Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
Tribes, Deschutes
County remain at
odds over resort
By a 2-1 vote the Deschutes
County Board of Commissioners
in late July approved the controver-
sial 2022 Fish and Wildlife Man-
agement Plan for the Thornburgh
Resort land-use application. Tribal
officials see this as the county’s con-
tinued demonstration of lack of un-
derstanding of the tribes’ treaty
rights as sovereign and co-manager
of Deschutes Basin resources.
The county decision is similar to
a previous 2-1 vote earlier this year
that denied the tribes the right to
submit additional testimony regard-
ing impacts upon its treaty-protected
rights to water and fish, despite a
previous Oregon Court of Appeals
decision that the tribes should have
input during these proceedings.
August 6, 2025 - Vol. 50, No. 15
Summer - Shatm
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Adoption election set for August 27
Absentee ballots are mailed
out to all eligible Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs tribal
member voters, on and off the
Warm Springs Reservation, for
the August 27 Adoption Elec-
tion.
Everyone was sent a ballot
because the ballot could take
some time to complete: There
are 198 individuals listed who
have applied to become tribal
members through the adoption
process.
The envelope has a return ad-
dress of Ryder Election Services.
Inside, there are two pages,
double-sided with the names of
applicants hoping to become tribal
members. Included as well are
candidate blood quantums for the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs; and overall Indian quan-
tum. Parent name and grandpar-
ent names are listed. The mailing
has a secrecy sleeve and a return
envelope that includes postage.
To be a valid election, there
is a requirement for 50-percent
of eligible tribal member voters
to participate in voting. Previ-
ous attempts to hold a valid
adoption election have failed due
to not meeting the minimum
turnout. The tribes last con-
ducted an Adoption Election in
2016. This attempt was invalid
due to lack of voter participa-
tion.
Tribal Council by Resolution
13,237 on July 14 set the August
27 Adoption Election, following
the earlier cancellation of June
election due to faulty ballots.
Continues on page 2
Governor may
veto Willamette
Falls Trust bill
Gov. Tina Kotek is considering
vetoing a recent $45 million state
appropriation for the Willamette
Falls Trust. The Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs is among
the advocates for the appropriation.
Through the trust, the idea is to
buy 60 acres of property at the wa-
terfall between Oregon City and
West Linn. The area has great cul-
tural and historical significance for
several tribes, and has been a source
of disagreement for many years.
The trust board includes mem-
bers of the Warm Springs tribes,
the Confederated Tribes and Bands
of the Yakama Nation, Confeder-
ated Tribes of Siletz Indians, and
the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
The Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde and its ally, the Cow
Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of
Indians, strongly oppose the trust’s
request for funding for its project
at Willamette Falls.
D.McMechan/Spilyay
A Construction crew is working on the outside area of the Warm Springs Community Action Team small business incubator project.
The work started just a few weeks after WSCAT learned they are receiving a $3.8 funding appropriation from the state of Oregon.
YouthLine Native a line of support and help
Rosanna Jackson is the
YouthLine Native program su-
pervisor. She has been with the
program since the Confeder-
ated Tribes and Lines for Life
opened the Warm Springs of-
fice three years ago. As part of
her work, Rosanna trains young
people in how to communicate
with a person who may be sui-
cidal, as a suicide prevention
measure. This approach, with
the focus on an open commu-
nication, is proven effective in
the field of suicide prevention.
The person who reaches out
may also be experiencing some
other kind of distress, perhaps
not suicide thoughts, when talking
with someone would help.
“Talking to someone can release
some of those feelings,” Ms. Jack-
son says. “If we continue to carry
the burden of these things that are
bothering us, it will affect our daily
life and how we respond to oth-
ers.”
Rosanna currently has five
youth enrolled in her helpline train-
ing program. She asks for a one-
year commitment from the youth.
They meet once a week, and re-
ceive a compensation. The
YouthLine itself is confidential and
anonymous, or as YouthLine says,
“We listen. We support. We keep it
to ourselves.”
A recent project of the program
has been for the youth to create in-
formation displays of the YouthLine
Native service (an example above).
Helpline continues on 8
Continues on page 8
Language learning possible with Education, Culture and Heritage
by Gina Ricketts
Coordinator SB13 Curriculum
Summer culture camps,
teacher training and conferences,
Summer Acceleration camps and
the Language Bowl are just a few
of the programs Culture and Heri-
tage and Education support.
Other summer acceleration
programs, teacher salaries and ar-
chival work are also supported by
Education-Culture and Heritate.
What many people may not
know is that these programs and
more are almost entirely supported
by grants that Valerie Switzler,
Education general manager, and
her team write.
Last year alone, Culture and
Heritage received over $1.6 mil-
lion in grants, providing sustenance
for more than 25 teachers, support
personnel, and various special
projects coordinators. The tribes’
contribution to these vital programs
and their staff accounts for another
12-percent of its total budget.
The general manager’s role en-
compasses more than just grant
writing. Approximately 40-percent
of a general manager’s time is
dedicated to grant writing and man-
aging the grants, and another 20-
percent to fostering and maintain-
ing relationships that attract fund-
ing to the programs; and lastly, 40-
percent of the time to other tribal
initiatives.
Culture and Heritage is deeply
passionate about the lasting impact
of language and culture on both
the youth and adults in our com-
munity.
This belief is supported by or-
ganizations such as the National
Education Association, which rec-
ognizes that Native American stu-
dents who study their languages of-
ten demonstrate improved atten-
dance and higher graduation rates.
The Diné people (Navajo) have
shown through their immersion
programs that language learning
can lead to lower suicide rates,
higher college retention and gradu-
ation rates, and reduced issues
with gangs, violence, and domes-
tic abuse.
Looking ahead, school district
509-J has dropped hints that it is
interested in establishing a char-
ter school with a strong focus on
language. The department has also
successfully redirected Title VI
grants, previously used for activ-
ity buses and partial salary com-
mitments to their intended pur-
pose of providing cultural edu-
cation.
Culture and Heritage continu-
ously generates ideas to enhance
our community through language,
culture, and education. Valerie at-
tributes much of her success and
enthusiasm to Myra Johnson,
whose encouragement to pursue
her degrees instilled the confidence
to seek grants and cultivate cru-
cial partnerships.
She has established such strong
relationships and partnerships that
often grantees reach out to her,
asking if she needs an additional
$25,000 to $40,000 in funding.
Ultimately, the vision for the
future is a better world for the
people of Warm Springs, begin-
ning with Early Childhood Edu-
cation and extending to the col-
lege-university level. Perhaps one
day, the 3-year-olds in the Lan-
guage program will become lan-
guage teachers themselves.