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September 16, 2004 Vol. 29, No. 19
Coyote News, est. 1976
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Gathering
marks opening
of national
Indian museum
Tribal Council and other members
of the Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs are traveling this week to Wash
ington, D.C., to attend the opening of
the National Museum of the Ameri
can Indian.
The opening ceremonies are Sun
day through Friday, Sept. 19-24. Rep
resentatives of tribes from across the
U.S., from Canada and Central and
South America are planning to attend
the event.
The National Museum of the
American Indian, the Smithsonian
Institution's newest museum, will help
heal the "long and often troubled past
relationship" between American Indi
ans and nonnative people, its director
said.
W. Richard West Jr. said the National
Museum of the American Indian,
which opens officially to the public on
Tuesday, will deal frankly with what he
called the "Indian Holocaust" at the
hands of European settlers.
But it also will be a powerful repre
sentation of the continuing Indian cul
ture that thrives through the Western
Hemisphere, West said in a speech re
cently at the National Press Club.
"The original citizens of the Ameri
cas have not dwelt always on the sunny
hillsides of history, but instead often
have lived in the shadow lands of its
valleys," said West, a Southern Chey
enne from Oklahoma.
wThe museum,' he said, will bring ,
"bright illumination to those shadow
lands" and provide information and
awareness that could lead to a better
understanding between people.
The five-story, 250,000-square foot
building will house three inaugural ex
hibitions and 8,000 artifacts represent
ing Indian people from across the
county, Canada and South and Central
America.
West said the collection will reflect
the Indian culture in the thousands of
years before European contact, as well
as the latest changes in Indian Coun
try, including casino gaming.
Realizing that many people in Indian
Country may never get to the museum,
West said the goal is to bring the col
lection to them electronically.
All 800,000 objects in the collection
- much of which is housed in facilities
in Maryland or the George Gustav
Heye Center in New York City - will
be scanned into a database for use by ,
schools, community centers and mu
seums. The National Museum of the
American Indian is located on a four
acre site on the National Mall in Wash
ingtoa The building is across from the Na
tional Gallery of Art's East Wing and
facing the U.S. Capitol.
The building is 99 feet high, with a
120-foot-high dome.
The designers of the building are
Native Americans: Douglas Cardinal
(Blackfoot); Johnpaul Jones (Chero
keeChoctaw); Ramon Sakiestewa
(Hopi); and Donna House (Navajo
Oneida).
The 120-foot-high rotunda dome in
cludes a skylight named after the
Potomacs, who originally inhabited the
area.
The building also has a 322-seat cir
cular theater; a smaller 120-seat circu
lar theater.
There are four large exhibition gal
leries; a resource center; a 120-seat out
door performance space; museum
shops and cafe.
More than 250,000 Americans, as
well as tribes, the U.S. Congress and
corporations and foundations, made
contributions toward development of
the museum.
( Story by the AP and Spilyay.)
Tribal leaders more optimistic about budget
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
The last couple of years have
been challenging for the tribes, be
cause revenue has been down, and
for that reason the annual tribal
budget was cut. Tribal Council is
preparing a 2005 proposed budget
that will be posted soon for review
and discussion among the tribal
membership. Discussion will be re
lated to the needs and interests of
the community.
At this point in the 2005 bud
geting process, there is some cause
for optimism, at least in compari
son to the past few years, said Jody
Calica, secretary-treasurer.
"We're feeling more optimistic be
cause of market conditions affecting
Warm Springs Forest Products Indus
tries and Warm Springs Power Enter
prises, and with the recent settlement
of the HeHe and McQuinn lawsuits,"
said Calica.
The lawsuits were filed by the tribes
against the federal government, over
lost timber revenue. Settlement of the
cases gives the tribal budget some ad
ditional revenue.
The Tribal Council in recent weeks
has been meeting with the tribal man-
"...we 're looking at 2005
with more optimism in
terms of revenue. "
Jody Calica
Tribal secretary-treasurer
agers and chairs of the tribal commit
tees. The discussion will lead to a pro
posed budget that will be posted by
Oct. 1. Tribal membership will then
comment at the district and general
Council meetings.
"We're trying to create a situation
where the Tribal Council can have a
more constructive dialogue with the
community about how to allocate the
resources that we envision having in
2005," said Calica.
"And we're looking at 2005 with
more optimism in terms of revenue,"
he said.
After discussing the posted budget
with the tribal membership, the Coun
cil by the end of November will then
finalize a budget for 2005. Beginning a
few years ago the Tribal Council was
faced each fall with difficult decisions
regarding the budget. Over successive
years, as much as $2 million was cut
from the budget of the previous year.
:2!cU..::!v
... TSJk 1
4
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Dave McMechanSpilyay
Julia Yahtin and Lorissa Quinn talk during their lunch at the Spirit Eagle Cafe, the lunchroom of the Warm
Springs Elementary School. There are about 400 students at the school this year, including fifth graders.
First day jitters at the middle school
By D. "Bing" Bingham
Spilyay Tymoo
The first day at the Jefferson
County Middle School was just
about what you'd expect. Jitters were
everywhere in the hallways - shrieks,
extra loud laughter or nervous gig
gling. Some students were asking
questions too quietly to be heard,
while others were so loud they reg
istered on the Richter scale.
In the classroom, silence reigned
while the nervous children learned
what to expect from their new
teachers. All is normal at the Middle
School.
"One of the hardest things for
the kids is getting up early and get
ting on a routine schedule," says
tribal school liaison Lana Leonard.
"This year I'm meeting them in the
commons. I help them with their
schedules and let them know which
teachers are returning and who is
new. I try to make it more of a com
fortable environment for them in
the morning."
Some initial nervousness
It's been a long hot summer. An
early fall has moved in with blus
tery weather and it's time to return
to school.
"Usually the first day in the class
room is the quietest day because the
students don't feel the freedom to
talk yet," says tribal member Luanne
Foltz, math teacher at the middle
school. "I try to explain to them, 'If
you feel uneasy about anything, you
can always ask me.' I try to make
them feel comfortable in asking me
any question."
Each year the nervous questions
are mostly the same "Where is the
lunchroom?" and "Where is my
locker?" or "How will I remember my
locker combination?"
Most teachers try to spell the antici
pated answers out on paper so the stu
dent can refer back to them. Still, some
struggle because they don't know what
to expect. For a youngster, the first
week at middle school is usually tough.
"I never want to make any of my
students feel nervous. I try to joke and
laugh and try to get them to realize that
this shouldn't be as hard a day as they're
picturing it," said Foltz.
"I want them to be comfortable and
open up and ask questions. That's what
I feel like my major goal is for the first
day - to get the students to feel com
fortable." For tribal school liaison Butch David
the beginning of school means being
in the right place at the right time.
"The first week of school is just be
ing in the hallways and letting the stu
dents know we're here," he says. "We're
out in the hallways, Lana Leonard and
I, Bobbi Jo Berry and J'Dean Kalama.
We're all in the hallways reassuring them
with our physical presence, letting them
feel comfortable knowing that they
know us. We point them in the right
direction. They're going to be lost,
they're going to be having a tough time
going to the different classes."
When the first week of school is
over, then the routine will settle down.
"After that, the kids will start coming
in with more and more questions, one-on-one,
knowing we're here," said
David. "That's when they're feeling
more comfortable coming in and talk
ing to us."
Easing the transition from summer
to middle school for the kids isn't just
the work of tribal liaisons, educational
assistants and teachers. Parents can
help.
"Every teacher needs the support
from home," says Foltz. Sometimes
it's just the little things: like remind
ing the student to make sure they
have all their school supplies in or
der, such as pencils, paper and note
books. "I think it's vital for parents to
look over each class expectation list
and give support," says Foltz.
If money is tight and supplies are
a problem then parents can get a
hold of the teacher. Arrangements
will be made. Parents can call the
school, or contact teachers by email
from the JCMS website:
www.whitebuffaloes.net.
"We encourage parents to keep
in contact with their children's teach
ers," said Foltz. "We're not going to
turn away any parent contacts."
Clear communication between
parents and teachers is an invaluable
asset in a child's education - not only
now as school is starting, but through
out the entire year.
It's one thing to read the teacher's
class expectations. It's quite another
to attend parentstudent confer
ences.
IIT.J
It's huge when children can see
their parents are involved with their
lives by spending one night at an
open house," says Foltz. "It demon
strates to the children that the par
ents are involved in their lives too."
She goes on, "The opportunity
has been made available to the par
ents on the reservation, they need
to go out and use it. It's not asking a
lot for them to take a half hour out
of their day and come sit with us at
the longhouse or community center.
We're doing our part, we'd like to get
more parent involvement."
See SCHOOL on p$f 9
Government
proposal for
salmon recovery
draws criticism
(AP) - By spending $6 billion on
improvements over the next 10 years,
the Columbia Basin's federal hydroelec
tric dams can be operated without jeop
ardizing the survival of threatened and
endangered salmon, the government
concluded last week.
NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency
responsible for restoring dwindling
salmon runs in the Northwest, came
to that conclusion in a biological opin
ion filed with the U.S. District Court in
Portland, where Judge James Redden
had found a 2000 opinion inadequate
. because there waj no assurance.tb.aL
mandated measures to protect salmon
would actually be carried out by fed
eral agencies.
The latest biological opinion would
set a new course for salmon recovery
in the Columbia Basin by jettisoning a
movement toward restoring the Colum
bia and Snake rivers to a more natural
condition, and acknowledging the dams
as part of the landscape that cannot
be removed.
The plan drew sharp criticism from
environmentalists and some Indian
tribes, who continue to believe remov
ing four dams on the lower Snake River
is the best course to salmon recovery.
Ron Suppah, chairman of the Con
federated Tribes of the Warm Springs,
said the plan relied upon measures
"ranging from absurd to speculative,"
and did not follow Judge Redden's in
structions. "NOAA granted clemency to the
biggest cause of mortality - the big
gest killer - of all listed and nonlisted
salmon stocks, the hydro system,"
Suppah said.
The government plan has support
from utilities, irrigators, grain shippers
and others who depend on the dams
for power, navigation and water.
Under the Endangered Species Act,
the operation of the dozens of federal
hydroelectric dams, reservoirs and pow
erhouses on the Columbia and Snake
rivers and their tributaries cannot jeop
ardize the survival of protected
salmon.
NOAA Fisheries has the responsi
bility to review the proposal for oper
ating the dams and issue what is called
a biological opinion.
In May 2003, U.S. District Judge
Redden in Portland ruled that the bio
logical opinion issued in 2000 was ille
gal because the federal government
could not guarantee that habitat en
hancements and upgrades to hatchery
and dam operations to prevent jeop
ardizing salmon survival would be
done.
The new analysis takes a different
approach, considering the harm dam
operations cause to salmon, but not the
harm caused by the dams simply being
there, said Bob Lohn, Northwest re
gional director of NOAA Fisheries.
Set SALMON on pa$t 9