Spilyay Tymoo, Wji-m
Artist evokes
memories of
traditional life
Years of dedica
tion to tribal arts
earns tribal mem
ber prestigious
award from local
museum.
In the warm morning sun,
Archie Caldera sits on a
chair outside his art studio.
Around him loom the barren
hills and open blue skies of the
Warm Springs Reservation.
Above him, a wooden sign
with the words "Thunderhawk
Arts & Crafts" gendy swings in
the breeze.
He busies himself chiseling
a design into the tip of a deer
antler that is now the cavity for
a pen.
The pens, at $20 a shot, are
part of his livelihood.
"I see a pair of deer antlers
as two pens, two buck knives,
and 12 key chains," Caldera
muses about his artistic sense.
Inside his well-used studio
! space lays a deer-hide being pre
pared for tanning, antlers are
mounded in a pile, and bright
colored glass and stone beads
sparkle on the floor.
, Hanging from the ceiling are
beaded necklaces, dream catch
ers, and handmade drums.;
Deer andcr buck knives are
. lined in neat rows on a table.
; Center staged is a moose ant
her sculpture.
', It's his sculptures that won
him recent fame and the Judge
;.Choices Award at the Museum
;at Warm Springs.
."; One could say Caldera is a
;connoisseur of tribal arts.
-', His eyes shine as he talks of
- his various influences and teach
ers throughout his life.
Eels counted at
Biologists assess lam
prey populations at
Sherars Falls for the
first time.
By Shannon Keav eny
Spiljay Tymoo
0 'on8 w'tn tne fishers,
tribal biologist Jenni
fer Graham and fish techni
cian Joel Santos worked long,
hard hours throughout the
lamprey season at Sherars
Falls.
Their shifts often started
at 10 p.m. and ended as late
as four in the morning.
As tribal fishermen
moved their gaffing hooks
slowing across the Sherars
Falls rocks before snagging
an eel, Graham and Santos
used long handled dip nets to
scoop their own eel up.
Their efforts were part of
tribal mark-recapture study
at Sherars Falls to count Pa
cific lamprey.
"We were trying to estimate
the numbers of lamprey
crossing Sherars Falls, some
thing that has never been
done before," explained Gra
ham. After catching the eel, the
biologists quickly marked
them and brought them two
miles downstream to Buck
I lollow Landing, where they
I
Springs, Oregon
Story and photos by Shannon Keaveny
As a young boy of about
nine, Caldera first learned to do
beadwork from his uncle, Bruce
Berry.
Because his family was poor,
Caldera traded his beadwork for
clothes.
"I used to trade my
beadwork for some Levi's," re
members Caldera.
At age 16, he carved his first
eagle head, transforming a small
piece of bone to a shining piece
of ivory.
He remembers learning how
to make buck knives from Ri-
"I do it all from my
heart. Because of my tra
ditional past, I have tradi
tional feelings that make
me proud to he a Native
American. Being Native
American sets me apart in
this world.
Archie Caldera
Warm Springs artist
chard Rowe, an Oklahoma
Cherokee.
As an adult, Caldera traveled
to Canada and learned to carve
stone.
In his studio, he points to pic
tures of bygone friends and fam
ily and remembers the lessons
from each person.
But Caldera's grandmother,
Rose Mitchell, still living down
the street, is his biggest influ
ence. .amprey caught at Sherars Falls
and then recaptured later on. It Is part of an an effort
by biologists to assess lamprey populations.
were released.
The marked lamprey were
then recounted as they at
tempted to pass over the falls
again.
In other lamprey studies on
the Columbia River Basin, traps
are used to catch the primitive
fish. But this year at Sherars
Falls the traditional dip-net was
used for the first time by biolo
gists to count lamprey.
"I think it was successful be
cause our numbers were
higher," said Graham.
Meanwhile, as eels were col
lected by tribal members for
personal subsistence use, the
biologists measured and counted
their catches.
This practice was also done
for the first time this year.
The numbers for die two lam
October 2, 2005
When she and other family
members presented him a deer
hide jacket, sewn with
beadwork, saying they were very
proud of him, Caldera was noth
ing less than honored.
"I just knew how much work
something like that took and for
them to give it to me was a great
honor," says Caldera.
From a traditional family,
Caldera remembers growing up
in an atmosphere where he al
ways had access to his cultural
arts. If he wanted to learn it,
there was someone there to
teach it.
"My elders gave me
most of my support,"
says Caldera.
Caldera's family
taught him to always
give his first piece away,
a lesson he follows to
this day.
"That's how you can
tell a traditional boy.
They give with their
heart," he explains.
The greatest thing
you get in return is a
smile, adds Caldera!
Now, some 30 years
later, traditional artisans
knock on his door.
Together they swap the
knowledge of their ancestors
that many fear may soon be lost.
Some aspiring young artisans
come knocking too.
But, according to Caldera,
not enough.
Caldera will always openly
share his knowledge of tanning
hides, making buck knives,
dream catchers, drums, using
natural fibers, stringing a neck
lace, traditional plant uses and
Sherars
that was marked
prey studies at Sherars Falls
probably won't be processed
until late this year, said Graham.
Relatively little is known
about lamprey.
What is known is that their
life cycle is similar to salmon,
In addition, the reasons for their
decline in population arc similar
to salmon: Passage problems for
adult and juvenile lamprey mi
grating through the dams, de
clining conditions of spawning
and rearing habitat in freshwa
ter, decline of the marine prey
base including ground fishes,
walleye Pollock, Pacific hake,
and salmonoids due to fishing
and other factors, and chemical
"rehabilitation" (i.e. extermina
tion by rotcnonc) of streams.
There arc three types of
lamprey species that occur in the
0
V
' i
. 1 i
V if
more.
"I do it all from my heart.
Because of my traditional past,
I have traditional feelings that
make me proud to be a Native
American. Being Native Ameri
can sets me apart in this world,"
says Caldera.
Caldera's recent winning
piece, Native Blessings, currendy
exhibited at the Museum at
Warm Springs, combines his
knowledge of the traditional arts
with reverence to the traditional
Falls
Columbia River Basin - Pacific
lamprey, river lamprey, and west
ern brook lamprey.
Most commonly fished on
the reservation and at Sherars
Falls arc Pacific lamprey.
Both Pacific lamprey and
river lamprey are parasitic. They
feed primarily in salt waters by
attaching themselves to the pec
toral region of a fish.
After a long spawning period
that can last up to seven years,
juvenile lamprey head out to the
ocean.
It is estimated they remain in
the ocean off the coast of Or
egon for 20 to 40 months. As
adults, they return upstream to
spawn. During this time they do
not feed.
Considered weak swimmers
compared to other fish, lamprey
enter fresh water as late as June
and complete migration into
streams by September. Lamprey
presence at Sherars I '"alls occurs
between June and September.
From late April to early Sep
tember 2003, 115,689 lamprey
had crossed Bonneville Dam.
From the end of May ro
early September 2003, 28,131
lamprey had crossed The Dalles
Dam. Both counts were higher
than 2002.
From those locations the lam
prey split off into various
streams throughout the Colum
bia River Basin.
SET "3
. . 1
ti
tribal practice, fishing.
The six -point antlers, used as
the base of the sculpture, came
from a bull shot by Phillip
Squiemphen and was the first
he ever killed.
Between two points is a fish
ing scaffold made from a seven
point bull elk horn, shot by Wil
liam Stwyer. The net below was
made from cut beads and took
Caldera two days to make.
A traditional fisherman,
carved from the steatite stone,
J9
4 is.
New archaeologist
surveys tribal timber
sales, wild fire damage
Hired in June, the new
Warm Springs archaeologist
is grateful for her opportu
nity to work with the tribe.
"I'd like to be here for
many years," said Tara
Gauthier.
Gauthier primarily does ar
chaeological surveys for fu
ture timber sale sites on tribal
lands.
When a timber sale is
pending, it's her that bush
whacks through the brush
and makes sure no prehis
toric sites will be disturbed.
"We call it 'back woods
crashing.' But it's just hiking,
which 1 love," she said.
"My job is to try to allow
logging to continue without
disturbing things important
to the area," she explained.
In her office a large map
is pinned to the wall. After
performing a background
search for land claims and
prehistoric sites based on in
formation from the maps,
Gauthier makes arrange
ments to go take a look her
self. She scours the surface
ground for remnants and
signs of the past. If some
thing significant is found, ar
rangements arc made to log
around the site or fall trees a
ABOVE: Archie
Caldera stands
in front of his art
studio on the
Warm Springs
Reservation.
Left:
Caldera chisels
a design in a
deer antler pen,
one of the many
traditional crafts
he creates in his
studio.
is mounted on the.antletV
' " 'After, four years 6f 'honor
able mention, Caldera received
the Judges Choices award last
Saturday at the Museum at
Warm Springs.
He dressed head to toe in
traditional regalia.
"I'm just a happy guy. I'm
really proud," he says of the
award.
Caldera or Thunderhawk
Arts and Crafts can be con
tacted at (541)553-1081.
Archaeologist Tara Gauthier
away from the site.
Rarely, Gauthier said, arc
subsurface excavations done
anymore. Usually only if a road
or some other permanent struc
ture is built, she explained.
Gauthier is originally from
the Seattle area. She recently
received her Masters in Archae
ology from Idaho State Univer
sity in Pocatello. 1 ler thesis was
on lithics, the study of stone
tools.
During summers while go
ing to school, she spent time in
the Aleutian Islands in Alaska on
a excavation dig. She was also
an archaeological intern near
Mount I lood.
As the B and B Complex fire
simmers down, Gauthier and a
crew will be surveying the dam
age to historic areas.
She also foresees her job as
sessing construction sites on the
reservation in the future.
Page r
1