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
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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