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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2025)
April 16 Spilyay Tymoo Page 2 Thornburgh resort again denied approval Water supply in the region has been key issue for the Confederated Tribes The developers of a controver- sial resort proposed for Central Oregon again were again handed a setback in the attempt to tap the Deschutes River Basin. Most recently, the Deschutes County Circuit Court dismissed Thornburgh Resort’s attempt to overturn an earlier denial of a pre- vious limited water use license ap- plication. The proposed 2,000-acre Thornburgh Resort is located about 20 miles north of Bend. The development would include 950 single-family homes, private lakes, a luxury hotel and two golf courses. In its latest decision, the court upheld the Oregon Water Re- sources Department ruling that the Deschutes River Basin, drier than it has been in the past three de- cades, is too low to accommodate the requested siphoning. Thornburgh’s developers have been trying to finance and permit the development since the early 2000s. Thornburgh has water rights and approved transfers that provide water for its phase A development plans, according to the developers. In 2023, the Oregon Water Resources Department denied the developers’ request to build wells. The region has been dealing with water shortages, and the need for deeper and deeper wells, for years. Drilling deeper wells requires permitting and money that many people don’t have. According to a 2017 study from the U.S. Geological Survey, groundwater in the central part of the Upper Deschutes Ba- sin—from Sisters to Powell Butte—dipped as much as 14 feet between 1997 and 2008. Leaders of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have for years voiced concerns about how Thornburgh would affect treaty rights, and the tribes’ most senior water right. The tribes last year won an Oregon Court of Appeals ruling that found the state Land Use Board Appeals had made a mis- take by earlier dismissing tribal opposition to a Deschutes County approval. Then most recently, on March 31, Deschutes County Circuit Court ruled that the Oregon Wa- ter Resources Department was “ra- tional, fair and principled” in its denial of a limited water-use li- cense application by Thornburgh. BLM effort to repatriate human remains In the early 1960s, human re- mains were discovered near what is now Lake Billy Chinook, and are believed to be of Native Ameri- can descent. The Bureau of Land Manage- ment in Prineville is now seeking to return these remains to the Con- federated Tribes of Warm Springs. The remains are currently held at the University of Oregon’s Mu- seum of Natural and Cultural His- tory. In 1962, Portland General Elec- tric contracted with the University of Oregon to survey what is now Lake Billy Chinook, because the area would be covered in water af- ter the Pelton Dam was created. During that process, human remains were found in the area and have been stored at the Uni- versity of Oregon. “We feel that the remains that were found in 1962 do belong to one of the Native American tribes that moved in or lived in Central Oregon back in the day,” said Lisa Clark, BLM-Prineville field man- ager. “We’re doing our best to try to figure out who these human re- mains should be returned to.” As part of the Native Ameri- can Graves Protection and Repa- triation Act, NAGPRA, there’s been an evaluation of remains across the country. The NAGPRA process is a Fed- eral law passed in 1990, proving processes for museums and fed- eral agencies to return certain Na- tive American cultural items to In- dian tribes. NAGPRA authorizes Federal grants to Indian tribes and muse- ums to assist with documenting and repatriating Native American cul- tural items. NAGPRA establishes a commit- tee to monitor the process and fa- “ ...once we found (the collection), it’s abso- lutely our honor and responsibility to get the ancestor re- turned to who it belongs to. ” Lisa Clark, BLM Prineville cilitate the resolution of disputes that may arise concerning repa- triation. Violations of NAGPRA are addressed through criminal and civil enforcement. BLM has recently been work- ing to have the remains returned. The land was BLM at the time the remains were collected, but is now Ochoco National Forest. “Due to some land changes over the years, we weren’t aware we had that collection,” Ms. Clark. “But once we found it, it’s ab- solutely our honor and responsi- bility to get this ancestor returned to who it belongs to.” She says they believe the hu- man remains belong to a local Cen- tral Oregon tribe. “Given the time of collection, given the age, perhaps, of the hu- man remains that were located, it gives kind of an indication of that something more ancient or if it’s something recent and that kind of gives you a clue of the path that you want to take,” she said. Based on Lake Billy Chinook’s location, it makes sense that the Warm Springs Reservation might have the lineal descendants of the human remains. Clark said BLM has had initial conversations with the tribe and they support the ac- tion BLM is taking. “However, we do know that tribes move through areas, and so part of the process is to do a fed- eral Register notice, which acts for anybody who feels they might have a claim on these remains to step forward and provide that informa- tion,” Clark said. The published Federal Regis- ter Notice is the outreach to en- sure all tribes have an opportu- nity to determine if they have a claim on the human remains. A note from WEDD... Any person wanting to work through Workforce Education and Develpoment Department, WEDD, Work Experience program, and who have attended a pre-em- ployment workshop, or those who applied: Please contact WEDD at 541-553-3324 for an update on the status of your apply- ing. Applicants needing assis- tance with their resume and cover letter are welcome to use the Computer Lab up- stairs at the Education build- ing, and assistance will be pro- vided to write a resume or cover letter.
