KWSO News for Mon., May 25, 2020

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs COVID-19 update last Friday (5/22/20) reported that the 17 positive cases on the Reservation are all individuals that have nowl recovered.  The Health & Wellness Center is closed today for Memorial Day but they will return tomorrow to do random surveillance testing of high-risk community members along with any additional testing needed.   Stay Home – Stay Healthy Warm Springs!

Warm Springs Census Enumerators have been back out in the community leaving 2020 census questionnaires on doorknobs and gates across the reservation.  Enumeration activities were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic but restarted last week.  The United States Census bureau does not send Census forms to PO Boxes so in Warm Springs the packets are being delivered to homes.  If you haven’t already done so, complete the census and return it by mail in the enclosed prepaid envelope.  Census results are used to determine how much funding local communities receive for key public services.

Made up of 200 seniors, the Madras High School and Bridges High School graduating classes will take the stage in a non-traditional fashion on Saturday, June 13th at Madras High School between the Performing Arts Center and the Football Stadium.  The graduates will be broken into eight groups, in alphabetical order. Beginning at 9 am.  Each group will have a designated time to arrive.  To maximize the number of supporters for our graduates, the graduation ceremony will be conducted in a drive-up fashion. Each graduate is allowed one vehicle with as many family and friends as can ride along with them in their one vehicle. Vehicles can be decorated.  In a press release from Madras High School on Friday –  principal Brian Crook said “This was the safest way to enable seniors to walk across the stage while also having their loved ones witness this special event with them.” Graduates will receive their diploma on stage where a professional video and photos will capture the event. Each graduate will also have their photo taken at the MHS White Buffalo prior to leaving the ceremony.  All commencement speeches and performances will be prerecorded.

This Memorial Day weekend – with the phase 1 reopening in Oregon and many many travelers to Central Oregon.  In Warm Springs – there are checkpoints along the Highway 26 corridor to make sure local traffic – is local people.  Here we are still wearing masks in public places and washing our hands frequently.  Although it’s a holiday weekend and the weather is beautiful we are still being careful to not give opportunity for COVID-19 to spread.  The Northwest Native American Center of Excellence at OHSU, We R Native, We are Healers, and the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board remind us that elders are the foundation of our communities, the living legacies of traditions and they must be Kept Safe.  Staying home and adapting to doing things at home – is how we protect those we love --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OysNk-fUY6w.

Stay Home, Be Safe – Have a good Memorial Day.