Spilyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon July 26, 2001
Page 3
Eugene 'Cougar' Greene
Continued from Page t
Greene was extremely active in
Warm Springs, but his influence was
not limited to his hometown. He
served as chairman of the Columbia
River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
(CRITFC), as an alternate panel
member on the Pacific Salmon
Commission, as a member of the
technical advisory committee to U.S.
v. Oregon, and as the regional rep
resentative to the Oregon Wildlife
Federation. In recent years Greene
was an influential spokesman for the
Confederated Tribes, dealing prima
rily with off-reservation fish and
wildlife issues. He was a man noted
for his work ethic and integrity.
Reflecting on the early years that
shaped his beliefs, he once recalled:
"The family unit was close and ev
erybody worked and played to
gether. Protection of the natural re
sources such as the range and forests
was in part the responsibility of the
members of the tribes. Hunting and
fishing were not restricted ... we only
took what we needed for subsistence
or a ceremony.
"Many people became role mod
els, especially the elders, who were
constantly teaching me of the old
ways of our people. My family and
grandparents had a great influence
on what I do today based on their
teachings."
Eugene 'Cougar' Greene
Even after suffering a debilitating
stroke in 1981, he continued his
work in a diligent and effective man
ner, earning respect and admiration
from a new generation of resource
managers. While Greene was always
a dedicated and hard-working mem
ber of the Natural Resources staff,
he also possessed a fun-loving char
acteristic that manifested itself in the
form of pranks and practical jokes.
Once the straight-faced punch line
was delivered, Greene would lean
back in his padded office chair and
dawn the devilish smile that became
a trademark. When the joke was par
ticularly pleasing, he would break
into a contagious laughter that soon
infected everyone within earshot.
Greene's body was buried at
Simnasho Cemetery on November
4, 1999, but the spirit he displayed
in standing up for tribal rights, for
healthy watersheds, and for
harvestable salmon populations will
live on at the Fish and Wildlife De
partment, and in the many hearts
he touched during a long and dis
tinguished career.
The inscription on the plague
being placed in the Eugene Greene
Sr, Natural Resource Building reads,
"This building is dedicated to the
memory and legacy of Eugene
Greene Sr. "Cougar." Gene devoted
his career to the people of the Warm
Springs Reservation and to the pro
tection of their natural resources, the
advocacy of Warm Springs treaty
rights, tribal sovereignty and Native
American traditions. In thirty years
of distinguished tribal service, Gene
held the positions of Natural Re
sources director, Tribal Council
chairman, Columbia River Inter
tribal Fish Commission chairman,
Fish and Wildlife Committee chair
man and United StatesCanada Pa
cific Fisheries Commission member.
May the spirit of his work continue
to guide and inspire us."
4
i
1
j
Photo by Jorry Bruno
Joe Moses speaks with Adeline Miller (left) and Viola Kalama after being sworn in by Tribal Council.
Opinions differ on successor
Firefighters contain blaze
A fire ignited by lightning re
cently burned across 1,675 acres of
forest and rangeland in the southwest
area of the reservation.
The Bald Peter fire was com
pletely contained last Thursday
evening, Julyl9, seven days after its
ignition on the evening of July 12.
The blaze consumed sub-alpine
fir, lodgepole pine and brush. Many
of the trees burned were already dead
from insect infestation, according to
a report from Warm Springs Fire
Management.
I An assessment of the dollar value
of the lost timber was hot available
earlier this week.
The Bald Peter Fire burned across
reservation acreage to the north of
Camp Sherman and Sisters, near Mt.
Jefferson. Firefighters established a
. base camp at the Ellingham Guard
Station near Camp Sherman.
In all, ,800 firefighter personnel
were called to the scene. Fire crews
employed dozens of engines and
dozers in fighting the Bald Peter
blaze.
During its early stage, the Bald
Peter Fire was difficult to fight.
Strong wind gusts and a high con
centration of heavy fuels posed the
most serious challenges to the re
sponse crews. Wind gusts were re
corded at 30 mph during the first
full day of the fire.
The high concentration of per
sonnel and equipment, and the dif
ficult terrain - fallen trees and loose
boulders - were also of concern to
fire officials. Fortunately, the only
injury reported was a very minor
burn to a firefighter's hand.
A focus of the fire-suppression
effort at the Bald Peter blaze was the
protection of valuable stands of large
, timber, including habitat of the
northern spotted owl. Protection of
water quality was also a priority, as
the fire burned in the basins of
Jefferson Creek, Whitewater River
and the Metolius River, habitat of
endangered bull trout. ' '
The area that burned was at the
5,000 to 6,000 foot elevation levels.
A special response team - called a
BAER team, for Burned Area Emer
gency Rehabilitation - was called to
the scene of the fire.
The goal of the BAER team is to
develop and implement a plan to
mitigate the suppression impacts and
the fire effects on natural and cul
tural resources.
The team consists of an
archaelogist, foresters, geographic
information specialists, operations
specialists, hydrologists, a fish biolo
gist, planning specialist, documen
tation specialist, and a team leader.
The team focuses on effects of the
fire and the suppression effort on
vegetation, soils, watershed condi
tions, sedimentation potential, cul
tural and timber resources.
The firefighting agencies that re
sponded to the Bald Peter Fire in
cluded Warm Springs Fire Manage
ment, the BIA, U.S. Forest Service,
Bureau of Land Management, Or
egon Department of Forestry,
Jefferson County Fire District and
sheriff's office, plus contract crews.
The Central Oregon Interagency
Incident Management Team, with
the Warm Springs Tribes and the
BIA, coordinated the response.
The Bald Peter Fire was one of
several that began on either July 1 1
or 12, days when lightning storms'
were present in Central Oregon.
Within the two-day period, crews
responded to nearly 40 fires in the
region.
Besides the Bald Peter Fire, an
other large blaze in the region hap
pened to the east of the reservation.
A series of fires, called the Grass
Valley complex, burned on BLM
land near Grass Valley and the Big
Muddy Ranch.
These fires, caused by lightning,
were located in Wasco, Jefferson and
Sherman counties. The Ferry Can
yon Fire, near Maupin, burned
across nearly 10,000 acres.
The Wagner Fire, over 7,000 acres
in size, burned in southern Wasco
and northern Jefferson counties. No
structures were threatened by any of
the blazes.
2003 timber sale draws comment
Tribal members from all three
districts offered comments on for
est management issues during meet
ings held July 5 and 9 at Agency
Longhouse and July 11 at Simnasho
Longhouse.
Representatives of the Forestry
and Natural Resources branches
made presentations on the 2003 tim
ber sale, special forest products and
the annual allowable cut. The team
was seeking input from tribal mem
bers regarding the area being consid
ered for the 2003 sale, options for
the annual allowable cut that were
recently calculated by the Forestry
Planning Department, and permits
for special products such as fire
wood, boughs, cones and beargrass.
The proposal for 2003 is to har
vest approximately 50 million board
feet of timber from the northern
portion of the reservation in the vi
cinity of Clackamas Meadows and
the Skyline Road. The objective
would be to prioritize harvest based
on health and value, which means
merchantable trees that are diseased
or overcrowded would be taken first
Maps of the area and proposed treat
ments were highlighted in the staff
presentations, but specific units had
not been selected because the team
leaders were waiting to gather opin
ions from tribal members.
Comments that followed the pre
sentation were varied, but two issues
" that have been mentioned frequently
in the past surfaced again. There was
a comment to stop clear-cutting and
several references to cultural plants.
Tribal members are concerned about
huckleberries in the proposed sale
area and are asking foresters to take
protective measures that will ensure
a productive future.
Members of the Forestry staff
told the audience there are ways to
harvest trees without damaging
huckleberry plants and some of
these methods have been used suc
cessfully in the past. Harvesting trees
when snow overtops the berry
plants and thinning to provide
shaded openings have allowed huck
leberries to survive and even pros
per following timber harvest
There were mixed reactions to the
idea of wintering logging, but mem
bers of the audience were receptive
to the idea of planning timber har
vests to have minimal impacts on
cultural plants. Comments regarding
special forest products were often in
the form of questions. Tribal mem
bers wanted to know what type of
plants were being harvested and at
what levels.
Firewood is a controversial issue
and there were a variety of opinions
on how to manage this resource.
Some felt more areas should be open
to woodcutters, including areas with
ponderosa pine and areas being pre
pared for timber sales that are cur
rently off limits. Others thought
woodcutters should have to attend
an educational meeting to learn
more about regulations and forest
management.
Most of the people who attended
the meetings thought firewood and
other special forest products should
be managed primarily for tribal
member use. Most of the speakers
who offered opinions said these
products should be harvested by
tribal members for tribal members.
There were no comments specifi
cally addressing options for the an
nual allowable cut. The options dif
fer in volume by approximately 2
million board feet of annual harvest
The Forestry Branch is advocating
the middle option, which would re
sult in an annual allowable cut of
37.6 million board feet. Regenera
tion harvests would leave an average
of 10 mature trees per acre on site
under this option. There would be
no programmed harvest in the pon
derosa pine zone.
A complete list of comments of
fered by tribal members during the
meetings may be obtained by con
tacting Bill Rhoades in the Natural
Resources building, or by calling
553-2013.
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Staff
In an action that is controversial
among Paiute tribal members, Joe
Moses on Monday, July 23, was
sworn in as the new Chief of the
Seekseequa District.
The action, Moses said, was
made pursuant to a 1986 district
resolution, providing for the desig
nation by the Paiute Chief of a sub
chief. Some Paiute tribal members
welcomed Moses' swearing-in.
. Some others, though, have
voiced strong criticism of the ac
tion.' Moses was sworn in as chief by
acting Agency Superintendent
Cheryl Lohman. She had been
asked to administer the oath by the
two Seekseequa District council
members, Brenda Scott and Moses.
Supporters and critics of Moses'
assumption of the chieftainship dis
cussed the issue on Wednesday
night, July 25, during a meeting of
Seekseequa District members.
Close to 70 people were on hand
for the gathering.
During the meeting, several
people said that the district should
wait one year before choosing a new
chief.
During that year, some sug
gested, another Paiute representative
could be chosen to serve on the
Tribal Council, so that the
Seekseequa District would still have
three representatives, rather than
the two left with the passing of the
late Chief Vernon Henry.
On the other hand, Moses and
his supporters, including Council
woman Brenda Scott and family
members of the late Chief Henry,
said they did not feel that a year
should pass before the new chief is
chosen.
Instead, Moses said, the district
members decided the issue of the
successor to Chief Henry back in
1986.
No consensus was reached at the
Wednesday night district meeting,
and opponents of Moses' swearing
in as new chief are planning further
action. Delford Johnson said that he
and others might seek to discuss the
matter with Tribal Council.
Meanwhile, Moses and his sup
porters are planning to hold the
chieftainship crowning ceremony
on Aug. 3, at the He He Longhouse,
said Councilwoman Scott.
Joe Moses has been on the Tribal
Council for a little over nine years,
having been elected in March to his
fourth 3-year term.
The position of chief, he said
shortly after the Monday swearing
in, will involve much more respon
sibility than that of councilman.
"And it is something that I take
very seriously," he said.
This week, because Moses was
sworn in as chief, his position on
the Tribal Council came open.
Carol Wewa is next in line to fill
this position. Wewa received the
third most Seekseequa District votes
in the council election earlier this
K I
,
' s "I
i r i in
Joe Moses
year. Moses and councilwoman
Scott were first and second.
At the meeting on Wednesday,
Wewa was among those who en
couraged the district officials to wait
one year before choosing the new
chief. Wewa emphasized that she
was not personally against the idea
of Moses eventually becoming
chief, if that is what the district
members want.
But, she said, the position of
chief should remain vacant for a
year out of respect for Chief Henry.
After a year's time, she and others
said, the district members should
choose the successor, whether that
be Moses or someone else.
Earlier disagreement
Until the passing of the late
Chief Henry, the last time that a
vacancy existed in the Paiute chief
tainship was in the mid-1980s, fol
lowing the death, at age 67, of Chief
Nick Kalama.
Chief Kalama passed away in
November 1985. About a year went
by before the Paiute people chose
Vernon Henry as the new chief.
The process of choosing the new
chief was not an easy one, as differ
ent people felt strongly in favor of
different nominees.
The difference of opinion was
evident in the results of the Janu
ary 1987 election, during which the
new Paiute chief was chosen.
In that vote, the late Chief
Vernon Henry received 34 votes;
Wilson Wewa Jr., 22 votes, and
Karen Wallulatum, 19. Also,
Wendell Jim received 13 votes;
Raymond Johnson Jr., 13 votes, and
Joe Moses, two write-in votes.
The diversity of opinion regard
ing who should be the new Paiute
chief was not new in the 1987 elec
tion, as the election of Chief
Kalama in 1975 also involved strong
feelings among Paiute tribal mem
bers for different nominees.
In the present day, as the posi
tion of chief again has become va
cant, the diversity of opinion again
is evident. The issue can be a con
tentious one, invoking much fam
ily history among the local Paiute
residents.
At the meeting on Wednesday,
the history and language of the
Paiute people, along with the chief
tainship issue, were main topics of
discussion.
Issue of sub-chief
One of the key issues involved
in choosing a new Paiute chief is the
position of the "sub-chief." Moses
and his supporters say that the
Paiute sub-chief position was cre
ated by a district resolution in De
cember of 1986.
At that time, the members were
meeting to name the various nomi
nees to serve as chief, a position left
vacant the previous year by the
death of Chief Kalama.
Because of the level of conten
tion involved in choosing a new
chief, some members suggested the
creation of the "sub-chief" position,
to "save us from having to go
through this same procedure again
..." as one person said, according
to the minutes of the meeting.
The people at the meeting sug
gested various ways of choosing the
sub-chief. The person who was
elected chief, for instance, could
choose someone to be sub-chief. Or
the person receiving the second
most votes for chief could be the
sub-chief.
Eventually, some time following
the election, Chief Henry named
Joe Moses as the sub-chief.
The important question then
becomes: What is the role of the
sub-chief when the chief passes
away? Does the sub-chief become
the new chief for life? Or does he
serve as chief for an interim period,
until, the Paiute members choose a
permanent new chief? Or neither
of these?
Moses and others believe that the
intent of the people in creating the
position of sub-chief was to avoid
having to go through the difficult
nomination and election process,
which in the past created hard feel
ings among some residents.
On the other hand, some mem
bers - Delford Johnson, Wilson
Wewa Jr., and some others who
spoke at the Wednesday night meet
ing - feel that Paiute tribal mem
bers should choose the new chief.
Myra Shawaway also suggested
that the position of chief again be
determined by heredity to the ear
liest local Paiute chiefs.
Importance of chieftainship
In the government of the Con
federated Tribes, there is no posi
tion more respected than that of
chief. The chiefs of the three tribes
vote equally with other members of
the Tribal Council, but they also
serve a unique purpose.
"The three chiefs provide conti
nuity on the Council," said Olney
Part Jr., chairman of the Council.
Every three years, tribal members
vote on eight of the 1 1 Council po
sitions, so it is possible to have a
nearly complete turnover of the
council every three years.
The chiefs, though, serve for life,
and thereby ensure a continuity in
leadership. "And another aspect of
the chiefs," Patt said, "is that they
express the confederacy of the three
tribes."