Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2001)
4 Spilyay Tymoo March 22, 2001 Spilyay Speaks Just rambling on about green-up time Spring has sprung. According to the calendar, Tuesday is the 20th and is the first day of spring. The weather sure shows it as it is a nice sunny day. In the olden days the farmers used to refer to it as "green-up time." Well green-up time, spring weather, springtime, or whatever one would prefer, the weather sure is in agreement as the sun is out and bright, the weather is almost T-Shirt weather. The roots must be getting ready to harvest but there has been no mention of a Root Feast. It is customary for everyone to gather and give thanks to the Creator for the abundant root crop. And after all the rituals have been completed then the tribal members are free to go out into the fields to gather their share of the root crop. The way our winter has been with not much snow to speak of, we may be in for a drought year. A lot of the lakes and streams are far below normal in the water supply. Lakes behind the dams on the rivers are very low where usually at this time of the year they are full to capacity. Take the Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River - the water level is so low where there are nothing but stumps show ing where water is visible, with a good overflow. A dry season could mean a lot of forest and range fires dur ing the summer months here on the "Rez." "Yep!" Like Smokey the Bear says, "If you smoke while traveling, He'll Crush Your Butt." There could be a lot of fires all over the northwest as far as that goes. The Local Hot Shots may be in for a busy summer. Many years ago before the Hot Shots were used, here on the reservation when a fire broke out the forestry truck would go the store and pick up men to go the fires. They would have to hike in to the fires because there were no roads all over like there is today. They would stay out at the fire until it was out before they would hike back to the road to be brought back in. Many times base camps were set up for all the firefighters for meals and a place to sleep and rest for the next day. "I think they were Tuff Guys, because they didn't have to come in each day at 5 p.m. and go eat at the Deschutes Crossing like they do today. They ate K-Rations when they first got to the fires." I've seen fires starting where a bunch of guys are standing around waiting for a cat to come to make a trail around the fire when if they would have put a little effort into it and made a hand trail around it to put it out. But by the time the cat arrives the fire is usually out of control and takes days to determine that it is out. People depend on mechanical equipment to do the work for them, pretty soon they will have mechanical shovels for the guys to carry around. Sometimes the wildfires do some good for the public, as it sometimes opens up stock grazing land and creates huckleberry patches in the mountains. It gets rid of a lot of debris in the woods for the wildlife to get more food. Yep! Spring has sprung, as the grass looks green with robins hopping around feeding, soon the dandelions will be sprouting out all over the lawns. Just think if they were any good for the lawns they probably wouldn't grow, people would have to be planting them. Everyone will be busy planting flowers, and cleaning the yards. Getting ready to plant gardens of vegetables for their use. Today there are so many things people can do to occupy themselves out of doors. ... Proud of graduates Hello, I'm proud to know that Warm Springs is going to have many tribal members graduate from high school this yearl I'd love to see many Warm Springs high school graduates set and make goals for themselves for their future benefits! Keep up the great work high school graduates! You all are taking the right step forward. Keep on truckin'l Evctte Patt Apologies Extended To the natives of the Confeder ated Tribes of Warm Springs, I would like to take this time to ex tend my apologies. I am a 44 en rolled tribal member. I am asking you for forgiveness. I would say I'm sorry but that would be too easy. I am currently serving a 20-month sentence in the W.S.C.F. I was pe nalized constitutionally for mere stupidity and honestly regret posing a threat to my people, especially my family. During my stay (in jail) I will have the time to explore my pros and cons and learn to apply myself in a productive manner. I want to make money without having to rob. I just want to feed my family and pay bills by working hard on a good job. I hold destiny's key trying to make a positive change in my life. It's time to reach for my dreams and hold on to them. The biggest obstacle I have to face is myself. It's not an easy task to fight my own strong holds. If only there were jobs open to tribal mem bers, it would dramatically help clean our rez. There would be a lot less drinking and drugging day-today, waiting for the next G. A. check. I would like to thank Mr. And Mrs. Roland Kalama Jr. for being positive role models and trying to hook me up with a 9-to-5. I would also like to thank Leila Tewee and Albert Kalama for the guidance you gave me on the Columbia River. I'll never forget the time we've spent on the river. his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the worlds". If you read on in that first chapter of I lebrews, you'll rec ognize he is talking about his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. When you take our religious lead ers to whom God has given his mes sage and who arc to pass that message down through their sons, those sons to the next sons, and those to the next, by the time it gets to the last son, the message will be changed. Why???? Because each son will put part of his own ego of what he thinks God meant. Each son will put a part of his own will instead of God's will for our people, to serve his own selfish purposes. And as you put it through generations of people, this adds time onto the message, and we all know time is hard on the memory of any person or prophet. So when the message is passed on by word of mouth and there are sev eral leaders, each leader will have his own idea of God's message. It gets to the point you have to trust on man to give you God's truth instead of something written. (Our people did not have the ability to write, and nothing was written to preserve our God-given messages.) When God taught our prophets his will for us and guidelines to live by, the prophets learned them in our language. Our language has beauti ful words for the teachings of God. The English language cannot even come close to those Indian words. If we wanted to know our religion, we would have to learn our own native language, which it seems no one has the ambition to learn. The Bible, on the other hand, was written by Hebrew prophets who were inspired direcdy by God Him self. The first prophet was Moses who freed the Hebrews from the Pharaoh of Egypt. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible which teach us how God created the heav ens and the earth, and mankind and the beasts of the earth. God chose these Hebrew people to receive his were all made in his image (Genesis 1:27.) There is something common amongst all people of the Earth, in that we were made in God's image. Such as we all have red blood; we all breathe, we all eat and drink; we all possess reason (a mind) to choose between different options; and we all are the only animals on earth that can read. We as Indians need to get out of that denial and just praise God for who he is, and for sending his word, the Bible and his Son, Jesus, for pro pitiation for our sins which equips each one of us to live for I lim, have an answer for any problem in life, give a vivid picture of God's person ality, and make heaven our ultimate and final destination. Amen. In Christ's Love R.T. and Marvena Thompson Toe-Ness A brunette, a redhead and a blonde are atop a burning build ing. Firefighters spread out around the fringe of a large rescue blanket and hold it up. They encourage the brunette to jump, which she does, but they suddenly pull the blanket out of the way as she plunges toward the ground and she hits with a splat. After pulling the brunette out of the way, they again spread out the rescue blanket and call for the redhead to jump. "Do you think I'm crazy," the redhead says. "You guys will just pull the blanket out of the way and I'll wind up dead." "Oh no, that won't happen," the firefighters say. "We just don'tt like brunette's, that's all." Sure enough, she jumps and they pull away the blanket Splat! The blonde, wise to the firefighters' tricks, shouts down: "Now, you can't trick me. I'm not going to jump until you put that blanket down and step completely away from it." mpcmip Kprancp ttipir haA the Kpcf To pur tribal leaders, ittime)o rutins skills at that time and wavs put down your passports to Hawaii of preserving those writings. Also' they kept precise family trees. The bible was inspired (God breathed) to the prophets and is 100 truth and has never been changed throughout history. Once we read the Bible we, in essence, all become prophets because we have received what the Bible says in truth and therefore what the Holy Spirit (God) says is truth. (Read second Timothy 3:16.) When you don't want to have to rely on a man's ver sion of what God wants you to do and what God's purpose for your life, then read the Bible for it is God's exact words. Then you don't have to choose between two different ver sions of tradition. Lastly, all our In dian people do know how to read English, and since it is written in the English language, we all have the capacity and capability to learn Gods' will for us. We Indians have been living in denial about Christianity. We say it is a white man's religion, but the Hebrew people (who God trusted with his word) were brown people. Jesus, himself a Hebrew, was a brown person with brown eyes and dark hair. The white man is the one who has painted Jesus with blond hair and blue eyes. That all doesn't matter anyway, because when we get to heaven we will all be made to look like him. (See First John: 3:2.) We and notice what's really going on. Don't let your people be oppressed. You have the power to make a dif ference, but will you use it? With out your help, we have no hope. Thank you for your time and con sideration. Respectfully yours, Curtis Lamont Brown Inspired by God Dear Bro or Sis: In the old days we had prophets, they were called medicine men, holy men and other titles. God is not a god that would leave us without some type of spiritual leadership or for that matter spiritual training on how to live a godly life. In the Bible, it teaches us that we; were all given our own prophets preachers, foretellers, or messengers of God). The Old Testament con sists of the Hebrew people's proph ets (from books of Isaiah to Malachi). We had our own prophets who taught us the "Seven Drums Religion" also known as the "Washut" religion. j However, when Jesus came, he. had the last word. In fact, he is the living word (John 1:1 and 1: 14). In the Book of Hebrews 1:1,2, the Bible says, "God who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by Casino concerns A Letter to the Warm Springs Tribes, While we respect your right to construct and operate a casino, it is our hope that you will not locate in Hood River. My reason for writing this letter is simple. I am not sure that you are aware of the feelings of our community and what your lead ers promised us. A forum was held on Sept. 27, 1998. Three to four hundred folks turned out. Many could not get in side the church. That evening, Mr. Olney Patt Jr. told us, "If a major ity of the community does not sup port this proposal, we can't go for ward - we know that... .We have not come to this community with the idea we could stcamroll anybody." A second community meeting was held a couple of weeks later and filled the high school theatre with more than 500 people. To be totally fair to all, Hood River County spon sored a survey to all registered vot ers in our county, excluding Cascade Locks. The result was 73.5 percent of the voters are opposed to a gam bling casino in Hood River. Our community has been devel oping over the last couple of decades into a sportsmenjs mecca. Our fo-,, , ,cuf is on outdoor activities and ag- f riculture. Like Warm Springs, we have had two lumber mills close down. Our unemployment is high, but a casino will not provide wages comparable to those lost at the mill. We are developing an economic plan to encourage light industry and high tech companies. While the reasons cited in opposition to a casino seem to be quite varied, the livability is sue seems to surface a lot. A gam bling casino just does not mesh with the vision we have for Hood River. The Oregonian's article of Feb. 15, 2001, "Tribe Revises Casino Plan -This Time in Hood River," quotes Rudy Clements, Chairman of the Warm Springs Tribal Gambling Board as saying, "We're not trying to work with the community. We're looking out for ourselves. We're coming. If they don't like it, that's tough." We don't know who to trust -Mr. Patt or Mr. Clements? Would you be open to listening to a contingency from Hood River? If you have a forum sometime be fore your vote, and it would be ap propriate for us to attend, we would welcome the opportunity. You may contact Dave Russell or me at no-casinono-casino.com Respectfully, Linda Rouches Hood River Resident Letter to a parent To the editor, My husband and I are grandpar ents of five children who live with us. Thirteen of our grandchildren live with their parents; Jim and I adopted one grandchild. I have won derful relationship with all the children's parents except one. I con tinually receive harassing phone calls at unreasonable hours. I have always said I would live to give the grand children back to their parents or parent. However, I have some wishes I'd like for you to prove to me: 1) I lold one job for at least 2 years; 2) Ik able to provide health insurance for the children; 3) Own a depend able vehicle 4) I lave a driver's license 5) Accident vehicle insurance 6) Regular school attendance 7) Three meals each day plus snacks 8) Regu lar physical examinations 9) Con tinual tribal traditions and teachings 10) Own a safe and secure home with no threat of cvictionsl These wishes are not necessarily in order. I do want to express that the children do need attention and lots of it. They need you to remem ber birthdays and Christmas which has never happened. It used to be pretty painful for them but they have since accepted the fact that grandma and grampa are here for them and they have security. Neda Wesley . Thanks for support To the editor, I want to thank the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs for the fi nancial support for me to attend heavy equipment school in Eugene. I really enjoyed my experience at school and I finished with a 3.91 " - - . fit ' " " ' I GP.A. I-!was only one point 6ff 5f the top score and best GPA in my class. I was also the only one in my class to receive all 1000 field points for skill in operating my equipment. I would also like to thank my fam ily for all of their support while I was attending school. It really helped to make a difference in my class per formance. Once again, thank you to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs for all of your support, es pecially Lorraine, Tedi and all of the staff with Tribal Education. Ramone Thomas (Thomas is the son of Mary Sando-Emhoolah, Michael Emhoolah and the late James Tho mas of Saskatchewan, Canada.) Gratitude for love To the Warm Springs commu nity, We would like to thank you for the love and support you have given us during this time of sorrow. Your loving friendship and generosity is overwhelming and greatly appreci ated. . Thank you. Luis and Georgia Sosa, Corinne & Isaiah, And families: Sosa, Gallegos, Granados, Hernadez, Lovato, Alire, Ortiz, Garcia, Solano, Reed, Loman, Smith and Terwilliger Some baggage weighs heavily in your life Editor's Note Spilyay Tymoo welcomes letters from its readers. All letters, preferably 350 words or less, must be signed by the author and need to include a phone number for verification or questions. Letters will not be printed unless signed. All letters are the opinion of the author and do not reflect in any way the opinion of Spilyay Tymoo. Spilyay Tymoo reserves the right to edit all copy or decline publication of material that exceeds length guide lines or contains libelous or malicious statements. Hello from Pastor Rick. One Sunday I shared a story with our congregation that was told to me. There were three men. Each man had two sacks, one tied in front of his neck and the other tied on his back. When the first man was asked what was in his sacks, he said, "In the sack on my back are all the good things friends and family have done. That way they're hidden from view. In the front sack are all the bad things that have happened to me. Every now and then I stop, open the front sack, take the things out, ex amine them and think about them." Because he stopped so much to con centrate on all the bad stuff, he didn't make much progress in life. The second man was asked about his sacks. He replied, "In the front sack are all the good things I've done I like to see them, so quite often I take them out to show them off to people. The sack in the back? I keep all my mistakes in there and carry them all the time. Sure they are heavy. They slow me down, but you know, for some reason I can't put them down. The third man was asked about his sacks, he answered, "The sack in front is great. There I keep all the positive thoughts I have about people, all the blessings I've experi enced, all the great things other people done for me. The weight isn't a problem. The sack is like a sail of a ship. It keeps me going forward. The sack on my back is empty. There's nothing in it I cut a big hole in its bottom. In there I put all the bad things that I think about my self or hear about others. They go in one end and out the other, so I'm not carrying around any extra weight at all." So, what are you carrying in your sacks? During the season of Lent, a light poduck and Bible study is happen ing on Sunday evenings at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome. Bring some food and your Bible. We have a Monday night youth night. AD seventh grade and up arc invited. 6:30 to 8 p.m. On Wednesdays is our churchwomen's night 6 to 8 p.m. at the church. Well, hug someone you love. Hug someone you dislike. No alcohol or tobacco for children. One day at a time. Buckle up the kids and your selves. Don't hit or beat on your self. Pay your bills before gambling, and then stay home. Read the Bible for its effect on your heart Pray to God to the point of your hearing Him. Honor someone each day. Love yourself. like yourself. See you in church. Pastor Rick R. Ribeiro WS Presbyterian Church On the Campus