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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2006)
SUH. OrCoH B 75 .S68 V . 31 n o - 23 November 9 f 2 0 06 P.0. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 Spilyay Tym university of Oregon L i b r a r y Received on: ECR W SS Postal Patron Spilyay tym°° Coyote News, est. ■■■■ Success story written at Voc Rehab By L eslie M itts Spilyay Tymoo Noree Guerin displays her two iden tification cards proudly. In on e, the ph o to reflects the Guerin o f today: happy, healthy and successful. 4 The other, a photo from several years ago, depicts a very different woman— one who suffered from alco holism and was in danger of losing her job. G uerin w as no stran ger to the workforce when she approached the Vocational Rehab program for assis tance. She had worked for the tribes for 27 years. Her problem involved her lack of a driver’s license. G uerin’s license had been revoked due to several citations for driving un der the influence o f intoxicants. A f ter a longtim e problem with alcohol ism , G uerin entered a treatm ent pro gram. In order to regain her driving privi leges, Guerin needed a valid insurance policy. In order to get insurance, she needed a valid driver’s license. “I didn’t really have anything,” she said. “It was really tough.” At first Guerin wasn’t even aware that she could receive help from the Vocational Rehab program— because the program is designated for those with disabilities, many aren’t aware that they include alcoholism and substance abuse in their list o f potential disabilities. She explained, “I always thought Vocational Rehab was for people with a medical disability.” Once she approached the program and w en t thro ugh an o rien tatio n , Guerin began working with counselor Stacy Fast Horse-Burke. “She right away identified what my problems were,” Guerin said. With the help o f the Vocational Re hab program, Guerin was able to pur chase a six-month insurance policy that she needed in order to get her license reinstated. The program also assisted her by supplying weekly gas vouchers and in purchasing glasses and new clothing for the workforce. See VOC REHAB on 11 U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Voi. 31, No. 23 Warm Springs, OR 97761 5 0 cen ts ■ ■ «■ ■ ■ ■ I Tribal leaders testify in grave-robbing case By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo Tribal leaders testified last week at the sen ten cin g h earin g o f a Redmond man who was convicted o f attempting to sell Native Ameri can remains. The man found and dug up the remains over 10 years ago on pub lic land near Crooked River Ranch. He kept the remains “in storage,” and then tried to sell them to an undercover informant in 2004. He was arrested and charged with violation o f the Archaeological R eso u rces P ro te c tio n A ct. H e pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the law. At the hearing last week in federal court in Eugene, he was sentenced to 2 V 2 years in prison for trafficking in an American Indian skeleton. He was also ordered to pay $20,000 in restitu tion to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. “I was happy that he got prison time instead of just restitution,” said Roberta Kirk, coordinator of the Native Ameri can Graves Protection and Repatria tion Act. “We were worried he was going to get off with a light sentence, such as community service,” she said. “That would not have been a good precedent for people convicted o f this type of crime.” “It is unbelievable that someone could do this,” Louie Pitt, director of tribal governmental affairs, said of the crime. “It’s a horrible attack on our way o f life.” P itt said the rem ains w ould be turned over to the Confederated Tribes, or to relatives o f the deceased for reburial. The man convicted o f the crime was Michael Orf, 30, of Redmond. W ilson Wewa, a Paiute spiritual leader, also testified at the sentencing hearing last week. Wewa said that O r f’s 2 V 2 year prison sentence seems light, “like a slap on the wrist,” he said. “I think i f the tables were turned, if somebody had dug up any o f the looters’ relatives and tried to sell them as curiosities, they w ould get m ore prison time than this guy got,” Wewa said. To put the issue in perspective, Wewa mentioned the controversy that arose about locating remains following the Oklahoma City bombing and the attacks on the W orld Trade Center. See REMAINS on 14 Election appears favorable for casino Tony Stevens displays baskets. His work will be on display at the Madras exhibition. Basket weaver displays work at art show A t first glance, Tony Stevens looks the part o f a city-loving Port land resident. It isn’t until he pulls weaving ma terials from his bag and begins quickly w orking with the threads that his artistic side becomes evi dent— and it’s something he’s taken w ith him from his childhood in Warm Springs. Stevens, the son o f Mark Stevens and Carol and Sal Sahme, recently returned to the area to participate in a student show for the Oregon College o f Art and Craft at the Art Ad venture Gallery in Madras. “They’ve never had baskets in the art show,” Stevens said. “They were really excited about it.” As part of his participation in the show, Stevens gave a live demonstra tion o f his basket w eaving— and it wasn’t long ago that he was giving the same demonstration to a much larger crowd. Recently Stevens traveled to Wash ington D.C. for a trip sponsored by the California Indian Basket Weavers As sociation. “It was a real privilege,” Stevens said. During the trip he had an oppor tunity to participate in a television p ro g ram w ith his te a c h e r P at Courtney-Gold as part of a m en tor-student segment. Stevens also gave a live weaving dem on stration on the N atio nal Mall— during an event that was vis ited by over 900,000 people. See BASKET WEAVER on 11 The Nov. 7 election appears to be favorable to the Confederated Tribes in regard to the Bridge o f the Gods Casino at Cascade Locks. The local election for city council at Cascade Locks, for instance, appeared likely to result in a council member ship that is unanimous in support o f the Bridge o f the Gods Casino, said Margie Tuckta, casino project manager. Previously, there was one Cascade Locks council member who was op posed to the casino on moral grounds. The issue o f the casino was not a central part o f the election at Cascade Locks, an indication that there is gen eral support among the community, said Tuckta. M em b ers o f th e H o o d R iv e r County Board o f Commissioners are also in support o f the project. “We are grateful for the support o f the local community at Cascade Locks,” said Tuckta. In the recent election, it appeared likely that Gov. Kulongoski would be re-elected, according to the most re cent poll. Kulongoski was endorsed by the Tribal Council, as he has been a supporter o f the Bridge o f the G ods project. This edition o f the Spilyay went to press before the Tuesday evening deadline to vote, so final results were not yet available at print time. Old news article details veteran’s war experience By L eslie M itts Spilyay Tymoo About sixty years ago, a young man at home on leave from the Navy dur ing World War II gave an interview to a local paper. As he told a reporter about his di rect involvement with the war, it’s likely that he didn’t realize those moments would one day be noteworthy. In fact, he probably didn’t even think that one day his family would find the article and learn something new about his life. Today, with Veteran’s Day quickly approaching, one tribal member’s fam ily discovered that article and has found out even more information about their relative’s time in the service. Gerald Smith knew that his father had served during World War II and the Korean War, and received numer ous medals. But he didn’t know everything. He didn’t know, for instance, that his fa ther, Lloyd G. Smith, had been an in strumental force in one o f the bloodi est battles o f World War II. Local community members knew Lloyd Smith as a soft-spoken, thought ful man who became involved in count less committees and organizations in this area. Now his family has uncovered ar ticles from a New Mexico newspaper that include an interview with Lloyd Smith as he describes what his service in the military entailed. “You don’t worry about being killed when the bullets are flying around,” Smith told the newspaper. “You know plenty o f guys are going to get theirs, and you’re scared, but you just figure that you’re going to stay alive.” Sm ith served as a seco nd-class radioman in the Navy and described how he felt when he and four other radiomen went ashore to establish com munications between their ship and the Tarawa beachhead during the first day o f the invasion of the island. Smith described the events of that day to the newspaper. ‘W e went ashore on the morning o f Nov. 20, the first Lloyd Smith day o f the attack,” he said. “We had to wade in to the island, carrying our radios on our backs, from the coral reef about 400 to 500 yards offshore which the landing boats couldn’t get past.” “The first time we tried, it seemed like there was no one ashore except the Japs. The machine gun fire from their beach emplacements was terrific. Boats all around the coral reef were being sunk,” Smith continued. “After several tries we finally made it and set up our communications on the beach. We stayed right there, with sniper fire all around us, until evening. Then the Japs staged a counter-attack and we had to radio for landing craft from the boats to take us off. “Early the next morning we went back with more Marines and this time we stayed there until enemy resistance had been broken four days later. When everything got quiet, we left,” Smith described. He went on to describe to the news paper how one plane would fly over head and drop bombs near their camp every morning. “He didn’t stay around very long,” Smith said. “We had a lot o f Navy planes for protection.” The account describes Smith show ing the reporter pieces o f Japanese currency that he took off o f dead fight ers on Tarawa. “I picked those up for souvenirs, but I didn’t bother about other souvenirs because they were too hard to carry,” he said. Smith spoke o f other batdes, and said they were all much easier than the fight at Tarawa. “W e m et som e re sis ta n c e at Kwajalein,” he said, “but after Tarawa it was the same old routine— a job to be done.” A t the time, Smith w ore campaign ribbons for the American and E uro pean theatres as well as the Asiatic. Smith enlisted in the Navy in 1942. He served in W orld War II for four years and received a bronze star medal at Tarawa, G ilbert Island. Smith was one o f the first radiomen to esta b lish c o m m u n ic a tio n s on Tarawa, and he also received two stars, a good conduct medal and a victory medal for W orld War II. He went on to serve in Hungman, Korea during the K orean Conflict in 1951. See VETERAN on 11