CS.CCLL.
E
75
.S&3
v. 8
no. 15
July
SERIALS DEPT.
KNIGHT LIBRARY
1299 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
EUGENE, OR 97403
ECflVYCS
Warm Sprigs, OH $7781
US. Pectus
Bu3(Ftt3PcnrItWa2
Warm Springs, OR 87781
Coyote News, est. 1976
July 24, 2003 Vol. 28, No. 15
50 cents
Spfiygy
Tyroco
Tribes in
court over
rafting on
Deschutes
By Bill Rhoades
For Spilyay Tymoo
The Warm Springs Tribal Council
splashed a bit of cold Deschutes River
water on the Bureau of Land Man
agement (BLM) and Oregon State
Parks last week.
The action was meant as a wake-up
call to state and federal agencies un
willing to implement a mandated per
mit system for recreational boaters on
this scenic central Oregon waterway.
The Council recently passed a mo
tion to intervene as a plaintiff in a law
suit filed by Mark Shuholm, a private
boater, Northwest Rafters Association
and by the National Organization for
Rivers, a non-profit corporation based
in Colorado.
The lawsuit names BLM and state
parks as defendants, claiming they have
unlawfully withheld and unreasonably
delayed implementation of limited-entry
permit and common pool alloca
tion systems for Deschutes River boat
ers. Tribal Council is hoping to force
state and federal agencies into imple
menting provisions of the Lower
Deschutes River Management Plan and
a 1997 supplement, which mandate the
limited-entry permit system if target
levels of boating use cannot be
achieved through other means. For
years the number of boaters floating
popular sections of the Deschutes have
exceeded target levels agreed to by a
consensus of managers.
Managers have repeatedly tried to
reduce boater numbers on peak week
ends through non-permit measures and
in some cases they have been success
ful. But numbers continue to exceed
targets on specific segments for sev
eral days each year, a clear trigger to
implement the permit system.
"We've worked on this for 10 years
and still haven't gotten anywhere," said
Robert Brunoe, general manager of the
tribe's Natural Resources Branch. "This
is our last option to get things moving.
We're hoping to have a permit system
and common pool allocation system
implemented in time for the 2004 boat
ing season."
Opponents to the permit system
have historically questioned methods
used to calculate boater use on a given
section of river, even though the most
recent figures were tabulated by Or
egon State University, the institution
that managers agreed would provide the
most accurate tally.
Opponents claim non-permit mea
sures will eventually lead to a desired
result, if they are just allowed enough
time to work.
Tribal representatives have been
hearing these arguments for over a
decade and feel as though their best
efforts to follow the Lower Deschutes
River Management Plan and its 1997
supplement have been largely ignored.
"We tried to cooperate by working
with our fellow agencies," said Brian
Cunninghame, a tribal representative
for Deschutes planning issues. "We're
sorry it's come to this."
Commercial guides say the common
pool allocation system, which puts all
boaters on an equal footing, will drive
them out of business.
They fear restrictions on boater use
levels will reduce the number of trips
they make each year and the uncer
tainty of having to apply for a permit
will make it difficult to plan out their
season.
Tribal representative disagree.
See PERMITS on page 5
Horses are in her future
Anna Miller is learning the art of showing horses
V s
University of Oregon Library
jSpilyay tymoo
i
!
IT""-"
Anna Miller finished third in Jefferson
In the future she wants to work with
Fire danger
is extreme
The fire danger on the reserva
tion is extreme, according to Fire
Management.
The extreme conditions mean
that all burn permits are tempo
rarily suspended.
There is no backyard burning,
or burning of debris, including the
use of burn barrels, said Suzi Macy,
fire prevention technician at Fire
Management.
Fire crews have responded to
many small fires - including 33 on
the Fourth of July - on the reser
vation in recent weeks.
Fire fighters have been watch
ing the weather lately, as there have
been reports of lightning activity
in the region.
Dry lightning is one of the main
causes of wildfires in Central Or
egon. On the other hand, many fires
are human caused. The Link fire
near Sisters, for instance, is under
investigation as a possible case of
arson.
The Warm Springs Hotshots
helped fight the Link fire. The Hot
Shots returned to Warm Springs
this week.
Huckleberry Feast
set for August 3
The Huckleberry Feast tenta
tively has been set for Sunday,
August 3.
The feast is held at the I lei Ic
Longhouse.
This year there appears to be a
good crop of berries, according
to gatherers.
is
A
' I '
1 ; r-
mur in r f V ' III
Blng BinghanVSpHyty
County horse 4-H this past weekend.
animals.
Strong return of summer chinook
The four treaty fishing tribes of the
Columbia River this month held their
first commercial gillnet fishery for sum
mer chinook salmon since 1965.
The basin has seen the second-largest
summer chinook run in 43 years,
according to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal
Fish Commission.
The Columbia River Compact, rep
resenting the states of Oregon and
Washington, and fishers from the Warm
Springs, Yakama, Umatilla and Nez
Perce tribes, opened the commercial
gillnet fishery for summer chinook July
14-16.
The gillnet fishery was then extended
and opened again during the first part
of this week, July 21-23.
Fresh fish caught during the fishery
were available to the public at over-the-bank
sales sites along a 150-mile
stretch of the Columbia between the
Squiemphen joins Tribal Council
Earl Squiemphen has joined the
Tribal Council. He fills a Simnasho
District Council scat that came open
in June. Squiemphen was the first nm-ncr-up
in the 2001 election.
Squiemphen has previous experience
as a councilman: he served a three-year
term from 1998 to 2001.
Residents of the Simnasho District
held a meeting earlier this month on
the question of who should fill the va
cant council scat.
Squiemphen received strong sup
port at the meeting.
The next Tribal Council election will
be held in the first part of next year.
Squiemphen said he may again run for
election in 2004.
"I'm getting a lot of support (from
By D. "Bing" Bingham
Spilyay Tymoo
Anna Miller doesn't always kiss
her horse on the nose before she
goes in the 4-H showmanship ring.
She prefers to whisper in her mare's
ear:
"I hope we have good luck," she
says to the 20 year old horse, Mys
tic, just before she gives her a final
pat
The whisper appears to be work
ing, at least partially. Miller, 12,
placed third in Jefferson County
horse 4-H this weekend at the fair
grounds in Madras. She might have
placed higher, but Mystic wouldn't
stand still during the competition.
Miller is in her second year of
horse 4H and she's getting ready
for the rest of her life. She wants
to work around animals - cows,
dogs and horses. Her eye is on
ranch work or in the rodeo. She's
not quite sure how it'll all happen,
but there'll be some barrel compe
tition or some horse training in
volved. The ranch part is quite certain,
though. Miller is Texas bound when
she's old enough. She's decided
Texas is a big enough state for her
and, besides, there's a lot of ranches
in that country.
Until then, Miller will be in train
ing herself, just like her animals.
She says that with horses, there
is no substitute for practice - riding
for many miles, and hours of
groundwork. Familiarity and trust
are important with the'animal, and
these are gained through more
hours of grooming and bathing the
horse.
Horse 4-H doesn't just happen.
See MILLER on page 5
Bonneville Dam and McNary Dam
near Umatilla.
Commercial sales of platform and
hook-and-line-caught chinook and steel
head opened July 3 and continue
through July 26.
This year's summer chinook run is
expected to reach 120,000 fish. That
makes this year's run the second high
est since 1960, when 125,700 summer
chinooks returned. The tribes last had
a directed commercial gillnet fishery for
summer chinook 38 years ago, in 1965.
Stuart Ellis, harvest management
biologist for the Columbia River Inter
Tribal Fish Commission, said the com
mercial fishery for gillnet-caught sum
mer chinook is significant "The tribes
have basically waited all this time to
establish a full commercial fishing op
portunity on these fish," he said.
But Ellis stopped short of saying it
Councilman Squiemphen
district residents)," said Squiemphen. "It
just depends on what my health is go
ing to be like. I'm 70 now. If my health
v i
V
Camp
helping
preserve
languages
By Shannon Keavtny
Spilyay Tymoo
Late Friday morning, as the hot sun
began to beat down, tribal member Flo
rence Culps sat at a table near her riv
erside camp while the children accom
panying her cooled off in the Warm
Springs River.
Culps, who is in her mid-thirties,
explained she knows some basics of
the Sahaptin language, but was there
to learn more.
She expected that up to 10 other
family members would join her for the
total immersion weekend language
camp at HeHe longhouse.
The camp, which happened last
Thursday through Sunday, is part of
the Native language rcvitalization pro
gram. The camp is the first of its kind
on the Warm Springs Reservation.
"As our elders leave, our language is
leaving," said Culps. "We need to bring
our languages back to our families and
all our other relations."
Camps were divided into three sec
tions according to language: Sahaptin
or Ichishkiin, the language of the Warm
Springs people; Wasq'u or Kiksht, the
language of the Wasco tribe; and
Numu, the Paiute language.
Teachers of each language and
consultants, mainly elders who are
fluent in the Native tongue, were there
to instruct tribal members trying to
revive the language by simply learn
ing it.
True to the total immersion teach
ing method, English was not to be spo
ken throughout the weekend.
See IMMERSION CAMP on 3
The tribes last had a di
rected commercial gillnet
fishery for summer chinook
38 years ago, in 1965...
means summer chinook salmon
have recovered.
"We could say it's a rebound from
both 1992 and 1995," when the runs
reached only 15,150 fish and 15,052
fish, respectively," he said. "We're
making progress. That's the mes
sage." Ellis attributes the strong runs to
good ocean conditions, which bol
stered survival. Also, like the spring
chinook run earlier this year, the
summer chinook run appears to be
dominated by brawnier 5-year-old
fish.
is good, we'll see."
Good health has been a focus for
Squiemphen these past couple of years.
He works out three times a week at
the Community Wellness Center. In the
two years since he left the Council,
Squiemphen has lost 20 pounds.
As for Council business, he said the
issues are about the same as they were
during his previous tenure in office.
"Employment, education and se
niors are still big issues," he said. 'The
issue of gaming started years ago, and
is still going on."
Squiemphen worked for over 40
years at Warm Springs Forest Products
Industries. I le began at the mill in 1950
and retired in 1995. 1 le now has cattle
operation at Sidwaltcr Flat.