A3 THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, AuguST 16, 2022 Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia ARE YOU AT RISK? According to a new study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Institute on Aging, men and women with hearing loss are much more likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. People with severe hearing loss, the study reports, were 5 times more likely to develop dementia than those with normal hearing. Have you noticed a change in your ability to remember? Antonio Sierra/Oregon Public Broadcasting A drum circle provides the music for dancers at the Tamkaliks Celebration powwow in July. The Nez Perce people build story about return in Wallowa kaliks, and she proceeded with caution when she decided to attend in 1992. She was acutely aware of the history The hot summer day crept into eve- that led to the original flight of the Nez ning by the time Fred Hill made his Perce, but more than 100 years later, she introduction. was won over by the sincerity of the non- “I want to welcome you here to the tribal organizers. “I purposely at one point asked them, 30th annual Tamkaliks Celebration here in Wallowa, Oregon,” the master of cer- ‘Why are you guys doing this? Why emonies said. “We’ve anticipated this for are you white people asking us to come quite some time.” back here?’” she said. “And it was really COVID-19 forced organizers to can- (heartening) to hear them say, ‘Because cel the previous two powwows. Now, we want you here,’ which is really a total dancers were gathering outside the arbor, different vibe than back in 1877. They a circular structure with a parachute as a didn’t want us here in 1877.” roof and three rows of bleachers for the Archeological and DNA records show spectators who assembled. Indigenous people have lived on the The drum circles started and voices Columbia River plateau for millennia. rose in song. The Grand Entry had begun. When the Nimiipuu, later dubbed the As the arbor filled with dozens of Nez Perce by French fur traders, first bodies in full regalia, people of all ages encountered Euro Americans in the early dressed in cloth and feathers of every 19th century, the event came on the far color. The jingle of the metal on their right end of their timeline. regalia complemented the booming per- At the Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland cussion that surrounded them. Visitor Center, the Wallowa tribal band’s The procession was led by men bear- extensive history is squeezed into a small ing the American flag and the Eagle Staff. room. To the Nez Perce, the eagle feather rep- The Nez Perce once inhabited 14 mil- lion acres across modern-day Oregon, resents honor and good medicine. Tamkaliks is an ongoing story about Washington state and Idaho. Comprised return. A return to celebration after two of more than a dozen bands, the Nez years of pandemic delays. A return to the Perce peoples shared language, religion homeland, and a hope for the future with and family, but each band had its own leader. even deeper roots. The Walwama — whose band, moun- Tamkaliks is the Nez Perce word for tains and river were “where you can see the Anglicized to Wal- mountains.” In the long dESPITE ITS lowa — called the Wal- days of summer, the lowa Valley home. By looming Wallowa Moun- HISTORy IN tains to the south of the the time the Nez Perce campsite were still visi- signed the Treaty of 1855 EASTERN ble from the arbor. with the U.S. govern- OREgON, THE ment, the Wallowa Band The Walwama were led by Tiwitequis, back home. MOdERN-dAy was also known as Old Chief The very first Tamka- liks took place in a high Joseph. NEZ PERCE school gym. The Treaty of 1855 RESERVATION shrunk the Nez Perce’s Taz Conner, a mem- ber of the Nez Perce land considerably, but the IS ENTIRELy Tribe and a U.S. Forest new reservation main- tained much of the Wal- CONTAINEd Service employee, began land in northeast meeting with city of Wal- IN NORTHERN lowa’s lowa community mem- Oregon. bers like Jo Hallam and The United States’ IdAHO. Terry and Nancy Cren- position changed once shaw in the 1980s. The gold was discovered goal was to create an event that would in the area. Settlers began encroaching welcome back the Nez Perce, more than a on tribal land and the U.S. government century after the U.S. government exiled returned to the issue in 1863 with a much them from the Wallowa Valley. harder line. Federal officials proposed There are nine federally recognized further cutting the reservation boundaries American Indian tribes in Oregon, but to 10% of its original size, based around the Nez Perce Tribe isn’t one of them. Lapwai, Idaho. Despite its history in Eastern Oregon, The Wallowa Band withheld its sup- the modern-day Nez Perce reservation is port for the 1863 treaty, but the govern- ment designated one of the other Nez entirely contained in northern Idaho. While the origins of the event are Perce band leaders as the “head chief” sometimes described as an economic and used his approval to justify ratifying development opportunity for the city of the treaty. The Wallowa stayed on their land Wallowa, Taz Conner’s niece, Bobbie Conner, said that was never the intent of until the issue came to a head in 1877. By then, Old Chief Joseph had died and his tribal organizers. “It wasn’t really an agreement to help son, Hinmatowyalahqit, or Young Chief boost tourism,” she said. “It wasn’t an Joseph, took over as leader. Under threat from the U.S. Army, the agreement to help with economic devel- opment. It was an agreement that we Wallowa agreed to move to Lapwai. But needed to welcome home to this country, shortly after they began their journey, the Wallowa country, the people whose men from a different band killed several ancestors were sent out of this country in white settlers as retaliation for the mur- der of a Nez Perce man. Even though exile in 1877.” The first celebration was held at Wal- the Wallowa were not involved with the lowa High School in 1991 and up until its raids, their concession turned into a war. start, Nancy Crenshaw was unsure how it The Wallowa traveled more than 1,000 would go. miles across the Idaho and Montana ter- “We didn’t know if anybody, any ritories, engaging in multiple battles and Natives, were going to come,” she said. skirmishes along the way. With many tribal leaders dead and “It was like, we’re sitting there and all of a sudden, people started coming and they his band suffering from cold and hunger, Chief Joseph surrendered following a bat- have their regalia.” Tamkaliks was successful enough in tle at Bear Paw, Montana, on Oct. 5, 1877. The U.S. government would never its first year to merit a second event, this allow the Wallowa Band to make a per- time in an open field near town. Like the Conners, Celeste Whitewolf manent return to its homeland. Wal- was a descendant of the Nez Perce band lowa County was established in 1887, that once lived in the far northeast of Ore- named after a people who were no lon- gon. She didn’t attend the inaugural Tam- ger welcome. By ANTONIO SIERRA Oregon Public Broadcasting “The more hearing loss you have, the greater the likelihood of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Hearing aids could delay or prevent dementia by improving the patient’s hearing.” -2011 Study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the National Institute of Aging IS IT TIME FOR A HEARING TEST? TAKE THIS QUIZ TO FIND OUT... Y Y N Do you feel that people mumble or do not speak clearly? Do you turn the TV up louder than others need to? Do family or friends get frustrated when you ask them to repeat themselves? N Do you have trouble under- standing the voices of women or small children when they are speaking? 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