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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.