Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 1978)
À MAY 19, 1978 PAGE 9 Ceremonial Fishing: A Regulated Rite r - Warm Springs tribal fisher men pulled their nets out of the Columbia R iver May 10 and scores of spring Chinook rode in the back of a tribal pickup to the dark world of the Agency Long- house freezer. The prime salmon caught during the week-long fishery will feed many mouths at tribal feasts, memorials and other ceremonial gatherings in the coming year. With the advent of the freez er and increased demand on the fish resource, families, are less lik ely to send out their fish er men to get whatever nature has to offer at the time of a death or celebration. Instead the Tribes “ h ire” fisherm en to fill the freezer at an appointed tim e based on anticipated ceremonial needs and the condition of the fishery. ceremonial fisherman sets his of quotas, tim e regulations and turning ritual into nets in a sea constraints, procedures, business. F ishing for cerem onial or subsistence purposes is protect ed in the Columbia River Com pact as a treaty right of the four river trib es. D w indling runs have made it necessary to regu late the size of these catches according to the Compact’s pre determined escapement goals. For the spring run the treaty ceremonial and subsistence fish ery has first priority but cannot exceed 2000 fish on a run size of less than 100,000 fish; 5000 on a run size of 100-120,000 fish; and 7500 on a run of 120-150,000. Thus, even though a com mercial fishery was not allowed on this year’s spring run, fish ermen were bringing fish back Fisherman Harold Greene assisted Terry Luther of the Tribal Natural Resources Department in measuring the spring chinook he caught during the 8-day ceremonial season in early May. Greene netted 113 fish, most of which were more sizable than this one. CDS Photo • Election (Continued from Page 5) U.S. SENATOR Sen. Mark H atfield (R ) is to a position he has held sin ce 1957, U llm an is p resen tly the seeking re-election to the post he Chairman of the House Ways filled in 1966 and again in 1972. He is being challenged by fellow and Means Committee. Familiar to m any on the Warm Springs Republicans Bert Hawkins, an Reservation as a mouthpiece for Ontario rancher; Robert Max the Confederated Tribes in Con well, a Trade and Contract Ad ministrator from Portland; and g re ss, U llm an has also sought Richard Schnepel, a Clackamas drought assistance for ranchers and farm ers, fought for trad i County insurance man. During recent years incum tional timber sales practices and pushed for a n ational energy bent H atfield has cham pioned program. such causes as the Siletz Restor Ullman has no Democratic ation, funding for the Chemawa ch allen gers, but two R epubli Indian School, drought assis- tance, the Omnibus Oregon Wil cans seek his position: real derness Bill, dams and power esta te m an Terry Hicks and eastern Oregon rancher Glen houses on the Columbia River, Stonebrink. the national bottle bill and the GOVERNOR cutting off of funds for the neu The old “ Tom and Bob tron bomb. Show,” featuring former gover Democrats for U.S. Senator nor Tom McCall (R ) and in include Salem attorney Steve cum bent governor Bob Straub Anderson, saw filer Jack Alan (D ), is being threatened by at Brown, Jr., state senator Vern least one agressive Republican Cook and P ortland m unicipal candidate. employee John Sweeney. Victor Atiyeh (R ), a P ort REPRESENTATIVE IN land b usinessm an and sta te CONGRESS Rep. A1 Ullman (D-2nd Dis leg isla to r, is creeping up on McCall in the polls, according to trict) is running for re-election to their tribes for cerem onial use. Tribal Natural Resources Director Gene Greene recogniz es the need for m ore coordi nation with the other com pact trib es to ensure fair sh ares of the catch without exceeding combined limits. In order to fish ceremonially on the Columbia, a permit must be issued by the Fish and Wild life C om m ittee, a system that has ex isted sin ce 1969. At one time the Tribes provided boats and equipment but now fisher men are on their own. Four permits were issued to established Warm Springs fish ermen this year, with a limit of 125 fish per permit holder. The total catch of 439 was well below the T rib es’ quota, with som e fishermen exceeding their limit and others not even close. During the recent ceremoni al season the Tribes offered $1.50 per pound for Chinook and 75 cen ts for steelh ea d , prices somewhat under the going rate for spring fish. Greene estimated that about 7000 pounds of fish are used annually by the Tribes, depend ing on the num ber of funerals held. A rrangem ents are m ade through the Natural Resources D epartm ent to procure for feasts, memorial dinners, narae- or funerals. But salmon for any other function must be requested from the Tribal Coun cil, which has a sp ecia l dona tions fund. Such fish are usually caught at Sherar’s Bridge on the Deschutes River where no per mit is needed. Of course any system has its abuses and the Fish and Wildlife Com m itee as w ell a s the State Police have been on the look-out for illeg a lly sold fish. In fact, fresh chinook and steelhead have been spotted in a couple of restaurants in the area and illegal nets have been removed from the river. F isherm en themselves have reported inci d ences of renegading and the loss of expensive nets which can run as high as $2400 apiece. The Fish and Wildlife Com m ittee can revoke or refuse to issue permits when abuses such as these occur. As a sort of fish broker, the Natural Resources Department is very much involved in moni toring the catch and as law enforcers they keep an eye out for erratic catch numbers, spoil ed fish and other evid en ces of abuse. But Natural Resources per sonnel have their hands full with the daily routine of weighing and m easuring fish and gathering data for various agencies. Wildlife biologist Terry Lu- ther has traveled to Cascade Locks and Hood River, Oregon every day of the cerem onial season to co llec t data on the incom ing fish . Since 1972 the department has kept records on poundage for payment purposes as well as to better estimate the T rib es’ a n n u a l cerem onial needs. While weighing each fish on a hand-held scale and measur ing the length on a metric rule, Luther took random scale samples. Tiny scales were sent to the State and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services where micro scopic rings are counted to determine age. Luther also m ade note of those fish with “adipose clips,” a hatchery marking indicating that a coded wire tag has been inserted in the snout. The mag netically sensitive tags, which contain information on the ori gin of the fish, are removed and also sent to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Such data collected over the years helps point out trends in the size, age and dispersal of the salmon population, aiding in ef fectiv e fishery m anagem ent, said Luther. With an occasional snout or scale missing, the otherwise in tact salmon were transported to the Longhouse, bagged and dated, and “put on ice” for later ceremonial consumption. Tribal wildlife biologist Terry Luther saw the ceremonial catch through from beginning to end by weighing and measuring the fish daily as well as bagging and stocking the Longhouse freezer (above). Most of this year's catch was spring chinook, favored for ceremonial purposes because of its high oil content. CDS Photo The O regonian. Of particular interest to Warm Springs voters is his membership in the Com m ission on Indian S erv ices, a state funded advisory group to the Legislature. R oger Martin (R ), also a businessman and minority lead er in the sta te House of R ep resentatives, does not appear to be gaining on the two leading Republican candidates. His plat form is based on pragm atism , common sense, youth and tough n ess. Cutting ta x es, spending responsibly, and servin g the people are some of his themes. Environmentalist Tom Mc Call spent two colorful terms in the governor’s office enhancing tourism in Oregon w hile pre servin g the quality of the en vironm ent. He w as forced to retire after two terms and sub sequently becam e a TV news analyst. Governor Bob Straub ran against McCall twice and finally won the governorship in the 1974 race against Atiyeh. Straub, too, has been concerned with the environm ent but in a quieter fashion. He has encouraged busi ness and clean industry, helped sa v e and reorganize the Land Conservation and Development Commission and has sought Ore gon ’s fair sh are of the North west’s cheap hydroelectric pow er. BALLOT MEASURES No. 1 - Home Rule County Ini tiative -. Referendum Require ments „T his measure would estab lish the sam e procedures for the in itiative and referendum in home rule cou n ties as are a l ready provided for non-home rule counties. Jefferson County would not be affected since it is already non-home rule. No. 2 - Open Meetings Rules for Legislature This measure would require open m eetin gs of joint le g isla tive co m m ittees in addition to the p resen tly required open meetings of each house and the committees of each house. No. 3 - Housing for Low Income Elderly If p assed , a fund would be created with general obligation bonds for the financing of con struction of multi-family housing for Oregon’s low income elderly. No. 4 - D om estic W ater Fund Created Would perm it funds to be raised for the d evelopm ent of public water system s. Enabling legislation would be required. No. 5 - Highway Repair Priority, Gas Tax Increase H ighway user revenues would be used for maintenance and rehab ilitation before new highw ay construction. State motor vehicle fuel tax would be raised from 7 cen ts to 9 cents per gallon. Diesel log truck al ternative fees would be increas ed and limits would be placed on revenues usable for parks, foot paths, b icy c le tra ils and sta te police. For further inform ation about candidates and measures, refer to the V o ters’ P am phlet distributed in all mailboxes and available at Macy’s Store or the County Clerk’s office. <r
