JR. COLL.
E
75
no. 3
February jfi. t
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P.O. Box 870
University"6f 0?-egon LTbVary
Received ons 02-10-04
Spilyay t y moo.
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PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
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Coyote News, est. 1976
February 5, 2004 Vol. 29, No. 3
Tyroo
Change in Gathering focuses on improving youth safety
leadership at
public safety
Tribal Councilman Raymond
Tsumpri is the new general manager of
the Warm Springs Public Safety Branch.
There has been no permanent Public
Safety general manager for the past few
years.
The Public Safety Branch includes
the police department and the Warm
Springs Fire Department. The Public
Safety Branch, said Tsumpti, "is for the
people, and that's going to be my focus
- serving the people."
Tsumpti added, "There is a high
expectation in the community for pro
tection of life and property." As gen
eral manager of the branch, "I'll help
provide the tools to accomplish that."
Tsumpti said that productivity in the
branch needs to improve.
Tribes
to receive
old skull
BEND (AP) - A 100-year-old skull
found by children two years ago may
soon pass into the possession of the
Warm Springs tribes.
The skull was found near Alfalfa on
the tribes' ancestral land in 2002.
According to the Native American
. Graves Protection and Repatriation .
Act, the remains will revert to the res
ervation, unless a second tribe makes
a competing claim.
It is possible that the remains could
belong to tribes in Klamath Falls and
Burns because their ancestral lands
overlapped at the time the person per
ished, said Ron Gregory, a Deschutes
Resource Area archaeologist who works
for the Bureau of Land Management.
When the remains were first found,
they were sent to the State Medical
Examiners Office to determine if the
site was the scene of a crime, accord
ing to the legal notice. A crime lab tech
nician determined the remains did not
belong to a missing person.
Then, the State Medical Examiners
Office determined that the skull, which
was found on a rocky ledge above a
streambed, was that of a Native Ameri
can who died about 100 years ago. No
other details, including the gender of
the person, were released.
Chuck Jones, regional archaeologist
for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said
the medical examiner probably looked
for telltale indicators in determining that
the skull was that of an Indian, includ
ing a flattening on the back of the skull.
That occurs when babies are
strapped onto a hard surface like the
cradle boards once used by some In
dian tribes.
Several days after the sheriff's of
fice concluded its examination of the
site, BLM Prineville District archaeolo
gists scoured a 10-mile area for cul
tural artifacts, but none were found,
Gregory said. Because no cultural arti
facts turned up, archaeologists had to
rely on where the skull was found to
make an educated guess as to which
tribe it belonged to.
Historic documents and ethno
graphic sources indicate that the Con
federated Tribes have occupied the area
from at least the early 19th century,
under the Treaty with the Tribes of
Middle Oregon, signed in 1885.
Roberta Kirk, who is in charge of
implementing the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
for the Warm Springs tribes, said that
once the skull is repatriated, a small
ceremony will be held and it will be
reburied.
By Nat Shaw
Tribal Relations
An overflow crowd attended Tribal
Council Chairman Garland Brunoc's
Community Round Table Monday
night, January 26. The meeting focused
on the recent Oregonian newspaper
articles on Warm Springs.
The crowd filled the Tribal Room
and spilled out into the hall at 1 ligh
Lookee Lodge. Sixty-eight people signed
up on the sign-in sheet, but by the time
the meeting concluded there were be
tween 75 and 80 people in attendance.
Chairman Brunoe opened the meet
ing by saying that this was a meeting
with tribal community members and the
leadership, I le said it was not an open
meeting and the only press welcome
was the tribal press, the Spilyay Tymoo
newspaper and KWSO radio. 1 le asked
that if anyone was there from another
news outlet, to please leave. With that
said, the meeting got underway.
The time scheduled for the meeting
was from 7 to 9 p.m. A 5-minute rime
limit was set for those who wanted to
speak. However, many exceeded their
allotted time and when nine o'clock
came, Brunoe extended the meeting
time.
He remarked that everyone in at
tendance has lost a nephew, son or
daughter, or some family member to
alcohol or an accident of some kind.
The Chairman said, "The Tribal Coun
cil is concerned about the articles we
saw in the newspaper. All of this didn't
happen yesterday, it has been building
up."
Brunoe went on to say that Tribal
Council's desire is to start moving in
the direction of improvement.
See GATHERING on page 14
HIW Ml Vw
Team formed to
target child neglect
(AP) - Federal health officials at
Warm Springs have established a Child
Advocacy Team to better track chil
dren who might be overlooked by the
reservation's child welfare system.
Russ Alger, director of the Warm
Springs Health and Wellness Center,
operated by the U.S. Indian Health Ser
vice, said he hopes the action will im
prove communication and cooperation
with tribal officials.
Alger said the team will log child
welfare concerns raised by clinic staff
and meet regularly to discuss ways to
increase cooperation with the tribes.
"There has often been lag time be
tween when our people report concerns
and when action is taken," Alger said.
"We've always kept an eye on this,
but now we're going to be much more
aggressive about it." ,
The clinic was built by the three
tribes that govern the Warm Springs
Reservation and operates under an
agreement with the health service, part
of the U.S. Department of I lealth and
Human Services.
The establishment of the team fol
lows a December series by The Or
egonian that reported Warm Springs is
the deadliest place in Oregon for a child
to grow up.
The newspaper's analysis of 58 child
deaths on the reservation since 1990
found that children there die at more
than three times the state average and
nearly twice the rate of American In
dian children nationwide.
The analysis found that alcohol
abuse, traffic accidents and child ne
glect are among the leading causes of
child deaths at Warm Springs.
Alger said the health service clinic's
new child advocacy team is not intended
to replace the tribes' role.
"Our hope is to just raise aware
ness," he said. "We just want to make
sure we're doing everything we can at
the clinic level to work closer with the
tribes and do all we can for kids."
Powwow is Feb. 13-15
David McMecharVSpilyay
Michael Miller was among the dancers at the opening of the tribal
youth art exhibit at the Museum at Warm Springs.
The Museum at Warm Springs is
now hosting the annual Youth Art
Exhibit. This is the eleventh year of
the youth art show.
The exhibit opened last week. The
opening included a dinner at the
museum, plus drumming and danc
ing. Artworks from the youth exhibit
this year will later be on display at
the High Desert Museum in Bend.
At the museum the exhibit will
run through March 28, in the chang
ing exhibits room. Items will be at
the High Desert Museum from April
24 through July 4.
Dip nets, moccasins, wapas bags,
drums and baskets are some of the
items that the young artists have cre
ated for the show.
There are also paintings, sculp
tures and wall decorations. The ex
hibit is Celebrating Imagination.
This is the first of a number of
2004 exhibits that will be featured
in the museum Changing Exhibits
room. In the spring the room will
house the Columbia River Basketry
exhibit, from April 10-May 24.
For more on the Celebrating Imagi
nation youth art exhibit, see the next
edition of Spilyay Tymoo.
The Lincoln's Birthday Powwow, a
celebration of the Confederated Tribes
self-government and sovereignty, is
next weekend.
The powwow, this year marking its
Twenty-Seventh Anniversary, is Friday
through Sunday, Feb. 13-15.
The Lincoln's Birthday Powwow is
sponsored by the Simnasho Elders and
the Lincoln's Powwow Committee, and
takes place in the Simnasho Longhouse.
Everyone is welcome.
Grand Entry times are Friday, 7:30
p.m.; Saturday, 1:30 p.m.; and Sunday,
2 p.m. Contest categories are:
Fancy and Traditional dancers;
Grass and Jingle dancers; junior divi
sions and teens, boys and girls; 17 and
over, men and women; and Golden Age
men and women. A point system is
used. Specials include the Three-Hand
Drum contest, sponsored by the Bruce
Jim family; drumming contest spon
sored by the Austin Greene family; and
the Round Bustle Chicken Dance con
test, sponsored by Mackie Begay. Also:
Junior division Round Bustle
Chicken dance contest, sponsored by
Gavin Begay; and the War Bonnet
Contest (40 and over) sponsored by
Norene Greene and Calvin
Queahpama. Other specials will be an
nounced. Total fund for the drummers is
$8,000; local drummers, please bring
your own chairs. Masters of ceremo
nies are Thomas Morning Owl of
Pendleton, and Charles Tailfeathers of
Simnasho.
Memorials will be this Saturday, Feb.
7, at the Simnasho Longhouse.
For information contact Mackie
Begay at 553-9230; or Austin Greene
at 553-1953. For vendor concession in
formation call Sandra Greene at 553-6619.
Jackson's resignation marks end of an era
By Nat Shaw
Tribal Relations
Wasco Chief Nelson Wallulatum ac
cepted the resignation of Tribal Coun
cilman Zane Jackson on Thursday, Jan.
29. Jackson, 80, has served longer than
any elected member currently on Coun
cil. He resigned just three months be
fore completing his thirty-third year on
Tribal Council.
Jackson's family has been one of the
most prominent families on the Warm
Springs Reservation since the tribes
adopted a constitution and by-laws in
1937. That action created the present
form of tribal government.
Jackson cited health reasons as the
basis for his decision to resign.
Tribal Council Chairman Garland
Brunoe said a celebration will be held
in Jackson's honor sometime in April.
Zane Jackson was first elected to
Tribal Council in 1971. He served as
vice chairman in his first term. Since
7
Zane Jackson
that time, he has been the vice chair
man three more times, and he has
served as Tribal Council Chairman four
rimes.
Zane's brother Vernon was the
tribes' Secretary-Treasurer for 17 years.
Vernon died in office in 1969 at the
age of 51.
Zane and Vernon's father, Charles
Jackson, served on Tribal Council for
six terms, including four as chairman.
The current Secretary Treasurer is
Charles V. Jackson, the grandson of
Charles and the son of Vernon.
Chief Nelson Wallulatum, in accept
ing the resignation, gave Tribal Coun
cil the authority to replace Jackson with
the next highest vote getter from the
last election, held April 9, 2001.
Stanley Smith Jr. will fill the vacant
position until the term expires in April.
Stanley, or Buck as he is better known,
received 1 82 votes in the last election.
The top vote getter was Garland
Brunoe with 196, followed by Bernice
Mitchell with 192, and Zane Jackson
with 190.
The 22nd Tribal Council swore
wl
Ml I
Stanley "Buck" Smith
Stanley "Buck" Smith in on Monday,
Feb. 2, 2004. The oath of office was
administered by Paul Young, BIA su
perintendent for Warm Springs.