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.”