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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1928)
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN PAGE 4 SARAH WINNEMUCCA (Continued from page 1) Indian who had bought the powder. The agent went to Fort McDermitt to get soldiers to punish the In dians. The captain decided to know the truth first, so he sent a very friendly letter asking Sarah and her brother for a council. Sarah went and met the cap tain at the appointed place and when the captain learned the truth, he promised to do what was right. Sarah began to act as interpreter for Agent Bateman to the Shoshoni, where she helped settle many a dis pute. She later become interpreter and scout for Gen. O. O. Howard during the Piute and Bannock wars, when no man could be prevailed upon to risk the attendant danger until the end of that fearful struggle. During that war she was instrumental in bringing her father and immediate followers out of . the hostile camps of the Bannocks. In the winter of 1879-80 she accompanied her father to Washington for the purpose of obtaining permis sion for her people to return from the Yakima reser vation to the Malheur reservation. The permission was granted but the plans were thwarted by the agent at the Yakima reservation. She was appointed interpreter at the Malheur agency, in Oregon. During that time she conducted the first school for Indians in the Northwest. The following year she again visited the East, delivering public lectures in almost all of the larger cities, making known the troubles, trials and treatment the Indians were receiving at the hands of the whites, arousing sympathy in their behalf, directing most of the com plaints against the Indian Agents. To aid in this campaign she wrote a book entitled, “Life Among the Piutes, their Wrongs and Claims," which was published about 1883. Most of these attacks and charges she had made against the Indian Agents she had to deal with brought forth counter charges against her character. These were met and refuted by mili tary officers she had aided in the field, among others General O. O. Howard. In the meanwhile, sometime in the years of 1881 or 1882, she married a Lieutenant Hopkins of the U. S. Army. With aid received during one of her visits to the East, she purchased lands near the present Lovelock, Nevada. Here she conducted an Indian school for about three years. Her husband died here of tuber culosis and was buried in the Lone Mountain Ceme tery. Sarah was forced to discontinue the school. She went to visit her sister at Montida, Montana, where she passed away. She did the government a great service. She was a light in darkness to all of those early misunderstand ings. She believed in education and in every way in her power she promoted it. “She first gave peace, then learning." General Howard said, “If the one-tenth of all she willingly did to help the settlers and her people to live peaceably were generally known her name would justly be placed alongside that of Pocahontas in the history of our Nation." Sarah Winnemucca lived such a life that it may be truthfully said that all who came in contact with her had life, and had it “more abundantly." LEGEND OF THE YAKIMAS By IRENE QUAEMPTS, Chemawa Student In olden times, the animals were like human beings, they had all the qualities that man has and could use them when they so desired. Speelyi, or the coyote, was chief of all the animal tribes. When there were councils or troubles Speelyi was right there to make for success, or total failure. Speelyi did much good, but still he was mischievous and cunning. One day as Speelyi was traveling along the shores of the Columbia River he came to a place where the Indians had their wigwams and many tribes had gathered together in council. They were trying to agree on the weather. Some wanted three months of winter and the remainder of the time to be warm and pleasant. The Northwind brothers and the Chinook wind (warm south wind) brothers could not agree. There were five brothers on each side. They finally decided they would settle it by having a wrestling match. Before the match began, Speelyi told the Chinook wind’s grandmother to melt five baskets of fat. At that time they had no pails, but had tightly woven baskets which they used for many purposes. While they were doing this the mother of the North winds was getting five baskets of water. The match began with the oldest of each side in contest. When the North wind was almost thrown his mother threw the water under their feet, which froze quickly. She did this to make the Chinook wind cold. As soon as this was done the Speelyi gave a signal to the grandmother of the Chinook wind to pour the melted fat under their feet, which she did immediately. Now the Northwind brothers could not stand on the fat and they went down one after another and the Chinook wind brothers won the match. They then decided to have three months of cold and the rest of the year should be warm. So the Chinook winds come and drive away the cold North winds in the early spring. The darkest hour in any man’s life is when he sits down to plan how to get money without earning it. —H orace G reely .
