Wallowa County Chieftain
From A1
wallowa.com
NEZ PERCE
lowa Lake in 1923 and over
the years sold portions of that
land to support projects. It
now owns 58 acres and oper-
ates one of six camp and re-
treat ministries in two states.
Over time, the property
along the Wallowa River be-
came landlocked and unsuit-
able for development. The idea
of returning that land to the
Nez Perce came to Wallowa
Lake Camp co-director David
Lovegrin in 2017 when he was
walking along the river and re-
alized that the stretch owned
by the church was great Sock-
eye salmon spawning habitat.
“It seemed like a great thing
to do to gift this land to the
tribe as they have been very
active in restoring fish hab-
itat and re-establishing fish
populations,” said co-director
Peggy Lovegrin.
Conversations
began
immediately.
“It’s been a learning experi-
ence as we build a respectful re-
lationship with the tribe,” said
Todd Bartlett, executive direc-
tor of camp and retreat min-
istries for the Oregon-Idaho
area. “We’re working to honor
tribal culture so we want to do
this in partnership.”
The partnership between
the church and Nez Perce cul-
ture has been deepening for
some time, Bartlett said. Cul-
ture camps held twice a year
at Wallowa Lake Camp are a
favorite for Nez Perce youth.
“Youth are given a choice
of campsites for culture camp
— they always choose Wal-
lowa Lake Camp — it’s
home,” Bartlett said.
Nez Perce Culture Camp
was in session when the Aug. 1
returning ceremony took place,
and Nez Perce youth played an
important role.
Students distributed gifts to
all attendees as part of the cer-
emony, sat in the drum circle
and performed sacred songs
with Elder Pete Wilson of
Spirit of Renegade Drum, and
were honored to formally re-
turn the stone to the river.
Miles addressed the gath-
ered youth specifically.
“As you (young people) be-
come our leaders you are go-
ing to lead us into some more
wonderful things that are go-
ing to happen just like this be-
cause I know you have a heart
for the Nimi’ipuu and a heart
to return us to where we be-
long,” she said.
Elders, native speakers and
language teachers Bessie Scott
and Florene Davis also encour-
aged the youth to “always re-
member this beautiful day in
the heart. You have been a part
of it. Always remember.”
gested that books with rare or
historical value be donated to
local museums and books unfit
for library use due to age, rel-
evancy or condition be sold to
raise funds for library programs.
“We’ve realized, talking to
the librarians, there is no way
the other libraries can absorb
all of what the collection was,”
McCoy said. “We’ve reached
out to Wallowa Resources, and
they have some (storage) space
in their basement we may be
able to use.”
The first order of business,
McCoy said, was to examine
the collection, allow librari-
ans access to the collection and
find the paperwork outlining the
correct handling of books pur-
chased through grant programs.
City
libraries
cur-
rently receive a small dona-
tion (approximately $300 per
library) from the county, and
Marks suggested the commis-
sioners might like to increase
that amount going forward.
“The county used to pro-
vide more funding,” said Com-
missioner Susan Roberts. “I had
suggested when this (closure of
the county library) all started
that the county may be willing
to ... boost the amount back to
what it had been.”
That might not happen until
next year.
“Maybe we can coordinate
a little bit with the city libraries
going into the next budget cycle,
next year, and figure out how we
might work together there,” said
Commissioner Todd Nash.
The formal proposal of
actions, however, needs to be
made before winter sets in
and the county library collec-
tion could be left sitting in an
unheated building.
McCoy said the foundation
could have a formal proposal
within six weeks.
Continued from Page A1
of Discovery” supported by
Christian religions since the
1400s and used to justify the
destruction of indigenous cul-
tures and people.
Thomas Jefferson, then
U.S. Secretary of State, rec-
ognized the doctrine as law in
1792. The law declared that
ownership of land came into
existence by virtue of “discov-
ery” of that land by Europeans.
The International Council
of Bishops of the United Meth-
odist Church began addressing
the culpability of its organiza-
tion in the matter in 2012.
“We declared a four-year
period of repentance and ed-
ucating ourselves and repent-
ing for the ways in which the
expansion harmed the people
who lived here before Europe-
ans came,” said Bishop Elaine
J.W. Stanovsky, Bishop of the
Oregon, Washington, Idaho
and Alaska.
At the “returning” cer-
emony along the Wallowa
River, Stanovsky repeated a
passage from the formal apol-
ogy issued by the church to all
indigenous peoples.
“To our native and indig-
enous brothers and sisters we
say, we have destroyed your
way of life, dehumanized your
people, and degraded your cul-
tures along with your dreams
your peace and your great
love of the land. Today we ac-
knowledge that all this is not
in the past. We pray to God to
give us a new heart and a new
spirit so that we may truly re-
pent of our grave sins, petition
for forgiveness and work to-
wards healing.”
The sincerity of the apol-
ogy and the astonishing ac-
ceptance of responsibility for
ongoing pain were not lost on
the Nez Perce representatives.
“My heart is singing,” said
Miles.
The United Methodist
Church originally purchased
110 acres of land along the
Wallowa River above Wal-
BOOKS
Continued from Page A1
Literacy kits have already
been transferred to Building
Healthy families. Now, librar-
ians and Imnaha and Troy
schools have asked for per-
mission to visit the county
library to determine what
books would best fit their com-
munities. Enterprise Librar-
ian Denine Rautenstrauch has
volunteered to house all of the
large- print books, which were
popular among elderly readers.
The foundation also sug-
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Students who were attending the Nez Perce Cultural Camp at
United Methodist Church Camp at Wallowa Lake were hon-
ored to replace the rock that symbolized the transfer of riv-
erfront land from the church back to the Nez Perce. The rock
had been presented to the Nez Perce in July and was re-
turned to the river Aug. 1 as part of a ceremony honoring
the apology for historic mistreatment of indigenous people
and act of friendship offered by the United Methodist Church.
Campers are, from left, Aurelia Ellenwood, Raequel Domebo
and Robert Denunzio. Maurice Renteria also attended.
Each tribe was put in a specific place
but they did not feel that land was
privately owned. Most of the tribal
leaders would have said that only the
creator makes that decision.”
— Wilfred (Scotty) Scott”
VFW member and Nez Perce historian
August 8, 2018
A9
Second wolf
attack in two
weeks reported
Chesnimnus
pack members
latest culprits
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
In the second confirmed
wolf depredation in two
weeks, a 350-pound calf sur-
vived a wolf encounter, but
suffered severe injuries in
the process. It happened in
Joseph Canyon in the Cou-
gar Creek area.
On Aug. 1, a calf was dis-
covered on a large U.S. For-
est Service allotment. It was
taken to a local veterinary
clinic for treatment on Aug.
2. The producer who found
the calf noted he had seen
wolf tracks in the area the
day before.
Another rancher in the
area suffered three depreda-
POLICE
Continued from Page A1
Council member Marty
Hamilton said he was under
the impression that the city
could cancel the contract after
a year if it weren’t satisfied.
Sajonia said that didn’t agree
with her reading. Sands said he
thought the quarterly meetings
would address such issues.
After the contract was
read, it was interpreted that
the sheriff was only to pro-
vide a quarterly summary and
monthly reports at the coun-
cil meetings. Lockhart said
he didn’t disagree with the
council but said that looking
at the other side of the con-
tract, the sheriff was commit-
ting to an additional deputy
for three years.
“So you don’t want to tie
his hands too tight,” he said.
Sajonia agreed.
Lockhart added that the
council already had a long
discussion with the sher-
iff about what duties were
expected of the deputies but
that they should be defined
tions in the vicinity earlier
this year.
Investigators found more
than a dozen canine tooth
scrapes on the outside and
rear of both hind legs mea-
suring up to a quarter-inch
wide and four inches long.
Five puncture wounds also
were found.
Further
examination
revealed a large open wound
between the rear legs behind
the scrotum that measured
nearly 8 inches long, 2.5
inches wide and at least 2
inches deep.
Some of the injuries on the
calf had begun to heal and were
estimated to have occurred a
week before. The size, loca-
tion and extent of the injuries
were sufficient to confirm wolf
depredation by the Chesnim-
nus pack. The calf was found
about three miles from where
three calves were injured in
June by the same pack.
for the edification of future
council members.
“I want the contract; I want
it as quickly as we can get it,
but if we go back to that, it can
be helpful,” Lockhart said. He
added he would like to know
if the city would pay for the
deputy’s court time and other
nonpatrolling duties.
Sajonia responded she
was still unhappy with the
three-year contract length.
She added that she’d like to
see the deputy hand-deliver
ordnance enforcement letters.
“I don’t see anywhere
here that ordnance enforce-
ment is addressed,” she said.
Sands said it was addressed
in the services section of
the contract and read off the
corresponding text. He also
noted that response to mailed
ordnance infractions was
upwards of 90 percent.
Lockhart made a motion
to approve a three-year con-
tract with the stipulation that
the contract would clearly
define the deputy’s duties
for which the city would
be billed, although he later
dropped that portion.
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