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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1978)
. . . . . M NOVEMBER 17, 1978 PAGE 9 At District Meeting North End Takes A Look At Fishing, Livestock Simnasho’s first district I meeting in over six months was I not long enough to give expres- I sion to all the concerns of the I community members, as fatigue I sent people home at midnight land a follow-up meeting was I tentatively scheduled for Decem- | ber. Fishing problems on the ■Columbia proved to be the Ifavored topic at the November 7 meeting although council repre- I sentative Delbert Frank I attempted several times to focus ■ attention on water rights. Councilman and horse ride [boss Jacob Frank Sr., was faced [with an interested but reduced ■audience when it came time for ■his report on the recent horse land cattle count. And by the time ■Tony Suppah made his off-the- agenda presentation of the Sim- [nasho police petition, the re- Enaining people were eyeing the [door. Not on the agenda but also of ■concern was the Simnasho com- munity development plan appro ved October 3 which will bring Enore housing and community [buildings to the rural area. Simnasho representative ■Larry Calica said he was unsure [whether district meetings could | be more regular considering the ■difficulty of rounding up consul tants, councilmen and commu nity people. The next meeting [will feature livestock and other [concerns given short shrift at East week’s meeting. I I LAW AND ORDER ON THE COLUMBIA Pointing to “critical mis doings” on the Columbia River this year, Delbert Frank warned that the four treaty tribes are in danger of losing their fishing rights if they don’t devise and honor a comprehensive law and order system. Fights over fishing sites, violations of state regulations and the destruction of property have been some of the ongoing problems on the river, enhanced this year by especially crowded conditions. “Our boys are doing whatever they please down there” said Frank, who pushed for the drafting of a law and order code agreeable to all four tribes (Warm Springs, Yakima, Nez Perce and Umatilla). Frank also stressed the need to redefine the meaning of ceremonial fishing, which at one time was overseen by the reli gious leaders. “Now it’s getting to the point where every Tom, Dick and Harry has his own idea of what a ceremony is,” he said. We have to come back to earth and decide how to use cermonial fish.” Fish caught with ceremo nial permits * have been sold illegally from time to time. Warm Springs Superinten dent Jim Cornett advised those at the meeting that the Portland Area Office had allotted a sub stantial amount of money (later determined to be $600,000) for law enforcement in off-reserva- tion treaty areas. But he felt that a prerequisite for utilization of the funds would be the adoption of a code to be enforced in a uniform and fair manner.” Presently the states of Wash ington and Oregon can regulate only for conservation ends, the federal sector has no jurisdic tion, and tribal police, although cross-deputized in the counties bordering the river, cannot spare the personnel for patrolling. Each tribe is on its own with different fishing regulations, clearly pointing to the need for a central law & order system, said Cornett. One resident who has been close to the river for years, read a newspaper article describing the stiff punishment of non Indian fishing violators in south western Oregon and commented, “I’m wondering if we’re just playing around with the state by promising to penalize our viola tors ... It makes me disgusted to see our committee sitting on this for 8-10 years.” It’s time to get tough, she maintained. She also suggested that an underlying cause of this year’s troubles was the EDA loan program that made money too easily available to self-professed fishermen who are now “driving new cars and souped-up pick ups” and not to be seen on the river. At the same time the loans encouraged the overfishing of the river, with fishermen fight ing for sites, she said. There was general agree ment that the treaty right to fish off the reservation must be preserved, except for a chal lenge issued by one district member. He felt that local tribal fishing & water rights should be settled instead of hanging onto rights that only a few exercise on the Columbia. Delbert Frank quickly coun tered by saying, “When you begin to give up a little piece of our treaty rights, we might as well give them all up.” A longtime member of both the law and order and fish and wildlife committees looked at the coin from the other side, saying that it’s no use to fight for rights to a disappearing resource. We should,, instead, “join hands” and work together to enhance the fishery. LIVESTOCK IN THE NORTH END Horse ride boss Jacob Frank, Sr. reported on his recent aerial count of wild horses in the North End which turned up a total figure of 1500 head. Of these horses, 628 or nearly half were termed “uncontrollable” or “outlaws”. “What we’re looking for is control of these animals,” said Frank who noted that although a few dozen strays were brought back onto the reservation, that “eventually they’ll drift back into white man’s land.” He then posed the question “What do you think the horse ride bosses should do?” Unfortunately most of the stock owners had already left, so feedback was minimal. Frank then offered the ride bosses’ idea which included: 1) a fence along the Warm Springs River from HeHe Mill to Schoolie pasture, and 2) the leasing of the Heckler property, a tribal pur chase on the McQuinn Strip, for assigned grazing. Frank was promised prime time at the next meeting to insure input from owners. NOT ON THE AGENDA A hurried explanation of the petition for police protection of the Wasco County portion of the reservation was made by Tony Suppah, a Simnasho native who is on call with the Warm Springs Police Department (see separate story this page). The only other topic raised was the “blessing or curse” of the bonus, the programming of which was felt “to drive parents to drink because they feel worth less.” Petition For Simnasho Police I Bolton, Apgar Commended I For Forest Management Gathering Signatures by Cynthia Stowell SHOP TALK- Bob Bolton and Bill Apgar talked over what they planned to do with the $300 awards they received for superior performance. Spilyay Photo by CDS Two men who assumed the duties of Acting Forest Manager while the B.I.A. Forestry De- Eartment was without perma- ■nent direction have been selected Ito receive Special Achievement Awards and checks for $300. Presentations to Bob Bolton tend Bill Apgar were made by Superintendent Jim Cornett No Eember 8 at the Tribal Admini stration Building with General Manager Ken Smith in atten- lance. “It was a well-kept jecret,” smiled Bolton after- ward. For five months after the resignation of manager-Gunther Heeren and the hiring of Ken Engelbretson, the two foresters alternated" as forest manager, dividing their attention between the time consuming “admini strative and people problems” and their regular jobs. Bolton heads up Timber Sales Admini stration and Apgar directs Tim ber Management. They were cited by Area Director Vincent Little for main taining “a high quality of out put” with a shortage of employ ees during the forestry pro grams peak period of operations. Specifically, they tackled the problem of cleaning up 33 million board feet of blowdown , built the 1980 budget, and helped to plan and develop a $600,000 forest management contract with the Confederated Tribes using for estry add-on funds. In his letters to Bolton and Apgar, Superintendent Cornett said, “You are congratulated on your contributions which were effected in a cheerful, construc tive and efficient manner.” It was Bolton’s second award from the BIA. He also received a superior performance award in 1961 while on the Umatilla Reser vation, just before coming to Warm Springs. It was the first such award for Apgar, who has worked at' the Warm Springs Agency since 1964. A grass roots effort to obtain police protection for the northern sector of the reservation is so far being waged largely by one man. Armed with a petition and a penchant for politicking, Tony Suppah has been making appear ances at local meetings to plug his $250,000 idea. But most of his energies have gone into door-to-door visit ing, making “the people” aware that they have the power to effect change. So far Suppah has gathered signatures from all parts of the reservation for the Novem ber 21 budget meeting where he plans to present his proposal. The petition’s cover state ment asserts that full-time cov erage of the Simanasho district is overdue. Suppah proposes the installation of a supervisor and two patrolmen at “premium pay,” support staff, two fully- equipped 4-wheel drive vehicles and a temporary base- station until such time as a permanent fire and police station are built. The territory to be covered by the Simnasho division lies within Wasco County and in cludes residences at Sidwalter, Simnasho, Schoolie, Indian Head Canyon and the lower Warm Springs River, as well as all the highway joining those areas. Suppah feels that the grow ing popultion of this area war rants full-time patrolling which it does not presently receive. Currently a patrolman resides at Simnasho and is on call, but his beat is the Warm Springs area where the manpower demand is, according, to Police Chief : Jeff; Sanders. Suppah envisions the patrolmen as also fulfilling a social work function for the elderly, some of whom speak little English and need help with transportation. With full-time personnel assigned to the North End, officers now called to Simnasho would be freed up to give better protection to the South End, suggested Suppah. While Suppah says he has “100 percent support” for his proposal from Chief Sanders, the chief has indicated otherwise in communication with Spilyay Tymoo. “Economically it isn’t feas ible,” he said. “We’re trying to maintain the status quo in the face of the Council’s 22 percent cut and tony wants a 33 percent increase.” Suppah maintains that funds can be had through grants, although he hasn’t pinpointed the sources yet. Municipal branch manager Rudy Clements indi cated that the BIA was a possible source as it currently supple ments the Warm Springs police budget. Sanders cited arrest figures that he says would not justify three full-timers on site. Of 2200 arrests in 1977, only 14 were in the northern boundary area. When asked if the low rate was due to the fact that coverage has not been available, Sanders said that Warm Springs already re sponds to all Simnasho calls and makes the arrests. The only change in figures with a full-time patrol might be an increase in traffic citations, he said. Sanders felt that a one-man patrol might,be^justified at the present time.
