Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 20, 2011)
News from Indian Country Page 9 Spilyay Tymoo April 20, 2011 Cherokees updating village Tribal ‘war game’ gains PARK HILL, Okla. (AP) - Tucked away amid the hundreds o f tall trees surrounding the Cherokee Heritage Center, the Tsa-La-Gi village purports to show visitors what life might have been like for Cherokees before the A m erican Indian tribe first encountered Europe ans during the mid-16th century. That was the plan when the village was built back in 1967. But archaeological finds during ensuing decades have indicated there are historical errors in the village’s construction. Now, the tribe is going back and trying to fix the problems. The new exhibit, set to open in June 2012 on four acres ad jacent to the museum, “is de signed to introduce audiences to the Cherokee people and to help them understand the Cherokee culture as having a distinct his tory that was already ancient when their own written history began,” said the museum's ex ecutive director, Carey Tilley. About $640,000 has been raised so far for the project, enough to proceed in earnest. Officials with the Heritage Center, run by the historical arm o f O klahom a’s largest tribe, have spent three years research- ing and planning for the mas sive $1.2 million renovation to what they call the museum’s “an cient village.” They have one ad vantage their predecessors in the 1960s did not — four extra de cades of research into the life of the early Cherokees, a people who lived in parts of what are now N orth C arolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennes see. T housands o f Cherokees were forced in 1838 to move to what is now Oklahoma, fol lowing what is now called the Trail of Tears. Kiksht Classes fans at Okla. colleges TAH LEQ UAH , O kla. (AP) — Northeastern State senior Kinsey Shade emerged from the d o gp ile and streaked toward a pole, heav ing the ball at a wooden fish near its, top. The ball missed the fish by inches and another melee quickly ensued. Cries filled the air on a re cent Saturday at NSU in Tahlequah as a faded red ball the size of a child's fist flew through the air and landed w ith a thud, a sw arm o f sticks and hands trying to grab it. Crack. Plop. “Get it! Get it!” As traditionally played by the southeastern tribes such as the C herokee and Choctaw, stickball was once used to settle conflicts. Now the “litde war game” is bringing Native American students together at area col leges. It’s been a staple of area tribes' national holiday cel ebrations for years, but so cial stickball is seeing a resur gence at some O klahom a colleges. At NSU, six N ative American student groups on campus host anywhere from one to three stickball games a semester, said Asa Lewis, the interim student coordinator for the school’s Center for Tribal Studies. Recently, the groups hosted a stickball exhibition for stu dents visiting from Chicago’s Northeastern Illinois State Uni versity. Another game is planned for A pril 13 as part o f the school's annual Symposium on the American Indian. “It’s fellowship and part of our culture,” said Shade, a citi zen of the Cherokee Nation. “You just go out there and play.” After getting a crash course on the rules, many of NSU’s guests from Chicago joined in. Within the small space, observ ers were forced to take cover more than once from errant throws. “It looks like they’re having a blast out there,” said Veronica Rangel, one of the group's chap erones. “I t’s like w atch ing lacrosse's more rugged cousin.” In Stillwater, Oklahoma State University’s Alpha Pi Omega Sorority, a historically Native A m erican sorority, hosts a monthly stickball game in front of Edmon Low Library. “We wanted to foster a greater cultural awareness on campus,” said political science senior and chapter president Tabatha Harris. “This game originated with the Five Civi lized Tribes and this is an in teractive way for us to intro duce our culture to students who might not have grown up around it. “And it’s just fun.” The chapter’s m onthly games usually attract about 20 players, including students from Oklahoma City Univer sity and the U niversity of Oklahoma. The Stillw ater stickball players, in turn, send teams to tournaments, in cluding a recent one at OU. “I got hit in the head with a stick and broke my thumb at that tournament,” Harris said. “I’ve had (sorority) sis ters hurt their knees, ankles and elbows in stickball games. Have to be tough to play.” . S tud en t Ja k e R oberts didn't pick the game up until college. “It’s all-inclusive,” he said. “Yes, it’s a part of my cul ture, but it’s also got men, women and children all out there at once, playing and having fun. Oneida Nation funds lawsuit over attorney fees Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay The last fluent Wasco Language speaker Gladys Thompson (left) visits with student Josephine Tafoya. Kiksht classes are being held at the Museum at Warm Springs every Wednesday at 5:30. The first class covered how to introduce yourself. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Oneida Indian Nation is back ing a lawsuit against Madison C o u n ty A tto rn e y S. Jo h n C am p an ie and N ew Y ork C o m p tro lle r T hom as DiNapoli, claiming the attor ney improperly received more than $800,000 over 13 years from a law firm he helped pick returned Tuesday. The suit was filed on behalf of two county residents who work for the Oneidas, who own and operate the Turning Stone casino and resort. It seeks resti tution and a court order to end the payments, claiming they vio late state and county law. Judge tosses Temecula lawsuit against tribe W STC (Continued from page 1) The newest is Warm Springs. Six of the tribal telecommuni cations companies are in Ari zo n a, and one is in N ew Mexico. Sal Sahme, chairman of the W STC board o f d irecto rs, served as master of ceremonies last week at the ground-break ing and dedication. He introduced the WSTC c h ie f ex ecutive o fficer J e f f A nspach , gen eral m anager Adam H aas, and regu lato ry manager Marsha Spellman. Like oth er reserv atio n s, Warm Springs is underserved in its telecommunications system, said Haas. Much of the telecom munications infrastructure on the reservatio n is from the 1980s, and needs to be brought up to date. to fight county legal battles with the Oneidas. The suit filed in state Su preme Court in A lbany says D iN apoli was contacted last October about the allegedly im proper payments but failed to do anything about it. C alls to C am panie and DiNapoli were not immediately About 65 percent of the tribal residents have basic phone ser vice, compared to 95 percent on average am ong O regonians. Less than half of Warm Springs ho useho lds have access to broadband, limiting access to basic internet and email service. The tribes first began look ing at telecommunications im provement in 2002. A funding application a few years ago was rejected, while a more recent application was approved last year. “We’re excited to see this project advance to the next level,” said Vikki Walker, USDA Rural Development State Direc tor. “It will help drive economic development in the community for years to come.” W STC board chairm an Sahme said, “We need the abil- u We need the ability to create more jobs here on the reserva tion. I see this new company as a source o f employment fo r our young people... ” Sal Sahme ity to create more jobs here on the reservation. I see this new company as a source of em ployment for our young people, including the kind of jobds that our educated youth will find at tractive. “At this time in our history, we have the greatest number of young people in high school and now in higher education. We need to have a source of jobs, as well as opportunities for in dividuals to live on the reserva tion, and create other jobs that they will be able to do with high speed broadband accessible to all,” he said. “It is also important from a tribal sovereignty standpoint th at the W STC is trib a lly owned and operated. Profits the company will generate will stay on the reservatio n and leverage more economic devel opment and improve our stan dard of living.” The fiber optic network will also support a number of other priorities identified in the 2002 assessment, including the pub lic safety radio network. The plan is for the system to be in operation this fall. TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has dis m issed a law suit filed by T em ecula again st the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. The city wants the Indi ans to pay for public services needed because o f the Pechanga Resort and Casino. C ity A tto rn ey P eter Thorson told the Riverside Press-Enterprise the judge ruled Monday that the state compact had to authorize le gal action and m andate a study. Thorson says the city will review options. T ribal C hairm an M ark M acarro says the ru lin g proves the lawsuit was absurd. He says the tribe has given T em ecula and R iversid e County more than $25 mil lion since 2002. Tribes may sue over lake dispute OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - R ecords in d icate two o f Oklahoma's largest American Indian tribes are threatening le gal action against Oklahoma City and the state in a dispute over Sardis Lake. Last June, the city and state agreed on a $42 mil lion deal giving Oklahoma City storage rights to 90 percent of the southeastern O klahom a lake. The Chickasaw Nation and Choctaw Nation opposed that deal. Adam Walsh Child Protection and SafeteyAct registration and notification The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have regis- tration jurisdiction under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. The tribes, as a sovereign govern- ment, chose to exercise this jurisdiction in 2007. A provision of the Adam Walsh Protection and Safety Act requires the registration o f known sex offenders in the community. This registration provides the community with notifica- L tion o f the individuals in the area who have been convicted of a sex crime. The purpose of the registration and notifica- tion is to protect the families and young people o f the com- munity, as stated in the Coun- cil resolution. Like the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, other juris- d ictio n s— states and other trib es— are d evelo p in g and maintaining sex offender regis- tration and notification pro- grams. The sex offender registry of the C onfederated Tribes of Warm Springs can be viewed at the website: http://warmsprings.nsopw.gov/ By provision of the act, the tribes are also publishing the registration list in the Spilyay Tymoo. The names of offend- ers will appear one time in the Spilyay, as directed by Council resolution. In addition to the names be- low, more names are likely to be added, as individual offend- ers become known to the regis- tration administrator. A person is required to reg- ister with the administrator if the person has been convicted of a sex crime, and resides or works in the comm unity, or visits here on a monthly basis. This applies to tribal and non- tribal members. The sex offender registration office phone number is 541- 553-2214. The administrator’s office is located at 2146 Warm Springs Street, Warm Springs (upstairs in the tribal Court building). The following is the Confed- erated Tribes of Warm Springs list of registered offenders un- der the Adam Walsh Child Pro- tection and Safety Act: Bryce Bailey Antonio Becerra Azeul Charley Tildon McDonald Delbert Frank Jr. Eric Frank Gene Harvey Jr. Alfredo Holliday Trevor Hurtado Timothy Jensen Leander Kalama Henry Martinez Randall Nathan Patrick Red Dog Ryan Smith Joseph Tuckta Willard White Joseph Winishut Waylon Winishut James Wolfe J