Spilyay TYMOO
Old ways from the old
By George Aguilar, Sr.
Ever since I was a child grow
ing up in the Wolford Canyon
community of the Warm Springs
Reservation, I never thought I
would someday attempt to re
construct some of the 1 ribal his
torical background and genealogy.
Although our Chinookan
bloodline has been immensely
diluted, this short writing is about
the last of tine Chinookan speaking
peoples of the Lewis and Clark's
Chiluckittiqua, Wat-La-La,
Wascopum, and other Cascade
Chinook Tribes that were dis
placed to the Warm Springs Res
ervation in the 1855 Treaty with
the United States.
Nearly 70 years has come and
gone of my lifetime since hearing
of the sparse historical events from
the old timers. It's my turn now. I
became interested in our Chinook
heritage, while exposing a few
glimpses of the past in our local
Eaper, Spilyay Tymoo (Coyote
tews). Most of my information
has come from my grandmother
Hattie Polk (1866-1948), and other
elders and relatives. Inspiration
for this writing has come while
reminiscing and chewing on the
last of the prior years harvest of
dried salmon skins, genealogical
information is from the Tribal
Statistics Department, Bureau of
Indian Affairs Realty Department
and the Museum at Warm Springs.
I'm reminded of the stories of
the once bountiful salmon runs
that once existed on the great Co
lumbia River. The deafening roar
of the Celilo Falls has long been
silenced, fishing stations of the
dangerous Cascade Rapids, Spear
Fish are of the Wu'cxam
(Wishram) and the untamed,
thrashing, wild boulder spitting
of the Five Mile Rapids has been
drowned forever. The sound of
the Columbia River is now lan
guishing with dead and chemi
cally polluted waters caused by
the salmon murdering dams. The
wild salmon runs have paid dearly
with their blood and guts. Liter
ally; canneries in the late 1890s
dumped ofal into Lewis and
Clark's pristine wild river that they
made mention of in their journals
of 1805 A.D. Westerly winds re
spond by attempting to breath life
into the dead water by kicking up
white caps. The only thing that .
lives is the yearly warm Chinook
Wind, which is written on the .
pages of the Coyote Story legends
as told and passed down by our
ancestors. If our ancient
Chinookan ancestors saw the
present condition of the Colum
bia River, they probably would
sing and perform the Chinook
Funeral and Ceremony song in
the most gut wrenching manner. .
"AXAI"
He-a-yu: Is the mother of
Tribal Council
Reservation of Oregon is hereby au
thorized to proceed with the expen-'
diture of funds for the purpose and
amounts indicated in the budget, pro
vided that all constitutional provi
sions are met. . - .
The undersigned as Secretary
Treasurer of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon, hereby certifies that the
Tribal Council is composed of 11
members, of whom 1 0 Constituting a
quorum were present at a meeting
thereof, duly and regularly called,
noticed, and convened and held this
23rd day of November, 1999, and
that the foregoing resolution was
passed by the affirmative vote of 7
members, 2 members opposed and
the chairman not voting, and that the
said resolution has not been rescinded
or amended in any way.
Charles V. Jackson
! Secretary-Treasurer
Noted:
Approved
Gordon E. Cannon,
Superintendent
Resolution No. 9795
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
has carefully examined the needs and
financial requirements of the calen
dar year ending December 31,2000
and,
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
feels that it is in the best interest of
the enrollees that the distribution be
paid out at a rate of $100 per month
to each enrollee beginning January
25, 2000 through December 15. 2000
and,
WHEREAS, Because many en
rollees are indebted to the Tribes, it
is the feeling of the Tribal Council
that tribal creditors discuss the ac
count with the borrowers so that all
loan agreements, both dormant and
active, are current, now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, By the
Tribal Council of the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs Reser
vation of Oregon that in accordance
with authority contained in Article
V, Section 1 (t), as amended of the
Constitution and By-Laws and Sec
tion 8 of the Corporate Charter, that
per capita distributions are autho
rized for the calendar year 2000 at
$100 per month for each eligible
member of the Tribe subject to the
following conditions:
1. Per Capita payments are to be
made to all persons appearing on the
official Tnbal roll as of January I,
Sta-na-que and great great great
grandmother Ka-mi-e-wit.
I le-a-ya was possibly in the age
group of the mid nineties when
she was assigned the No. 457 al
lotment of the 1887 Dawes Act.
This property is located in tim
bered land on the Tenino and
Seekseequa Bench of the reserva
tion. He-a-yu was a Tenino
Sha-hap-tin. Her people dwelled
above the eastern end of the Five
Mile Rapids. This was the summer
fishing camp and base of the
Tenino, which they may have not
yet migrated to the wintering
camp located south and high into
the Twelve Mile Creek Canyon.
The Lewis and Clark Journals
wrote of this group of people be
ing spectators of their journey
through the treacherous narrows.
There is a possibility He-a-vu
may have witnessed the arriva fof
the very first white peoples to this
area. There is no recording of
He-a-yu's birth and death. We
have to assume that she passed on
shortly after the 1887 Dawes Act.
Using this information (Dawes
Act), He-a-yu's estimated birth is
L
Bodies were wrapped for burial ceremony to be stacked on top of
another body buried before himher inside a shed located on an
island. 1
put at approximately 1792 A.D.
Her estimated age is anyplace from
early pre-teens to early teens when
the Lewis and Clark exploratory
expedition took place in this area
on October 25, 1805 A.D.
Burial: Mostly likely the burial
customs of old were followed by !
these old ancestors. There is no
known burial area or place (cem
etery) for He-a-yu, Wau-nup-pa,
Kush-i-ht, Klicknilk, Klick-ump
and Clo-i-bah. These ancient
relatives who were born in the
1790s and early 1800s had known
only the ancient customs and
therefore, mostly likely abided by
the old customs. Another possi-
passes Resolutions continued
2000, and persons who are subse
quently enrolled.
2. All persons appearing on the
official Tribal rolls as of January 1,
2000 shall be entitled to per capita
payments at a rate of $ 100 per month .
beginning January 25, 2000 and end
ing December 15, 2000.
3. All persons enrolled January 1,
2000 shall be entitled to receive per
capita payments at a rate of $ 100 per
months from the date of enrollment
through December 15, 2000 and fur
ther, all enrollees living as of 12:00
midnight on the 10th day of the month
shall be entitled to receive that
month's per capita and upon the
person's death, it will be credited to
hisher estate. Payments shall be
made on the 25th day of each month
(except for the month of December
which shall be made on the 15th day)
except when the regular payment falls
on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holi
day, the payment shall be made on
the preceding workday.
4. Enrollees who die during the
year shall receive no further pay
ments after death and hisher estate
shall not be entitled to further per
capita payments except as provided
in Section 3.
5. prior to the payment, the Credit
Department shall examine all loan
accounts and discuss the delinquent
loan with the borrowers who owe the
Tribes to determine the amount to be
collected and applied on indebted
ness owing the Tribes. Indebtedness
such as loans, accounts receivable,
rent and court fines may be withheld
if enrollees have signed an authori
zation for such withholding or if the
Tribal Court has issued a Court Or
der. 6. The funds of a minor's and
adults in need of assistance; welfare
recipients, and court order support
payments shall be deposited in the
Individual Indian Moneys accounts
for supervised expenditure, if in the
Superintendent's opinion, this is the
best interest of the people involved.
7. Upon approval of this resolu
tion by the Secretary of Interior, or
hisher authorized representative,
$300 of each enrolled minor's share
shall be deposited in the minor's Trust
Account w ith the United States Na
tional Bank in January and July of
2000 in two payments of $ 1 50 result
ing in a monthly distribution of $75
per month with a balance of $25 per
month deposited into the Minor's
Warm Springs, Oregon
days revisited.
bility would be that they were
buried in their back yards. My
Aunt Madeline Mclnturf stated;
"In earlier times when migrating
to other areas if an individual
passed on, the traveling group
would stop, perform the ceremony
and continue their journey." The
purification sweathousing would
be performed in the next camp
ground which may be by a stream
or river.
A recording of the old customs
could be found in the Spier and
Sapir Wishram Ethnography. The
ethnological excerpt is too long to
use here. However; I will attempt
to condense and paraphrase some
of it. Other information is handed
down through grandmother.
Mourning: Parents, relatives
and slaves cut their hair very short
to show that they were in a state of
mourning. Several days after
burial at sunset they sing a cer
emonial funeral song. It was be
lieved hunting, fishing and han
dling of food or anything that per
tained to normal living activity
was altered due to the passing or
handling of the deceased person.
These normal day activities had to (
be restricted until a purification ,
rite was performed by
sweathousing themselves for 5
straicrM davs. It was believed if
this ourification ritual was not
adhered to; the hunter or fisher-
man would spook the wild'game'
or nsn tnev were pursuing, inev
same application applies to har-
vesting foods or it may just be
plain bad luck in all one's activi
ties. It was believed that even
stepping on the tracks of the pur
sued animal would cause it to
spook. When attending any fu
neral every member in the family ;
was made aware or tne puruica-.
Trust Account from the date of en
rollment. Any minor enrolled by
1 2:00 midnight on the 1 0th day of the
month and in the event that any mi
nor shall die at any time where there
is an advance deposit in hisher ac
count the Confederated Tribes shall
be reimbursed the sum $25 per month
after the death of said minor.
8. With exception of the collec
tions of indebtedness of the enrollee
owing the Tribes, and subject to con
ditions 5, 6, 7 herein all per capita
shall be paid directly to each enrollee
and shall not be subject to any as
signment, levy or attachment; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
That the amount of $4,896,00 is
hereby appropriated for the purpose
of per capita payments in accordance
with authority contained in Article
V, Section 1 (t), as amended, of the
Constitution and By-Laws and Sec
tion 8 of the Corporate Charter.
Certification
The undersigned as Secretary
Treasurer of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon, hereby certifies that the
Tribal Council is composed of 11
members, of whom 20 constituting a
quorum were present at a meeting
thereof, duly an regularly called,
noticed, and convened and held this
23rd day of November, 1999 and that
the foregoing resolution was passed
by the affirmative vote of 8 mem
bers, 1 member opposed and the
chairman not voting, and that the
saidresofution has not been rescinded
or amended in any way.
Resolution No. 9796
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
has established the Warm Springs
Scholarship Trust Fund for the pur
pose of providing assistance to Tribal
members in obtaining education; and,
WHEREAS, It is the stated policy
of Tribal Council that the fund be
managed with the objective of being
self-sustaining; and,
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
has reviewed the Warm Springs
Scholarship Trust Fund and the
amounts needed to provide for schol
arships for calendar year 2000 and,
WHEREAS, The amount of
$595,000 is recommended for ex
penditure for the purpose of provid
ing higher education and R 165,000
is recommended for providing voca
tional education scholarships for the
Calendar Year 2000; and
tion ritual or was instructed of its
use. The custom gradually de
clined from the late 1930s on.
Another mourning custom
pertained to the loss of a loved one
in warfare or from self inflicted
wounds. The widow would slash
her left arm in several places to
show a profound mourning. This
custom is not recorded in the Spier
and Sapir Wishram Ethnography
report. This was handed down
through grandmother to me in the
late 1930s.
Excerpt: Spier and Sapir: "The
burial of a chief was more elabo
rate, his body was dressed in his
buckskins and spirit outfit added.
Chiefs of other Tribes came to view
the body. After 5 days and nights
the corpse was carried to the burial
island.His personal servant (slave)
was also taken to the burial place.
A few words were said to him (the
slave). He was then killed and
buried with his master." Note:
These are possibly the words said
to the slave. "You have been very
good to your master. Waiting on
him all the time. He thought of
you as his own son, fed you the
same food he ate, and you thought
warmly of him and treated him as
a father. Now you see he is gone
forever and never again will be
seen. You have no one to attend at
home, so you may go with him."
The slave is then slain at the end
of these words: Excerpt from a
Clackamas Ceremony. It was be
lieved that the slain slave would
serve and wait on his master in
the spirit world.
By observing the headstones
of the deceased it will be noticed
that most headstones dates had
started to emerge in the late 1890s
at Warm Springs cemetery and
elsewhere on the reservation.
Known burial practices from 1855
Treaty signing to the late 1890s
are obscure.
Possibly,fromthel900s,burial
was near pre-daylight hours. I
asked my Aunt Dorthy of the par
ticular custom, what I learned
from my Aunt was the reason is
transportation. For the era was
horse drawn wagons. There was
also no modern methods utilized.
Embalming, cremations, etc.
Without the modern day treat
ment, bodies would quickly be
come decomposed and putrefied.
The pre-daylight or early morn-
ines was to beat the heat of the
, day. This early practiced burial
Jteiethod has evolved into a tradi-
quiuu tusiuui. mqimiaii ywuu
funeral customs are now adminis
tered mostly be the Washut sect,
which evolved from the
Smohallah cult of the Priest Rap
ids. This sect is flourishing at
Warm Springs, Yakama, and
Umatilla Reservations. However
if the person being buried is of
anoiner uieu icugiuua v.ci-
WHEREAS, The recommended
expenditure of $760,000 from the
fund is consistent with the long term
objective of the fund, now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, By the
Tribal Council of the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs Reser
vation of Oregon, Pursuant to Article
V, Section 1 (t) of the Constitution
and By-Laws as amended, that an
amount not to exceed $760,000 is
hereby authorized for expenditure
from the Scholarship Trust Fund for
calendar year 2000.
Certification
The undersigned as Secretary
TreasureroftheConfederatedTribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon, hereby certifies that the
Tribal Council is composed of 11
' members, of whom 10 constituting a
quorum were present at a meeting
thereof, duly and regularly called,
noticed, and convened and held this
23rd day of November 1 999, and that
the foregoing resolution was passed
by the affirmative vote of 9 mem
bers, the chairman not voting and the
said resolution has not been rescinded
or amended in any way.
Revolution No. 9797
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
has established the Warm Springs
Senior Citizen Pension Fund for the
purpose of providing payments to
Tribal Members who have attained
the age of 60; and,
WHEREAS, It is the stated policy
Of the Tribal Council that the fund be
managed with objective of being self
sustaining, and,
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
has reviewed the Senior Citizen's
Pension Fund and the estimated
amounts needed to provide for pen
sion payments in the future; and,
WHEREAS, The recommended
benefit payments for calendar year
2000 ranges from $375 per month at
age 60, graduated at $10 per month
for each year of age to a maximum of
$425 per month at the age 65 and
above; and
WHEREAS, The amount of
$973,525 is recommended for ex
penditure for the purpose of provid
ing such pension payments for the
calendar year 2000; and,
WHEREAS, The recommend
expenditure of $973,525 from the
fund is consistent with the long term
objectives of the fund; now, therefore
emony would be utilized. The
modifications of some of the
Chinookan speaking peoples reli
gion have evolved into the
pseudo-Christian sect called
Shakers. The Shakers is a revela
tory religion that also practiced a
Bones from the burial site when space was limited.
shamanistic ritual called helping
people with their shake. In the
early 1800s the sect of Smollah or
Shakers was unknown to the
Chinookanpeoples of the Colum
bia River. On November 21, 1999
I made an inquiry to my Aunt
Madeline Mclnturff regarding
procedures of the Wasco at the
turn of the Century. Here is her
answer: "Shakers performed their
services in the evening until mid
night. After the closing of the
Shaker services, a medicine man
then performs his service the rest
of the night." Madeline said the
purpose is to "Control the spirits
of the deceased. Children are to be
kept under strict discipline and
control, it was believed that chil
dren running around could be
grabbed and taken hold of by the
Spirits."
Note: Both of the mentioned
religions are shamanistic:
shammon means controller of
spirits.
This information was taken in
1928 A.D. from a BIA Realty tran
script. The charge by a minister
for a funeral was "A blanket and
three yards of calico cloth.". The
estimated cost for this material of
that time was approximately $9.00.
In the 1940s if there was a
known pregnant woman in the
congregation, it was a custom to
tear a strip of the blanket that
wrapped the body of the deceased.
This strip of material was worn
around the waist until the child
was born. It was believed if this
custom was not adhered to the
BE IT RESOLVED, By the
Tribal Council of the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs Reser
vation of Oregon, pursuant to Article
V, Section 1 (f) of the Constitution
and By-Laws as amended, that an
amount not to exceed $973,525 is
hereby authorized for expenditure
from the Senior Citizen Pension Trust
Fund for Senior Citizens Pension for
calendar year 2000.
Certification
The undersigned as Secretary
Treasurer of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon , hereby certifies that the
Tribal Council is composed of 11
members, of who 10 constituting a
quorum were present at a meeting
thereof, duly and regularly called,
noticed, and convened and held this
23rd day of No vember 1 999, and that
the foregoing resolution was passed
by the affirmative vote of 7 mem
bers, 2 members abstaining and the
chairman not voting, and the said
resolution has not been rescinded or
amended in any way.
ftesolution No. 9798
WHEREAS, The Tribal Council
of the Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Or
egon has considered the economic
conditions of the community; and
WHEREAS, Current economic
conditions, and especially on the
Warm Springs Indian Reservation
have resulted in economic hardship
for many families and individual
members of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon and,
WHEREAS, Such economic con
ditions necessitates the Tribal Coun
cil provide for a special per capita
distribution to the enrolled members
of the Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Or
egon without any withholding for
financial obligation to the Confeder
ated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon; and,
WHEREAS, The financial posi
tion of the Confederated Tribes will
need extremely careful management
in the years to come to accomplish
specific goals of economic develop
ment, community facilities, housing
and credit needs; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, By the (2 1 st)
Tribal Council of the Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs Reser
vation of Oregon that in accordance
December 2, 1999 9
child would be born with the de
ceased persons distorted image.
The practice is still used to mis
day.
Potlach: A type of potlach cer
emony has come into existence of
the custom and traditions of the
burial procedures. In the Spier and
Sapir Ethnography: The giving of
the Chiefs' possessions was dis
tributed only the sake as agesture
to remember the Chief. The cur
rent practice is when an individual
passes on all his or her posses
sions are disposed of. This is called
"giveaway. The give away in
cludes personal heirlooms, dia
mond rings, necklaces, etc. In some
instances, an entire household
property is involved. This cer
emony sometimes leaves the
deceased's survivors in a desti
tute situation, especially a widow
with small children or a family
with a limited source of income.
This activity mostly involves min
istrants of the funeral. Some of the
survivors of the deceased are
forced into this custom against
their will. Even though they are
not traditionally active.
After a year has elapsed of the
funeral ceremony, there is another
ceremony. It is called the "Memo
rial giveaway." Through out the
year material is saved up, which
include: Pendleton blankets,
shawls, beaded bags, handker
chiefs, and in some cases, old
cornhuskbags, etc. These are given
in the remembrance of the de
ceased. And then finally, there is a cer
emony called "Stone setting." I'm
not familiar with this type of cer
emony, therefore, I will not com
ment on it.
with authority granted in Article V,
Section 1 (t) as amended of the Con
stitution and By-Laws and Section 8
of the Corporate Charter, a special
per capita distribution is hereby au
thorized in the amount of $500 dol
lars for each eligible member who
appears on the rolls of December 10,
1999. The amount of $951,750 is
appropriated to cover such payments;
with the balance of $996,250 previ
ously appropriated in the 1999 bud
get resolution number 9647.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
That this special per capita be dis
tributed on December 15, 1999 and
be directly to all members, with the
following conditions:
a. Individual members that need
their money programmed; such
money shall be deposited into their
Individual Indian Moneys account
for supervised expenditure if in the
Superintendent's opinion, this is in
the best interest of the people in
volved. b. Those members that are delin
quent in their indebtedness to the
Confederated Tribes shall receive a
memorandum reminding them of
such delinquency and urging them to
voluntarily take action to bring such
indebtedness current to preserve the
overall economic health of the Con
federated Tribes.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
That any future special dividend pay
ments are clearly expected to be re
duced in order to protect financial
status of the Tribe and relieve the
dependencies created by the special
dividend payment.
Certification
The undersigned as Secretary
Treasurer of the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of
Oregon, hereby certifies that the
Tribal Council is composed of 11
members, of who 9 constituting a
quorum were present at a meeting
thereof, duly and regularly called,
notices and convened and held this
23rd day of November, 1999, and
that the foregoing resolution was
passed by the affirmative vote of 8
members, the chairman not voting;
and that the said resolution has not
been rescinded or amended in any
way.
Charles V. Jackson,
Secretary-Treasurer
Noted:
Gordon E. Cannon,
Superintendent
1