R.COLL.
75
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v. 8
no. 9
May 1,
003
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
. ECRWSS
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Coyote News, est. 1976
May 1, 2003 Vol. 28, No. 9
Spflyay
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Saddle-bronc rider let's her buck
Rodeo revives Root Feast tradition
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
After disappearing for several
years the Root Feast Rodeo is mak
ing a strong comeback on the ro
deo circuit.
"This was one of the best ro
deos we've seen in Warm Springs,"
said Delford Johnson, president of
the Warm Springs Rodeo Associa
tion. The association sponsored the
Root Feast Rodeo this past week
end. "We had close to 200 contestants,
and some of the finest contestants
in the world," said Johnson.
Seniors
honored
next week
A children's powwow, posting of the
colors, special honors, food and fun will
be part of I lonor Seniors Day, set for
Friday, May 9.
This year I lonor Seniors Day - one
of the most popular annual events in
Warm Springs - is celebrating its 13''1
Anniversary. The theme for the day this
year will be "OP Time Radio Daze."
Warm Springs can expect to sec
many visitors on Honor Seniors Day,
with delegations of people traveling to
Warm Springs from other parts of In
dian Country. Expect to see over 1,000
people at I lonor Seniors Day, held at
the Agency Jxmghouse.
The day begins at 8 a.m. with on
site registration. The Children's Pow
wow starts at 10 a.m., followed by the
Posting of Colors, invocation and wel
come, at 1 1:30.
Noon is the time for free sack
lunches, and then at 1:30 will be the
Special 1 lonors.
The afternoon will feature fun and
games, and at 5 p.m. the Longhousc
will host the Farewell Till Next Year
Banquet.
For information call the Senior Citi
zen Center at 553-3313.
- - ' - "' -' - - - - lfl'J
at the recent Root Feast Rodeo.
The rodeo, held at the Warm Springs
rodeo grounds, saw competition by a
world-class barrel racer, a top team
roper, some of the best bull riders in
the country, top-notch wild horse rac
ers and calf ropers.
There were contestants from the
reservation and around Oregon, as well
as from California, Washington and
elsewhere.
A large number of bull riders
showed up for the competition, another
indication of the growing popularity of
the newly reenergized Root Feast Ro
deo. A lot of times the smaller-sized
rodeos don't have a lot of bull-riding
Lewis and Clark study focuses
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
In October of 1805 the Lewis
and Clark Expedition was in the area
of the John Day River, part of the
Ceded Lands of the Confederated
Tribes.
In mid-October of that year one
of the expedition members wrote
the following:
At 10 o'clock, in the morning we
came to the lodges of some of the na
tives, and halted among them about two
hours. I lere we got some bread, made
of a small white root, which grows in
this part of the country.
A recent explanatory note to this
journal entry says: "The root was
noted to likely be camas, and the
area they encamped for the night is
believed to be in the vicinity of the
John Day Dam."
Another Lewis and Clark Plxpc
dition journal entry from October
1805 reads as follows:
The natives dry and pound the best
of their fish which they put up in small
slacks, along the river shores for winter,
and cover them over with straw and pile
stones up high round them.
These are two examples of the
many Lewis and Clark Expedition
journal passages describing Native
American life along the Columbia
River.
Dave McMechanSpilyay
contestants, but there were more
than 30 of them at the Root Feast
Rodeo.
Other indications of the success
of the rodeo: There was a good turn
out of spectators on both days, and
the concession booth did very well,
said Johnson.
Years ago the Root Feast Rodeo
was a very popular event in the re
gion. The rodeo used to happen at the
same time as the actual Root Feast,
and was the first competition of the
new rodeo season.
See RODEO on page 10
The journals overall are extensive,
with many expedition members keep
ing separate notebooks describing the
entire route of the Lewis and Clark
Trail.
Recently, a professor and his stu
dents at the University of Idaho col
lected together the expedition journal
passages that relate just to the Wishram
Wasco and western Columbia Sahaptin
people.
These would be the ancestors of
some of the people who were later
moved to the Warm Springs and the
Yakama reservations.
Evalinc Patt, program manager at
the Museum at Warm Springs, is hop
ing that local tribal members can help
clarify, or shed more light on journal
entries that have to do with the Warm
Springs and Wasco tribes.
For instance, said Patt, in the first
journal passage cited above, was the
bread actually made of the camas root,
or was there some other plant used to
make bread? And in the second pas
sage, is there more that can be said of
the way the salmon was stored?
Over 30 tribal members have al
ready been interviewed regarding Lewis
and Clark. The interviews are being
conducted by Brigette Whipple and
Duran Bobb of the Cultural Resources
Oral 1 listory Program.
Information from these interviews
Senior students speak
of hopes for future
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyay Tymoo
This year 35 Warm Springs tribal
members will graduate from Madras
High School.
Anxious to be on their own, many
will leave the reservation. Some will
stay close to home.
All will have a chance to
fulfill their hopes and as
pirations for the future.
Spilyay Tymoo inter
viewed some graduating
students, who shared with
the community what Warm
Springs youth plans to do.
All the students inter
viewed gave the same ad
vice to the kids younger
than themselves.
"Stay in school, it will
keep you out of trouble!"
Eliah
Gary M. Villa
A dancer and a singer, Gary Villa
taught himself to dance and sing as a
young boy when He accompanied his
parents to powwows.
Now that he's done with school he
hopes to take some time off from his
studies and travel to powwows. He
thinks if it goes well, powwows could
be more than a weekend
hobby and could possi
bly turn into a career.
That is, a short-term
career, because in the
long term Villa wants to
study tribal law and be
come a lawyer for the
Confederated Tribes.
"We need lawyers with
an understanding of
what people go through
on the reservation," he
says.
Still he always sees singing and danc
ing at powwows in his life.
Villa wants to leave the reservation
for a while but will return.
"I want to come back and help the
tribe. I feel a strong affiliation to the
tribe. They are like an extended family,
could become available through an
Internet project dedicated to the Lewis
and Clark Expedition, which in com
ing years is marking its 200,h anniver
sary. Dr. Frey of the University of Idaho
is working with the Confederated
Tribes Cultural Planning Group on the
Internet project. Tribal Council estab
lished the Cultural Planning Group by
resolution earlier this year.
The group is working with others
who are preparing for the 200lh anni
versary of the I.ewis and Clark Expe
dition. But the Warm Springs group is
focusing on culture and history of the
tribes, with some emphasis on the
Treaty of 1855. By coincidence the
treaty will be marking its 150,h anni
versary at just about the timp of the
200 anniversary of Lewis and Clark's
journey down the Columbia River.
The Tribal Council resolution that
created the group provides the follow
ing insight:
"The Lewis and Clark Expedition
was greeted with great hospitality and
generosity by our people, and we wish
to continue this tradition with today's
visitors to our country."
Also, "a group of interested Warm
Springs members, including the Culture
and Heritage Committee and Rudy
Clements, Evalinc Patt, Robert Brunoc,
Louis Pitt, Myra Johnson, Ginger Smith
the tribe and my powwow family," he
says.
In 10 years, Villa sees himself in
college, perhaps with some kids of his
own, and a home.
"In 10 years maybe I'll be living in
some big castle or something," he says.
Eliah Squiemphen
A mother to a one
year old, in many
ways Eliah
Squiemphen already
lives the life of an
adult.
Each school day,
she runs to the
daycare at lunch to
breastfeed her baby.
Every school break,
instead of chatting
with friends, she goes
Squiemphen
to the nursery to tend to her baby. In
the morning, she rides the bus to school
with her baby. The school, she says, is
very cooperative and allows her to
leave five minutes early from her
classes.
But having a baby has directed her
studies.
Since having her child, her grades
have improved. She says it's motivat
ing to have a child. Having a kid, she
says, has given her
someone else to think
about.
Plus, hitting the
books is easier when
you are at home with
your child most of the
time.
Immediately after
graduating,
Squiemphen wants to
Gary M. Villa b. , . ,
nence is mostly in of
fice work.
But in a year or so, she hopes to
attend Mount Hood Community Col
lege and become a nurse. Eventually
she'd like to work in the emergency
room.
See SENIORS on page 10
on tribes
and Sally Bird, are willing to serve on a
committee to promote celebration of
the Treaty and survival of our culture."
The website will be an important
way to share the tribal experience of
the arrival of Lewis and Clark, said
Frey.
He already has been working with
other tribes along the Lewis and Clark
Trail. The Nez Perce and Couer
d'Alene tribal members on their
websites.
The tribal websites are collected to
gether under a site called Lifelong
Learning Online, which is sponsored by
NASA, the University of Idaho, the
University of Montana, and the Cen
ter for Educational Technologies.
The website address is "L3
lewisandclark.org." Part of the site is
dedicated to explaining the NASA mis
sion to Mars. Another part is about the
I-cwis and Clark Expedition. The spirit
of exploration is the link between the
mission to Mars and Lewis and Clark,
said Dr. Frey.
To view an example of a completed
tribal website through lifelong Learn
ing Online, go to "L3
lewisandclark.org," then click on "Ex
plore the Part and Present: The Iwis
and Clark Rediscovery Program."
Skip the introduction, then on the
bottom of the screen click on "low
bandwidth version."