-Round Butte upgrade kick-off event this month: Some attendees (above) participate in a tour of Round Butte Dam; and at left, Tribal Council Chairman Jonathan Smith met with Maria Pope, president, chief executive officer and board member of Portland General Electric. begin its engineering design work for the new system, Mrs. Ehlie said. And the tribes will have their own specialized engineering team in or- der to provide an independent re- view and analysis of the PGE plans. Some other projects coming up at Power and Water in 2024: The Round Butte Dam turbine shut-off valves will be installed, sometime later in the year. This project started with the delivery of the fairly massive valves, trans- ported from their place of manufacture in Europe earlier this year to the Round Butte site. And another large project for 2024 will be new fish passage fa- cilities, to be located downstream of the re-regulating dam. Aspects of this project will be new fish hatchery rearing ponds, new stress relief ponds for the migrating fish, and an adult fish sorting facility. Some notable happenings over the past year ~ During 2023, the War m Springs Housing Authority celebrated the addition of sev- eral newly renovated housing units on the reservation, in- cluding 7 duplexes, and four single-family homes. Housing was able to secure $8 million in funding for the work. The project was very welcome, as all the units were occupied within days of opening. The Senior Center re- opened this year, while Health and Human Services devel- oped other community projects like the new campus area pavilion. This year was the first that the reservation was able to more fully enjoy the return to a more regular tribal community life, with covid finally much less a factor. This started in February with the return of Lincoln’s Powwow at Simnasho, followed by the spring Root Feast Rodeo; and finally this summer Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days was able to fully return with one of the more memorable and well- attended powwows of recent years. In-person gatherings were wel- come. A good example happened when the Language teachers, Cul- ture and Heritage, Education and the tribes hosted a four-day con- ference—Healing Through Our Lan- guages—at the Oregon State Univer- sity Cascades campus in Bend. The Language teachers are leaders na- tion-wide and beyond in the field, recognized for example by the Na- tional Indian Education Association with the Cultural Freedom Award. spilyay The Language Teachers of Culture and Heritage last spring with students at the Warm Springs Academy. Easily the biggest news story of 2023 for the tribes happened this fall, when Power and Water learned of the $250 million grant to upgrade the power transmission lines. This is truly a game-chang- ing development for the Confed- erated Tribes. As Tribal Council- man Jim Manion, former long-time general manager of Power and Wa- ter, said, “This is a once in a gen- eration opportunity.”
