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July 14, 2010
Duran Bobb /Spilyay
Sacred Road Ministries Youth paint the outside of the Victims of Crimes Services building in Warm Springs.
Youth united for greater good
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
At the beginning of the month you may have noticed an unusual presence on the reservation. They were gathered at the Victims of Crime Services building, at the stick game shed, at Elmer Quinn Park, at the powwow grounds, at the ball fields and in Simnasho.
"We had a lot of people stopping by to ask who we were and what we were doing," said Paul Norman, coordinator of short-term teams in Warm Springs from Sacred Road Ministries. Some people even dropped whatever it was they were doing at the time to lend a hand.
The teams helping Sacred Road Ministries were made up of youth that came from as far away as Seattle and the Tri-Cities areas.
The teams painted over graffiti at the Simnasho Longhouse, painted the bathrooms at Elmer Quinn Park, and even helped to clean up after the treaty days celebration.
"It’s heart-warming," Aurolyn Stwyer-Pinkham said, "to see that there are church ministries out there who are willing to travel at their own expense to help out our people in their time of need."
Aurolyn became familiar with Sacred Road Ministries years ago when she was living in the Yakama area.
"Back then, my house was vandalized and I had absolutely nowhere else to turn. I was put in touch with this group who came to my home and basically said we’re here to do whatever we can for you, for a greater good."
Later, after being elected to Tribal Council, Aurolyn put Sacred Road Ministries in touch with Don Courtney from Public Utilities.
But their work is not without its own pay.
"In the mornings, we like to teach the youth valuable skills that might help them later on in life," said Paul Norman. "That can be something like painting. We really encourage them to serve others. It’s a way to connect to the Warm Springs community, to build a greater relationship."
One Friday while they were painting on the reservation, some curious youth stopped. "They were fourth, fifth, maybe sixth graders. Ten of them in all. Before we knew it, they picked up brushes and were learning to paint. They were really excited about being there."
During the afternoons, Paul said, it’s play time.
"We play games and we tell them bible stories. We want them to understand that none of this is for our glory…but for His glory. That’s where the real rewards are."
According to Paul, there will be up to six churches assisting with various projects this summer in Warm Springs. "That’s 75 to 80 individuals working for up to five separate weeks. We hope to eventually build a Christ-centered working relationship with the people of Warm Springs."
Sacred Road Ministries began eight years, established in White Swan, WA, by the Pacific Northwest Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church. In White Swan, 75-percent of teens are considered homeless and the drop-out rate in middle and high school is as high as 65-percent.
For more information, please visit sacredroadministries.org.
June 30, 2010 edition
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
MartiRai Ramsey and Dr. Rachel Locker.
Inspiration for a healthy life
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
MartiRae Ramsey is an inspiration to anyone who wants to make a great and positive change in life.
Over the past year, MartiRae has lost over 100 pounds. She has gone from wearing size 32 clothes, the largest size available, to size 22—a loss of ten sizes.
"A year ago when I went shopping," she says, "there was only one store, in Portland, where I could find clothes that fit."
Her life has changed almost completely since she began her weight-loss program last July. She is much healthier and happier, and dedicated to her new lifestyle.
"I work out five times a week for an hour," she says.
And her diet no longer includes a lot of fried food and soda pop.
Her change to a healthy lifestyle has been a success, but like all the important things in life, the change did not happen easily.
A year ago her late husband, Johnny Ramsey Sr., was diagnosed with cancer. MartiRae and Johnny changed their diet and began eating better. Then in September 2009 Johnny passed away.
When that happened, "I made a promise to myself that I would take care of our kids," she says. "And to do that, I had to be alive and healthy."
At the time MartiRae weighed over 380 pounds. In order to lose the weight, she had to face some very difficult issues.
"The number one reason why people don’t have success in losing weight," she says, "is shame. When I first had a weight issue, I was 3 years old and I was ashamed." Over the years, she says, "I built up a strong exterior so no one could hurt me."
In order to succeed with her goal, MartiRae faced the issue not with shame but with honesty and a good attitude. And she sought out and accepted help from others.
She mentions Edmund Francis, Warm Springs Diabetes Prevention lifestyle coach, as a great help. Edmund makes himself available to people at all times, MartiRae says. "He’s very passionate about his work," she says.
At the clinic MartiRae had support from Dr. Rachel Locker, nurse Janet Bissell, Jennie Smith of the Diabetes Program, nurse Diane Fuller of risk management, Sara Thomas, who was the nutritionist at the clinic, and Caroline Harvey, former health worker with the tribes.
In more recent months MartiRae has support from her team that is competing in the Moving Mountains weight-loss challenge, organized by nurse Bethann Beamer of Mountain View Hospital. MartiRae’s team includes Anita Davis, Deborah Jackson and Diane Fuller.
"I like the diversity we have on our team," she says. "I think we reflect the idea that at any age you can make a difference in your life."
Other friends in the community, such as Faye Waheneka, are also very supportive. "She is truly a@motivation for me," says MartiRae. "She likes to check in with me and ask me, ‘Marti, what are you eating?’ She keeps me on my toes."
Faye, like others in the community, know MartiRae through her job at the clinic, where she is the contact coordinator for patients.
MartiRae dedicates her success at dieting and losing weight to her late husband, to their children Tyreyk, 9, Johnny Jr., 7, and Celena, 4; and to her lifelong friend, Dennis A. Waters III.
"In my darkest hour of grief," she says, "he motivated me to get off my butt and start working out. Dennis has been in the Oregon State Penitentiary for the past 15 years. Don’t be took quick to judge who God will use to influence you. Dennis introduced me to the elliptical machine, telling me about the health benefits. He created playlists for my mp3 player. I would listen to the music he suggested to determine the pace of my workout."
When she first began working out, MartiRae could last only about ten minutes on the elliptical machine. Now she can go over an hour.
"Those are the external changes," she says. "But I attribute all my changes to faith in God. That is the real reason for my success."
She makes this observation: "It’s amazing how we are quick to condemn the alcoholic or drug addict for their behavior, yet we fail to recognize how we medicate our pain with food, shopping,@abuse, sex, etc.@The substance may change but the behavior is the same. It all defiles the body and the end result is poor health."
Agency officials visit Warm Springs
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs on June 24 hosted a visit from federal officials of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Commerce.
The officials toured sites around the reservation, including the Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery and the Warm Springs Forest Products Industries mill.
They also visited the Round Butte dam and its selective water intake tower.
The visit was a chance for the federal officials to learn more about the Warm Springs community, tribal resources and some of the things the tribes have done to improve fish habitat, said Bobby Brunoe, general manager of tribal Natural Resources.
Tribal Council invited the officials to visit. Brunoe, Tribal Council vice-chairman Ron Suppah, Councilman J.P. Patt, and secretary-treasurer Jody Calica accompanied the officials on the reservation tour.
Representing the federal government were Steve Doherty, senior advisor to the Secretary of the Interior for the Pacific Northwest; Don Chapman, senior advisor to the Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs; Will Stelle, regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); and Barry Thom, assistant regional administrator for NOAA fisheries.
Under the Interior Department are U.S. Fish and Wildlife, National Parks, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Reclamation, among others.
It is important for the tribes have a good relationship with the agencies that the tribes often work with, said Brunoe. And the visit was not in regard to any particular issue.
At the fish tower and the hatchery, the discussion was in regard to work the tribes and agencies have done, and projects that need to be done for fisheries, said Brunoe.
At the mill the discussion was about the bio-mass project and forest health.
Students recognized for good, great attendance
These students from the Jefferson County Middle School had outstanding attendance during the 2009-10 school year.
Eighth grade
Perfect attendance: Alicia Farias.Great attendance (absent two days or less): Duane Black, Dominigue Craig and Kari Wahnetaw.Good Attendance (absent 3 to 5 days): Zane Hudson, Samuel Coyle, Rachel Conner-Strong, Reshaun Holliday and Sasha Perez.@
Seventh grade
Great attendance: Joseph Calica, Jessi Hatlestad, Gabrielle Waldow.Good attendance: Quinton Big Knife, Voshaun Bryant, Anthony Holliday, Jr. LeVaughn Kirk, Mitchell Lira, Shelby Moody, Leah Rodriguez-White, DeAndre Smith, Kasheena Stevens.
Sixth grade
Perfect attendance: Jasmyn Reece, Lana Shike and Rheianna Wolfe.Great attendance: Robert Hatlestad, Dalton Herkshan and Rosebud Whipple.Good attendance: Alyssa Brunoe, Brittany Craig, Brevin Holliday, Brendon Jack-Parks, Christin Jack, Dale Kaltsukis, Teagan Kerr, Soraya Mendez, MaryLee Sconawah, Jordan Spino, Izaya Tahnezani, Tyra Thomas and Vivian Yazzie.
In all, there were a total of 168 school days during the 2009-10 year. Congratulations, students, on your outstanding attendance!
June 16, 2010
Tour gives students view of fish life cycle
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
Four classes from the Warm Springs Elementary School now have studied and seen firsthand the life cycle of salmon and steelhead from the egg stage to the return of the adult fish.
The fisheries lesson began last fall, when tribal Natural Resources installed fish incubators in the classes at the elementary school.
The students took care of the fish eggs until they hatched to the alevin stage, when the juvenile salmon is not yet able to swim.
During the incubation, the students monitored the water quality in the incubator tanks, and tested the pH, oxygen and temperature of the water. Then in December the students released the juvenile fish, then at the fry stage, into Shitike Creek.
Young salmon spend a year and a half in the river before traveling to the ocean. Then they return 2-5 years later.
To show the full life cycle, Natural Resources and Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery staff recently brought the students on a tour of the hatchery, when the adult fishing were coming up the river.
Kevin Blueback from the hatchery and Lisa Hewlett-Dubisar of Natural Resources conducted the tour.
During the tour, the hatchery workers were collecting adult salmon, separating the wild from the raised fish. So the students got to see that part of the operation.
They also got to feed the young fish at hatchery that are from the 2009 stock, and which will be released soon.
In all, about 100 students participated in the project, said Hewlett-Dubisar. The plan is to continue the incubator project in 2010-11 year at Warm Springs Elementary.
Tours of the hatchery are also planned, she said.
Clinic's Positive Pathways gives hope
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
The Warm Springs I.H.S. is offering the Positive Pathways program to those who are eligible to receive services through the clinic.
The program is a service that provides Baclofen (among other medications) for reducing alcohol cravings.
In certain studies, Baclofen has been shown quite effective. One such study included a doctor who treated himself.
"This is actually a service that the medical staff and the pharmacy staff came up with together back in late 2007," Dr. McCoy, from the Warm Springs pharmacy said. McCoy, 28, did his studies at Oregon State University and OHSU.
In 2004, a professor of medicine at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center called for a study on the use of Baclofen to eliminate alcohol cravings. Oliver Ameisen was also a French cardiologist and a severe alcoholic.
Ameisen had self-experimented with the drug after repeated failed attempts abstaining from alcohol. He had gone through treatment centers and countless A.A. meetings. Ameisen began to understand the severity of his problem after relapsing on the day that he graduated from a three-month treatment program.
After hearing reports that Baclofen (traditionally prescribed as a muscle relaxant) might be effective at reducing alcohol cravings, the doctor became willing to heal himself.
Frustrated, Ameisen began treating himself with Baclofen. He soon found that he had become completely indifferent to alcohol. Unlike abstinence, which requires constant effort, Ameisen’s newfound lack of interest in alcohol seemed to happen naturally.
In 2003, Ameisen was diagnosed as cured. The doctor describes his experience in his bestselling book, The End of My Addiction, published in 2008.
According to two Positive Pathways participants, Baclofen is easy to take. It doesn’t have overpowering effects. It doesn’t produce any immediate highs or lows. The alcohol cravings simply subside gradually.
The I.H.S. in Warm Springs hopes to publish the results of the service in order to get the information out to other Indian health clinics. "Hopefully they might be able to start similar programs," Dr. McCoy said. "Of course, all patient information is kept strictly confidential."
"What has happened to me has been a life-changing experience," one of the program participants says. "When I started out, I was at a level five or six. I had cravings for alcohol on a daily basis. It was one of the things that I thought about most in life. But gradually, that number went down. Today I’m at a zero. There are some days when I stop and realize – hey, I haven’t thought about taking a drink in quite some time!"
"I have been wanting to quit for quite a while now," another program participant says with a warm smile. "The desire to stop has been there, strong. I knew that it was time. But people who aren’t alcoholics don’t realize that alcohol is like a super magnet. It pulls hardest on metal, and that’s all we alcoholics are made of."
Participants of the Positive Pathways program are required to seek counseling. They must also give consent for the pharmacy and counseling center to communicate any progress.
"Of course this doesn’t happen on its own," the participant says. "There’s still some work on my end. You have to keep your counseling appointments and remember to take your Baclofen. I even go to A.A. just as an extra measure. But you could also see it in reverse – with A.A. working and Baclofen as the extra measure. If you want to quit, it will work. And if you don’t want to quit, you won’t work."
Baclofen was designed in the 1920s to treat certain symptoms of epilepsy. However, those effects were disappointing to researchers. Later, the drug was used to treat spasticity. It is administered orally, in pill form.
"There’s no set limit on the number of people who are allowed to participate," Dr. McCoy said. "People can come and go as they feel the need. We’re here to serve you, whenever you need us."
As far as Dr. McCoy knows, there are no other clinics offering services similar to Positive Pathways. "This is really a unique thing," he said.
Those who wish to participate in the study and are eligible to receive services through Warm Springs I.H.S. are invited to call 541-553-1196 to schedule an intake with the pharmacy.
Members complete their studies
The following tribal members recently earned their degrees and certificates:
Ashley Aguilar, Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Haskell Indian Nations University.
Leidy Caldera, certificate in Automotive Technology from the Universal Technical Institute.
Steven DeVault, certificate in Heavy Equipment from the Heavy Equipment Operators School Inc.
Alfred Estimo Jr., Associate of Arts in Business Administration from Central Oregon Community College.
Reina Estimo, Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from Oregon State University Cascades Campus.
Lynn Fluhr, Associate of Arts in Business Administration from Ashwood University.
Lynn Fluhr, Bachelor of Science in Fire Science from Ashwood University.
Melinda Heath-Brockie, Associate of Arts, General Transfer Degree, Northwest Indian College.
Leah Henry, Associate of Arts from Central Oregon Community College.
Siagigi Hintsatake, Bachelor of Science in Social Science from Oregon State University Cascades Campus.
Desire Hurtado, License in Cosmotology from Phagan’s Cosmotology.
Aiyana Jackson, Associate of Science in Nursing from Mt. Hood Community College.
Barbie Jackson, Diploma in Medical Insurance Coding and Billing, Concorde Career Institute.
Linda Meanus, Associate of Applied Sciences in Business from Heald College.
Charlene Moody, Bachelor of Arts in Education and Art from the University of Oregon.
Tatiana Penney, Associate of Applied Sciences in Native American Studies from Northwest Indian College.
Nola Queahpama, Associates of Arts, Central Oregon Community College.
Brittany Ruby-Trujillo, License in Cosmotology from the College of Cosmetology Inc.
Delsie Scott, Diploma, Jewelers, American Jewelers Institute.
Gordon Scott Jr., Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Haskell Indian Nations University.
Wynter Smith-Erickson, Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice from Iowa Central Community College.
Sammi Squiemphen-O’Reilly, AAOT, Transfer Degree Central Oregon Community College.
Jaylyn Suppah, Associates of Global Studies in Cultural Anthropology, Portland Community College.
Valerie Switzler, Master’s Degree in Global Indigenous Nation Studies, University of Kansas.
Ranch camp this month
The Canyon Ranch Camp will be taking children ages 8-13 for three-day Christian sleep-away near Madras.
Boys are invited June 21-23; girls are welcome June 28-30. Both sessions are Monday through Wednesday. Dropoffs are 7:30-8:30 a.m. Mondays. Pickups are 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
Activities include fireside devotions, Freedom Team, hiking, swimming, climbing, nature watching, Bible time, field trips, memory verses, meal preparation and gardening.
Special activities: Games for boys; Dress-up tea party for girls.
The children get to sleep in teepees.
Suggested donation is $35 a camper. Registration forms available on the reservation at the Community Center; Community Counseling Center; post office; and, store. The form provide details. Call Gladys Grant at 541-325-2650 or Sue Harrison at 541-475-3103.
June 2, 2010
Frank overcomes hardship to reach goal
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
The road for Shayla Frank, new fisheries tech at tribal Natural Resources, has been anything but ordinary.
Up until very recently, Frank, 25, worked for Portland General Electric, at the Round Butte dam and fish facility, in a job that seemed to be made just for her.
"She has always been the kind of person who could never work behind a desk," said Shayla’s grandmother Anna Clements, who raised Shayla.
"She knows about computers and such, but she’s more an outdoor person. She didn’t want to be sitting in an office," said Anna.
With PGE, Shayla would spend the day checking screw traps that collected fish that were migrating downstream. Part of her job was to process these fish, taking measurements, tagging, and weighing chinook and steelhead smolts.
Even back in college, Shayla says, she favored field work classes. She graduated from Salish Kootenai College in 2008, earning her Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Sciences.
"She’s had a hard life," Clements said. "We lost her mother to alcoholism, and then her father died early on. So it was hard for Shayla to find support. We took her when she was just a baby, and we told her––‘You need to do this. You need to get an education and do good things with your life.’"
"It was really tough," Shayla said. "I lost a few family members when I was in college, and I was tempted to come back home. My grandpa, Rudy Clements, passed away and it hit me."
But during her first year of college, her tuition was waived. And during the following year, she attended classes thanks to scholarships, which she says helped out a lot with the required books.
"When I came home for funerals," she said, "then I’d feel like I didn’t want to go back to school. I’d be sad. But my family and my friends would push me. Grandma would tell me that I could make it. I started to believe them. I really could get my degree."
Shayla says that her grandparents were her biggest role models, because they stressed the importance of education in her life.
"They always told me that I should learn all that I could and then come back and work for the people," she said. "That was the way my grandpa lived his life, and that’s what I admired about him the most. I try to live by that today, too, how he lived and how he believed."
After college, Shayla returned to the reservation and applied for a job at Natural Resources, but didn’t get the job. "I was told that I needed more field experience," she said. "But I took this as a chance to better myself. When I come back, I thought, I’ll have that knowledge and I’ll be able to work my way up."
She says that her dream is to one day be a tribal biologist. "I might also consider going back to school for my master’s some day. Not right now," she said with a laugh, "but some day."
Anna Clements remembers that Shayla was always a good listener when she was growing up. She always kept up her grades.
"One of the hardest classes for her was math," Anna said. "But there was one teacher, Luanne Foltz, who would not let Shayla fail. She kept at it with her, and she really inspired her to keep on learning. She’d tell her, ‘You stay in after school and I’ll help you, and afterwards we can drop you off at home since we’re neighbors.’ That really helped her, it got her motivated."
Even if they are brought up in difficult circumstances, Anna says, children can make it, if someone just takes some time to motivate and inspire them.
"I know some classes can be hard," Shayla said, "like math and science. Just push through them. If the youth can start learning early on and get their grades up, they can keep those grades up for as long as they want. The sky is the limit, basically."
Most recently, Shayla resigned her position at PGE and accepted a Fisheries Tech I opening at tribal Natural Resources.
Team encourages emergency preparedness
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
A small group of tribal residents and emergency providers stood in a circle tossing small beanbag balls to one another.
What does this have to do with preparing for an emergency?
This was a fun way to illustrate how important it is not to drop the ball, to be prepared when a crisis occurs.
"Are we as a community prepared?" asked Don Courtney, a community emergency response team instructor who is also the tribe’s Utilities Department director.
The answer is "no," he said.
But with some training and planning people living on the
reservation can be much better prepared.
The idea is to motivate tribal members to get ready for emergencies, to have a plan and gather enough supplies so everyone in their household (even pets
and other animals) can survive for at least three days.
Part of planning is the ability to prepare for a variety of crises and know who’ll be effected, how they’ll be effected, whom you can help and from whom
you can receive help, Courtney said.
"People also need to practice responding to an emergency," he explained.
While some crises last only for a short time––a recent power outage was less than four hours long—a severe earthquake could keep people on the reservation isolated for at least a week. Maybe longer if roads are
heavily damaged.
Police, firefighters and other emergency workers will be responding to people and sites where they are most needed.
This is why residents need to identify potential hazards that could arise because of various accidents, crises or disasters and try to eliminate them. A tall, heavy piece of furniture could fall and trap someone in an
earthquake. Heavy brush growing outside the house could catch fire in a wild land blaze and destroy it entirely, Courtney explained.
EMERGENCY KIT
Water: One gallon per person, per day (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).
Food: Non-perishable, easy to prepare items (3-day supply for evacuation, 2-week supply for home).
Flashlight and radio: (NOAA Weather Radio, if possible). Extra batteries for all items in the kit that require batteries.
First aid kit: Medications (7-day supply) and medical items.
Multipurpose tool. Sanitation and personal hygiene items. Copies of personal documents (medication list and pertinent medical information, proof of address, deed/lease to home, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies).
Cell phone with chargers. Family and emergency contact information. Extra cash. Emergency blanket. Map of the area.
Two-way radios. Extra set of car keys and house keys. Manual can opener.
Consider the needs of all family members and add supplies to your kit that they will require, such as:
Medical supplies (hearing aids with extra batteries, glasses, contact lenses, syringes, cane).
Baby supplies (bottles, formula, baby food, diapers).
Games and activities for children.
Pet supplies (collar, leash, ID, food, carrier, bowl).
People should have a large one at home and a smaller one in their automobile if they are not home when an emergency occurs.
Courtney reminds people to keep an eye on their kits after they put them together because much of the contents can go bad, wear out or just not be
suitable if unused within a reasonable time. Food spoils, plastic bottles containing water can become unstable after temperatures are extremely low or
high.
People (especially children) grow out of clothes and batteries wear down.
For details or for specific information about planning for emergencies call
Fire and Safety at 541-553-1634. Other CERT workshops will be offered, just not immediately, and are sponsored by Child Protective Services.
The Red Cross and the community emergency response team (CERT) suggest a kit that includes:
Special presentation at the museum
International commerce, diplomatic relations, cultural exchanges and tourism are hot topics today in the Northwest, just as they were nearly 12,000 years ago among the indigenous peoples who lived along the Columbia River.
These civilized, prosperous nations developed an international marketplace that, by the 1700s, included trade with Russia, Spain, England, China and America––yet their story is often untold in histories of the region.
Native American historian and scholar Pat Courtney Gold on Saturday, June 19 will present Innovators and Traders: Indigenous People of the Columbia River.
This is a special community program at the Museum at Warm Springs Museum.
The free program is open to persons of all ages and will be held at 2 p.m. in the community room at the museum.
Gold will discuss the rich heritage of cultural and financial commerce conducted up and down the Columbia River.
Just as questions of sustainability affect modern commerce, Gold will show how native peoples’ relationship to the land provided our first environmentally friendly model of commerce.
Gold is a former Chautauqua program presenter for the Oregon Council for the Humanities, as well as an internationally acclaimed fiber artist and basket maker.
She is enrolled in the Wasco Nation, Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, where she was raised and still has family.
Gold helped revive the art of Wasco basket weaving, with its geometric images and motifs.
She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship in 2007.
Her work is in museum collections and has been exhibited nationally and internationally.
The program is sponsored by the Museum at Warm Springs and Libraries of Eastern Oregon (LEO) as part of LEO’s Sense of Place series of programs in the arts, sciences and humanities. LEO is a nonprofit that serves public libraries and other cultural institutions in eastern Oregon.
A Sense of Place programs are funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the premier support agency for the 17,000 museums and libraries in the United States.
For further information, contact Carol Leone, executive director of the Museum at Warm Springs at 541-553-3331. Or see: www.museumatwarmsprings.org
May 19, 2010 edition
Terri Harber/Spilyay
Sissiley Scott (right) assists a workshop participant in creating a babyboard on May 4. See more photos on the Spilyay's Facebook page:
Babyboard-making classes carry on tradition
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
It’s made so a baby can’t move any body part except their head. And most babies seem to like being in that position. Known as cradleboards, babyboards or just boards, the tight wood and fabric protective devices have deep Native American roots.
The tribe will increase the number of Back to Boards Workshops from four times a year to one each month.
"It gives (babies) a sense of security," said Arlita Rhoan, who works for the language program and is highly involved with presenting the workshops.
It’s believed the tight swaddling onto the board is similar to how it feels being inside the mother’s womb. That familiarity and comfort makes the baby
fall sleep easily and more soundly, said Janet Bissell, registered nurse with the local Indian Health Service.
"They are calmed," she said.
Babyboards put the child on its back instead of on its stomach or on one side––a good practice to reduce a child’s risk of dying from Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome, better known as SIDS, Bissell said. "Their drool just runs down the sides of their cheeks."
She also noted that a little time in the board gives the mother an opportunity to do other things, which may reduce the risk of Shaken Baby
Syndrome.
"This is especially important when a mother may not have enough support," Bissell said.
The boards can sit on the floor, be carefully propped up or toted around. When people used to travel around on horses they would tie their babies on and trot along.
The act of simply putting the baby into the board each time allows for ample contact between mother and child, Rhoan pointed out.
Her grandmother was a doctor for Indian babies and she raised several children herself.
Spending time with the baby is important. Just because one
is bottle-feeding and not breast-feeding, mom or dad should still hold the baby and talk to the baby during its meals.
Babies also like a little massage, Rhoan said.
Sissiley Scott coordinates the workshops. She learned a lot about the board tradition while serving as Miss Warm Springs last year and really enjoys
helping women on the reservation put their boards together.
It may look different from what people off reservations commonly use. But learning why they were created and their purpose "made a lot of sense," she said.
After citing most of the reasons noted above, she also talked about how the
smallest children in Early Childhood Education enjoy taking naps in the boards and mentioned that it’s actually easier to show groups of people a baby in the board because when a child is hanging loose "all that passing around can make the baby sore."
The next two-day workshop is scheduled for June 14-15, from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
The workshop and supplies are free. Participants are welcome to bring their
own fabric but should speak to the organizer before class to make sure the fabric will work. And lunch is provided.
Call 553-2460 for details.
Coalition offers hopeful alternatives
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
The Prevention Coalition in Warm Springs meets regularly with concerned community members to find ways to prevent methamphetamine use and suicide on the reservation.
The coalition is led by Mickie Martinez, suicide prevention coordinator, and Rosanna Jackson, meth prevention coordinator.
"This is the third time we’ve met," Martinez said at last week’s coalition meeting. "At the first meeting, there were about five people who showed up. The second meeting, we had 12. We’re getting ready to nominate a chair-person, vice-chair and secretary, so we’re trying to get the community more involved in this effort."
Jackson attended the College of the Redwoods, commuting to the coast. She majored in business and computers. She enjoyed working with the Hoopa tribe, where she had some rewarding experiences. While there, she was employed with Health and Disability. She was also the human resources director for the clinic.
"Warm Springs is my home," she said, "and that’s why I wanted to come back. I wanted to take my education and experience and put it into something that I enjoyed doing for my people."
"Here," she said, "they’ve realized that I have the computer skills and so they ask me for the basic computer help. Sometimes it’s funny. But I told them, I started out that way when I went to school. I didn’t even know how to turn the computer on."
When Jackson began working at Community Counseling, she did a lot of reading. "Most of it had to do with the tribe’s policies and the people that I’d be working with. I had to read about the prevention signs and what we need to do to start prevention activities."
One of Jackson’s jobs included recruiting community members for the Prevention Coalition.
"The last time I went to school in Madras was when I was a freshman," Jackson laughs. "After that, I left for boarding school. There’s a lot of people that I still don’t recognize in the community, and they address me by name."
Despite that, Jackson’s positive attitude and cheery personality seem to be working in her favor, as attendance at the Prevention Coalition meeting increased.
Jackson has also done research and distributed materials on the harmful effects of meth to the community.
In the past, Jackson was involved with the Fatherhood Project, where she helped put together a website targeted towards dads who wanted to become involved with their child’s education.
Jackson also enjoys showing the reservation’s youth that there are positive activities that are rewarding. "I enjoy designing T-shirts, myself. I like to make flyers. I helped my son’s wrestling team by making a logo for their sweatshirts. They asked me not to put a year on the design, because they wanted to use it again!"
The most challenging part of her job, Jackson said, is getting people to attend the meetings and to stay involved with the project.
"People should know that they can make a difference in somebody else’s life. These meetings have a lot to do with personal experiences that might be helpful for someone else to hear."
At last week’s Prevention Coalition meeting, the group talked about elections, risk and protective factors, the seven steps of planning, and the coalition retreat.
"Pretty much, we’re relinquishing this project to the community," Martinez said. The coalition is gaining input from community members on where the project will lead.
"We need to prioritize where we’re at. The target population has been selected, and that’s the young people. After we figure out our priorities, we’ll go shopping for programs and grants and implement them to see how effective they are."
The next Prevention Coalition meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 9, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. at Community Counseling.
Terri Harber/Spilyay
The Presbyterian Church in Warm Springs hosted the National Day of Prayer earlier this month.
Local church participates in Day of Prayer
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
A few stalwarts participated in the local observance of National Day of Prayer.
People were invited to come pray at the Presbyterian Church in Warm Springs during the lunch hour on May 6. The idea was to focus on lending support to tribal as well as various local, state and federal leaders.
"In Indian culture you pray for your elders," said Rev. Rick Ribeiro, of the Warm Springs Presbyterian Church. "For the wisdom they need every year to lead their people."
Though the event often highlights Judeo-Christian believers, the idea of supporting one’s leaders was, and still is, important to Native Americans.
Organizers of larger local events across the United States tried to include representatives of various faiths practiced in their communities. Native Americans participating in traditional chants and prayers in areas with significant populations were seen in many U.S. cities praying alongside Christians, Jews, Buddists, Sikhs, Muslims, Wiccans and those of many other beliefs.
One of the Warm Springs participants brought literature with prayers and Biblical references that support a variety of leaders in government, medicine, armed forces, commerce, the arts and other areas.
"Praying for the arts?" Ribeiro said as an example of leaders in all segments of society needing support. "What a wonderful thought!"
The idea of a National Day of Prayer sanctioned by the U.S. government is being challenged in the court system.
A federal district judge in Wisconsin has found the event to be unconstitutional because it doesn’t uphold the constitutional separation of church and state.
The Obama administration plans to challenge the ruling so the day established by President Truman can continue being commemorated as it has been since 1952—with a law designating the day and a yearly proclamation, and observances in and on government-owned sites, according to the Associated Press.
While Ribeiro predicts this year’s National Day of Prayer was the last, he doesn’t believe that people will stop praying in support of their leaders.
He’s been asked more than once why it has been relegated to just one day.
"They thought that it was something you should do every day," he added.
From May 5, 2010 edition
Terri Harber/Spilyay
The area by the sounding rock served as a training ground for tribal members who will help with archeological research.
Tribal members help piece together past
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
They lined up to slowly walk across a field of tall grass, bushes and rocks. Many were carrying clipboards and small orange flags. A couple of them were joking around by waving their flags as if they were controlling air or auto traffic.
But when it was time for these tribal members to start their training project, the mood became serious. The men and woman pointed their heads downward and carefully studied a section of reservation ground just off Highway 3 near the Media Center.
They weren’t looking for evidence of a crime as some passers by wondered. Instead they were looking for tiny pieces of history––arrowheads, pieces of glass or cookery—anything that seemed out of place in the field.
About a dozen tribal members recently spent a week learning about archeology so they could help employees of Warm Springs Geo Vision carry out assignments. It’s formally referred to as Cultural Resource training.
They spent the morning learning how to read maps and compasses, how to let other group members know they found something (by waving the orange flags) and how to document what they’ve discovered.
The following day, after some classroom training, the group came outside to watch and try some flint knapping, the method people used to make stone tools such as arrowheads and hand axes.
Alex Atkins, an expert flint knapper and lithic analyst, made it look easy to reshape various rocks using other rocks and an elk horn.
"The training has helped me learn about the surrounding environment better and learn more about artifacts," said Kristy Johnson, 21, one of the tribal members in the weeklong course. "Now I have more knowledge about the reservation."
WorkForce Development is financing the training of these men and women to do this type of archeology fieldwork as needed, said Sally Bird, Cultural Resources manager. The idea sprang from a job fair held on the reservation in March.
The field search exercise was practical and important. So was the hands-on flint knapping. It was to allow the trainees to gain appreciation of the work and precision it took to create hand tools.
It was also to help them recognize the small pieces and flakes that fell from rocks, flint and other materials that the ancients worked. By studying the artifacts, archeologists make determinations about the time, place and use of tools, who might have used them and for what purpose.
Other topics include laws that govern archeological practices in Indian Country, area history, what to wear and carry, and how to identify things they might find in this area.
Geo Vision does archeological work to ensure that tribal resources and artifacts aren’t lost when, for example, the need arises for land to be cleared or partially cleared in preparation for fire season.
Courtesy photo by Sue Matters
Boys and Girls Club members say thank you to supporters.
Boys and Girls Club hosts successful fundraiser
By Sue Matters
For the Spilyay
The Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club, which operates as a unit of the Boys and Girls Club of the Portland Metropolitan Area, held their first big fundraiser on Saturday, May 1 at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino.
The event raised more than $7,000 for club operations thanks to the generosity of those who attended, and thanks to Kah-Nee-Ta, which sponsored the meal, room use and multiple contributions to the silent and live auction.
The afternoon offered golfers a two-man, 9-hole scramble at the Kah-Nee-Ta links.
Other opportunities included a trip to the Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery with Mavis Shaw, and a traditional fishing presentation with Terry Courtney Jr.
Additionally folks were able to make jewelry with Brigette Whipple or learn about traditional ways with Arlita Rhoan.
Museum at Warm Springs staff Natalie Moody and Evaline Patt displayed the more than 50 silent auction Items and offered guidance about the auction process.
As evening approached, Foster Kalama shared his flute music and Jane Kirkpatrick, author and former Warm Springs Early Childhood Education staffer, did book signings.
Attendees gathered to meet and greet and strategize on how best to approach the items they were most interested in for the silent auction.
The dining room tables were set for 80––with black and teal cloths and chairs draped in white with teal sashes.
There were presentations about the Boys and Girls Club; inspirational comments from Jane Kirkpatrick; a live auction; and the hit of the evening––several traditional dance demonstrations from Club Kids.
The mission of the Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club is "to enable all young people, especially those that need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens."
The Warm Springs Club assists the community’s youth with basic guidance and development by:
Providing a positive, safe place to learn and grow;
Building supporting relationships with caring, adult professionals and;
Providing opportunities of life-enhancing programs and character development experiences.
The Warm Springs Boys and Girls club operates after school, as well as on school closure days and during the summer.
The club is located in the Vern Jackson Home. This is the second year of operations as a tribal department with a unique partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area.
Sixty youth a day is the average attendance for the Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs provides 42 percent of the club’s annual budget. The other 58 percent of the budget is received through membership fees, grants, fundraising, and generous donations.
Smith featured speaker at Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
Warm Springs Tribal member Carlos Smith will speak May 18 during the economic development and tourism session of the meeting. His topic of discussion is sustainability in the hospitality industry.
For the past two and a half years Carlos has worked as the director of operations at the Doubletree Portland.
The Doubletree has long been a leader in sustainability and has received many awards.
Some of these awards are as follows:
Pacific Power Blue Sky Program’s "Certificate of Environmental Stewardship—Blue Sky Visionary";
Green Seal Certified, and Energy Star Certified;
American Hotel and Lodging Association’s Good Earth keeping Award in 2008;
Oregon Business Magazine’s "100 Best Companies to Work For," awarded three times;
State of Oregon Governor "Exemplar" Award for Sustainability;
Doubletree Green Award "Most Sustainable Doubletree" two years in a row out of 212 Doubletrees.
Carlos was attracted to the Doubletree due to their leadership in sustainability. Over the past few years he has learned how a large hotel in a very competitive market can develop a triple bottom line that looks at and addresses profit for ownership, well being of staff and guests, and reducing the impact on the planet.
At the Doubletree in Portland, they purchase large quantities of various items for their menus from local farmers. One of the changes he has worked on was to purchase locally caught salmon.
With the help of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish commission, the Doubletree became the only hotel in Portland to purchase tribally caught salmon.
The tribes have a great product and the Doubletree spends money that goes right back to our local economy, said Smith. "That is what sustainability is all about."
The tribes have always practiced sustainability of natural resources for the future generations, said Smith. "And I truly believes this type of hospitality business model will soon the standard for all hotels, resorts and casinos."
Everyone is invited to listen to his thoughts at the ATNI meeting.
Fish project earns national recognition
The fisheries work by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and Portland General Electric has received national recognition.
The Edison Electric Institute named six finalists for the Edison Award, the electricity industry’s highest honor.
PGE and the tribes are among the finalists.
Finalists were selected by a committee composed of energy trade publication editors. The winner will be selected by a panel of former electric company chief executives.
This year’s award, the Eighty-Third annual, will be presented in Hollywood, Florida, during the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) annual convention and expo in June.
In recognizing the tribes and PGE, the EEI stated:
"PGE and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs completed a one-of-a-kind fish bypass-intake structure designed to restore fish passage and return water temperatures to historic patterns at the 465-megawatt Pelton Round Butte hydro plant.
"This will allow chinook, steelhead, and sockeye salmon to complete their life cycles in the Deschutes River for the first time in 40 years."
John Day restoration project wins state award
The Oregon Land Board has recognized the Upper John Day Watershed Restoration Program with the Stream Project Award.
The partners working on the Upper John Day project include the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Grant County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In presenting the award, the Land Board cited the exemplary effort to promote responsible stewardship of natural resources.
Secretary of State Kate Brown, chairing awards presentation meeting, praised the project partners for their efforts over the past 16 years to replace historic gravel push-up dams that impede fish passage.
"They’ve implemented solutions that bring positive results and long-term benefits to both fish and agriculture," she said.
The program has been installing "lay-flat stanchion dams" to replace old-style push-up dams, which require rebuilding and excavation maintenance work each season.
They are also doing juniper control, water efficiency projects, riparian protection and planting, and working closely with landowners to complete these restoration activities.
For details about the tribes’ watershed restoration program in the John Day Basin, contact Linda Brown at the Prairie City office at 541-820-3568.
Pi-Ume-Sha Men’s Traditional Contest
In honor of Arthur Mitchell, Sam Colwash, Nathan "8 Ball" Jim.
40 and over Men’s Traditional Contest in Honor of the late committee and founders of Pi-Ume-Sha Treaty Days Powwow:
Arthur Tewee Mitchell, Sam Colwash and Nathan "8 Ball" Jim.
First Place: Pendleton blanket and jacket and $300.
Second place: Pendleton blanket and $200.
Third place: Pendleton blanket and $100.
For more information, contact Carlos Calica at 541-460-0772.
From April 21, 2010
Terri Harber/Spilyay
Works by Levi BlackWolf of Wolfn Photographies are on display at The Museum at Warm Springs.
To see a few more examples of BlackWolf's work, visit our Facebook page at
Photographer depicts Native life with unique style
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
Levi BlackWolf of Wolfn Photographies is having his first major showing in the changing room at The Museum at Warm Springs.
"It’s bigger than what I expected," he said of the exhibit in which 33 of his pictures are on display. "I’m impressed, and happy with the way it turned out."
BlackWolf, who turns 35 this month, creates a signature combination of elements to depict Native American life using photography, image blending and bold graphic design elements.
"A picture is not really ‘done’ if it doesn’t have a design I’ve made," he said. "You add designs to help it look even better."
One image he created is a woman looking off into the distance on horseback amid tall grass. She and her horse are in Native attire.
It’s deceptively simple until you notice faint, yet colorful images sharing the sky above and around her. They are views of family members, the loved ones always on her mind.
Katie BlackWolf Bevis is the model and "my mom," BlackWolf said. She also helped create the image by pulling together wardrobe. He is visible among the family members depicted in his mother’s thoughts. It was the first time he blended images together to tell a story.
"A Mother’s Love" is what he calls the photograph.
He also enjoys capturing images of wildlife and fashion-glamour. Relatives usually serve as models when he creates planned images.
"I enjoy when a person looks at the picture and smiles," he said. "I enjoy seeing the smile on the person’s face."
BlackWolf also gets joy from showing others how to create. He has trained close family members to either shoot photographs (his daughter Katrina, 14, can take photographs, for example) or do the computer design work. He’s also mentoring several artists.
Powwows are often his focus. He usually captures 1,000 images over a weekend at one of these events, he said.
BlackWolf is planning his next large-scale project: Images of a Native-American encampment. It would be a location with many Natives abuzz with activity––so much action that it would require three or four photographers to capture it all.
He expects that this type of photographic endeavor will be costly, however.
BlackWolf eventually wants to put together a book of his images and is creating a 2010-11 (August to August) calendar for which he is currently taking orders.
Now based in Walla Walla, Wash., Blackwolf continues to work as a survey technician and drafter, though he went professional as a photographer about three years ago. His employer also displays several of his photographs, he said.
BlackWolf used to work on the reservation at the Credit Enterprise. This is where he began designing with Microsoft Word. He was able to do a lot with the ubiquitous program, but found it limiting because it only allowed files the size of a standard sheet of paper.
He has since moved on to using Adobe Photoshop, which is easier to use with large-size photos because the elements can be created bigger for better definition when added to the image.
"Thank you to anyone who has ever helped me and believed in me in the process of getting to where I am," he said.
His works will be on display at the museum through June 11.
Operating hours there have increased since winter has ended. The museum is open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Call 541-553-3331 for details.
Those interested in BlackWolf’s calendar can telephone Wolfn Photographies at 541-429-2528.
Courtesy photo
Wendy Manuelito, a customer, stands with Nicole Main, Scott Moses and Lilly Ann in front of Skyn Style, a new business in the Warm Springs Plaza.
Skyn Style open at Plaza
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
People traveling Highway 26 can see a new business open in the Warm Springs Plaza with clothes, shoes and accessories.
Skyn Style began operating in March with a variety of new and used items for sale.
The proprietors are Scott Moses and Nicole Main. They wanted to make it easier for tribal members to purchase affordable items.
He made note of the tribal unemployment rate, which currently exceeds 60 percent.
"I see lots of tribal members without drivers’ licenses sneaking out of town to buy clothes in Madras or Redmond that cost a lot of money," Moses said. "I’m just trying to offer great quality clothes for a reasonable price."
Along with new and used clothes are locally crafted items—jewelry, embellished accessories and other gift items.
T-shirts with the store’s feather logo also are available.
"Times are tough now. People can’t spend a lot of money," Moses said. "We knew there was a need for clothing on the reservation. Right now, all the money goes across the river."
Specific types of merchandise are moving fast: Athletic wear, items for children, baby shoes, and name-brands.
The store is taking gently used clothing donations and looking for tribal craftspeople with items to sell.
Not only are tribal residents coming to the store; people driving Highway 26 are stopping to look around.
The store is in a small 525 sq.-ft. space, but Moses and Main intend to add wall racks so they can display more merchandise.
Skyn Style is in the Warm Springs Plaza, next to the Tepee Deli. It’s open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
The plaza is across from The Museum at Warm Springs.
Moses will serve on the 25th Tribal Council for the Seekseequa District and is the executive director of housing for the tribe. He and girlfriend Main have a daughter, Lily Ann, age 4.
For details, telephone 541-325-2773. Also visit:
Myspace.com/skynstyle.
Or e-mail: skynstyleclothing@gmail.com.
Smith on ag committee
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
Jason Smith has been appointed to serve on the Oregon Farm Services Agency Committee.
The committee oversees the activities of the Farm Services Agency. These activities include carrying out the state agricultural conservation programs, resolving appeals from the agriculture community, and helping to keep producers informed about FSA programs.
Smith has been a rancher and livestock owner his whole life, and is the Range and Ag manager for Warm Springs Natural Resources.
In the past he owned and managed Deschutes Crossing Restaurant, and was the president of the Warm Springs Rodeo Association for two years. He is a champion Wild Horse racer.
Smith has been an Inter-Tribal Ag Council board member for four years and Water and Soil Conservation District board member for six years.
Others appointed to the FSA Committee include Peggy Browne of Baker City, Vernon Frederickson from Boardman, and Robert VanderZanden, who farms grass seed in Washington County.
The FSA’s efforts include facilitating income support, disaster assistance and conservation programs, providing operating loans for the procurement of farm equipment, seed and fertilizer, as well as offering ownership loans to help new and veteran producers purchase a farm.
FSA also works to procure various commodities to benefit low-income families through domestic food assistance programs.
Terri Harber/Spilyay
Getting creative with chinook
Salmon seemingly swim behind these local children, who helped create the fish art during Spring Break. The art decorates the wall that runs through the Warm Springs Community Center. The wall has blue stripes that serve as a facsimile waterway for the paper fish to swim through. The project was to celebrate chinook salmon, said Carol Sahme, arts and crafts coordinator with the Recreation Department.
Photo gallery of this art project is on our Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spilyay-Tymoo/111368498884718?ref=mf#!/album.php?aid=13298&id=111368498884718&ref=mf
Suppah chosen for leadership assembly
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
Jaylyn Suppah has been selected as a delegate to the 2010 Rural Youth Convening of the National Rural Assembly in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Suppah is one of 53 young people chosen from a nation-wide nominations process. Assembly participants were selected on the basis of leadership, community involvement, and personal interests and achievement.
Suppah was nominated to be part of the youth delegation by Work Force Development (WEDD).
"I’m thankful for this responsibility and challenge," Suppah said. "It will be a great opportunity for me to explore and learn new ideas and bring them back to our reservation. I’m hoping to bring back new ideas and possibly implement some of them in our community. Also, to learn more about myself and how to be an effective young leader to make a difference any way that I can."
Delegates were selected through a very competitive nominations process.
Those selected were between the ages 18-25 who live in rural communities, said Peter Morris of the National Congress for American Indians, and member of the Youth Assembly organization committee.
"They represent the geographic, racial and ethnic diversity of rural America and the nation as a whole."
The National Rural Assembly provides a forum for rural young people to discuss issues that are critical to their lives and communities, such as job creation, education, culture and conserving natural resources.
The assembly includes more than 500 regional and national organizations based in 47 states and the District of Columbia. The stated goal of the assembly is to make the country stronger by improving the outlook for rural communities.
"I believe I can make a difference," Suppah said, "and this conference can prepare and educate me on issues that affect not only our community, but others as well. It will give me the opportunity to hear from other young people the challenges they face in their communities and how they are trying to make a difference."
The conference will be held this Thursday through Sunday, April 22-25.
Terri Harber/Spilyay
A march from the Children's Protective Services office to the Community Center on April 9 was to foster awareness about child abuse.
Fostering awareness of abuse, assault
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
Local schoolchildren accompanied by adults all marched from the Child Protective Services office to the Community Center on the morning of April 9. They held blue balloons to commemorate the plight of abused children.
After discussing the issue and praying, the group of roughly 300 people released their balloons to the sky and joined together for lunch.
The idea of the event is to foster awareness about the issue and to let victims know they have nothing to feel guilty about because the abuse wasn’t—or isn’t—their fault.
The event was sponsored by Children’s Protective Services. T-shirts and balloons were given away to participants.
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The goals are to encourage communities to support children and families, and to let people know help is available to them if they need support.
Call 911 if you see abuse happening. Do not confront the abuser because this can hamper an investigation and put the child at risk for further harm, according to officials. Contact CPS if you suspect a child is being abused.
This is also sexual assault awareness month. Tribal officials plan a Darkness to Light Workshop from 1-4 p.m. this Thursday, April 22 at the Family Resource Center.
Its purpose is to spread awareness about how to prevent child sexual abuse.
The idea of the workshop is to "reinforce our natural instinct to protect children," said Aurel Stinson, victims’ advocate for Victims of Crime Services.
"This is to help us better protect our children."
Most abusers are close to their victim, either a relative, friend of the family or someone else in frequent contact. However, the Internet has opened up children to the entire world and put them at further risk.
"It’s important for parents to know what Web sites they’re visiting, what their kids are putting up, and whom they are really interacting with," Stinson emphasized. "A hot 16-year-old chick could really be a 50-year-old man."
Other Darkness to Light workshop dates are being planned. Contact Tina and Juanita at VOCS for details, 541-553-2291.
Utilities seeks help from tribal members
By Terri Harber
Spilyay Tymoo
Raw fish guts and pieces left all over the kitchen counters and floors. Critters running wild inside a longhouse because the doors were left open all night. Large amounts of cookery and utensils missing from their cabinets and drawers.
Are these sights you’d like to discover? Not likely.
Some groups that use public buildings for various events have been frustrating the Utilities Department by leaving messes in the longhouses and other private meeting areas. Others are removing items routinely needed for conducting such gatherings as funerals, memorials, birthdays, and weddings.
"We are already stretched and pushed to our limits," said Don Courtney, Utilities director and acting chief operations officer of the tribes. "And we’re going to face worse economic times."
The department has had to react to such recent problems as pipe breaks and a variety of other crises. It also takes care of public buildings on the reservation––roughly 90 sites.
Utilities employees prepare the building inside and out before a group comes to use it. They move supplies around as requested––first come, first served––and make sure it’s clean and ready for the event. They also make sure there are cleanup items ready for use when the event finally winds down, among other duties.
Only a couple of employees focus on the meeting locations. They don’t have time to do such things as bring in groceries or help cleanup afterward.
Event organizers are given forms that point out responsibilities and requirements. Rules are posted at each location. Not everyone seems to notice, however.
Along with asking people to cleanup after themselves, utilities workers ask that people take a final look around before they leave to make sure the location is in order. And to be sure the location is locked up.
If there is a problem, building or event related, let the Utilities Department know as soon as possible, the workers ask.
Another problem is people who have keys to the buildings holding unscheduled gatherings. Doing this leaves a site in disarray for people who took the time to schedule their event.
One worker said that 24-hour’s notice "would be great."
Utilities is considering upgrading security by using a card entry system instead of the current key entry to the longhouses, Shaker Church and other gathering areas, Courtney said.
Another request: Anyone who has removed items from these locations is being asked to bring these things back to the utilities department. The employees will return the items to the appropriate locations.
"Just return whatever you have. No questions asked," Courtney said. "It’s becoming too expensive for the tribe to continue replacing pots, utensils and all of the other things that keep disappearing."
Call 553-3246 for details, if you want to know more about reserving a gathering location, or if you have ideas to help utilities resolve these issues.
From April 7, 2010 edition
Chairman states BIA Forestry, other funding concerns at hearing
By Dave Mc Mechan
Spilyay Tymoo
A Congressional subcommittee on Interior Appropriations conducted a hearing in Washington, D.C., recently on proposed 2011 federal appropriations affecting Indian Country.
Tribal leaders from several tribes including Warm Springs attended in order to give testimony on the appropriations issues of importance to the tribes.
On behalf of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Tribal Council Chairman Ron Suppah testified before the subcommittee, stressing the importance of adequate funding for forestry management.
"Warm Springs is a forestry tribe," Chairman Suppah said. "Timber is a principal source of our revenue and jobs, and the health and good management of our forest is very important for us."
Unfortunately, he said, "BIA has been starving its forestry program for years. It gets only about one-third of the per-acre funding of the Forest Service."
Since 2003, inflation has gone up 17 percent, "while BIA Forestry has only gone up 5.3 percent," Suppah said.
"At Warm Springs, this unfair treatment of BIA Forestry funding has seriously eroded our forestry staff. Eleven of our 27 full time positions are permanently unfunded. Our ability to plan and manage our forest has been crippled."
To correct the situation, Suppah recommended to the subcommittee that the BIA Forestry budget see a substantial increase.
"The Intertribal Timber Council suggests increasing Forestry to $31.2 million just to keep up with increases given other agencies in recent years. That, we believe, would be a start, and we support that."
Suppah recommended restoration of $1 million to the Timber Harvest Initiative program.
"And add $5 million to Forest Development," he said, "to reduce the national thinning and replanting backlog of 900,000 acres." On the Warm Springs Reservation, Suppah said, the thinning and replanting backlog is 60,000 acres.
He spoke to other issues as well, including the need for adequate funding of law enforcement on the reservation, health care, and education.
Regarding education funding, Suppah said, "For BIA Johnson-O’Malley, Warm Springs urges it be funded at $25 million. That is the only BIA elementary and secondary support for the great majority of tribes whose children are in public schools, and its decline must be reversed."
Clinic teaches youth about rodeo
By Fara Ann Brummer
OSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Reasoueces
The wind was raging and the gray day was cold. But Mike Holyan and Jenna Johnson patiently taught ten interested youth about horse handling and preparation for rodeo events.
The youth started out by learning how to brush and care for a horse, how to saddle the horse, how to clean its feet, and how to bridle it.
Then they got on, one by one, and rode around slowly with the help of Mike, Jenna and the other adult volunteers such as Marita Johnson and Sammi Bruisedhead.
The youth got to try out barrels, poles, and roping and learn some of the rules and patterns for the rodeo events. There were roping dummies for the youth to practice on.
Most of the youth were 10 years old or younger, so their parents or guardian had to be present at the event. They had a wonderful time, and most of them stayed until the late afternoon, practicing and learning from Mike and Jenna.
Delford Johnson had graciously built a fire on account of the weather, and most of the adults and some of the youth during breaks huddled around it with laughter, having a good time all day long.
Myra Johnson-Orange, at one point, asked Marita when they would be doing this again. Marita replied "When the weather warms up!"
Locals visit feedlot for tour, calf update
By Fara Ann Brunner
OSU Extension
It was her seventeenth birthday April 2, and Amanda Squiemphen-Yazzie greeted me with a smile as I opened the door of her dad’s pickup.
We were heading to Boardman to check on her and her sister Teri-Jo’s 10 steer calves that she had entered into the Oregon State University Feedlot Futurity Program last fall. The calves were being fed and finished at the Beef Northwest Feedlot.
Amanda had brought a friend along, Chelsea Patt, and so with the girls, Edison Yazzie, Shawn BigKnife from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and myself, we piled into Edison’s pickup at Biggs Junction and headed down the road.
The weather did not deter us, although it snowed on the way to Biggs Junction. We arrived a little bit later than planned, but Randy Mills, Umatilla County Extension Office, was at the freeway turnoff as promised.
We followed him past green fields and pivots in operation. Spring was definitely visiting this land, close to the mighty Columbia River.
Randy oversees and organizes the Feedlot Futurity program which has been in operation for about 20 years. The program allows a cattle producer to enter any amount of cattle in at the feedlot and obtain information on their performance and carcass data.
Performance means how well the cattle gain on their ration, and how healthy they remain at the feedlot. Carcass data occurs when the animal has been slaughtered and is on "the rail."
The carcass is graded out and receives a USDA label such as select, choice, or prime. This information can be very valuable to a cow-calf operation, especially if they are trying to market calves directly, and building a reputation on meat quality.
The feedlot futurity also has another incentive––the better performing animals get a jackpot payback.
The program has 261 cattle this year from 13 different ranches. There are from two to 80 animals per ranch that have been entered.
The Squiemphen-Yazzie Ranch decided to enter 10 animals as a test run this very first year. Through this program, they retain ownership of the calves until butcher. In other words, they pay all feedlot costs until the animal finishes, but they also potentially gain a higher price per animal depending on the market.
The steers that Amanda and Teri-Jo entered were wormed, vaccinated with a killed and a modified live vaccine, weaned and bunk broke for 45 days. In other words, they were gentled down and were accustomed to eating from a bunk.
These pre-entry measures are important for the calves to perform well in the feedlot. The Squiemphen-Yazzie calves have done extremely well so far. There have been no deaths, and they have been gaining steadily.
Peter Szasz welcomed us to the feedlot. As assistant manager, his job is more than full time on an average week.
Beef Northwest is a well organized and integrated feedlot that custom feeds cattle for customers such as the well know Country Natural Beef Program (formerly Oregon Country Beef).
They can put together a program of choice that utilizes local feedstuffs as much as possible, such as potatoes and corn.
Midwestern corn that is trucked in is steam flaked in their onsite mill. Steam flaking breaks down the corn kernel and makes it easier for an animal to digest and utilize. The animal feed bunks are clean and filled as the healthy animals feast on a balanced diet that is supervised by a ruminant nutritionist.
As Peter toured us around the feedlot, he explained the order of pens and animals in each pen. The animals appeared healthy and content. Pen riders check the pens twice every day to ensure that the cattle are in good health.
Sick cattle are treated at an onsite facility, and returned in a cattle ambulance with a low stress delivery system.
Peter explained that the operations at the feedlot are all designed to be low stress.
As he took us through the "processing site," where cattle are brought in daily, we could see that everything from the quiet, hydraulic squeeze chute to the experienced handling crew, to the design of the entry and exit systems was for handling these animals in the quickest, least stressful way possible.
I asked Pete how nervous, "high-headed" and wild cattle performed, and he said unfortunately, they did not perform as well as the gentler, quieter cattle.
He also mentioned that he feels modified live vaccinations are extremely important for incoming cattle. I asked him if one dose was enough, and he replied that they really prefer two doses, a first dose and then a booster.
It was apparent that, as we stood at the feedlot futurity pen containing Amanda’s animals, she was thrilled to see them.
She picked out one of them almost immediately––a large grey steer with a tag #10 that had filled out considerably since she last saw him.
He had weighed in at 706 pounds in the fall, and was now most likely around 1,325 pounds. Amanda and Chelsea dipped their hands into the bunk ration, and marveled at the pieces of soft potatoes, corn and other materials.
Amanda asked what else was in there, and Peter replied that it was distillers meal from an oilseed source. The ration smelled and looked good enough to eat.
Shawn asked about nutrient management. Peter explained that the cattle manure was piped into a system that was used to fertilize the surrounding fields–a recycled product in a well integrated system. Peter also drove us by herds of cattle in some of the green fields, explaining that this is their "pasture finished" program that finishes the cattle on ration out in the spacious fields.
I asked Peter if a tribal ranch ever wanted to custom tailor a branded beef program through the feedlot––for example: "All Natural Beef" with a tribal logo. Would that be possible?
Peter said that would be very possible, as they custom feed beef for a variety of people and programs.
The tour was extremely informative, and the ride back was filled with good conversation about cattle and hopes for the next month. Sometime in May, the Squiemphen-Yazzie cattle will be sent to the processing facility, and Amanda and her dad will be able to review their results, and hopefully make some better money than they would have by selling them at weaning.
There are no guarantees in this program––the market decides what the product is worth. By the look of the Squiemphen-Yazzie calves, they will do very well. Hopefully, well enough to send some more calves in next year.
Cougars basketball tourney results tallied
The Northwest Lady Warriors of Warm Springs won the girls championship game, and the Chiloquin Wild Cats won the boys championship at the Eighteenth Annual Cougars All-Indian Boys and Girls Basketball Championships, held April 2-4 in Warm Springs.
Here are the complete results:
Girls Division
Champions: NW Lady Warriors of Warm Springs.
Runner Up: Simnasho Lady Vols.
Third place, Lady Hawks of Tulalip, Wash.
Fourth place, Tulalip 1 from Tulalip. Most valuable player: Miami VanPelt of the NW Lady Warriors.
Miss Hustle: Nettie Gould of the Simnasho Vols.
Beyond The Arc: Karlen Yallup of the NW Lady Warriors.
Miss Rebounder: Mariah Withers of the NW Lady Warriors.
Girls Championship game: NW Lady Warriors 50, Simnasho Lady Vols 45.All-Tourney
Teesha Jack of the Lady Hawks, Tulalip; Taylor Sumpter of Tulalip 1; Cheyenne Wahneetah of the Simnasho Vols; Krysti Miller of the NW Lady Warriors; Nettie Gould of the Simnasho Vols; Karlen Yallup of the NW Lady Warriors; Tamiesha Brown from Lummi, Wash.; and Kyla of the Tulalip Lady Hawks.
Boys Division
Champions: Chiloquin Wild Cats.
Runner Up: Tulalip 1.
Third place, Hoopsters of Warm Springs.
Fourth place, Repeat of Wapato.Most Valuable Player: Trey Vance, Chiloquin Wild Cats.
Mr. Hustle: Moon James, Tulalip 1.
Beyond the Arc: Shawn Capoeman, Tulalip 1.
Mr. Rebounder: Darrius Jackson, Chiloquin Wild Cats.
Boys Championship game: Tulalip 1, 65 - Chiloquin Wild Cats, 68.All-Tourney
Wes Williams of Repeat from Wapato; Cory Hatch of Lummi Nation; Isaiah Case of the Celilo Buck Shots; Shawn Capoeman, of the Tulalip 1; Liston Case, Chiloquin Wild Cats; Bobby Ahern, Warm Springs Hoopsters; Jhaylen Yahqeou, Warm Springs Hoopsters; Julius Mason, Tulalip 1; Nate Williams, Young Bucks; Angelo Tupper, Chiloquin Wild Cats
The Warm Springs Cougars would like to thank the following sponsors for continued support:
DMJ Automotive, Warm Springs Composites Products Industries, Warm Springs Power and Water Enterprises, Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort and Casino; Leo 1 Company; Angie and Azar Spino, Satch Miller, WSIHBT committee.
New community health nurse
Denise Wormington is a new community health nurse working on the reservation. She started in early March.
Wormington focused previously on home health and hospice, and has worked for various prviders around Central Oregon.
"It’s been a challenge, a lot of fun," she said of her new job. "Each day is interesting."
Community health nurses serve the population as a whole. They help individuals within it to improve the overall health of the community. An example of this is immunization programs, she said.
"We work on getting (an ailment) before it becomes a problem," she said of her work. "Preventive as well as active."
When she’s not working, she enjoys creating and performing inspirational music. She also volunteers at the prison.
This Madras resident is the mother of two grown children and, as of last month, a first-time grandmother.
Berry focusing on diabetes patients
Cpt. Ronald Berry recently came to the Warm Springs Reservation. He is a family nurse-practitioner with the Indian Health Service and focuses on diabetes patients.
The family practice aspect of his background is a good fit with diabetes awareness, prevention and care because the disease strikes people of all ages. He had already been interested in the topic before coming to Central Oregon, he said.
"It’s a growing problem," Berry said. "It’s something I can learn a lot more about and provide a good service to the community as I do so."
Berry has been with IHS for 19 years. He spent 14 years in Wind River, Wyo., where a reservation is home to 2,500 Eastern Shoshone and 5,000 Northern Arapaho Indians. He also spent five years in Dulce, N.M. at the Jicariua Apache Health Care Facility.
He’s thrilled to be in Oregon now so he can regularly see his son, a Salem resident. Berry and his wife Kathy live in Madras. They also have a daughter.
From March 24, 2010 edition
WatchDogs coming to school
By Duran Bobb
Spilyay Tymoo
They’re known as WatchDOGS (Dads Of Great Students). And their goal is to reconnect dads with kids, provide an unobtrusive presence in schools, and to be positive and active role models for children.
Foster Kalama, Jefferson County Middle School liaison, and Andres "Andy" Palomo III recently got the go ahead from the 509-J school district to bring WatchDOGS to Jefferson County schools.
"The whole thing was started by Jim Moore after the Jonesboro Middle School shooting tragedy in Arkansas," Palomo said.
"Four students and a teacher were killed in that incident… so this is a positive way for fathers to step forward and do what they can to possibly help prevent this from happening again." During the Jonesboro Westside Middle School Massacre two students, Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, were shooting from nearby woods.
"With the WatchDOG program," Kalama said, "we’re able to provide a sense of protection to our youth, while at the same time serving as positive male role models."
WatchDOG volunteers may read and work on flash cards with kids, play at recess, eat lunch with their child, watch the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow, mentor students, and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own children, but other students as well.
"Just the presence of these volunteers can give the students a better sense of security," Palomo said. "It also lets others know that we’re serious about protecting our children."
Volunteers for the WatchDOG program would serve at least one day a year at an official WatchDOG school.
Volunteers are given a brief review of their involvement, and they wear an official WatchDOG t-shirt or vest with a "Dog Tag" that identifies them as program participants.
"This program has been recognized by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health," Kalama said. "It’s also been involved in the Department of Education’s Partnership for Family Involvement in Education."
Palomo is of Azteca lineage, and grew up in Salem. He has devoted his full attention to volunteering as a positive presence for children in local schools.
"I have success stories from my own experiences as a volunteer," Palomo said. "I’ve lived in this area now for five years, and I see this as a positive step forward for all of the different cultures that we have here."
"Today we have kids in school who might not feel safe," Kalama said. "And then we have people out in the community who are 31 and are still out [in gangs], and that’s pretty sad. This program gives young men a chance to become something more for the children. And you don’t have to be a father to be a WatchDOG. If you’re interested in making a difference in any child’s life, that’s what this program is for."
The WatchDOGS will have a meeting at the Jefferson County Middle School on Thursday, April 8 at 6 p.m. The public is invited to learn more. Pizza will be served.
For more information on WatchDOGS, go to:
www.fathers.com/watchdogs or call 888-540-DOGS.
5 scholarships for camp
Tribal member students finishing sixth through twelfth grades are invited to the Natural Resources Camp in June.
The camp will be four days and three nights, Tuesday-Friday, June 15-18 in the Strawberry Mountains in Eastern Oregon.
Scholarships are available for five students. Cost without a scholarship is $50.
The camp offers a chance for students to learn about careers in Natural Resources while having fun and meeting new friends too.
To apply for one of the scholarships, students should write a one-page report demonstrating their interest in going to the camp.
The report should answer these questions:
Why you would like to go to the camp?
What is your interest in the outdoors?
Also in the report include your name, age, grade and school of attendance. Submit final report by Monday, April 12 to: Lisa Hewlett-Dubisar
Natural Resources
P.O. Box C
Warm Springs, OR. 97761.
Final scholarship decisions made by April 26. If you have questions, please contact Hewlett-Dubisar at 541-553-2029
2010 Special Activities
Some of the camp activities include hiking and overnight camp near the Strawberry Wilderness. Also:
Learn about no trace camping with and without animals. How to construct emergency shelters, campfire building and cooking. Wilderness Etiquette and more. Limited to 20 campers
Trail Riding along the historic Logan Valley Railroad grade.
One-hour supervised ride on gentle, safe horses with knowledgeable instructors and guides. Limited to two rides of ten riders each.
Bats, other species
Build and hang a bat house to provide shelter for one of nature’s most important species. Learn about bat life cycles and habitat.
Be introduced to other keystone species of Eastern Oregon and the importance of their interactions to create biodiversity. Limited to 12 campers.
Fly tying and fishing
Learn from one of the premier fly tying experts in the Northwest.
Make your own fly and then join the group and try it out on a fantastic brook trout stream. Limited to 12 campers.
GPS and Geo Cache
Learn to use a GPS and find a Geo Cache.
The camp is sponsored by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, U.S. Forest Service, OSU Extension 4-H, Oregon Department Of Fish and Wildlife, Paleo Adventures, Rare Earth Adventures, Bureau of Reclamation, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Training and Employment Consortium, OYCC and Lake Creek Youth Camp.
Big Brothers Big Sisters schedule mentoring activities
The Warm Springs Big Brothers Big Sisters program has ten mentor-youth matches. And the grant for the program was continued recently for another year..
Warm Springs Fire and Safety this past Saturday hosted a Big Brothers Big Sisters gathering at the Agency fire station.
Some other upcoming mentoring activities in the area include:
April 18, Horse show and demonstration: 2-4 p.m. at the Tom Norton Jr. Arena on Grizzly Road in Madras.
May 8, Swim party from 7-9 p.m. at the Madras Aquatic Center.
June 12 from 10 a.m. to noon: Bowling at Madras Bowl and Pizza.
Nancy Diaz is the Big Brothers Big Sisters program coordinator for the area, including the reservation. She can be reached at 541-325-6503. Or by email at: Nancy.L.Dodge-Diaz@state.or.us.
The program is looking for more mentors on the reservation. Contact her for more information.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest, largest and most effective youth mentoring organization in the U.S. Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors children, ages 6 through 18.
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© Spilyay Tymoo 2008
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CPS Seeks foster families
Children’s Protective Service of Warm Springs seeks local families to provide a safe, temporary environment while their parents work toward reunification.
Requirements include:
Living in a home where everyone age 18 and older could pass a background check;
Having a valid driver’s license and current vehicle insurance (and ability to show proof);
Completing a fingerprint card with the police department.
Call Child Protective Service for details, 541-553-3209.
Artists wanted for festival in October
Artists are invited to exhibit their work at the South Douglas County Festival of Arts on October 16 in the Seven Feathers Casino Convention Center in Canyonville.
The festival is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is presented by the Riddle Art Guild, sponsored in part by the Douglas County Cultural Coalition.
There are a limited number of booth spaces, so apply early. The application deadline is October. Call 541-733-1853 or contact: riddle.art.guild@gmail.com for applications and details.
Tribal art show marks anniversary
The Thirteenth Annual Tamástslikt Cultural Institute Tribal Art Show opens August 6.
The show, Here Forever, will be on exhibit through September 22. Because of the size of the current exhibit, the art show will be installed in space other than the gallery.
The Here Forever show will conclude with an awards reception at 5 p.m. on Sept. 22.
For more information, call Hilda Alexander, business manager, at 541-966-9748.
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute is located at the furthest end of the Wildhorse Resort & Casino grounds, 10 minutes east of Pendleton.
Celilo to host education, job, health fair
Everyone is invited to the Celilo Village School Committee Work, Education, and Health Fair.
The fair will be on August 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Celilo Village. This is a free event.
The fair has been planned by the Wy-Am School Committee.
Lillian Pitt is the keynote speaker for the event.
The fair will offer education, work, and health related services to Native Americans living in the area who might be interested in changing or obtain a job, learn more about higher education, and receive a mini health screening.
For more information, call Delilah Begay, 541-370-5015.
Or email: AzCarmen@rdiinc.org.
Free tickets to state fair
If you or someone that you know is caring for a grandchild, foster children, or others, you may be eligible to receive free tickets to the 2010 Oregon State Fair.
Last year, Buffy Hurtado distributed more than 50 tickets to families in need in the Warm Springs area.
Keep in mind that these tickets are available first come first served, with no strings attached.
If you qualify, tickets will be mailed directly to providers. Hurtado is preparing the list of ticket requests to go out July 30.
If you think you might qualify as a provider, please contact Buffy at 541-553-3324. Or email:
dana.hutado@wstribes.org.
The Warm Springs Back to School Barbecue is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 3 at 4 p.m.
The barbecue is held on the campus area. Donations of school supplies may be brought to the Family Resource Center.
Back to school barbecue in September
Vital Stats ID schedule
This is the schedule for getting your tribal identification card from Vital Statistics:
Mondays and Wednesdays: 8-11:30 a.m.
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 1-4:30 p.m.
ID cards are $10. Paper copy IDS, $3.
One dollar for copies of birth certificates, Social Security cards, court orders, etc.
No checks or credit. Cash only.
Call 541-553-3252 for details.
Drivers needed for bus
Warm Springs Transit plans to begin scheduled runs to Madras beginning in July.
Tribal members with a valid CDL are encouraged to apply for drivers positions.
For more information, call Dave Conroy at 541-553-4952.
Museum hosting dancers
Feel your heart beat as traditional dancers move to the drumbeat during a summer dance series at the Museum at Warm Springs.
Performances are scheduled in the museum lobby at 1 p.m. on these days: July 14 and 28, August 11, 18 and 25, Sept. 8, 15 and 22.
For more information, please call the Museum at Warm Springs, 541-553-3331.
Workshop on making baby boards slated
The next Back to Boards Workshop will be from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on August 16-17 in the Family Resource Center.
Lunch will be provided both days. Materials will be provided. Participants will leave with a finished baby board at the end of the two-day workshop.
Call 541-553-2460 for details. People wanting to use their own material should ask whether it is suitable before bringing it to class.
Vital Stats wants grads' paperwork
To recent graduates, turn in copies of your diplomas and transcripts to Work-force Development of Vital Statistics, in order to receive the fall 2010 Minors Trust payment.
For more information, call Vital Stats at 541-553-3252.
Mountain View Hospital recruting volunteers
Mountain View Hospital recently launched its volunteer program, Give.
The hospital district is seeking individuals interested in volunteering as greeters at the hospital. The hospital plans to have greeters available 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The volunteer shifts would be in four-hour increments and involves greeting visitors courteously and directing them to their destinations.
The hospital is also seeking volunteers for its auxiliary thrift store, located at 59 N.E. Fifth St., Madras.
These volunteer positions would be to perform retail functions such as cashier and stocking shelves. The auxiliary thrift store is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
All volunteers must be over the age of 16 and must sign a service agreement.
If you are interested in becoming a Mountain View Hospital volunteer or would like more information, please contact JoDee Tittle, 475-3882, ext. 5097, jtittle@mvhd.org.
Enroll your child in Head Start
Warm Springs Head Start is enrolling pre-school children now for the 2010-11 school year. Head Start is a free, federally funded program that offers little ones the following opportunities:
• Promoting school readiness by enhancing children’s cognitive, social and emotional development.
• A variety of educational activities that support children’s growth in language, literacy, mathematics, science, creative arts and physical skills.
• Program services including nutritional meals, access to medical and dental health services as well as mental health and disabilities services
• Family development services including parent involvement, goal-setting and case management.
Call 541-553-3241 or visit the reservation’s Early Childhood Education Center, 1257 Kot-Num Road, to obtain an application.
School district summer meal service program continues
The Jefferson County School District Summer Food Service will begin on June 21, and goes through August 20.
On the reservation, meals will be served at two locations: At the skate park across from the community center, and at staff housing area at Kah-Nee-Ta. The program is open to all children ages 1 to 18.
Meals will be served from 11-11:30 a.m. at the Kah-Nee-Ta location, and from noon to 12:45 p.m. at the skate park site.
Meals will be served weekdays through August 20.
Culture Class series begins this month
Cultural classes are in session through Sept. 1 in the basement room of the Education building.
The classes are open to the community, employees and defendants of the Tribal Court. The defendants can use the class as alternative sentencing.
"And all are encouraged to attend all three language courses, because in our history we spoke all three languages," said Leona Ike, supervisor of Parole and Probation, who initiated the classes with Culture and Heritage.
Ike explains: "It was tribal practice, whenever a person was in trouble or was in crisis, for our tribe to surround that person to offer support and guide him or her to be a positive part of our community."
The classes, from 5:30-7 p.m., are as follows: Mondays (Wasco language); Tuesdays (Warm Springs language); and Wednesdays (Paiute language).
The first hour of each class is for the language, and the last half-hour covers tribal history, culture and practices, to vary throughout the eight-week course.
There will be a one-week break between each series, and a new series will begin. Classes will be progressive in teaching but adapted to newcomers.
Success of this program will monitored by attendance, and attendance is confidential. Well-behaved children are welcome.
Museum offers basket exhibit
The Museum at Warm Springs will present Baskets Tell a Story, until mid-October.
Please contact Natalie Moody for additional information at 541-553-3331 ext. 412, during regular business hours.
To see the complete calendar, click on the "Events" selection listed in the menu on the left side of this Web page.
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