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Warm Springs, OR 97761
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Coyote News, est. 1976
May 15, 2003 Vol. 28, No. 10
50 cents
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v. sa
no. 10
May 15,
2C03
Sprtygy
yrnos
Smith
It was an honor not only for
the individual, Dawn Smith, but
also for the tribes as a whole.
The award said a lot about
Smith, but also about the Warm
Springs Elementary School
teachers and staff, the students
and parents.
Smith, principal of the
school, recendy was named the
National Distinguished Principal
for the state of Oregon. She was
chosen for the award from
among the many other princi
pals in the state.
In August she will travel to
Washington, D.C., with the Na
tional Distinguished Principals
from the other 49 states. One
of the 50 will then be named
the National Distinguished Prin
cipal of America.
Smith has been with Warm
Springs Elementary School for
nearly three decades. In recent
years she and her staff have
focused on improving student
attendance and performance,
with excellent results.
As an example, the scores of
the Warm Springs Elementary
School students on standardized
Tribes, agencies sign unique agreement
By Dave McMechan
Spilyaj Tymoo
The traditional land of the
Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs includes a large area,
well beyond the borders of the
reservation.
By the Treaty of 1855 the
tribes gave up some interest in
this large area, known as the
Ceded Lands. But the treaty also
guarantees to tribal members
certain rights and interests on the
Ceded Lands.
The Ceded Lands can be de
fined in general terms as north
Central Oregon. The bound
aries in broad terms are the
Columbia River south to the
Crooked River, and the John
Day basin west past the summit
of the Cascade Mountains.
The tribes have many cultural
interests within this area. Inter
ests include water, fish and wild
life, roots, berries and other
plants, and archaeological sites.
Today, the federal govern
ment manages part of the
Ceded Lands, through the For
est Service and the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM).
Documentary features local youths
The lives of four local youths
are featured in a new documen
tary, called Growing Up Native.
The youths featured in the
60-minute documentary are
Ashley Aguilar, Jcrrod Kalama,
Armina Moody and Lydell
Suppah.
The premier showing of
Growing Up Native will be
from 4 to 6 p.m., Sunday, May
18, at the Museum at Warm
Springs.
Filmmaker Kim Harvey
Trigoso filmed the documentary
footage on the Warm Springs
Reservation during the winter
of 2001-02. The film was ed
ited earlier this year,
"The documentary treats the
lives of four youths growing up
on the reservation. Each life
story touches upon a particular
challenge that youths face on the
named
tests have more than tripled The improvement in student pectations that Smith sets for
since Smith became the princi- attendance and performance herself and her staff, the stu
pal. are in part due to the high ex- dents and the parents.
The Forest Service and BLM
make decisions that can affect
tribal .interests in the land. For
this reason it is important that
the tribes and the federal agen
cies work together to protect
these interests.
In the past the Confederated
Tribes had a written agreement
- a memorandum of under
standing, or MOU - with the
Ochoco National Forest.
As of last month, following
a signing ceremony at Kah-Nee-Ta,
the tribes now have a writ
ten management agreement with
seven national forests and the
BLM.
The new agreement is unique
in the number of agencies in
volved, said Bobby Brunoe, gen
eral manager of the tribal Natu
ral Resources Branch. The pro
cess of developing the memo
randum of understanding took
four years, because of the num
ber of agencies involved, said
Brunoe.
Federal agencies that are part
of the agreement include the
following national forests:
The Ochoco, Deschutes,
reservation, and the process of
overcoming the challenge," said
Harvey-Trigoso.
"Growing up is treated sym
bolically as a journey of trans
formation, of dying in order to
be reborn, and each youth is
conceived as the hero of his or
her own story."
The making of this documen
tary involved the collaboration
of the community of Warm
Springs, the youths, and the cul
tural anthropologist filmmaker.
The topic of Growing Up
Native originated from the wish
of the adults in Warm Springs
to learn more about what their
youths feel and go through as
they grow up.
The Tribal Council approved
and supported this project as part
of the effort to bridge the chan
nels of communication between
distinguished principal
(1
i"jt -
Warm Springs Elementary School Principal
Willamette, Wallowa-Whitman,
Umatilla, Mt. Hood, Malheur
and the Crooked River National
Grassland.
Officials of the Oregon of
fice of the BLM and the Bu
reau of Indians Affairs have also
signed the agreement. j
The tribes will benefit in a
number of ways through the
memorandum of understand
ing, said Brunoe.
For instance, he said, the
tribes will be included at the
start, rather than toward the end
of the federal land management
decision-making process. '
The federal agencies often
make decisions that effect tribal
interests such as fish, huckleber
ries, roots and archaeological
sites, among other interests.
The MOU also includes a
provision regarding contract
work with the federal agencies.
The contracting provision is in
tended to give the tribes the
ability to contract for certain
work projects on the national
forest and BLM land, said
Brunoe. This should result in
more jobs for tribal members,
generations.
One of the most important
goals of Growing Up Native is
to serve as a tool for awareness,
and promote dialogue between
youths and adults.
Also, this is an effort to de-'
pict the current reality of Na-'
tive American youths, and of
fer positive alternatives to other
youths who encounter similar
life situations.
The documentary was spon
sored by the Museum at Warm
Springs, and was awarded a
grant from the Oregon Council
for the Humanities, an affiliate
of the National Endowment for
the Humanities.
The grant is contributing to
post-production costs, including
screening of the documentary,
and an open dialogue afterward
in different communities, in
Dave McMechanSpilyay
Dawn Smith
"This recognises the
need to work as co
managers of the Ceded
Lands..."
Bobby Brunoe
he said.
The federal agencies agreed
that the Mount Hood National
Forest office would house the
contracting office for work on
any of the national forests that
are part of the MOU. This also
is a unique aspect of the agree
ment, said Brunoe.
Brunoe said of the MOU:
"This recognizes the need to work
as co-managers of the Ceded
Lands, and helps keep an open
line of communication between
the tribes and the agencies."
As stated in the agreement
itself: "The tribes and the agen
cies desire to collaborate in an
open and interactive process
whereby all parties work con
structively together to address
(See signing ceremony photo on
page 2.)
cluding Warm Springs, Portland
and Umatilla. The screenings are
being facilitated by the Museum
at Warm Springs, the Native
American Youth Association,
and the Tamastslikt Cultural
Insitute.
The producers of the docu
mentary would also like to
thank the following people for
their support: Stoncy Miller,
William Fuentes, Myra
Johnson, Anita Davis, Foster
Kalama, Carole Leone, Andy
Leonard, Flossie Wolfe, Don
Courtney, Elton Greeley,
Margie Gabriel, Ed
Henderson, Daisy Ike and
Rosalind Sampson.
Thanks also goes to the
Tribal Council and the Mu
seum at Warm Springs, and
the Oregon Council for the
Humanities.
Smith was nominated for the
National Distinguished Principal
award by Warm Springs Elemen
tary School teacher Sara
Ohman.
"Dawn sets the character and
quality of education for her stu
dents, staff and community,"
Ohman said her in letter of
nomination. "She is a mentor
and role model for us all."
Smith first started working at
Warm Springs Elementary
School in 1974. Over the years
she has been a teacher, counse
lor, vice-principal and the prin
cipal. She is also the special edu
cation coordinator, and a spe
cial education teacher.
Recendy, when students and
staff heard that Smith had been
named the National Distin
guished Principal for the state,
they held a congratulations
party, with flowers and con
gratulatory cards. .
The distinguished principal is
sponsored by the U.S. Depart
ment of Education, the National
Association of Elementary
School Principals, and an invest
ment insurance company, Valic.
Judge rejects fisheries
management opinion
A federal judge has invali
dated a decision by the Na
tional Marine Fisheries Ser
vice on how to restore and
protect salmon in the Colum
bia River basin.
This was a victory for
those who want improved
management of fisheries in
the basin, said Don Sampson,
executive director of the Co
lumbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission.
The commission is one of
16 organizations that chal
lenged the Fisheries Service
opinion on salmon habitat
restoration and protection.
The commission represents
the four treaty tribes of the
Columbia basin, including the
Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs.
"We believe the judge's de
Honoring
University of (V nnn I
TEW will VJ lfJ
spuyay cyioo.
Reggie Winishut was among
the recent Honor Seniors
Longhouse.
I J
Museum
to host
parade,
powwow
The Museum at Warm
Springs is celebrating the
Tenth Anniversary of the
museum's opening.
For the occassion the
museum and the tribes will
host a memorial horse pa
rade, museum blessing and
rededication, and a powwow
on the museum grounds.
The events are set for
Saturday, May 31. The
horse parade will begin at 10
a.m.
The museum blessing
and rededication will be at
1 p.m., and the powwow
begins at 2 p.m.
The memorial horse pa
rade will be followed by a
powwow on the museum
grounds.
For information, contact
Rosalind Sampson at the
museum. The number is
553-3331.
cision will help hold the dams
accountable for their impacts on
the salmon," said Sampson.
, U.S. District Judge James
Redden earlier this month ruled
that the National Marine Fish
eries Service biological opinion
on salmon protection and res
toration was inadequate.
The ruling sends the opinion
back to the Fisheries Service for
revision.
Sampson said this could re
sult in an improved opinion with
stronger language directed to
ward the federal agencies re
sponsible for river manage
ment. The agencies include the Bu
reau of Reclamation, the Army
Corps of Engineers, and the
Bonneville Power Administra
tion (BPA).
See SALMON on page 2
seniors
4 haviu
7v
IcMacharVSpilyay
the tribal elders who enjoyed
Day, held at the Agency
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