KWSO News for Fri., Jul. 22, 2022

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Branch of Natural Resources is hosting a Tribal Public Hunters Meeting today to allow input and share information ahead of the fish and wildlife committees finalizing their proposed hunting regulations for the fall season and coming year. The meeting is today from 5-7pm at the Community Center Pavilion. They will discuss Reservation Game Inventories, review last year’s Hunter Harvest Reports and look at the 2022-2023 proposed hunting season. Bring your questions, hunting permits if you still have them and it will be a potluck style meal for those attending. For more information you can contact Austin Smith Jr. at 541-553-2046

The Painted Pony offers coffee and other beverages.  They are located in the Indian Head Casino Plaza on the end closest to the Casino.  Summer Youth Worker Fontaine Fuentes says business has been good. “You know we have social media accounts like on Facebook and Instagram. We make sure to make promotions each day so that customers know that we do have specials and we just like to reach out to the community. It’s actually been going pretty well, we do get a lot of customers each day, I mean Wednesday’s & Thursday’s are pretty slow because the Casino’s closed. But other than that it’s pretty good.” The Painted Pony is employing a handful of youth workers this summer.  They are open 7:30am – 3:30 pm weekdays.

Work on the rodeo grounds in Warm Springs has been quite the task for local community members. Kecia Florendo, along with her father JE Florendo and mother Alfredine Smith, among others have taken on that task in order to have the grounds ready for future events. For more than 3 years there has been no rodeo in Warm Springs. A first task in cleaning up the grounds was cutting down and getting rid of all the weeds that had been growing for years. JE Florendo is a wild horse racer and for rodeos his family and the Suppah family provide the stock. They’ve been to several rodeo’s this summer and plan on being at the Jefferson County Fair rodeo this weekend. They are getting ready for the first Open Warm Springs Ranch Rodeo coming up on September 3^rd. They do have more projects to be completed on the rodeo grounds such as repairing the hinges on the gates. They recently painted the railings, panels and livestock chutes which are now especially colorful. Anyone who would like to help, the Ranch Rodeo Club is welcoming donations to help cover livestock costs and for the prize money.

A campaign is underway to rename Lane County in honor of the region’s original Indigenous inhabitants. KLCC’s Brian Bull reports. “Critics say Joseph Lane’s pro-slavery sentiments and actions against Native Americans while Oregon’s territorial governor doesn’t jibe with today’s values. Richard Pettigrew of the Archaeological Policy Institute in Eugene says he’s pushing to change Lane County to “Kalapuya County,” to reflect a more truthful narrative. Richard Pettigrew: “The Americas didn’t begin with Christopher Columbus. People have been here for at least 15,000 years. The Kalapuya are our link to that longer, deeper past. The Kalapuya people are not extinct, they are here. Their descendants are here. They’re part of our community. So by changing the name, we are connecting ourselves to a deeper history.” Pettigrew hopes people petition county commissioners to back his efforts. Another option commissioners have looked at is keeping “Lane County” but in honor of Harry Lane, Joseph Lane’s more progressive son. I’m Brian Bull reporting in Eugene.”

Portland State University on Thursday announced it will offer in-state tuition to any student who is part of a federally recognized Native American tribe – in or outside of Oregon. OPB’s Meerah Powell reports. “Portland State officials say it’s a rare offer – and may be the only one like it in the country. Native American students from any of nearly 600 federally recognized tribes around the country can get in-state tuition at PSU, starting this fall. Students who can provide tribal residency documentation don’t need to submit any other information to be eligible. The university says the tuition discount is an effort to provide a welcoming environment to Native students on campus. The university says it already offers other support for Native students in the forms of existing scholarships, programs and student groups. PSU’s program is separate from the Oregon Tribal Student Grant. That covers tuition and expenses at colleges in the state for students from Oregon’s nine recognized tribes. Meerah Powell, OPB.”

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