Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2005)
Spilyqy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon April 28, 2005 Pqge7 Celebrating Kids Day The Hoys and Girls Club of Warm Springs partici pated in the Celebration of Kids Day in early April at the Deschutes County Fair grounds. The event celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Cen tral Oregon. The Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club recognized five young people for their outstanding participation and positive influence in five pro gram areas of the club. The five youth and the program areas are: Kcnia Cross, club leader ship and development; Kapri Moody, career and education; Kecia Florendo, the arts; Devontre Thomas, spons, fit ness and recreation; and Mileena Edwards, health and life skills. June Smith, Warm Springs club director, said she wishes 1 J-Ca i -i ' J ? I II. V i Photo oouflciy of th Boy and Girl Club Boys and Girls Club members Celestine Morning Owl, Kecia Florendo, Keeyana Yellowman, Vivian Yazzie and Mariah Lucei (from left.) to extend congratulations to these young club members. Smith said the club also wishes to thank Emerson Squicmphen and the drum group Wcewokca for their time, effort and per formance at the Tenth Anniver sary celebration. In addition, Smith said, the club extends a thank-you to Rudy Clements and his group of singers and dancers for their performance. Along with the club member ship recognition and the music and dunce perfor mances, the anniversary cel ebration included a slide show, youth of the year speeches, art and photo exhibit. Young Indians at Celilo take step toward manhood Reading, cooking for youth Youth grades K-8 are invited to a fun reading and cooking program called, There's a Mon ster in My Soup. Time: 10:30 a.m. till 12 noon, Saturday, April 30 at the OSU4-H kitchen, in the basement of the Education Building. The gathering is to read a fun book and cook delicious food related to the topic of the storybook. Sign-up in person or call 553 3238 or 553-3535. Only 15 spots available. Baby 's first moccasin class Baby's First Moccasins outline of the baby's or small class: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Satur- child's foot. Irom this pat day, May 21 at the Warm tern you will create moc Springs Center, 1110 Wasco casins. Street. Instructor is Valeric Bring a 3 or 4 square foot Switzlcr. Cost: $29. piece of buckskin. For infor- What to bring: bring an mation call 553-1428. Sovereignty: tribes form own government (Continued from page 1) Columbus was authorized to take possession of any lands he "discovered" that were "not under the dominion of any Christian rulers," and in 1823, the Christian Doctrine of Dis covery was adopted into U.S. law by the Supreme Court in the case of Johnson v. Mcintosh. The Indians lost their rights to complete sovereignty, as in dependent nations, and only re tained a right of occupancy in their lands. Indian nations were subject to the authority of the first nation of Christendom to claim possession of a given re gion of Indian lands. These were the days of cru sades to take the land in the name of the Pope. Their think ing was that heathens shouldn't own land. Because the Indians were not civilized, they were considered heathens. In 1855 the Warm Springs and Wasco Tribes entered into a treaty with the United States. All parties entered with full rec ognition of the sovereign au thority of the other parties. The two tribes ceded certain aspects of their aboriginal title to millions of acres of land, but retained 600,000 acres. They also kept off-reservation rights. Both tribes reserved their national sovereignty. The U.S. assumed trust duties to protect the reser vation and all off-reservation rights from outside forces. In 1992 the Confederated Tribes adopted this document of sovereignty. We, the members of the Con federated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, comprised of the Wasco, Warm Springs and Northern Paiute Tribes, hereby decare our na tional sovereignty. We declare the existence of this inherent sover eign authority the absolute right to govern, determine our destiny, and to control all per sonal, land, water, resources and activities, free of all outside in terference throughout our home land and over all our rights, prop erty, and people, where located. The geographic reach of our sovereignty includes the whole area I pv 4 " zLZ- 2 Cynthia Starke within the borders of our tribal reservation, reserved by the Warm Springs and Wasco Tribes in their 1855 Treaty with the United States.... Our homeland also encom passes, and our sovereignty ex tends to, tribal off-reservation rights in our historic ancestral domain, a vast region that in cludes the Columbia Plateau and far beyond. These, off-reservation rights include rights attaching to our usual and accustomed fish ing grounds and stations; to in lieu fishing sites; to burial sites and other sacred sites; to lands on which tribal members can hunt, gather roots and berries, and pasture stock; to acquired landj; and to other areas over which our tribes now possess, or may later establish, rights of any kind. Sovereignty exists for Warm Springs but there are important guidelines in the field of Indian affairs concerning all sovereign tribes. These guidelines include: First, the Constitution vests Congress with plenary power over Indian affairs. Second, Indian tribes retain important sovereign powers over "their members and their territory," subject to the plenary power of Congress. And third, the U.S. has a trust responsibility to Indian tribes, which guides and limits the fed eral government in dealings with Indian tribes. As Starke stated, "What hasn't been taken away, re mains." What does this mean? Each Indian tribe begins its relation ship with the federal govern ment as a sovereign power, rec ognized as such in treaty and legislation. The powers of sov ereignty have been limited from time to time by special treaties and laws designed to take from the Indian tribes control of cer tain matters, as determined by Congress. Stated another way, what is not expressly limited re mains within the domain of tribal sovereignty. In 1938 The Warm Springs, Wasco, and Paiute tribes offi cially formed a confederacy, es tablished common government, and adopted a written constitu tion. This constitution created a Tribal Council for administrative purposes and reserved all sov ereign powers to the people. Since that time the tribes have amended the constitution. Today, the people of the Confederated Tribes continue to assert and exercise sovereign au thority over the reservation, over other territory within tribal jurisdiction, over territory that may come under tribal jurisdic tion in the future, and over the protection of our rights and our people and their welfare in all places. The question was asked of Starke, "Why are these bound aries fenced and we can't hunt in those areas?" She answered that tribal members are allowed to hunt or fish in open and un claimed lands. It is the land that is claimed by another that is fenced around the borders. Other topics within this subject were criminal sovereignty, sale of tribal property, trust obliga tion, and jurisdiction over non- Indians on reservations. The Celilo, Salmon & Smoke seminars take place at High Lookcc Lodge, and are offered by Central Oregon Community College. CI .I.II.O VllJJVGIi (AP) Tribal fillers called Steven Begay and I-ane Meanus to the front of the crowd gathered in a longhousc. It was a big honor. Nobody said a word. The two young Indians shuffled up quietly and stood still, serious expressions on their faces. "These two boys you sec standing here, they have taken a big step in their lives," said Thomas Morning Owl of Pendleton, in a strong voice over the howling wind. "These two have been raised in this village together like brothers." The big step was their first kill, a ceremonial coming of age among Native Americans -when a child is recognized for becoming a provider for his tribe. Steven and Lane killed their first deer over the winter and became children no longer. Steven, 11, who stood no higher than the shoulders of the adults around him, wore a tra ditional ribbon shirt and long braids. Lane, lean and taller at 13, wore a regular dress shirt, slacks and cropped hair. Both wore moccasins. I lundreds gath ered for the event near The Dalles. The elements didn't cooper ate. The wind blew so hard that the entire longhouse - nearly 100 feet long and 40 feet tall -threatened to topple. The lodge pole pines that support the struc ture flexed and creaked, and the canvas covering them whipped like a ship's sails. As some of the men shored up support poles, Owl asked the boys to share their stories of their first kill with the onlook ers. The pair did their best to ignore the commotion. I.ane stepped forward and whispered his story to Owl, who acted as an echo, retelling it in his boom ing voice. Lane's dad shot first. His bullet found its mark, and a deer tumbled into a canyon. Then Line aimed at another deer. "With one shot I killed my first one. Then 1 shot again and killed two more - a doe and a three-point buck." Steven also whispered to Owl, who boomed out the sec ond story. "There were about 10 of them, and they took off. The deer was sitting there eating, and I took four shots. My fourth shot hit it. The deer was just stand ing there and looking at us." Those in the longhouse lis tened intently, men sitting on one side and the women on the other. Their feet dangled from benches onto the grass floor. Once finished, the boys gave their uncles gifts of Pendleton wool blankets and handed over the rifles, knives and bullet boxes they used on their hunt. The men, who long ago had gone through the same ceremony, had helped teach the boys how to stalk and hunt deer. Then others brought two neatly folded piles of clothing and tennis shoes to the boys. "Whoever has a boy this size, come get his clothes!" Owl cried. A small boy walked forward to receive the clothes Steven had hunted in. He would wear them for his first deer next year. Lane and Steven also gave gifts to tribal chiefs and elders and more experienced hunters. 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