Reservation Community Halls Are FEMA Command Centers, Get Renovations
The community halls on the reservation, specifically Blue Sky Hall and Great Plains Hall, have been the primary gathering places for many generations. Inside their walls, they have hosted funerals, ceremonies, powwows, birthdays, feasts, etc.
Both Blue Sky Hall and Great Plains Hall are undergoing complete renovations inside and out. These renovations include bringing everything up to code, handicap accessibility, new bleachers, AC, heat, and lights. In addition, Blue Sky Hall will get a new cafeteria, an outside eating area, and an elevator to the second floor.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe was unable to hire a construction project manager. So, Ryan Ortiz, the Tribe's CFO, assumed the construction project manager duties.
"One highlight of this project is our halls will be 99% asbestos-free. We removed tons and tons of asbestos from the buildings. Everything is being stripped down, taken out, and replaced with new finishes and upgrades," said Ortiz.
Kraus-Anderson Construction, the Tribe's general contractor, is responsible for the project's labor. DSGW Architects designed the architecture for the halls.
The community halls are both designated FEMA Command Centers. In an emergency or disaster, they become a site for strategic and tactical planning. This status qualifies the halls for renovation under the American Rescue Plan Funds, where the Tribe is receiving its funding. The upgrades not pertaining to the command center are paid by the Tribes unrestricted monies.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe has put 200,000 US dollars of unrestricted money into the recreational renovations. At the same time, the renovations for the halls' command center status equals over 10.2 Million.
Ortiz said these renovations are a part of phase 2 of the Tribe's "Care" renovations. Phase 1 included renovation to the community senior citizens halls.
The crew plans to finish the renovations in March 2022, and the doors will open on April 1, 2022.
Below are the outside renderings of Blue Sky Hall and Great Plains Hall.
Arapaho Phrase
Winter— Ceciiniini’
Click the video below to hear a fluent elder pronounce this week's phrase.
The audio is from the Arapaho Language App, which is made possible by our fluent elder speakers and Arapaho School district #38
Basketball Returns to the Rez: An Interview With The Head Varsity Basketball Coaches On The Wind River Reservation
(These interviews were recorded on 12/14, after the opening week of Wyoming basketball)
What Did you learn about your team after this first week of basketball?
Craig Ferris (WIHS Boys): Unfortunately, the WIHS boys basketball teams were unable to travel due to winter road conditions.
Aleta Moss (WIHS Girls): “Going in I knew we had a lot of potential… I was pretty optimistic and was pleased with the outcome. We ended up winning all of our games—the varsity and the JV games. We had a typical first game. We had a lot of turnovers and missed a lot of free throws. So, we have to sharpen those up.”
Ricky Blackburn (St. Stephens Boys): “I’m pretty optimistic [about this season]. We had some young kids step and help us. This is our first year in 2A and after seeing what we have this weekend I’m optimistic we will do well. Looking at how our kids did. I think we can qualify for state.”
Karen Returnstowar (St.Stephens Girls): “We wanted to look at where we stand and the things we need to work on. For us, we need to work on limiting turnovers. Our team is young and we only went to the tournament with nine players.”
What are your team’s goals for the regular season?
Craig Ferris: “Improve every game. We’re not as big as we usually are but we’re fast and we want to get our defence established. It’s important to get that team bonding together and put our pieces together.”
Aleta Moss: “We want to win our conference and regional tournament. We always look forward to the bigger tournaments with the bigger schools. We won the Bighorn Shootout for the last three to four years. Playing 3A schools is something we always look forward to.”
Ricky Blackburn: “My expectations have grown after this past week. I’d like to see us finish second or third in the conference.”
Karen Returnstowar: “Our team’s goal is to get better and improve every week, make the adjustments and get the win for the week. I want them to focus on the week at hand and getting that win.”
What expectations/ standards do you have for your team captains?
Craig Ferris: “I put a lot of pressure on them. I expect them to help out with the younger guys. I expect them to jump right in with me when the younger ones make mistakes.”
Aleta Moss: “Last year I had seven seniors and all my captains were seniors. We had a very talented senior class. This year I expect [my captains] to step up with some leadership for us. It’s going to be a learning process. My captains last year were great leaders and role models and I expect the same from these other captains… I’m sure they’re going to be able to handle it.”
Ricky Blackburn: “To be a true leader and lead by example. I use Darien Barraza as an example for my kids. If he was going to work hard in practice it was going to set the tone for practice because the kids looked up to him. Now that falls on his brother Jordan and [he’s] picked that up pretty well. He works hard in practice and he expects his teammates to work in practice.”
Karen Returnstowar: “They need to exhibit being a good student-athlete and our two captains are both. I expect them to use their leadership skills and help the rest of the team, especially the younger ones.”
What do you like to teach your players outside of basketball?
Craig Ferris: “I want them to learn work ethic. They all love playing basketball and they all want them to improve. I want to teach them to put that same energy into other parts of their lives. If they learn to do that it will help them a lot.”
Aleta Moss: “We always tell our girls we are not just representing our school but our Wind River Reservation and people look at [them] and they see all our native people. So, [they] have to set an example and show really good representation of our community. I’m really proud of our girls— we’ve had a lot of academic all-staters. We have four people playing college basketball right now.”
Ricky Blackburn: “We have a half hour talk after practice just about life in general and it can be about any topic they bring up. Me and my staff believe we should have these talks because if there’s something bothering them it could create a problem and come into the program. I had a coach that taught me life skills… so that’s where my coaching philosophy comes from.”
Karen Returnstowar: “The whole reason we love sports is because we get the opportunity to teach them about teamwork, respect, dedication, and to always finish what you start.”
Letter From Dr. Paul Ebbert at Wind River Cares
Northern Arapaho Family Language Immersion Project Offers Free Language Classes
Beeteenoo’ Hinono’ eitiit (Arapaho Language Is Sacred)
Central Wyoming College Spring Registration Is Open
Classes begin January 10th and some will be offered in Fort Washakie or Ethete.
Arapaho Elders Get Home Renovations
In July 2021, the Northern Arapaho Tribe started the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) Home Repair Program to repair the homes of Enrolled Arapaho Elder Homeowners over the age of 55.
Francis Acebo Jr, the program’s director, said they have completed 25 home repairs. The deadline to apply was October 27, 2021, and the program has received 250 applications.
“We have a set budget for each house. Part of our policy is each house gets one repair, but if we see something else that needs critical repair, we will fix that also. We made a list of our seniors from oldest to youngest, and we are doing repairs for the oldest first, and our oldest elder is 98,” said Acebo.
The work done by the crew includes installing metal roofs, handicap porch ramps, decks, snap-in flooring, electrical work, sewer work, and handicap bathroom remodels.
Acebo said his crew is dedicated to serving the people.
“Everyone on my crew, we all have a loved one that’s an elder. Taking care of their houses is taking care of them. When we first started, we were doing handicap ramps. Some of our elders were in chairs or using walkers, and some of them couldn’t leave their house. And once we built that ramp for them, we watched them walk out, and they were happy. We hope they have a better life when we fix their home,” said Acebo.
The ARPA Home Repair Program construction crew includes:
Francis Acebo Jr—Director
Annette Crispin—Assistant
Erron Monroe—Lead carpenter
Darin Harris—Lead carpenter
Leonard Buffalo Sr—Lead carpenter
Gregory Oldman—skilled carpenter
Myron Oldman—Labor
Joel Salazar—Labor
Shilo Blind Man—Labor
Brandon Redman—Labor
Dominic Oldman—Labor
Neil Redman—Plumber
Chris Friday—Electrician
Contact Us
CooXooEii Black
Cooxooeii.black@northernarapaho.com