Spllyay Tymoo
September 29, 1981 Pape 5
Northwest tribes band together in steelhead fight
by Dick Johnston
(Reprinted with the permission
of The Oregonian)
Northwest Indians are ready
for the latest skirmish in their
long battle to retain the fishing
rights guaranteed them by
treaties, Indian leaders said in
Washington, D.C. Friday.
At issue is a bill before
Congress that would decom-
mercialize steelhead trout. The
legislation, which would affect
25 Northwest tribes, received a
second hearing Monday before
the Senate Select Committee
on Indian Affairs.
“When they talk about
decommercializing, it doesn’t
only affect commercial rights.
It affects two other uses we
have — cerem onial and
s u b sista n c e ,” m a in tain ed
Nelson Wallulatum.
Warm Springs is among a
dozen tribes inyited to send
spokesmen to the hearings.
The legislation, sponsored
by Republican Senator Slade
Gorton and other members of
the Washington congressional
delegation, would extend state
laws governing steelhead to
Indians both on and off
reservations, making steelhead
a game fish only.
Indians see the proposal as
an abrogation of the treaties
their tribes signed with the
federal government in the mid-
1850’s. Those treaties, as
in te rp re te d by the U.S.
Supreme Court, reserved for
Indians the right to harvest half
the available salmon and
ste e lh e a d in N o rth w e st
streams.
Treaty tribes have been
fighting for their fish for most
Another letter to the editor
No response to jail concerns
To the men and women with
power, .
I don’t know who to address
with the problem^ Maybe I
should get a hold of some
people who can do something
about the many problems with
this tribal jail.
I think that it’s a long
overdue problem that needs at
least a discussion. I don’t know
if there’s anything at all being
done because I don’t hear much
from these walls.
I’ve been in here for three
months now and I’ve already
changed. I mean that this so-
called jail really put a new head
on me, and my ways have
changed. To the good or the
bad, I just couldn’t say. But I’ll
find out soon.
I don’t know how many
people read the letter I wrote a
few months ago (Tribal jail
really stinks), but I know that I
didn’t reach the right people.
There must be a milion
things wrong with this jail . . .
There’s absolutely no exercise
program of any sort. There’s
hardly any room in the cell to
properly exercise and it’s a very
rare occasion when we’re
allowed out of our cells. Some
people care about their bodies.
Obviously the jailors have no
consideration or any type of
feelings towards the prisoner’s
pride in himself.
I feel that most of the jailors
here are out to break a man or
woman’s pride. I’ll tell you one
thing—the federal prisoners get
far more privileges than other
prisoners that are locked up
here. I don’t say nothing about
it because my pride is still
untouched by this system, if
vou can call it that.
Is it humane to keep a
prisoner isolated for about
two months? I was in solitary
confinement for one month.
Now I’m in a juvenile cell until
the federal prisoner goes back
to where ever he came from. If
I’m not out soon I think I’ll give
in to insanity.
The problem with your jail is
that it’s run like a prison.
There’s no type of counseling.
There’s no type of ways to let
out your aggression unless you
pound the walls. The way I feel
right now, I feel that I’d much
rather be in prison.,
Well, I know that most of
you well respected citizens have
better things to do than worry
about such a small problem,
but someday your kids may
end up here. I feel sorry for
those who end up on this long
and tiring road. 1 will be the
death of me someday—mark
my word.
Davis Stwyer
TOE NESS
There was this guy who said, “Inflation has really made me believe
in reincarnation, I’m already spending my next life’s
savings.” YIKE
SS SS SS
EXPERIENCE: “Well, this is something you get while you are
looking for something else.” YIKES
SS SS SS
A guy told his friend, “You are growning older when you burn the
midnight oil after 9:00 p.m. YIKES
of the century, going frequently
to the Supreme Court, which
decided its first Northwest
Indian fishing case in 1905.
U n d e r th e p r o p o s e d
legislation, Indians would be
compensated for their loss
through adjudication before
the U.S. Court of Claims.
The bill also provides for
rep lacem en t of the lost
s te e lh e a d by e n h a n c e d
hatchery programs for salmon.
“That’s what they said with
our five-year p la n ,” said
Kathryn Brigham, a Umatilla
from Cascade Locks.
She was referring to an
agreement, which expires next
F e b r u a r y , u n d e r w hich
Columbia River treaty Indians
agreed to take fewer fish during
some salmon runs in exchange
for a guarantee of 300,000 more
salmon in other seasons.
“That hasn’t been met once
in the five-year time,” Ms.
Brigham complained.
Tim Wapato, a member of
the Inter-tribal Fish Commis
sion from Colville, Wash., said
as many as 500 Indians fish
commercially, while many
others catch steelhead for their
own food or for use in religious
ceremonies.
He contended that the
Washington sponsors of the
bill have been pressured by
“special interests” to make
steelhead a game fish.
W allulatum said spring
Chinook are coming under the
same attack.
C om pensation, he said,
would be unsatisfactory. “We
wouldn’t accept any,” he
added, pointing out that
steelhead have a religious
s ig n ific a n c e fo r m any
Northwest Indians and that
paying them to cease fishing
would be like paying Catholics
to abandon the use of wine at
Mass.
The bill says steelhead are of
“substantially greater” value to
the economy as a game fish
than as a commercial fish.
“We don’t put a dollar value
on our resources,” retorted
Guy McMinds of Quinault,
W ashington. ‘‘T here are
cultural and social values that
are immeasurable.”
The Reagan administration
will oppose the Gorton Bill.
Kenneth L. Smith, a Reagan
appointee to the position of
Assistant Secretary of the
Interior Department for Indian
Affairs, is an enrolled member
of the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs.
38th annual NCAI meeting nears
The National Congress of
American Indians is pleased to
announce its 38th Annual
Convention to be held in
A n c h o ra g e , A la s k a , on
October 11-16. The theme for
this year’s Convention, hosted
by the Alaska Federation of
Natives, is “Spirit/Sovereignty
/Survival.”
The Convention will feature
high-level policymakers from
the Reagan Administration.
The Honorable Samuel Pierce,
Secretary of Housing and
U rban D evelopm ent; the
Honorable Kenneth Smith,
Interior Assistant Secretary for
Indian Affairs; the Honorable
Dorcas Hardy, HHS Assistant
S e c re ta ry fo r H um an
Development Services; the
Honorable James DeFrancis,
Energy Assistant Secretary for
External Affairs; and the
H o n o ra b le F ran k R yan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Indian Education. Mr. Morton
Blackwell, Special Assistant to
the President for Public
Liaison, will attend pending
approval by the White House
Travel Office.
More than 1,000 NCAI
members from throughout the
United States will be in
attendance to assess the
R eagan p o licies to w ard s
Indians in nine issue areas:
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse,
E c o n o m ic D e v e lo p m e n t,
Education, Health, Housing,
Human Resources, Indian
Preference, Natural Resources,
Litigation and Trust Responsi
bility. The membership will
review NCAI activities during
the p ast y ear, ev alu ate
performance and set priorities
for the forthcoming year.
Elections for NCAI officers
will be held.
The NCAI, founded in 1944,
is a Washington, DC-based
m em bership o rg a n iz a tio n ,
dedicated to securing and
p ro te c tin g the rig h ts of
A m erican Indians. NCAI
represents more than 150 tribal
governments and monitors
congressional and federal
activities as they relate to
Indian tribes.
Future law students should prepare
The American Indian Law law school should immediately
S tu d e n ts A s s o c ia tio n is contact AILSA and the
offering assistance to all Indian American Indian Law Center
persons interested in applying in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
to law school for the school The Law Center sponsors the
year beginning in Fall of 1982. Special Scholarship Program
The deadline for application to in Law for American Indians.
many schools is quickly The Programs provide Indian
a p p r o a c h in g a n d it is Law students with a stipend for
i m p o r t a n t t h a t I n d ia n living expenses, while they are
applicants begin the process in law school.
'immediately.
the fate of the Scholarship
Although the number of Program is as yet undecided in
Indiai lawyers is growing, the wake of present budget
i n d ' i n p e o p le r e m a in cutting. However for further
u n d e r r e p r e s e n te d on a information about the program
nationwide level, says the itself and its continuance,
American Indian Law Students contact the American Indian
A s s o c ia tio n ‘‘I n te llig e n t, Law Center.
dedicated and hardworking
AILSA has six regional
Indian people are needed to coordinators at various law
bolster the ranks of Indian schools around the country.
lawyers who are assisting their T hese people can assist
tribes or other Indian people to p r o s p e c tiv e law sc h o o l
a c h ie v e a d e q u a te le g a l a p p l i c a n t s w ith t h e i r
representation.”
applications and the proce
Indian people interested in dures for application. However
as all applicants are working
with time restraints, and in
some (if not many) cases,
communication will be through
the mail, we urge applicants to
begin application procedures
now before the deadlines are
upon us.
Interested applicants should
c o n ta c t A IL S A a t th e
University of New Mexico and
they will fo rw ard your
information to the appropriate
regional coordinator. Please
include current mailing address
and phone and school(s) you
are applying to.
Further inquiries should be
addressed to the American
Indian Law Students Associa
tion, American Indian Law
Center, 1117 Stanford, NE,
Albuquerque, New Mexico,
87131. Prospective applicants
may also call Thomasine Ross,
Director of the Scholarship
Program, at (505) 277-5462.
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CONFUCIUS SAY: “Amazing how cold cash warm girl’s
heart!” YIKES
SS SS SS
There was this guy who said, “I’ll never forget when I lost my baby
teeth—I didn’t know my father could hit that hard.” YIKES
SS SS SS
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