Enterprise, Oregon
Wallowa.com
135th Year, No. 14
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
$1
Ellen Morris Bishop
Joseph, Oregon resident Maggie Zacharias
was crowned Queen of the Elgin Stampede on
Thursday night.
Zacharias
named Queen at
Elgin Stampede
Derek Kolbaba masters three
bulls to win bull riding event
Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
Tamkaliks
Mic’yo·xo’sa
‘iyo·xo! Listen!
Some things
for Tamkaliks’
visitors to keep
in mind.
Tamkaliks
is
more than a pow-
wow and Indian
dancing. It is a
reunion of Chief
Joseph’s band of Nez
Perce, known to them-
selves as the Walama,
or Wallowa Band—families
and friends who were ripped
apart by the War of 1877 and
its aftermath, and now are
scattered between the Colville
Indian Reservation in Wash-
ington, 6 hours away, the Lap-
wai Reservation near Lewis-
ton, Idaho, the Umatilla Reservation
near Pendleton, and other disparate locations including
Canada and Yakima, Washington. So Tamkaliks is an
occasion for both solemnity and joy.
The Elgin Stampede opened its run Thurs-
day night with the coronation of a queen,
Maggie Zacharias of Joseph, and the fi rst
of two nights of barrels and bulls. Nineteen
PBR (Professional Bull Riders) cowboys
competed in the 21st annual Mark Nich-
ols Memorial Bull Riding. Eastern Oregon
native, and fourth generation rodeo cowboy
Derek Kolbaba won the event, with rides of
82 and 82.5 points, besting Caleb McMillan
of Soap Lake, Washington by 7.5 points.
The Elgin Stampede’s 2019 queen is
Maggie Zacharias of Joseph. Zacharias’s
horse got saddled-up with the Queen’s new
saddle right there in the arena, and she rode
out as the Stampede’s new royalty.
Kolbaba, the great-grandson of stock-con-
tractor and Chief Joseph Days pioneer Har-
ley Tucker, has rodeo in his blood. Currently
ranked #8 in the world by the PBA, Kolbaba
mastered three bulls Thursday night, stick-
ing on his fi rst mount, a red bull named See-
ing Spots, for a long time after the 8 second
buzzer sounded. “There just didn’t seem to
be any good place to get off,” he said. Seeing
Spots was a reluctant bucker who never hit
the spin cycle. Kolbaba scored 61 points for
his trouble, and was offered a re-ride. That
second ride, on a bull named Pshco Joabout
10 minutes later, earned 82 points. His last
ride, on a mostly white bull named Breaking
Bad, included sideways bucking and high-
end kicks combined with spin. He and the
bull scored 82.5 points, to win the Wednes-
day night bulls.
Kolbaba approaches bull-riding like
a dance, he said. “You have to move with
the bull, like he’s your dance partner. You
have to respond to his moves, and you never
know exactly what they might be.” Unlike
some of his bullriding colleagues, he doesn’t
study or try to remember the moves that his
rides are reputed to make. “If you expect
that he’ll spin to the right, and that night he
comes out and spins the other way, you can
be in a world of hurt,” Kolbaba said. His
remedy is to not worry, and not anticipate.
“Riding bulls is all in your head,” he said.
“You have to work out some, too. You have
See Customs, Page A7
See Stampede, Page A7
dances into Wallowa
Celebration to run July 19-21
Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa county Chieftain
Tamkaliks dances into Wallowa this weekend.
Dancing, ceremonies, and a friendship feast
are all part of this year’s Tamkaliks reunion of the
Wallowa Band Nez Perce at the 320-acre Tam-
kaliks grounds just north of Wallowa. The fes-
tivities begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, July 19th, con-
clude on Sunday afternoon July 21, and everyone
is welcome.
Tamkaliks celebrates the reunion, remem-
brance, and resilience of the people of Chief
Joseph’s band of Nez Perce, most of whom were
exiled to the Colville Reservation in northern
Washington following the Nez Perce confl ict of
1877. It also is a powwow where Indian dancers
from across the nation compete for honors and
prizes in many traditional dances, including the
Grass Dance, Men’s Traditional, Women’s Jingle
Dress and other dances. Drums from across the
nation participate and compete as well.
Tamkaliks gets underway on Friday evening
around 7 p.m. with an entry ceremony, and a
non-competitive social dance, accompanied by
singing and drumming. Those Indians participat-
ing in this dance will generally wear tribal danc-
ing regalia.
On Saturday morning, the Nez Perce will
hold a Memorial Horse Procession in remem-
brance of those lost in the confl ict of 1877, and
Tamkaliks:
Respecting Nez
Perce customs
and culture
See Celebration, Page A7
UNBENT, UNBROKEN
Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
A dozen years ago, Tami Wight-
man heard the screams and saw her
son, Casey Marino, running across
the fi eld to the family’s home. He
wasn’t screaming in exuberance at
the joy of being 13 years old. He
had just lost most of the fi ngers on
his right hand in a wheel line gear
sprocket and chain that started oper-
ating unexpectedly.
The next steps were a blur, the
rush to the hospital, the agoniz-
ing four-hour wait to fi nd a hospi-
tal with with a hand surgeon on duty
for the weekend. It also happened to
be the Chief Joseph Days weekend.
They eventually found a specialist
in Spokane.
“They were calling Portland,
Seattle, Boise, Salt Lake, Las
Vegas,” Wightman said.
Fingers are notoriously diffi -
cult to re-attach successfully, and
only his index fi nger showed prom-
ise of recovery. The hospital even
went so far as to try leech therapy
(yes, those kind of leeches) and an
80-degree room only to have to later
remove the fi nger due to a lack of
circulation.
A dozen years later, Marino is
doing well. He stands straight up at
5 feet 11 inches and his gaze is clear
See Unbroken, Page A15
Steve Tool/Chieftain
It’s all good. Olive Branch Pharmacy tech Casey Marino lost four fi ngers on
his right hand in a farming accident about a dozen years ago. Far from letting
the accident defi ne him, the always-positive Marino is a living lesson that
nothing can stop you from doing anything except your own self-imposed
limitations.