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P.O. Box 870
Tymoc
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STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Coyote News, est. 1976
January 6, 2005 Vol, 30, No. 1
Spilygy
Past year
saw many
big news
stories
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
Some years it's hard to come up with
the top five local news stories, but in
2004 there was no shortage of items to
choose from.
Here are some statements by people
around Warm Springs, when they were
asked to name the top story of 2004:
"In my opinion, it was the skate park
for the kids," said Fritz Miller, records
specialist at Tribal Council. "It has been
a need for a lot of kids in the commu
nity. They've had to travel to other
parks around the state. Now, this gives
them a central place they can feel is
their own, where they can spend time
doing something positive."
Urbana Ross, tribal member recruit
ment and development manager at
Kah-Nee-Ta, said the construction of
the new gymnasium at the elementary
school was the important event. For a
while it seemed like nothing was going
to happen, she said, but now the new
building is nearly done.
Charlotte Herkshan of Community
Counseling said the McQuinn-HeHe
settlement was the important event of
the year for the tribes. The money, she
said, won't replace what was there -.
the natural resources - but the $16.4
-million settlement is justified.
Paul Young, BIA superintendent of
the Warm Springs Agency, said the for
mal agreement signed in 2004 regard
ing future operation of the Pelton
Round Butte hydroelectric facilities was
the big event.
Clearly, there was a lot of news in
2004. Which makes the task of choos
ing the top five stories somewhat easier
this year. So, in keeping with the an
nual tradition, the following is the top
five news list in order of importance,
in my opinion:
The number one story is the
McQuinn-HeHe settlement. There are
. two reasons for this. One, the dispute
lasted over a decade, so its resolution
was especially welcome. And two, the
amount of money involved is large.
The lawsuit over the McQuinn-
blowdown timber sale began in 1996,
' a few years after the BIA sale of tim
ber from the McQuinn strip. Years
later, after many legal motions and ar
guments, the tribes were finally
awarded close to $14 million to com
pensate for the mishandling of the sale.
The HeHe suit, also against the fed
eral government, was for the loss of
timber due to a wildfire that originated
from a BIA controlled burn. In 2004
the tribes settled both the McQuinn and
HeHe cases for a total of $16.4 mil
lioa Hydro agreement
The tribes and other governments
in 2004 signed an agreement for the
long-term management of the Pelton
Round Butte hydroelectric facilities.
The agreement was a final major step
toward the granting of the new 50-year
license for operation of the dams, co
owned by the tribes and Portland Gen
eral Electric.
In attendance at the July 2004 sign
ing ceremony, conducted on the grounds
of the Museum at Warm Springs, were
the Tribal Council, fish and wildlife
advocates, along with representatives
of many state and federal agencies,
including Secretary of the Interior Gale
Norton. In the five or so years leading
up to the agreement, the tribes and
PGE worked with government agen
cies and other interested parties toward
renewal of the operating license.
Set TOP NEWS oh page 10
Youth gathering focuses on traditional solutions
By Brian Mortensen
Spilyay Tymoo
Arlie Neskahi said that true war
riors spend only a little time fight
ing an enemy. "A warrior is some
one who takes care of his people,"
he said.
In doing so, the warrior protects
his land and his people to the death,
if necessary. And inside each one
is a spot where anger can live but
must be replaced by love.
Neskahi, a Navajo lecturer and
singer based in Seattle, spoke at the
Winter Workshop for Youth at the
Agency Longhouse Dec. 29-30.
Neskahi spoke to just over 30
tribal members, including children and
adults, in four sessions during the
Thursday-Friday workshop.
He recalled a conversation with a
woman he met while he was working
at Chemawa School in Salem. The
woman became serious when she
started talking about an ancient spirit
that would come upon the students at
the school
"She said that when the spirit comes
upon them, two things are going to
happen," he said.
He said the youth would start look
ing around, and that they would cause
destruction. "She said, 'We used to
know what this spirit was. We used to
understand it. We used to know how
sacred it was,'" he said. "She said don't
fight against it; respect it."
She said it was "the warrior spirit,"
and that the spirit looks for what hurts
the Native people, and then it strives
to wage war against those hurts.
"All over our Indian land, we're start
ing to see more violence and starting
to see more destruction," he said. "The
sad part about it, and the most danger
ous part about it, is we're doing it to
each other."
He said that never in the history of
our people have we done violence to
our own people. "So something has
been turned around, and this is what
she was trying to explain."
Neskahi said the purpose of his part
of the workshop was to get people to
not treat their anger as a problem but
understand where it comes from.
Understanding the root of the an
ger, he said, will help Natives avoid de
stroying themselves, through such things
as substance abuse or addiction, and
to each other in the form of violence.
When asked to consider some of
the things that have made them angry,
both past and present, the assembled
group also thought up things that dis
courage them about the future.
See YOUTH on page 10
3T:KjSHl i Yl 7 "f t.
ilk? A WW
Dave McMechanSpilyay
Sean Sohappy maneuvers down one of the ramps at the Elmer Quinn Skate Park, which was dedicated last
week. Open just two weeks, the park already has become a popular place for young people. During the
opening dedication ceremony, Jim Quaid, Social Services manager, announced that a BMX track for
bicycles would be the next project, in conjunction with the skate park. Bikes are not allowed on the skate
park area, as they can damage the surface of the ramps. Skaters are advised to wear helmets and pads.
Treaty of 1 855
Activities planned to mark 150th anniversary
By Dave McMechan
Spilyay Tymoo
One hundred and fifty years ago
this June, members of the Wasco and
Warm Springs tribes gathered at a
place now called the Treaty Oak site.
By the Treaty Oak, in the area of
The Dalles, 152 tribal members ac
cepted the terms of a document
known as the Treaty of the Middle
Oregon Tribes, or the Treaty of
1855.
The treaty created the reservation
of the Confederated Tribes, while re
linquishing 10 million acres of land,
the Ceded Lands. While relinquish
ing these lands, the tribes kept their
hunting, fishing and gathering rights
at the usual and accustomed places
throughout the vast Ceded Lands
area.
The tribal rights within the Ceded
Lands, which include some of the
fastest growing areas in the North
west, are a central part of the Treaty
of 1855. The 150th anniversary of the
signing of the treaty is a good time to
examine and reflect on the state of the
treaty rights, said Louie Pitt, director
of tribal Government Affairs. "That is
a serious question that we're hoping to
push in 2005," said Pitt.
Pitt is a member of the Middle
Oregon Treaty of 1855 Celebration
Committee. The group has been con
sidering ways to mark the anniversary
of the signing of the treaty, and is plan
ning soon to bring a plan before Tribal
Council. Education will be a focus of
the anniversary activities, said commit
tee member Evaline Patt, who works
as the special projects coordinator at
the Museum at Warm Springs. An idea
is for the tribes to give presentations in
towns within the Ceded Lands.
Presentations would be on the main
aspects of the treaty, in particular the
aspect regarding tribal rights to the usual
and accustomed hunting, fishing and
gathering areas. "It's something that
today we need to point out," said Patt
"It's getting harder and harder for
people, because the land is becoming
more and more private."
By coincidence, the 150th anniver
sary of the treaty - its sesquicenten
nial - is in the same year as the bicen
tennial of the Lewis and Clark Expe
dition, as it passed down the Colum
bia River through Wasco and Warm
Springs territories.
The arrival of Lewis and Clark is
not something that the tribes celebrate,
said Louie Pitt, so the tribes' empha
sis, instead, is on the treaty.
Some ideas the anniversary com
mittee has discussed include place
ment of a marker at the site of the
Treaty Oak, which is on private land
at Mill Creek near The Dalles. The
museum will have limited edition
Pendleton blankets commemorating
the anniversary of the treaty. The
blanket design is by artist Lillian Pitt.
There will be 125 of the blankets on
sale at the museum gift shop.
See TREATY on page 6
Plan allows
hunting
of cougar
By Brian Mortensen
Spilyay Tymoo
No one has to tell Jason Smith cou
gars are at large on the Warm Springs
Indian Reservation.
He's been close enough to shoot
them, and he's seen what they can do.
Smith, protecting his herd of horses,
shot one last October, about two weeks
before a 120-pound male cougar was
hit by a vehicle on U.S. 26 near Warm
Springs Forest Products Industries Nov.
3.
Under a new management plan ap
proved by Tribal Council, tribal mem
bers with approved tags can hunt for
cougars during a 10-month season
from August through May, and can le
gally shoot them if they pose a danger
to human life or to livestock.
Cougar tags are currently available
at the Warm Springs Natural Resources
complex. The tags are free to tribal
members and only available to tribal
members.
Smith, Range and Agriculture man
ager for the Confederated Tribes who
also raises horses and cattle on reser
vation land, said he thinks the new pro
visions for hunting cougars "definitely
necessary."
"They haven't had a predator (hunt
ing) them," he said. "Normally, every
animal has a predator, but there's noth
ing hunting them.
"My theory is the reason they're re
ally concentrating on livestock is that
the deer population is so down."
Under Resolution No. 10,454, ap
proved Nov. 29, tribal members can
take one cougar, male or female, be
tween August 1 and May 31 of the
following year.
The hunt does not include spot
ted kittens, or females with spotted
kittens.
Hunters, though, can also take a
cougar during the closed period during
June and July if it is a threat to human
life or livestock.
In either case, any tribal member
taking a cougar must notify the Warm
Springs Natural Resources Department
and provide the carcass within 48 hours
of the kill. This is required so that
Warm Springs Fish and Wildlife biolo
gists can inspect the animal to deter
mine its age and any diseases or para
sites it might have had.
"We've required that they take the
cougar to Natural Resources within 48
hours so we can look at the physical
condition of the animal, take a stom
ach sample for parasites," Terry Luther,
Warm Springs Tribal Fish and Wildlife
manager, said.
The resolution was passed based on
facts that the cougar population has
increased since they became off-limits
to hunters in 1986 and have become
increased threats to tribal members and
livestock on the reservation.
Set COUGARS on page 2