Spilyqy Tytnoo, Wat-m
Shitike
5-year project
helps tribes meet
fisheries goal
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyoy Tymoo
Bob Spateholts and his crew
lay on their bellies in their snor
keling gear while slowly swim
ming upstream in Shitike Creek.
'We're counting juveniles and
we're snorkeling because it's
easier on the creek's ecosystem,"
explains Spateholts, fish produc
tion biologist for the tribes.
Spateholts and his crew are
employees of a 5-year salmon
supplementation project, de
signed to help the tribes achieve
their goal of having 300 chinook
salmon per year returning to
Shitike Creek.
"Our goal is to enhance the
population to a point where
there are enough adult salmon
returning to Shitike Creek for a
Immersion camp: hope in younger generation
(Continued from page 1)
Language revitalization on the
reservation lately has been in
spired by and modeled after a
successful total immersion pro
gram of the Native people of
Hawaii.
Language studies through
out the world have shown that
total immersion is the most
effective way to learn another
language.
Wilson Wewa Jr., a Paiute lan
guage consultant at the camp,
explained how he became semi
fluent in his language, Numu.
"The only reason I became
fluent is because I went to a
place where I spoke my language
everyday," he said.
' According to Wewa.'there is
no one under the age of 50 who
fluently speaks one of the three
Native languages of the reser
vation. He estimates that for the
Numu language, there are only
three or four elders who are
fluent. The same is true of
Kiksht.
For Sahaptin, he guesses,
there can't be more than 60 flu
ent speakers.
But there seems to be hope
fof the next generation.
Six-year-old Revonne
Johnson speaks in full Kiksht
sentences to her grandmother
Gladys Thompson, who is flu
ent in the language.
Johnson, who attended the
immersion camp, has been learn-
Tribes state case for
Tribal mitigation lands
gain support from the
Northwest Power Plan
ning Council for contin
ued Bonneville Power
Administration funds
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyoy Tymoo
The Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs had an opportu
nity to state their case to the
Northwest Power Planning
Council last week during a
meeting at Kah-Nce-Ta High
Desert Resort and Casino.
Tribal representatives asked
, for the Power Planning Council's
support to ensure that the
Bonneville Power Administra
tion (BPA) docs not reduce
funding for fish and wildlife res
toration projects on the reser
vation and ceded lands.
"The funding support of
BPA has been a foundation of
the tribes' effort to protect and
enhance water, fish and wildlife
resources and habitats over the
past 20 plus years," Terry
Luther, Warm Springs Fish and
Wildlife manager, said to the
council.
The council responded by
Springs, Oregon
Creek salmon count on the rise
harvest," said Spateholts.
The project, funded by the
Pacific Coastal Salmon Recov
ery Fund, is in its third year. The
project is a collaboration be
tween the tribes and U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, which op
erates the Warm Springs Fish
Hatchery and monitors the in
teractions between hatchery and
wild fish. The hatchery, because
of good salmon returns, pro
vides salmon for the supple
mentation project.
For the past three years adult
returning hatchery spring
chinook salmon have been out
planted annually into the Shitike
Creek at five locations to supple
ment natural production.
The salmon, carefully se
lected, have genetic character
istics of wild fish. Some ex
amples of the characteristics the
biologists look for are time of
spawning, size of smolts, and
when they return.
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1 is-
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II
Margaret Boise is a fluent Wasq'u speaker and teacher at the
immersion camp.
ing the language most of her life.
Her two older cousins, Teryl
Florendo and Charice Johnson,
asking Warm Springs to provide
the exact financial numbers
needed to get the correct fund
ing Due to an internal budget
crisis, BPA has threatened to cut
a large portion of their fund
ing for mitigation projects in
the Columbia River Basin.
The BPA has already cut
"carryover funds" from the
previous year, which they have
never done before, Luther said
after the meeting.
"We ended up with half the
money we expected to have for
our mitigation lands," ex
plained Luther.
The tribes feel these funds
are both an obligation under
the Treaty of 1855, ensuring
protection of their cultural re
sources, and BPA's legal obli
gation to mitigate for resource
impacts.
"Our goal was to get the
council's attention that the BPA
was not funding mitigation
projects adequately and to
make sure the BPA fulfills its
mitigation requirements," said
Luther.
I le said he felt the tribes' ob
jective had been achieved.
July
"We use wild fish in the
hatchery as rootstock to main
tain genetics," explained
Spateholts.
While counting juvenile
salmon, Spateholts and his crew
also count bull trout, rainbow
trout and steelhead juveniles to
make sure their numbers are
maintained.
It's possible that too much
competition could be created
for habitat, food and other re
sources. Disease could also be
brought in by the hatchery fish,
although they are tested for dis
ease before being released.
"If the hatchery fish out
compete the natural fish popu
lations, the project could have a
negative effect," explained
Spateholts.
In July of 2000 salmon ju
veniles were first counted in the
creek. In the fall of 2001, nearly
200 salmon were released there.
In 2002, only 80 were released
Shannon KMvtnyi'Spi)wy
also attended the camp. They say
their young cousin speaks bet
ter than they da
continued
'We ended up with half
the money we expected to
have for our mitigation
lands."
Terry Luther
Fish and Wildlife manager
The Confederated Tribes
have acquired four fish and wild
life mitigation properties on
ceded lands through BPA
funding. The four properties
- Pine Creek, Wagner, Oxbow
and Forrest - consist of over
38,000 acres.
According to Luther, the
properties are critical sites for
salmon spawning, threatened
species protection, wildlife re
covery and habitat connectiv
ity in Oregon.
Without BPA funding many
of the restoration efforts can
not continue.
"We are currendy struggling
to get adequate funding to sup
port these mitigation projects,"
said Luther.
In addition, fish and hydrol
ogy studies, with the assistance
of BPA funding, have been con
ducted on several reservation
24, 2003
due a disease concern at the
hatchery. This fall an additional
200 will be released into the
creek.
Due to these efforts, juvenile
salmon counts were up nearly
10 tenfold by 2001. By the year
2002, biologists were seeing ju
venile salmon counts in' the
Shitike Creek that were similar
to healthy non-supplemented
streams. This year jack salmon
(third-year salmon) are being
monitored, as the first year of
adult salmon return since the
project's inception in 2000.
"For every jack salmon, there
are eighteen 4- and 5-year
salmon. So this year should give
us some indication of what next
year's count will be. Next year
should be big," said Spateholts.
The juvenile counts for this
year are anticipated to be a bit
lower because of the reduced
release in 2002.
"But it's still much higher
"By explaining what
this camp meant to the
people, and that it was
always full of people, we
can bring back those
cultural memories. "
Adeline Miller
"When she talks, our
grandma understands her, " said
Florendo.
Still there is a rush to revital
' ize the languages before it is too
late.
"Let's just say bringing back
our language is a long-term hur
ried goal, because there isn't
much time," said Wewa.
Total physical response
Language lessons at the camp
included a method called "total
physical response," a means of
teaching by action.
Basic lessons, like how to set
a table, were also included. Chil
dren played games. Throughout
the weekend traditional meals
were served and elders told tra
ditional stories in their Native
language.
The HeHe longhouse was
chosen as a location because it
has long been a place of meet
ing for important cultural events
for the tribes.
Adeline Miller, a language
consultant at the camp, remem
bers coming to HeHe as a child
BPA funds
streams.
As a result, projects have
been designed and implemented
to remove fish barriers, improve
in-stream habitats, restore and
protect riparian conditions and
improve upland conditions.
These projects have in
creased fish counts, said
Luther.
The Northwest Power Act
directs the council to prepare
a plan for the Northwest to as
sure the region an adequate,
efficient, economical and reli
able power supply.
The act also directs the
agency to plan for the protec
tion, mitigation and enhance
ment of fish and wildlife, in
cluding spawning and rearing
grounds of the Columbia
River and its tributaries - riv
ers that have been impacted by
r
AJUOllllrOO VVl LUlULJf
Indian Trail Restaurant
For sale to qualified buyer
For further
than prior to year 2000," said
Spateholts. "Shitike Creek's
spawning activity has gone up
from less than 30 salmon per
year to 30 to 80 salmon per
year," he said.
The creek's fish popula
tions suffered greatly from
fish blockage created by the
Headworks dam, installed in
the 1970s. Other contribut
ing factors to lower salmon
counts were severe floods in
both 1964 and 1996. As a
result of the floods, the
stream was bulldozed and
then channeled, but the
stream's capability to support
fish populations was reduced.
Another factor that reduced
fish counts in Shitike Creek
was the drought of the late
1990s.
"The salmon need some
help to recover. What we are
doing is kind of like a
jumpstart," said Spateholts.
and seeing dozens of camps
lining the riverbanks as tribal
members prepared for the
Huckleberry Feast.
"I think having the camp
here is one way of breaking
through to the youngsters,"
said Miller.
"By explaining what this
camp meant to the people,
and that it was always full of
people, we can bring back
those cultural memories. We
can fill the gap that was to
tally forgotten, so the
younger generation is inter
ested in learning their lan
guage again."
Speakers from Burns
i ,,. The language camp at
HeHe included two special
guests,.Myrtle Louie Peck and
Ruth Lewis.
They are Paiute speakers
who traveled to the immersion
camp from Burns.
"They brought language
lessons and legends to our
program," said Pat Miller, lo
cal instructor of the Paiute
language.
The visitors from Burns
also explained to students how
it came to be that some people
in Burns are related to people .
of the Warm Springs Reser
vation. And they got to meet
some young relatives they had
never met before.
"It was very interesting and
fun," said Miller.
the construction and opera
tion of hydroelectric dams.
A Northwest Power Plan
and the Columbia River Ba
sin Fish and Wildlife Pro
gram is produced and up
dated periodically through an
intensive public involvement
process. .
Federal agencies that
manage hydropower facili
ties in the Columbia River
Basin are required by law to
take the plan and program
into account in decision
making. The Northwest Power
Planning Council is an
agency of the states of
Idaho, Montana, Oregon
and Washington.
The council was created
under the authority of fed
eral law.
information call 553-1206 JJ
Page 3
Bill signed
for tribal
juvenile court
transfer
By Shannon Keaveny
Spilyoy Tymoo
Gov. Kulongoski signed a bill
in June that will allow Jefferson
County to officially transfer off
reservation tribal juvenile court
cases to the reservation court
system.
Senate Bill 882 is the first of
its kind in Oregon and, if suc
cessful, could serve as a national
model.
The bill authorizes Jefferson
County to negotiate a memoran
dum of understanding widi the
tribes on how cases will be trans
ferred. Negotiations for an MOU
are presendy under way and are
anticipated to be finished in the
next two to three months, said
Jefferson County Circuit Court
Judge Daniel Ahern.
Most cases transferred will
be minor offenses, such as pos
session of drugs and alcohol,
and shoplifting charges, ex
plained Judge Ahem.
"The district attorney has
strong feelings that cases trans
ferred shouldn't involve violent
crimes," said Judge Ahern.
Also, it is likely that cases will
be transferred where both par
ties involved are tribal youth.
One goal of the bill is to make
the court system more efficient
by making the court more ac
cessible. "It is a 15-mile drive to Ma
dras from the reservation ver
sus a few blocks to the court
house in Warm Springs," said
Judge Ahern.
Judge Ahern explained the
concept of the bill is similar to
'' transferring COurt cases to dif
ferent counties, based on where
the defendant resides! ""
Judge Ahern also said, be
cause of cultural differences,
tribal youth may be more recep
tive to complying with orders
from a tribal judge.
Tribal court penalties are of
ten similar to off-reservation
court penalties but differences,
such as time with an elder, may
be included.
"Some crimes are best dealt
with using our culture and tra
ditions," explained Warm
Springs Tribal Judge Lola
Sohappy. The tribes, said Judge
Sohappy, have specific customs
to address specific problems,
such as fighting or stealing.
But for some more serious
crimes, such as violent crimes,
the tribes do not have resources
to address, and the cost is too
great.
In these cases, our options
are limited and it is better to
handle it off-reservation, ex
plained Judge Sohappy.
Before being transferred, the
tribal court must accept juvenile
court cases and permission
from the tribal juvenile's legal
guardian must be obtained.
Tribal youth juvenile court
cases in which the offense has
happened off-reservation have
been transferred in the past,
said tribal attorney Howard
Arnette.
But there was growing concern
with Jefferson County judges that
they did not have that authoriza
tion, explained Arnette,
'It just needed to be formal
ized to avoid complications," said
Arnette. Judge Sohappy said in the
past few years fewer cases were
being transferred so the tribal
court felt the bill was necessary.