: Spilygy Tytnoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
March 6, 2003
.Unravelin
a shattered
history
Historians piece together remnants of
the past in an attempt to give burial
grounds the respect they deserve.
J 1 " v- I
: Story by Shannon Keaveny
A dilapidated and
rusted fence borders
the Chemawa Cem
etery on the
1 Chemawa Indian School prop
1 erty, northeast of Salem. The
' fence curves downward into a
slew.
Inside the fence, Douglas firs
', tower over the two hundred
gravesites, which are minuscule
1 in comparison.
I Green grass shaded' the '
small metal plates with student
names, tribal enrollments, and
dates of birth and death en
graved. For the passerby, the only
obvious indication of a grave
yard is the looming wrought-
Chemawa: students purchased some of the land
5 (Continued from page 1)
Although initially created for
the forced assimilation of Indian
,' children, today Chemawa Indian
', School - 123-years old and
thousands of students later -n
has become a historically impor
' tant place for Native Americans.
Of the 30,000 students that
; have attended the school, thou
sands have been from Warm
"Springs.
v Between Interstate 5 and the
Southern Pacific Railroad tracks
lies an 86-acre parcel of land.
fThe piece of land is where the
original Chemawa campus was
built. '
Today the old buildings are
gone, but the Chemawa Cem
etery, a burial ground for over
200 Native Americans, still ex
, ists. Most of the gravesites are
! those of students who died
! while attending school. Due to
' the efforts of Bill Wilson, a Sa
1 lem local, and others, the parcel
! of land was placed on the Na
! tional Register of Historic
' Places in 1992. The National
Register is a national program
; that identifies cultural resources
; worthy of preservation.
"We have a historical and
I cultural resource that's irreplace
! able," said SuAnn Reddick, vol-
unteer historian at Chemawa
; Indian School, "The cemetery
; is like the heart."
Still, the land may be at risk.
I The U.S. General Services
Administration (GSA) surveyed
' the land last June to determine
; if it is "underutilized." Federal
; law mandates the GSA survey
', federal land periodically. The
0 7?
SuAnn Reddick
iron sign that says, "1886
Chemawa Cemetery."
Most of the students buried
here died while attending the
school before 1940 as part of a
government forced assimilation
plan for Native American chil
dren. Many died of consumption
and the Spanish flu.
There are reasons a body was
not returned to the family. In
those days, it took 6 weeks to
transport a body by train. For
this reason, a burial at the school
was a better choice.
Often letters to the family
took too long to arrive. Many
children were orphans.
When the Spanish flu epi
demic hit the school, children
died almost weekly. The govern
survey decides whether the land
is underutilized.
According to Zunie, land de
termined underutilized is then
turned over to the BIA. The
BIA, the Chemawa School
Board, and the ATNI have the
power to declare the land "ex
cess," if it is unneeded, said
Zunie. Excess land is at high
risk of being declared "surplus"
by the GSA.
"Land declared surplus is like
an open door," says Speaks.
The GSA disposes of real
property (land and buildings)
using the following process:
Once a federal agency determines
it has unneeded property, that prop
erty is declared to be excess prop
erty. It is available for transfer to
any other federal agency. If no agen
cies want the excess property, it is
declared surplus to federal needs. It
may then be donated to state or
local governments or selected non
profit organisations, or it may be
sold through public auctions.
Despite this policy, Speaks
remains confident the land will
not be declared surplus as long
as the school is open.
"We are not in a position to
transfer the land. We don't want
to lose the property to another
entity. We can do that only if
the school is not in use. At this
point we have no intention of
doing that," said Speaks.
"There is a zero chance that
will happen," said Zunie of the
86-acre parcel that may be at
risk of being declared surplus.
The cemetery situated within
the 86-acre parcel is enough to
ment quarantined dead bod
ies to prevent the virus from
spreading. The bodies were
usually quickly buried.
In 1 960, the long-neglected
and overgrown lot was bull
dozed in an effort to clean it
up.
Tombstones disappeared in
the nearby slew. The cyclone
fence, today in dire need of
being replaced, was installed.
Sheep were put inside the
fence to keep the grasses
down.
For reasons not historically
documented, school faculty
and students took almost im
mediate action to recreate the
cemetery.
The only remaining docu
mentation of grave locations
was a map from 1940.
Based on the map, students
and faculty reconstructed the
matrix of graves with strings
and stakes.
Students made new grave
stones with metal plates. A
new map was created in 1960.
SuAnn Reddick, Chemawa
Indian School volunteer his
torian, doubts the accuracy of
the 1940 and 1960 maps due
to many reasons.
"When the students copied
the names, they made errors.
Registered names and tribal en
rollment at the school were also
incorrect or misspelled at times,"
she said.
Also, according to Reddick,
birth and death dates are some
times wrong.
People, like Reddickand fel
low historian Cary Collins, have
made it their mission to give
each grave a correct name.
"It's a real project to untangle
the information and make it as
accurate as possible," said
Reddick.
Reddick also suspects the
graveyard may have at one time
been larger.
She believes this because
some student records indicate a
student died at the school, but
there is not a gravesite to go with
the name.
Fitting names with graves is
often through the process of
elimination.
"There are different sources
declare the land utilized, said
Speaks.
But what if the school closes
down? At least two times in his
tory the BIA has threatened to
close down the school. The first
time was in the 1930s due to a
poor economy. The most recent
threat was in the 1970s, because
officials felt an Indian school
was no longer necessary. If the
school closes, 123 years of Na
tive American history could be
lost to developers.
Also, as recently as 1997, 15
acres of Chemawa land was
transferred as "excess" property.
Zunie claims the land was de
clared "excess" because the
highway divided it from the
school. The Chemawa School
Board gave written permission
to relinquish 15 acres to the
Siletz and Grand Ronde tribes
with the caveat the land would
be used to benefit Chemawa stu
dents. Yet, the deed for the land
transfer states nothing about
using the land for the benefit of
the students. In addition, al
though the school board ap
proved only 15 acres, 19.86
acres were transferred. Speaks
said the BIA "did not need per
mission" for the additional acre
age added into the deed.
The cemetery itself may
never be threatened. But the
acreage surrounding it is some
of the last undeveloped land
surrounding a freeway inter
change in Oregon. There is
probably a high value on the
land.
Reddick fears that if action
is not taken, hotels and gas sta
Can you identify these students?
The photograph above is the first Chemawa Indian School all-boys class from Warm
Springs, taken in 1880. Chemawa Indian School Historian SuAnn Reddick needs to put
names with faces. In some cases, the tribal identity may be incorrect. The students names
and tribal identity, according to Chemawa Indian School records, are: Benjamin Miller
(Wasco), Jerry Hollaquila (Wasco), George J. Piute (Paiute), George Pinouse (Wasco)
William Skitus (Wasco), Frank Meacham (Wasco), and Melville Rex (Wasco). Some of
these students may have died at the school and be buried at the Chemawa Cemetery. If you
know who is who, contact SuAnn Reddick at (503) 472-4005 or cissuannviclink.com.
Photo taken by Davidson. To view a larger picture, stop by the Spilyay Tymoo office.
that appear valid. But, ultimately,
tribal rolls and memories will
have the final say," said Reddick.
But progress has been made.
Much of that progress is creat
ing public awareness and find
. ing funds to maintain and sup
port the Chemawa Cemetery
Restoration Project.
Last May, a memorial was
held at the cemetery to reclaim
the history of the children who
never returned from Chemawa.
"It was a poignant realization
that these children are being re
membered for the first time,"
said Reddick of the memorial,
" The. whole restoration project !
is about healing Families are '
wounded."
Volunteers for the cemetery
are planning another memorial
this year and would like to make
it an annual event.
Just weeks ago, volunteer stu
dents spent a Sunday cleaning
tions may someday nuzzle the
fence of the cemetery.
The historically rich land
could be lost to pavement.
Putting the land in trust of
the nine Oregon tribes may be
the only solution to the poten
tial problem, Reddick said. To
Reddick's knowledge the BIA
has not been approached about
putting the land "in trust" for
the Oregon tribes.
"We need a good solid legal
argument," said Reddick.
I lope for Chemawa lies in the
1990 success of Sante Fe Indian
School in Sante Fc, New Mexico.
Nineteen Indian pueblos in New
Mexico managed, with a legal
fight, to get the BIA to agree to
donate the land to them.
After many years of legisla
tion, the Pueblos became the
owners of the school land col
lectively. Today, the BIA holds
the land in trust, affording it the
same protection as a reserva
tion. Hope may also lie in the
treaty rights of Native Ameri
cans and the documented fact
that Indian students purchased
a large part of the land.
Who owns Chemawa Indian
School Property?
History proves the school
board and the tribes have little
control over what happens to
the land.
Speaks says the BIA will not
relinquish land without the per
mission of the school board.
More often than not the
school has sold property to settle
financial woes or giving up land
because of the encroachment
,.---,,.,.,. r-JT,,v..:, ....... -r.M.,l.r.n ..
up accumulated garbage around
the cemetery.
Currendy, the only cemetery
maintenance funding is a limited
allowance from the BIA.
Also, the Affiliated Tribes of
Northwest Indians (ATNI), a
non-profit promoting tribal sov
ereignty, has taken up the cause.
In 2001, ATNI passed a reso
lution dedicated to finding the
means to restore gravestones
and repair the cemetery grounds,
retrieve information and share
with tribes as historical data, and
develop a permanent mainte
nance program for the cemetery.
Ip 2002, another resolution
was passed that included ATNI's
belief that ,the cemetery should
fall under the protection of the
Native American Graves Pro
tection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA) of 1990.
NAGPRA states that Native
American human remains
of Interstate-5. All Americans
1 1
face the same fate when the
government decides they want
to build a highway through your
backyard: Take what financial
compensation you can get.
Yet, Oregon tribes are guar
anteed the funding of education
in their treaties. It could be ar
gued Chemawa Indian School
should not have to sell their land
to finance basic needs for stu
dents. More significandy, it could be
argued the land belongs to the
Tribes because Indian students
purchased a large portion of the
school property.
"The belief that the students
purchased 260 acres is a rela
tively new development,"
Reddick explains.
Historical records indicate
the first parcel of Salem land
purchased in 1885 may have
been with the aid of student
monies.
The first location of the
school was in Forest Grove on
the Pacific University campus.
An excerpt from the
Chemawa Indian School news
paper, Indian Citizen, published
at Forest Grove in February of
1884 regarding the attempt of
the school to purchase a piece
of land near Newberg, states:
Air. Smith from Newberg was
in town on the 28'1' looking after
the title to one hundred acres of
land at Newberg, Oregon, which
the citizens of Newberg and the
employees and members of our school
are trying to buy for the school. The
children have subscribed from one
to fifty dollars each in all overt 550.
placed on federal lands during
a death rite or ceremony are
protected.
In 2003, ATNI passed an
other resolution that plans to
create a Chemawa Committee,
which would address efforts to
find more funds and legal pro
tection for the cemetery.
Reddick plans to circulate
former student names, still
shrouded by mystery, among
Northwest tribal elders.
She hopes doing this will fa
cilitate the process of families
reclaiming their history.
"Tribal memories are critical
to the project," she says, "I hope
more people get involved , and
we are able to receive grant
money to support our efforts."
Please see the photo of
former Warm Springs students
above. To contact SuAnn
Reddick, call (503) 472-4005 or
email cissuannviclink.com.
The Newberg property was
never purchased. Instead, a part
of the current property was
purchased. In April 1885, "do
nors" purchased the first 177
acres of the new Chemawa cam
pus. The Statesman Journal
newspaper in Salem celebrated
the decision and wrote, "suffi
cient money had been raised."
According to the deed, $3,000
in cash was paid for the land
"for use of an Indian industrial
farm and school."
The only historical documen
tation of where the money may
have come from is found in the
Indian Citizen excerpt. Histori
ans, like Reddick, feel the do
nors were students and faculty
at Chemawa Indian School.
Coincidentally, the following
purchase of 83 acres in the
spring of 1887 documents that
the students and faculty pro
vided the funds.
Again students picked hops
to raise money for the land. The
superintendent at the time re
quested permission from the
Indian Bureau to allow the
school to use the money to pur
chase the acreage.
In those days, according to
Reddick, the land was deeded
directly to the federal govern
ment, despite where the funds
came from.
There was not the infrastruc
ture in that time to credit the
students, she said.
"My stance is that this land
belongs collectively to all de
scendants of all the children and
families of Native American or
Alaskan tribes who attended this
school," said Reddick.