KWSO News Aug. 14, 2018

A tribal referendum set for February 15, 2019 will ask Warm Springs Tribal members to vote on changes to the how blood quantum is determined for the purposes of automatic enrollment. Specifically the referendum will ask “Should Resolution 12,157 determining the blood quantum for the purpose of automatic enrollment be approved?” In April 2016, the 26th Tribal Council adopted Resolution 12,157 which changed the rules for determining blood quantum for automatic enrollment by adding the 1980 census to the list of baseline census years for determining the Confederated Tribes blood quantum. Simnasho District Tribal Council representatives invoked Article 6 of the Constitution and By-Laws to call for a tribal referendum on the resolution. The 27th Tribal Council approved this referendum date to seek input from Tribal membership on the proposed change. You can learn more about this referendum and the history of requirements for automatic enrollment and adoption on the tribal website and in the next edition of the Spilyay Tymoo.

Oregon’s new air-quality web site has had nearly a half-million visits since wildfire activity picked up July 15, creating smoky skies over much of the state. The Statesman Journal reports others have downloaded a new companion mobile app that quickly shows whether the air you’re breathing is safe. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality gave its Air Quality Index a major overhaul after heavy use during last year’s intense wildfires caused the site to crash multiple times. Today in our area, air quality is listed as unhealthy for sensitive groups. It’s important to know that when smoke levels are high, even healthy people may affected. Listen to your body and contact your health care provider if you are experiencing smoke-related health symptoms, including eye, nose, and throat irritation; coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, or headaches. Children, older adults, pregnant or nursing women, and people with asthma or heart conditions are at greater risk and should take added precautions.

The Federal Communications Commission is considering a rule change for licenses normally reserved for education and public broadcasting. The change could mean the licenses are auctioned off, or that they are prioritized for tribal governments to use. In Washington, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Chairman Rodney Cawston says the license could improve emergency response and communication on reservations like his, where connectivity is spotty. A public comment period on the proposed changes closes in early September. The FCC does not have a specific timeline for when they might come to a final decision.

The Lake Oswego little league girls softball team, representing Oregon District 4, is moving on to the semifinals of the 2018 Little League Softball World Series after a 4-3 victory over Canada Monday at Alpenrose Stadium in Portland. Lake Oswego is now 3-2 at the Little League Softball World Series and will be moving on to the late semifinal slated for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Alpenrose Stadium. Lake Oswego will face Tunkhannock representing the USA East region. You can watch on ESPN 2.

The U.S. Army is seeking relatives of children who are buried at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, the country’s first government-run off-reservation boarding school. Carlisle was established in 1879, the Pennsylvania school closed in 1918. The school was the only off-reservation boarding school built in the East. Carlisle established its cemetery by late 1879, but the school failed to keep complete records of those buried there. The government has managed at least partial identification of 178 children. Now the Army is seeking relatives of other children buried in the cemetery and has published a 5-page list of names of children buried in the cemetery. It is calling on relatives of the children it has identified to contact the Army National Military Cemeteries. It is also seeking families who think they may have had ancestors buried in the cemetery to contact the Army. The Army plans to assist tribes and families with exhumation and reinternment of remains.

The Klondike Fire burning southwest of Grants Pass roared to life this weekend, growing to over 55,000 acres and spreading across the Illinois River. The Klondike is now the largest of the wildfires burning in Southern Oregon.

Firefighters said Monday night they are making progress on the Memaloose 2 Fire that started Friday night near the Columbia River Gorge town of Mosier. The fire has burned 167 acres and is now 65 percent contained.