E Coosh EEWA: The wy it is
Page 4 Spilyay Tymoo April 17, 2005
Tribes keep
tradition of
giving thanks
By Sid Miller
Publisher Emeritus
The American people have a Thanksgiving once a year
and it happens after their harvest season ends, when they
give thanks for the bountiful crops they had during the
year.
The Native Americans have their Thanksgiving prior to
the harvest of the crops of vegetation. This tradition has
been carried out from time immemorial, when
they give thanks to the Creator for the boun
tiful crops they are about to harvest.
Wav back in the years when I was just "a
cute little tyke," I never really understood why
they went through all these rites, as they went through the
seven sevens in the Longhouse. The chanting and the
drums beating in harmony, and the dancers all in time jump
ing up and down.
Everything carried out has a special meaning of giving
thanks to the Creator for the bountiful crops of vegetation
that will be harvested after the service has been completed.
Every song has a special meaning and after all the singing
has been completed, people gather around the tables to go
through more services and after the word "choosh" then
everyone dips into the food.
When all the services have been completed, then it is
permissible for the tribal members to go out into the field
to put up the vegetation. There are several types of roots
to be harvested and each one grows in certain areas. That
is the reason why people go to Webster Flat for a certain
type. Several travel over to Paulina or toward Shaniko.
There are roots that grow in the forest.
Thanksgiving rites are observed for all the foods pro
vided by the Great Creator. All these traditions are carried
out for the fish that comes up the river for the spring run.
Just like the appointed root diggers that are first to dig the
roots, there are certain ones appointed to catch the fish for
the feast. And so on for all the fruits that ripen during the
summer months, like the time for the Huckleberry Feast
held at He He each year." ' ' "' '
At one time we used to have a rodeo on the day of the
Root Feast but we could not start the rodeo until all the
serves were completed. We would have stock in the buck
ing chutes waiting for them to complete the services.
Everything came down to the point where we shall give
thanks to the Creator for what we receive before we would
engage in our activities. Ahh-Nah-Chi-Toon!
Toe
A nrofessor was trying to
J - 4
his class. He had two glasses, one had water in it, the other
had whiskey. He dropped a worm in the water and it
wriggled and swam. Then he put it in the whiskey, and it
struggled and died. He said, "Now what does that tell you?"
The class was quiet for a while and a guy in the back
said, "It proves that if we drink whiskey, we won't have
worms!" Yikes.
Many good ideas coming
out for casino design
By Selena T. Boise
Spilyay Tymoo staff
Hi everyone.
I leard some good ideas coming out about the casino design. I
can hardly wait to see the actual outcome. Being placed along the
Columbia is bringing out ideas surrounding the salmon and the
ways of our river people of long ago.
The Gorge is very scenic and I have enjoyed taking photo
graphs there many times.
I have heard that the casino will not have flashy lights or any
thing out of the ordinary for that area. We don't want the whole
thing to be like the Las Vegas lights or anything like that.
Community will be able to suggest their ideas at the home
based meetings to be held. The ideas presented at the home-based
meetings will all be taken into consideration for the actual con
struction. So watch for a meeting that you can attend.
I can certainly picture the decorations of salmon, maybe pic
tures of the treaty tree, if there are any. Maybe a nice picture of
the treaty signers, I know that that event happened along the Co
lumbia River somewhere.
The input from the tribal members should be good. Like Nariyo
Kono said, "when times are hard, our creativity comes out."
I look forward to hearing more about the design as the meet
ings continue.
For now 1 will only imagine what the turnout will be.
Maybe a trip to the Gorge will bring many more ideas out from
community members.
I lave a good day.
Spilyay
Speaks
Ness
show the effects of alcohol to
Special thanks
I would like to give thanks
to all that had opened their
hearts in our time of loss.To
Richard Tohet and Sam Starr
for doing the dressing.
To Big Rat for his assistance
in putting all the services to
gether. To Ellen Thompson for
all her wonderful words, and
songs she gave. To Fred
Wallulatum for officiating the
services.
To all the drummers for the
beautiful songs they sang that
will help Russell on his journey.
To the cooks for their hard
work in preparing the meal. To
Ramona Starr Shuster, Solo
Stewart, Jamie Wadamet for all
their help in everything.
The staff of The Museum
at Warm Springs for all your
thoughts and prayers.
A very special thank you to
Lorene Wainanwit and Glenn
Brunoe for being here with us
from the start to the end. The
Creator will give blessing to you
all, for everything was done from
the heart. With nothing expected
in return, as it should be. That's
the way a true Native carries
themselves.
Listen to your heart, give
from the heart, follow your
heart. As it is said, you find out
who your true friends and fam
ily are when times are hard.
They're right there at your side
to help you through it all.
My father-in-law really en
joyed living here. He enjoyed the
people and country, and he held
our traditions with the highest
respect.
Again, I can't give enough
thanks to all who have helped
us. If I have left anyone out here,
I apologize. May the Creator be
' with you all. ' '" '
Deborah J. George,
Milward Tall Bull, Mary
Drug use
(Note: The following article
was submitted to the Spilyay by the
Warm Springs Housing Authority.
The article first appeared in The
Oregonian newspaper, and is re
printed here with their permission.
"The article pertains to all
tribal, Housing and Urban Devel
opment (HUD) and Mutual Help
homesbuyers, " according to a state
ment from the Housing Authority.)
A home that becomes a safe
haven for drug dealers can ruin
a neighborhood. This is as true
in public housing as it is in sub
urban cul-de-sacs and on leafy
city blocks, and it's the reason
behind the U.S. Supreme Court's
wise ruling on drug-related evic
tions. In a unanimous 8-0 decision,
the high court has ruled that
Further commentary on the water right
By Randy Smith
Through wisdom and fore
sight our elders recognized early
on that a water shortage would
eventually materialize within the
Deschutes Basin. Our treaty
secures Warm Springs' right to
as much water as we need for
our future. I read in The Water
Rights Survival Guide that the
working group met monthly for
a period of three years. I recall
no more than one meeting
within the boundaries of Warm
Springs to document our
concerns... Why? After all, we
are the senior water rights con
stituency. Were we discriminated
against?
Our advisors warned us it
was time to use it or lose it, rather
than establish the historic
amount of the water right that
existed before any and all of the
diversions were allowed by the
Oregon Department of Water
Letters to
Hoptowit, Gerald Hoptowit
Jr., Antoinette Tall Bull,
Levi Tall Bull, LiP Russell
Tall Bull, and Isaac Tall
Bull.
Only me
What fear I have of being
released. What scary thoughts I
have from not being accepted.
These are only a few of many
thoughts that seem to constandy
race through my mind. Now I'm
a convicted felon with a strike
over my head - two more and
I'm in for life. How can a man
come out of prison a better
man, if there's nothing but nega
tivity in here? How can a man
stay out long enough, if all he
learned in prison was another
trade in crime?
Are these questions to be
answered or is it for that man
to fail and come back to prison
in that same position and pre
dicament? I imagine a better life
I could've had for myself. Now
I'm literally and physically caught
up in the system. There is noth
ing to offer in "the joint" or
"slammer" or whatever you pre
fer to call it. Because the insti
tutionalization of men would
rather come back to this place.
You see, my only fear at this
point is getting out. And what
madmen this place creates for
a generation that means noth
ing. People, I only say this be
cause there are so many indi
viduals lost in a world of de
ception and no remorse.
And as I sit in this cell with
nothing but my thoughts, I can't
seem to wonder what will hap
pen to me if I'm so used to be
ing here. It's sad, people. I wish
I never adapted to 'this place,!
because now' my' mentality" is!
stuck between this world. But
however my determination of
can lead to housing
landlords can evict entire fami
lies from federally subsidized
housing if anyone - including a
family member, friend or guest
- has a drug problem.
This power to evict can make
innocent people lose their
homes, which is terrible.
But it's not as bad as the al
ternative: public housing where
other families live in fear of
their drug-abusing neighbors,
and where landlords have little
ability to fight the crime happen
ing under their noses.
In the case before the Su
preme Court, four senior citi
zens from California appealed
the eviction notices they re
ceived for drug use by relatives
or caregivers.
They argued that the 1988
Resources. Contra
dicting what the ad
visors would have us
believe, our benefi
cial use of water has never ac
tually stopped. It is still being
applied to the same crops our
ancestors preferred, water pu
rity, salmon, steelhead and other
fisheries. This use has always
been recognized as beneficial to
our people. So in all actuality it
never was use it or lose it time
for Warm Springs.
Federal water quality stan
dards haven't been formally
adopted in the mitigation agree
ment, so they have taken a back
scat to demand. How docs the
Oregon Department of Water
Resources intend to administer
water use to meet the language
of the Clean Water Act? That's
quite convenient for the follow
ing industries: agribusiness,
farmers, real estate and munici-
Opinion
the Editor
preserving this harsh environ
ment has made my mind men
tally capable of accomplishing
goals which I would have never
accomplished in my entire life
time. We're on lockdown once
again, but as soon as those doors
open it's just another day in the
struggle and another day to fight
to stay sane from all this crazi
ness. My capabilities go beyond
and I will use them to my best
interest and I will proceed to
move forward. My love is to
those who love me. Indian Pride,
Big Nate
Let God in
There was a time in my life
when God called me and I could
hear him but I didn't listen. I
knew I was turning my back on
the Lord. Closed doors for me,
but I lived in darkness, blinded
by alcohol, drugs and money.
This left me no room for God,
but he never left my side and I
felt him there, watching me fall.
But I never went to the Lord,
pride made me fall. Shame kept
me down. I knew I was on my
way to jail, as I lived in my
manmade hell. So when I tried
to sleep at night, there stood
Jesus with open arms. Once
again, I didn't let him in. I was
on my way to prison and felt
my life was at its end. Once in
my cell, I cried to God, "How
could you let this be!" But he
only answered with "Child, you
never turned to me."
And now after nine years in
prison, I'm on my way home in
two years. Every night I turn to
God and he tells me, "See, my
child, this isn't the end. For now
with God is' where your life be-
gins." .YW.-ii'ii'' ;;
I encourage those locked up
in the tribal jail to let God do
federal drug law which autho
rizes such evictions is unfair, be
cause it penalizes innocent
people for the behavior of oth
ers. They said it is unfair and dis
criminatory to punish low-income
tenants who may not even
know about the drug use of
their visiting relatives or friends.
Too bad, said the court. Land
lords should not be forced to
prove who knew what, and
when, in order to crack down
on drug abuse.
Landlords need the ability to
kick out drug dealers before they
become drug pushers, and ille
gal drug users before they be
come violent addicts.
It is important for landlords
and housing authorities to tread
palities. Which
have all to some
extent contrib
uted to the deg
radation of the limited water re
sources in the basin. Ultimately,
taxpayers will again have to foot
the bill to pay for Oregon's poor
management and oversight of
a public resource.
All applications of Warm
Springs' inherent water right
must maximize the economic
benefit to Warm Springs. The
Warm Springs Comprehensive
Plan doesn't completely do this.
No one sees more than one re
sort, golf course or additional
business developing in Warm
Springs' economic future, which
is totally absurd. The Compre
hensive Plan doesn't recognize
the importance and practicality
of converting juniper stands to
pasture, or the development of
high-valued home sites. None of
his work, and we do ours. Re
member, he has paid it all for
us at Calvary. Jesus loves us in
spite of our faults. People with
out Christ are people without
wisdom. With respect,
Rayfield Jeff Mitchell
More Utters on page 7
Hello, from
Pastor Rick
To me, it is always a good
time to talk about Easter.
But now with war a part of
our rews, it is even a better
time to talk about the great
celebration of the Christian
festival called Easter.
For the Christian faithful
this is the day to be reminded
of how far our God will go
to keep us close and in a re
lationship with Him. Not an
image of God. Not a rela
tive of God. But God who
in love allows death to come
to Him so that death will not
come to us. A gift of God
to God in our name.
Wow, doesn't that sound
weird? It is me emptying my
savings account and buying
a car and then walking up to
a person and handing the tide
to them. Nothing in return.
No thank-you required.
It is a festival of what
seems to be on the surface
worshipping a crazy God. Yet
real love does make us a little
crazy. It causes us to act
weird. To give without re
ceiving. To hope when there
should be no hope. To be
lieve when all the numbers
add up and say do not be
lieve. ,
V Easter, is corning cbrrVe
and worship God. ' ' 1 1
Rev. Rick R. Ribeiro
eviction
carefully in this arena.
People in subsidized housing
live under the same Constitution
as people in mansions, and de
serve the same protections from
invasive questioning and war
rantless searches.
This is a matter of basic dig
nity as well as the law.
The public has an interest in
the safety of such housing. A
federally subsidized apartment
that enables drug use helps no
one. Not the tenants themselves,
not the other low-income neigh
bors stuck living next door, not
the drug users getting a free ride.
Housing is not a right in this
country. Safety in public hous
ing, however, must be a top pri
ority and responsibility for ev
eryone involved.
agreement
these practical and beneficial
water applications allowed out
side our boundaries is even con
sidered. Warm Springs certainly
has the potential to evolve and
develop housing lots that bring
in six figures if not more. If the
water application is legitimate
outside the reservation, why not
within the reservation?
The Water Rights Survival
Guide states that water permits
are issued only for beneficial use.
Within the same document I
read where irrigation units lose
approximately 46 percent of
their water right in the transpor
tation process alone, that's what
I call a "special right." The state
can now buy back or lease wa
ter from certified water rights
holders. Ironically, those indi
viduals in position to reap a
huge cash crop from this prob
ably all fall within the pre 1992
era.
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