Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
The Miss
Warm Springs
Pageant 2026
The Miss Warm Springs 2026
Pageant is scheduled for 10 o’clock
on Saturday morning, January 31 at
the Agency Longhouse.
The committee invites young la-
dies 18-24 years of age to apply
(more details on page 3). Stop by the
Tribal Council office in the admin-
istration building, or call 541-553-
3257 for an application or more
information. Or send an email to
either:
minnie.yahtin@wstribes.org
sandra.danzuka@wstribes.org
59th Annual
hoops tourney
The Fifty-Ninth Annual
Warm Springs All Indian Men’s
Holiday Tournament is this
Thursday through Saturday,
Januar y 22-24 at the War m
Springs Community Health Cen-
ter. For infor mation contact
Austin Greene at 541-553-3243.
Homeless count
survey next
Wednesday
The Confederated Tribes’ Health
and Human Services is getting ready
for the annual Point in Time Count:
This year the count happens from
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday,
January 28 in the former Warm
Springs elementary school gym.
The Point in Time gives the
tribes an idea of the tribal commu-
nity homeless situation. This is im-
portant for future planning to help
address this problem; to help de-
termine what resources are work-
ing best at relieving the situation;
and what additional resources may
be available, said Dayle Tufti, of-
fice coordinator with Health and
Human Services.
For the Count: Starting at 9 a.m.,
participants can register for the
event with staff. Please bear in
mind this event is for the homeless
population. Screening questions will
be asked at registration.
The survey counts unsheltered
community members who are liv-
ing in tents, camps, vehicles, RVs
with no electrical or water hook-
ups; living temporarily ‘couch surf-
ing’ with relatives; as well as shel-
tered members who are in the shel-
ter-transitional homes.
Residents residing in the new
Permanent Supportive houses are
not considered homeless.
For the January 28 event, meals
are provided to participants. There
will be resource booths; health
screenings on-site; and incentives
for survey participants. For more
information, please contact Dayle
at 541-777-2787; or email:
dayle.tufti@wstribes.org
January 21, 2026 - Vol. 51, No. 2
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Wiyak’ik’ila – Winter - Anm
Work continuing on Power Pathway
The Warm Springs Power
Pathway is a proposal to re-
build the infrastructure and
expand the capacity of the ex-
isting Bethel Round Butte
transmission line. The project
is jointly coordinated by the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs and Portland General
Electric.
The Bethel Round Butte
line spans approximately 100
miles between the Madras area
and Salem; and more than 30
miles of the line passes
through the Warm Springs
Reservation.
The upgrade project is cur-
rently underway with project
permitting planning and engi-
neering design.
In 2023, the tribes received a
$250 million grant from the U.S.
Department of Energy to pursue
this project, representing approxi-
mately one-quarter of the project
cost.
Power and Water Enterprises
and PGE are about one year into
the project, and have been work-
ing with partners and leaders within
the U.S. government to ensure con-
tinued access to the federal fund-
ing.
In particular, Power and Wa-
ter would like to thank Oregon
U.S. Congressman Cliff Bentz.
Rep. Bentz wrote a letter di-
rectly to Secretary of Energy
Chris Wright in support of the
grant and its many benefits Power
Pathway to the region and nation
The Power
Pathway will
upgrade the
Bethel Round
Butte line built
in the 1960s, to
address
transmission
constraints and
increase access
to electricity
generated east
of the Cascade
mountain.
WSPWE
in pursuit of grid resilience and
national security.
In late 2025, the Warm Springs
Power Pathway team began meet-
ing with stakeholders along the
transmission line pathway. The
team will be scheduling more meet-
ings this year.
To keep updated on progress,
find meetings in 2026 as they are
announced; or to contact the
project team, please visit the
website:
warmspringspowerpathway.com
Housing projects adding many new homes
The Warm Springs Housing
Authority, during the first part
of this year, is completing the
construction of several new
homes for the community, while
initiating a number of new resi-
dential endeavors.
By about the end of next
month, for instance, the first
new houses will be finished at
the Housing development on
Kalama Lane, located just past
Deer Loop. This project is on
seven and a half acres, and
when finished will include 10
new four- and five-bedroom
homes.
The Housing Authority team
obtained the funding for the
$7.5 million development
through a competitive U.S.
Housing and Urban Develop-
ment grant process. This is a
significant new development,
with the initial construction in-
cluding fairly large-scale site-
grading, road and infrastructure
for water, sewer and electrical;
followed by the home construc-
tion.
The residences will be for
income-qualified homebuyers,
based on the standards of the
U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, as
D.McMechan/Spilyay
Construction work is finishing up on the first of 10 new houses at the Kalama Lane development.
a HUD grant was the source of
the $7.5 million cost. The Hous-
ing Authority started the grant
process in 2023, said Danielle
Wood, Housing director. The com-
petition for the funding was na-
tion-wide among tribes. Project
manager for this development is
Joel Holliday.
Tribal members interested in
qualifying to buy can stop by Hous-
ing for an application.
Trailer Court projects
Meanwhile, Housing continues
work on a longer-term plan to re-
place some of the older Trailer
Court trailers with new stick-built
residences. This work is using two
grants: the first to build eight new
two-bedroom houses, and the sec-
ond for six additional homes for
a total of 14. In time, the long-
term plan includes 45 new houses
at the Trailer Court, Ms. Wood.
The first two phases are
along Kuckup and Oits Loop
at the Trailer Courts. Some of
these houses are finished and
occupied, with more nearly fin-
ished. The homes are afford-
able for families; and include
energy efficient lighting and
windows, said Mr. Holliday,
project manager for this devel-
opment as well.
HOUSING continue on 8
GoVisions seeks tribal input regarding wind, solar projects
Members of the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Warm
Springs are invited to attend a
community meeting to learn
about the proposed Speedway
and Saddle Butte hybrid wind
and solar projects.
The meeting will be from
6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Janu-
ary 27 at the Greenly Heights
Community building. Dinner
will be provided.
The meeting is hosted by
Warm Springs GeoVisions, a
tribally-owned and operated
enterprise of the Confederated
Tribes, in coordination with the
Tribal Historic Preservation Of-
fice.
The purpose of the meeting is
to share information about the
energy projects; and to invite tribal
members to recommend knowl-
edgeable individuals and families
to participate in oral history inter-
views as part of a Historic Prop-
erties of Religious and Cultural Sig-
nificance to Indian Tribes identi-
fication study.
The proposed projects are lo-
cated in Sherman, Gilliam and
Morrow counties, within the
tribes’ ceded and traditional home-
lands.
Under tribal law, the Integrated
Resource Management Plan, and
state and federal historic preserva-
tion requirements, culturally impor-
tant places must be identified and
protected before development pro-
ceeds.
The Historic Properties of Re-
ligious and Cultural Significance to
Indian Tribes process centers
tribal knowledge, including history,
cultural practices, plant use,
travel routes, and family connec-
tions to the land.
Information is gathered through
oral history interviews recom-
mended by the community and
conducted under tribal protocols.
All information shared through
this process is confidential and re-
mains the property of the tribes.
The meeting is open to all tribal
members and families.
For more information or ques-
tions, please email:
hello@wsgeovisions.com