Spilyay Tymoo
October 30
Page 2
General Election November 5
If you are voting by mail in the
November 5 election, then your bal-
lot envelope must have a postal in-
dicator showing the ballot was
mailed no later than on Election
Day. The clerk’s office must then
receive the ballot within seven days
of election day, or November 12.
The most sure way at this point
to get your ballot to the county clerk
for counting is to drop off at a se-
cure ballot box, such as the one by
the Agency Fire Station; or to drop
off the ballot at the clerk’s office,
66 SE D Street, Madras.
On Election Day, the clerk’s of-
fice will be open from 7 a.m. to 8
p.m.
On the ballot are five state-wide
ballot measures. In Jefferson
Dropoff box is by the fire station.
County, voters will pick the
County Treasurer, and one
Jefferson County Commissioner.
The county commissioner can-
didates are Brandie McNamee and
Seth Taylor. The treasurer candi-
dates are Yoonsun Reynolds and
Jeff Rasmuusen.
Other non-partisan questions on
the ballot include two Oregon
Judges of the Supreme Court.
Partisan state positions include
the Secretary of State, State Trea-
surer, Attorney General, state sena-
tor and state representative.
The federal partisan positions are
the President and Vice President of
the United States; and a U.S. Rep-
resentative.
The Warm Springs community
is county voting precinct 14, where
there are approximately 1,500 reg-
istered voters.
Indigenous representation at state of Oregon
Native Americans have long
been under-represented in elec-
tive offices in Oregon. Since
statehood in 1859, only five In-
digenous people have been elected
to the state House of Represen-
tatives.
Four of the five have been
elected within the last seven
years:
Jacqueline S. Taylor, Citizen of
the the Potawatomi, 1991-2000.
Teresa Alonso León, a Mexi-
can-American of Purepecha heri-
tage, 2017-2023.
Andrea Valderrama, a Peru-
vian-American of Inca heritage,
2021-present.
Annessa Hartman, member of
the Haudenosaunee, Cayuga Nation,
Snipe Clan, 2023-present.
Tawna Sanchez, Shoshone-
Bannock, Ute and Carrizo, 2017-
present.
Medicaid will cover
traditional Native healing
practices in Oregon
For the first time, Medic-
aid is set to cover traditional
health practices in Oregon,
along with three other West-
ern states. Traditional health
practices include approaches
such as sweat lodges, music
therapy like drumming and
dancing to help with physical
and mental health.
The Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services made
this announcement in October.
It is a two-year pilot program
that applies at Indian Health
Service facilities, tribal facili-
ties, and urban Indian organi-
zations.
The additional coverage in-
cludes Oregon, California, Ari-
zona and New Mexico.
Until now some Native
Americans have accessed tra-
ditional health care practices
through IHS appropriations,
tribal resources, various pilot
programs, and grants. This is
the first time Medicaid will
cover these services.
Bridging tradition and
modern medicine
While clinical approaches
like detox, medication-assisted
Wishing Warm
Springs a safe and
Happy Halloween...
...from Warm Springs artist Travis Bobb.
Notes...
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs tribal Vocational
Rehabilitation program helps
Native Americans with disabili-
ties.
Voc Rehab provides this ser-
vice through support, and
succesful plans for employ-
ment.
Voc Rehab offers an orientation
every Monday at 3 p.m. at their of-
fice in the Education Building on
the campus.
For more information call 541-
553-4952.
Free drinking water is avail-
able every Monday to War m
Springs community members at the
Hydro Panel facility at the indus-
trial park.
The facility is located next to
the former vehicle pool build-
ing.
Stop by Mondays between 8
a.m. and 5 p.m.
treatment and behavioral
therapy are essential to treating
substance use disorders, they
often fail to address the cultural
and spiritual needs of Native
patients.
“Traditional practices are, by
nature, holistic,” said Damian
Chase-Begay, a researcher fo-
cused on American Indian
health at the University of
Montana.
“They are treating the per-
son physically, mentally, spiritu-
ally and emotionally. They ben-
efit the whole being, not just the
physical symptoms.”
Studies have shown that in-
tegrating cultural practices into
addiction treatment can lead to
higher engagement and more
positive recovery outcomes,
though most of the current re-
search is qualitative, not quan-
titative.
For years, health care prac-
titioners dedicated to Indig-
enous communities struggled
with the limitations of what in-
surance would cover.
This will change, for a time
at least in these four states, with
the new Medicaid two-year pi-
lot project.
Fisheries salmon on Thursday
The Branch of Natu-
ral Resources Tribal
Fisheries have sched-
uled a trip to the Little
White Salmon Na-
tional Fish Hatchery
this Thursday, Octo-
ber 31.
The hatchery is do-
nating 300 upriver
bright fall chinook to the
tribes.
Fisheries is planning
to be at the the Com-
munity Center around 2
p.m. this Thursday.
Please bring your
own bags or coolers.