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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 2003)
gR.COLL. 75 .sea v. 28 no. 5 March 6f 203 P.O. Box 870 Warm Springs, OR 97761 Knight Librar' Acquisition Dept. 1299 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1205 U.S. Postage Bulk Rate Permit No. 2 Warm Springs, OR 97761 50 cents March 6, 2003 Vol.28, No. 5 Coyote News, est. 1976 WOG1 Tribes hope to protect Chemawa By Shannon Keaveny Spilyay Tjmoo L Over the last 50 years, gov ernment land sales and transfers have slowly chipped away at Chemawa Indian School prop erty. ' In its heyday, Chemawa school grounds covered 460 acres. ; Located just north of Salem, the property directly borders Interstate-5 and has been eyed Sentencing brings closure for family Murders were unsolved for 15 years By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo ! The man convicted of the "1987 murder of tribal member Margaret Lorraine Still and her friend Gabriel S. Ramos was sentenced recently to 15 years to life in prison for the crimes. . Daniel H. Castillo, 34, had earlier confessed to the mur ders, which happened on a ranch in Sutter County, Calif. The sentencing of Castillo has brought a sense of closure to the case for family and friends of Ms. Castillo, said Warm Springs fire and Safety Chief Dan Martinez, who is Ms. Still's brother. At the time of the murders, Ms. Still and Mr. Ramos were employed as farm workers. They were found on Dec, 4, 1987, beaten to death. The weapon was reported to have been a jack handle. Castillo was interviewed by detectives shortly after the mur ders, but no arrest was made, as evidence was lacking. Fifteen years later - in August of last year - Castillo turned himself Chairman discusses Grand Ronde plan 1 The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde recendy made a proposal to develop a casino in the city of Pordand. ' This proposal is of obvious interest to members of the Con federated Tribes of Warm Springs, who are planning to develop a casino at the Colum bia River Gorge, less than an hour from Pordand. Tribal Council Chairman Olney Patt Jr. said the following in regard to the Grand Ronde proposal to develop a casino in Portland: "It is a policy of the Con federated Tribes of Warm Springs not to comment on other tribes' efforts to provide economic development and to become economically self-secure. So we are avoiding pub lic criticism, and support other tribes in their economic efforts to meet the needs of their Language staff page 2 Chemawa page 3 Letters page 4 Eagle Watch page 6 Legal notices page 7 Child advocate page 8 Grassland page 9 Languages 10,11 by developers for years. Years ago, students and fac ulty participated in the original land purchase of about 250 acres with funds earned by pick ing hops for local farmers. Today, the school's land mass has decreased by nearly 35 per cent, leaving 300 acres remain ing Land transferred was both with and without the permission of the school. Since the incep- in to police in Arizona, and con fessed to the murders. He explained that he had no close living loved ones, and now wanted to settle the matter that had been on his conscience for years, according to police. The Arizona authorities transferred Castillo to Sutter County, Calif., where he en tered pleas of guilty to the murders. After the sentencing hearing, family members of Ms. Still paid respects to her memory at the scene of the crimes. The Sutter County detective who has handled the case, Dave McFarland, said that a motive for the killings has finally come to light,' through the confession of Castillo. What apparendy happened, he said, was that Ms. Still and Mr. Ramos became aware of a quantity of drugs owned by Mr. Castillo. Castillo killed them to keep the matter secret. He then went to live in Mexico. Years later he returned to confess after family members has passed away. tribal members." Patt added, though, that an important point must be empha sized in regard to the recent Grand Ronde casino proposal. "The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Portland ca sino proposal," said Patt, "will end forever any practical, philosophical or legal objection to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs moving for ward to locate our casino at the Gorge." Clearly, he said, with Grand Ronde making the Portland ca sino proposal, "there can be no reasonable objection by the Grand Ronde in the future to off-reservation gaming." The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, said Patt, will continue to move forward work ing with the governor, with lo cal governments, and with the people of the Gorge communi ties to make the Gorge casino a reality. "With tribal member unem ployment of 40 percent, and with harsh economic realities facing our members, wc must continue to push ahead with our effort to assure our economic future. The development of the Gorge casino is essential to the economic future of the Warm Springs people," said Patt. tion of the Chemawa Indian School Board, the Bureau of Indian Affairs says they have received the board's permission for land transfers. But some land was trans ferred before the creation of a school board, said Derrick Zunie, BIA land management officer. In those cases, approval of the board was never ob tained. Stan Speaks, BIA regional 6 Pbwf ro&?.'i.vti-,' p mr, J. 5 m w ,4 r A i Shelly Greene-Boise performs a Watch. More pictures from this Program helps youth By Dave McMechan Spilyay Ijmoo Jefferson County School Dis trict 509-J is pursuing a program that will encourage tribal mem ber students to attend college or other post-secondary school ca reer training. The program is called Gear Up, and has been funded at $33,000 per year for six years. The Gear Up program will begin by focusing on students at the middle school. The idea is to give the stu dents at this young age an idea of what to expect in high school, and after high school. Through Gear Up, a pro gram counselor and other staff will help students plan their high school classes, so that they are preparing to attend college or other higher education. The Gear Up counselor will begin working with seventh graders, and will continue work officer, says the land is secure for now. I "Now, I might change my mind in a year or two, but right now the land is secure," he said. The recent revelation that Chemawa -land is not held in trust for the tribes may have in spired the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) to take action recently at their an nual conference in Pordand. The ATNI resolution, titled OmMcMMhwVSpllyy Jingle Dance at the recent Eagle event on page 6. ing with them through gradua tion from high school. The program will involve counseling at school, plus home visits, tutoring, guest speakers, college field trips and monthly dinner meetings with students and parents. The main goal of the pro gram is to identify students who have a strong potential of go ing to college, but who may be at risk of missing the opportu nity. In the 509-J district, the rate at which tribal member students attend college is lower than the rate for the two other main eth nic groups in the district, said Keith Johnson, school district assistant superintendent. For this reason, Gear Up will be especially well suited for help ing tribal member middle and high school students. "We have many talented kids who for different reasons don't school property "Preservation of Chemawa In dian School Land," calls for the creation of a Chemawa commit tee. The committee will work with the Chemawa Indian admin istration and board "to find any and all means to protect the school land from further deple tion." The resolution also states that ATNI considers "the historic Chemawa campus land to be sacred land and of great historic Celilo Village to be renovated By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning a $10.5 million redevelopment of Celilo Village. The village, located near The Dalles Dam, is home to between .50 and 100 people. The residents mainly are members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Yakama Nation, and the Con federated Tribes of Umatilla. Celilo Village was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1940s and '50s. The original residents were people living in the area that was inundated by construction of The Dalles Dam. Development of the village was intended as a compensation for the loss of residences. The losses happened with construc tion of the dam. The passage of time has now left Celilo Village in serious need for renovation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to make the renovation through a pro gram called The Celilo Village Redevelopment Post Authoriza tion Change. The program will require ap proval from Congress, which could happen this summer. If all goes smoothly, the re development work may begin toward the middle of next year. The renovation project would be extensive, involving a new domestic water system, new sewer treatment, roads and housing. Gear Up for college A student who stays with Gear Up through high school can qualify for a college scholarship through the program. consider college," said Johnson. Gear Up, he said, is intended "to get that idea on the radar screen, to open their eyes to what is out there. And the pro gram provides money fur them to follow through." A student who stays with Gear Up through high school can qualify for a college schol arship through the program, said Johnson. The Gear Up grant came from the Oregon University System. In other recent school district news: Butch David, Warm Springs community liaison at the middle school, took a group and cultural significance." Furthermore, the resolution states: "Chemawa campus land including that which has been entered into the National Regis ter is in immediate danger of being declared surplus by the Bureau of Indian Affairs." "We need to make sure we don't lose more grounds," said Juanita Ramirez, ATNI Culture and Elders Committee co-chair. See CHEMAWA on page 3 The Corps of Engineers con ducted a public hearing on the plan last week at The Dalles. About 100 people attended the meeting. Residents of Celilo Village were on hand, as were represen tatives of state and federal agen cies, and the various tribes. An issue that was raised quite fre quently was the need for an improved domestic water system and sewage treatment, said George Martin, project manager with the Corps of Engineers. While the Corps of Engineers is the agency responsible for the village renovation project, the BIA and the tribes are also in volved in an important way. A part of their role in the project is to determine who are the le gal residents of Celilo Village. The determination of who are the legal residents will de termine who is entitled to see some benefit from the renova tion project. Originally, there were 14 houses on site at the village. Some of these original homes are now just remnants. At the same time, the village now in cludes a number of mobile homes that were brought on site in later years. "The BIA has to determine who has the rights to live there," said Martin. The next step in the process for the Army Corps of Engi neers is to take the comments from the meeting last week, and include them in a final plan to be sent to the Washington, DC, office of the Army Corps of Engineers of tribal member students who had perfect attendance to an event at the Rose Garden. The group got to sit in the Confed erated Tribes' Sky Box. And elsewhere: The 509-J school district board approved a contractor's bid for removal of asbestos material, mainly floor tile, from the high school. The contract is for about $20,000, and represents a small part of the school improvement bond that voters adopted last year. The full bond amount -mainly for work at the high school - is $15.8 million. A groundbreaking for the main construction work at the high school is set for April, said district superintendent Phil Riley. And finally: The district board received a $500 donation for the Ma dras High School baseball team. Spilyay tyioo.
