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Coyote News, est. 1976
Pecerober 26, 2002 Vol. 27, No. 26
Spiky
4
Tym
School blaze
Quick response contains flames to gymnasium
The fire last week that de
stroyed the Warm Springs El
ementary School gymnasium
could have been much worse.
"Everyone agrees that the
initial work of the Warm
Springs Fire Department
kept the whole building from
going up in flames," said
Dawn Smith, school principal.
While the gym was de
stroyed, the rest of the build
ing - including two class
rooms, a music room and
staff room - did not burn.
Computers, books and many
other items were saved. ,
Another bright point in an
otherwise gloomy story is that
school is out for Christmas
break until January 6.
That leaves time to have
the gymnasium building area
leveled and cleared. Also,
Tribes
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyiiy Tymoo
Tribal and federal govern
ment negotiators are moving
forward with a plan to relocate
Columbia River petroglyphs to
Horsethief State Park in Wash
ington. , Negotiations are among the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, Yakama Nation, and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
It has long been the desire of
many Native Americans to
move the rock art - in posses
sion of the Corps of Engineers
- closer to the original location.
Horsethief State Park, home
of the She Who Watches picto
graph, is the closest area to the
original location. The original site
is inundated by water of The
Dalles Dam, built in I960.
Top 5 Stories f 2001
New casino made the biggest headlines during the year
By Dave McMcchan
Spilyay Tymoo
It was the year when tribal
members honored their return
to the Columbia River, with a
May celebration on tribal land
at Cascade Locks.
Meanwhile in 2002, a second
attempt at holding a tribal adop
tion election failed for lack of
voter turnout. During the year,
a library opened in Warm
Springs,
The Elliot Palmer VI'W Post
No. 4217 marked its I'iftith
Anniversary, while tribal elder
Nettie Shawaway turned 102.
The year 2002 saw contro
versy develop over the large
number of people who each
year raft down the lower
Deschutes River. The Confed
erated Tribes believe that a man
agement agreement, signed sev
eral years ago by various gov
ernment and other entities, jus-
Wind blowdown page 2
Holiday photos page 3
Letters page 4
Student crafts page 6
Languages pages 8,9
Art of hide tanning 10
4 : "ii
.... ;!i . "X.
The gymnasium area was
fenced off following the blaze.
there is time to "determine
whether the rest of the building
can still be used.
An engineer will be making
that determination in the near
future, said Smith. "We'll prob
ably have to move some of our
programs around," she said.
For instance, the Indian lan
guage class may have to move
back to the language office trailer,
consider petroglyph relocation plan
Before construction of the
dam, Celilo Falls, a central fish
ing and trading place of Native
Americans, rushed and swirled
its mighty waters. The dam
turned the waters placid like a
lake, and inundated the sur
rounding land.
A place known as Petroglyph
Canyon, site of many
petroglyphs, was submerged in
these waters.
Prior to 1960, the Corps of
Engineers made an effort to
preserve the rock art. Agency
, crews bulldozed, dynamited or
chipped out with a jackhammer
many of the pictures on the
cliffs.
Since then the petroglyphs
have been in the possession of
the Army Corps of Engineers.
In 1974 the large rocks, sev
tifies the implementation of a
rafting permit system.
Some of the parties to the
agreement - local governments,
supported by guides - now op
pose the permit idea. This de
bate no doubt will continue into
2003.
Each December, Spijay
Tymoo looks back in order to
determine the top news stories
of the previous 12 months. The
following is a brief description
of the top five news stories of
the year 2002 on the reserva
tion. Top story )
This year the choice of the
top story was easy, as the long
standing plan to expand the gam
ing enterprise saw many dramatic
developments.
The most dramatic event of
the year in gaming happened in
May, when nearly 1,000 tribal
members cast their ballots in a
tribal referendum.
The referendum asked tribal
members whether the gaming
enterprise should expand to a
site at the Columbia River
Gorge.
During the months leading
said Smith. The music room
may move to a nearby house
that is currently not being
used, she said.
Another fortunate aspect
of the fire: No one was in the
gym at the time of the fire,
last Friday night, Dec. 20.
The previous night the
gym was crowded with
young people who had come
to the winter craft night.
Had the fire happened on
that night the consequences
could have been tragic.
Damage to the gym, built
in 1937, is estimated at $1.2
million, with another
$300,000 in damage to prop
erty inside. The building was
insured. Cause of the blaze
was determined to be oily
rags that spontaneously
caught on fire.
eral weighing tons, were taken
to the Dalles Dam, where they
have resided since.
There are 38 rocks total, of
which one is a pictograph. Most
of the rocks at The Dalles Dam
were taken from Petroglyph
Canyon. Some are from Miller
Island .on the Columbia RHrr..
For others the original location
is unknown.
Recently, the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs and the
Yakama Nation p'resented the
Army Corps of Engineers with
a final design plan for the place
ment of the rock art in
Horsethief State Park.
The Corps readily approved
the design plan, and in a final
move sent out a letter to the
tribal councils of Warm Springs
and Yakama. The Corps is hop
up to May 18 vote, tribal offi
cials held many informational
meetings, including family-based
gatherings, regarding the signifi
cance of the vote.
During that time, opposition
to expanding the gaming enter
prise to the Gorge was at times
quite vocal. In the end, though,
the vote was overwhelmingly in
favor of such an expansion. Of
the 940 total votes cast, 720
votes - or nearly 76 percent -were
in favor of building a tribal
casino at the Gorge.
"The best place to obtain new
revenue for the tribes is the
Columbia Gorge," gaming
spokesman Rudy Clements said
after the election. The area, he
said, is part of the tribes' ceded
land, "and it has always provided
for us, since time immemorial.
Why not continue to use it to
survive?"
As the May election demon
strated, a large majority of tribal
members agreed.
C Second")
In the long run a new casino
at the Gorge is expected to re
turn the Confederated Tribes to
financial stability, if not prosper
P 3
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.
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TlfCf QnrNXT'
J. 11 uL kJl 1LJW
ing to hear soon from the tribal
councils.
"We want official approval
from the tribal councils of both
reservations," said Bert Radar,
cultural resource team leader
for the Corps. "We just want the
tribes and everyone else in
volved to be happy."
Meanwhile, the Corps is pre;
paring for the next step of the
project.
, "I'm putting my ducks in a
row," said Gail Lovell, project
manager for the Petroglyph
Relocation Project. Bird drop
pings on the petroglyphs need
to be cleaned, Lowell said.
The Corps has also hired an
archaeological and ethnographic
conservator to survey the con
dition of the petroglyphs at their
location at The Dalles Dam.
ity. This may be some years
away, though, as the tribes are
just now entering the design
phase of this multi-million dol
lar, multi-year project.
Tribal officials meanwhile are
looking for ways to generate
new revenue in the short-term.
Over the past year the Geo Vi
sions enterprise has provided the
best example of this type of job
and revenue-generation pro
gram. In the summer of 2002, dur
ing the wildfire season, Geo Vi
sions staff were busy providing
mapping technology to fire
fighting agencies.
But helping the fire crews
appears to be just the beginning
of the success that Geo Visions
could bring to the Confederated
Tribes.
In October of 2002 the fed
eral government, through the
U.S. Army, set aside $5 million
for development of resource
plans for federal installations
across the nation.
"They recognize our skill in
this field," Jim Crocker, general
manager of Geo Visions, said
at the time.
In looking toward future gov
ernment contracts, Crocker
f ;
r 1
1 . i '
'
ar"yn Suppah (left) and Linda
people enjoying the snow that
The final report will provide in
formation on what needs to be
done for restoration of each
petroglyph before relocation.
The report will describe"
methods for moving the rock
art to their new location with
minimal damage. Before any
-action is taken, die Corps is com
mitted to receiving approval
from the Wana-pa-koot-koot
committee.
The Wana-pa-koot-koot com
mittee represents the four lower
Columbia River Basin tribes: the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs, Yakama Nation,
Umatilla and Nez Perce. Also
sitting on the committee are the
Bonneville Power Administra
tion and Army Corps of Engi
neers, among others.
At a Wana-pa-k(K)t-koot Com-
said, "We're right on the edge
of a breakthrough, and the sky
is the limit."
Geo Visions grew out of the
Global Imaging Systems (GIS)
division of the tribes' Natural
Resources Branch. While mak
ing a dramatic emergence in
2002, Geo Visions holds great
promise for the tribes in 2003.
C Third p
While the future holds prom
ise for tribal economic ventures,
the present situation is a some
what different story. During
2002, for instance, the Tribal
Council again faced difficult
choices in developing a budget
for the coming year.
Because of the large amount
of money involved, the tribal
government budget is one of
the top stories of the year.
In the late fall, in developing
the budget for the new year, the
Council decided to use $1.5 mil
lion from the Credit Enterprise
retained earnings. At the same
time the Council decided poten
tially to use approximately $2
million from the tribes' revenue
reserve, or rainy day fund.
The rainy day money will be
1 I
A
JJ
; Dave McMechanSpllyay
Smith were among the many young
fell recently on the reservation.
"The tribes weren't
asked what they want.
(The Corps) should have
asked first. "
Brigette Whipple
Tribal ethnographer
mittee meeting on Deal 1 in Port
land, participants developed sub
committees to work on each in
dividual rock site at the park.
Tribal elders will be asked for their
advice on exact placement of the
rocks and their translations.
Lowell hopes the rocks will
be ready to be moved by April
and the project will be completed
by May.
See ROCK ART on page 3
used only if the tribal general
fund working capital reserve
drops below $6 million, an
amount that is the minimum
balance needed to make payroll
and other essential expenditures.
These decisions - along with
cuts in most every aspect and
department of the tribal govern
ment - help demonstrate the se
riousness of the situation.
"We arc continuing to gradu
ally cut back tribal government,
and that means a cut in programs
and services," Secretary-Treasurer
Charles Jackson said at the
time the budget was approved.
Under die 201)3 budget, an
estimated 20 job positions could
be eliminated. "But Tribal
Council has clearly stated that
should explore all other avenues
before doing that," said Jackson.
C Fourth
The federal court in Portland
provided one of the big stories
of the year for the Confeder
ated Tribes. The news happened
in June, when Judge Robert
I lodges issued his opinion in the
longstanding McQuinn Strip
Blowdown lawsuit.
Vltast see TOP NEWS oh )
N&i;!JtIWWfcubP
Spilyay tymoo.