KWSO News for Mon., Dec. 16, 2024

Joint Committee meeting & social powwow cancelled

Due to the recent losses in the community the Land Use Planning Committee is cancelling the Joint Committee Meeting that was scheduled for today.

Warm Springs Recreation has also cancelled the Christmas Indian Night Out social powwow this evening.

WS Natural Hazard Survey

A Warm Springs Natural Hazard Survey was sent out to tribal emails last week. This survey aims to find out which natural hazards are of the highest priority to people and how prepared they are for them. All community members should try and fill out the survey. The survey can help assess people’s concerns and priorities with natural hazards such as winter storms, wildfires, earthquakes, heat events or floods and aid in updating the Tribes’ Hazard Mitigation Plan.

Take the Natural Hazard Survey

View CTWS Hazard Mitigation Plan

Madras White Buff varsity basketball teams go undefeated in games over the weekend

The Madras Girls Varsity Basketball team is now 4-1 after two road wins over the weekend. Madras defeated Klamath Union 69-56 on Friday and Mazama on Saturday 60-26 in non-league contests. The Lady Buffs will travel to the coast for the annual Seaside Holiday Classic this Thursday, Fridy and Saturday. They will take on Cascade Christian at 3:30 Thursday.

The Madras Boys Varsity team is undefeated after their weekend play. They are now 5-0 after beating Klamath Union Friday 64-46 and Mazama Saturday 56-40. The boys are also heading to the Seaside Tourney and will play Cascade Christian in their first game Thursday at 5.

Indian Boarding School Initiative working with Library of Congress & National Museum of American History

Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior announced new agreements with the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History as part of the Department’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. The new agreements will preserve the survivor stories disclosed in the initiative’s oral history project and inform the public on histories relating to the federal Indian boarding school system and its impacts on Indigenous children and their communities. In the DOI’s press release, Secretary Deb Haaland said, “For decades, this terrible chapter was hidden from our history books,” and added that “these partnerships will ensure that no one will ever forget.”

The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition is currently interviewing survivors for this collection of first-person narratives. The agreement with the Library of Congress will establish and preserve a collection of theses oral histories to be heard and learned from by current and future generations. And, the agreement with the National Museum of American History will work with tribal communities to develop far-reaching educational resources, online, traveling and long-term exhibitions. The museum envisions that audiences will be able to learn, share and debate about this long-hidden chapter in the nation’s history to help make sense of the contemporary world, including the impacts of the boarding school system on Indian Country and the Native Hawaiian Community and its role in the country’s development.

EPA adds Upper Columbia River Site to Superfund priorities list

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the Upper Columbia River Site in northeast Washington to the Superfund National Priorities List, the list of sites throughout the United States and its territories where historic releases of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants pose significant threats to human health and the environment. The primary source of contamination at the site is the Teck Metals Ltd. smelting facility in Trail, British Columbia, approximately 10 river miles upstream of the international boundary. In a news release, the Colville Tribes Chairman Jarred-Michael Erickson said they are pleased with the listing, saying “The river has been used for decades as a waste disposal site and that pollution not only damaged the physical river, but has also cost the Tribes enormously in terms of lost use and enjoyment of the river.”