'News from Indian Country
Pge 9 Spilyay Tymoo June 10, 2004
Merle Holmes,
leader of
Grand Ronde,
passes away
GRAND RONDE (AP)
- Merle Holmes, whose
knowledge of tribal history
helped restore federal rec
ognition for the Confeder
ated Tribes of the Grand
Ronde, has died. I Ic was 70,
Holmes died May 17 at
home of natural causes, and
was buried in a family cem
etery at the base of Spirit
Mountain, said tribal
spokesman Brent Merrill
"We wouldn't be restored
as a people if it wasn't for
Merle Holmes, and the
work he did with Marvin
Kimscy, and Margaret Pro
vost," Merrill said.
"He was the chief histo
rian of the tribe. It was
based on his knowledge and
his research that we were
able to prove our continual
existence as a tribe to an
thropologists and different
people in the federal govern
ment responsible for mak
ing that decision."
Holmes descended from
the Kalapuya people, one of
the 25 tribes rounded up by
soldiers in Western Oregon
in 1856 and marched to the
Grand Ronde and Siletz res
ervations in the northern
Coast Range to, make way
for covered wagons and
gold miners migrating west
over the Oregon Trail.
An Army veteran,
Holmes was known for his
collection of written histo-
ries of the Trail of Tears,
including a copy of a jour
nal kept by an Indian agent
that tribal members Used to
recreate a march from out
side Medford to Grand
Ronde in 2002 to raise
money for a veterans me
morial, Merrill said.
The federal government
terminated tribal status for
the Grande Ronde in 1954.
The tribe was terminated
after nearly all of their res
ervation land had been sold
off.
A log truck driver living
in Salem, Holmes was
among the people who met
at the tribal cemetery in the
1970s to press state and fed
eral governments for resto
ration of tribal status.
Stephen Dow Beckham,
a professor of history at
Lewis & Clark College spe
cializing in the history of
Indians in Oregon, said
Holmes had a great love of
his heritage and served as
an eloquent voice for re
storing the rights of his
people.
"He was a man who
deeply cared and was will
ing to give his time and en
ergies to try to change the
course of history,"
Beckham said.
"Ultimately the Confed
erated Tribes of Grand
Ronde prevailed, but it was
because of the hard work
of men like Merle Holmes
and the longtime tribal chair,
Kathryn Harrison, that
Congress righted a wrong."
Congress restored tribal
status for the Grand Ronde
in 1983 and five years later
returned 9,81 1 acres of tim
berland once part of the
reservation.
The tribes went on to
build the Spirit Mountain
Casino, the biggest casino in
Oregon and the state's top
tourist attraction.
Holmes is survived by
two sons, James Holmes of
Seatde and David Holmes
of Los Angeles.
Trial spurs debate over how to protect artifacts
RENO, Nev, (AP) - The trial
of two men accused of stealing
ancient artwork from an Ameri
can Indian site has sparked a
discussion about the best way to
protect artifacts - by keeping
them secret or posting signs that
welcome visitors and would-be
vandals alike.
The two men said they were
innocent because they never saw
any official signs marking the
ancient petroglyphs on national
forest land. Land managers said
such signs would only invite
trouble. "Putting up a sign at an
archaeological site is almost like
saying, 'Dig here for buried trea
sure,'" said Fred Frampton, the
US. Forest Service's chief ar
chaeologist for the Humboldt-
Toiyabe National Forest, where
the works were taken.
With few exceptions,
Frampton's opinion is the pre
vailing view among federal land
managers and most tribal lead
ers faced with a choice between
trumpeting precious archaeo
logical sites or keeping them
under wraps.
"If it's in a well-traveled area
and people know about, then
putting up signs is fine," said Pat
Barker, the US. Bureau of Land
Management's state archaeolo
gist for Nevada. "But if you put
up signs when people don't al
ready know about it, you can
lose the resource."
John Ligon, 40, of Reno, and
Carrol Mizell, 44, of Van Nuys,
Calif., stood trial for stealing
three boulders in August 2003
with artwork etchings that tribal
leaders say are priceless and
more than 1,000 years old.
They were charged with un
lawful excavation of archaeo
logical resources and theft of
government property. A jury
found them guilty of stealing
government property, but not
guilty of violating the archaeo
logical protection law.
The men claimed they were
trying to protect the rock art
from an encroaching subdivi
sion and they didn't know it was
illegal to remove the boulders
because there were no signs
marking the site.
Terry Birk, a Forest Service
archaeologist, testified against
the use of guideposts to label
such sites. "It is my contention
that signing or fencing would
draw increased visitation and
potential vandalism to the
petroglyphs," Birk said.
But, as a lawyer for one of
the defendants was quick to
point out during opening state
ments, keeping the site un
marked didn't work cither.
"There is this theory, this
amazing theory, that if you don't
sign and label the site, people
won't go there and it will be kept
a secret," said Scott Freeman,
Ligon's lawyer. "And that that is
the only way to keep it safe be
cause we, as the government,
don't trust you as citizens."
David Whitley, a world-renowned
expert on dating of
ancient rock art who testified on
behalf of the defense, said the
case is a good example of why
signs should be posted.
"Sticking your head in the
sand and saying that if you pre
tend it doesn't exist, no one will
damage it is unrealistic," said
Whitley, an archaeologist who
has authored 12 books.
Whitley acknowledged there
is a history of sites being dam
aged by vandals. "But that's re
ally tailed off the last decade or
so because people are more
aware and concerned about cul
tural resources. Today, your av
erage person is going to respond
favorably," he said.
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Bing BlnghamSpilyay
Gerald Cook of Warm Springs carried in the colors during opening ceremonies of the
recent College of Culture.
Grave-looting trial pushed back
MEDFORD (AP) -The trial
for a convicted Indian grave-
looter charged with orchestrat
ing a plot to kill a judge, police
officers and his former business
partners was to begin last week,
but instead will open in October.
The case was continued on a
motion submitted by Jack Lee
Harelson's defense attorney, Bob
Abel. The nine-day trial is now
Mescalero
Apache has
gaming
compact
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -
Gov. Bill Richardson on Tues
day signed a gaming compact
with the Mescalero Apache
Tribe, formallv ending years of
litigation over gambling on the
southern New Mexico reservation.
Mescalero President Mark
Chino and Attorney General
Patricia Madrid this spring
agreed on a settlement that
ended a long-standing feud over
the tribe's objections to the
state's Indian gambling compacts
and their revenue-sharing re
quirements.
The Mescaleros have agreed
to pay $25 million in back pay
ments. The compact also calls
for the tribe to share with the
state 8 percent of revenues
from its Casino Apache in south
ern New Mexico.
"While the state and the
Mescalero Apache Tribe have
had our differences, I believe
our shared goal of a strong
economy in New Mexico and
our mutual respect for each
other's sovereignty has brought
us together instead of further
apart," Richardson said.
The gaming compact will be
sent to the Interior Department
for approval.
scheduled to start Oct. 19.
Harelson is accused of plot
ting to kill retired Josephine
County Judge Loyd O'Neal,
who presided over-a 1996 trial
that ended in Harelson's convic
tion for looting Indian graves.
Federal authorities in 2002
fined Harelson $2.5 million for
looting American Indian graves
in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.
Prosecutors said Harelson,
63, of Grants Pass, also sought
to kill an ex-wife, former busi
ness associate Lloyd Olds, Curry
County resident Richard Ledger
and Oregon State Police Sgt. Walt
Markee.
State police arrested
Harelson in January 2003 and
charged him with paying an un
dercover police informant
$10,000 in opals to murder
Olds.
Tribe: governor hypocritical
for allowing casino job fair
WEST WARWICK, R.I. (AP)
- Narragansett Indian Chief
Sachem Matthew Thomas said
Rhode Island's governor was
hypocritical for not protesting
casino job fairs at state-run em
ployment centers.
Foxwoods Resort and Casino
in Connecticut sent a recruiter
to an employment center in
Providence to find cashiers,
cooks, servers and security of
ficers, The Providence Journal
reported.
"The governor, in front of
the House Finance Committee,
talked about how casinos didn't
offer 'real' jobs, how casinos are
not 'real' economic development
and how casinos will rob our
hospitality venues of valuable
workers," Thomas said at a news
conference at the tribe's Casino
Volunteer Headquarters on
Main Street.
"Yet his administration turns
around and offers a job fair to
Foxwoods casino."
The state, however, said
Foxwoods' employee search has
nothing to do with the casino
debate.
"This is about getting unem
ployed people jobs," said Adelita
Orefice, the acting director of
the Rhode Island Department
Labor and Training.
The recruiting events will be
held at two of the state's six
NetworkRI centers, which are
staffed by state workers and
operated by the state Depart
ment of Labor and Training.
They are funded in large part
by federal dollars. Since $7-mil-lion
worth of federal funds flow
into the centers annually, the
state cannot discriminate against
employers wanting to use the
centers to recruit employees,
said Orefice.
She said the six centers are
part of a national program
called America's One Stop Ca
reer Center System.
Thomas questioned why
Governor Donald Carcieri is
supporting the job fair if he's
opposed to casinos.
The tribe is partnering with
Harrah's Entertainment to build
a destination casino in West
Warwick and seeks to have a
casino referendum on the No
vember ballot. The governor
has publicly come out against
both the referendum and the
casino
The governor's office, how
ever, said that the job fairs are
run by the Department of La
bor and Training and not ap
proved by the administration.
Artifact amnesty begins
slowly in New Mexico
SANTA FE(AP)- One Na
vajo pot has been turned in un
der an amnesty program allow
ing anyone who illegally pos
sesses American Indian cultural
or religious objects to return
them without prosecution.
Maxwell Museum of An
thropology at the University of
New Mexico is serving as a
middle man between the U.S.
attorney's office and anyone
wishing to return an object.
Museum curator David
Phillips said the Navajo pot is
believed to have been found on
U.S. Bureau of Land Manage
ment property. It is the first and
only object returned since US.
Attorney David C. Iglesias an
nounced the 90-day amnesty
nearly two weeks ago.
"So far the response has been
limited," Phillips said.
Eric Blinman, the assistant
director of archaeological stud
ies at the Museum of New
Mexico, said people who find
such objects do not realize their
short-lived wonder at the find
comes at a high price to the
public.
"The sad thing is that when
objects are found, that person
is motivated by the excitement
of discovery," Blinman said.
"It's inevitable that the next gen
eration doesn't have that con
nection. With the loss of that,
there's the tremendous possibil
ity that things are going to be
thrown away."
The program gives people
the chance not only to turn in
objects, but also to share the
story of their find with others,
Blinman said.
Phillip Young, an archaeolo
gist with the state Historic Pres
ervation Division and a retired
investigator with the U.S. De
partment of the Interior, said
the program might appeal to
people who are unsure whether
the objects they own should be
turned in.
"They have an arena to di
vest themselves of questionable
objects," Young said. "If noth
ing else, we've increased public
knowledge. It's public recogni
tion of the priceless nature of
our heritage." ' "' ' '
The amnesty program per
tains only to sacred objects ob
tained and possessed illegally, but
officials say the issue of finding
objects on private land and
keeping them, which is not ille
gal under current laws, is also
important.
The program, which ends
Aug. 18, was prompted by an
increase in the number of crimi
nal prosecutions related to the
illegal possession of American
Indian objects, assistant U.S. at
torney Norman Cairns said.
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