Spíly^y Tyraoa> VVarni Springs, Oregon
Pi-Ume-Sha Senior Co
H ello, W arm Springs
com m unity. M y nam e is
A lexys V erb en a Lupe
Gonsalez.-
ij;*'l am 1-6 years and the
daughter o f Sarah (Greene)
arid Jose Luis Gonsalez. I
have three older brothers:
Jefferson “Mr. Jay” Greene,
B enjam in and Francis
Gonsalez. M y grandparents
are the late Verbena “Beans”
(Tdhet) and Perry Greene
and H arold G reen e, w ho
were all from Warm Springs.
la m a junior at North Sa
lem High School in Salem,
where my family and I reside.
My interest and hobbies are
dancing, playing volleyball,
basketball, football, softball
. and'Wrestling.
I also enjoy listening to
music, attending rodeos and
cuMfiral ceremonies. I loVe
running, walking and kicking
it wjth friends.
What is important to me
is my family because they all
are raising me and encourag
ing tine to be athletic. They
are the ones that helped me
make it this far in'life, have
taught me right from wrong,
they are with m e through
both the good and bad times.
| They are my life.
Second is my friends, who
support me in my decisions
and give a helping hand.
Third is music that ex
presses feelings and move
ment that also keeps me ac-
I cannot forgive my cul
ture as I am both Native
American and Mexican. I am
Page 9
June 21,-2007
learning new ways to be helpful
by understanding the Mexican
and Native American cultures
through songs, dances, language,
fo od and music. I probably
would not have confidence of
be involved anything without
the support o f my family and
friends.
I would like to thank you
ahead o f time for the support
by purchasing raffle tickets from
me.
Alexys Verbena Lupe
Gonsalez.
Myths and facts about the 1855 Treaty
What the Treaty of 1855 means to me
bands o f the Warm Springs gave
up over 10 million acres o f land
fo r the 600,000 acres o f re
It was about a month ago served land. We retained the
that I listened to Wasco Chief inalienable rights to hunt, fish,
Nelson Wallulatuni address the and gather foods in our usual
Tourism session at the Affiliated and accustomed sites in our
Tribes o f Northwest Indians. ceded land areas to provide us
He explained that the Wasco the opportunity to keep our self-
band o f Chinook Indians have reliance and cultural dignity. My
been involved w ith tourism puusha, atwai, LaHimosh, Herbert
prior to the arrival o f the white Stwyer Sr., described the hours
man. The Chinook people con and days o f ongoing dialogue
ducted ‘trade’ with peoples who prior to agreeing to sign the
traveled to the Columbia River Warm Springs treaty. Implicit
from Alaska, across the terrain in the oral tradition described by
to the Plains area, and as far Puusha as ichiishkinmt —-dia
south as California and Mexico. logue in which culture is posses-
Upon arrival o f the white man, sive^4-is the mutual respect and
our population has dwindled h o n o r o f the relatio n sh ip
from over 150,000 strong. To wherein our people considered
day, there are approximately all aspects o f our new oppo
4,000 enrolled members o f our nent. This form o f communi
Tribes, including the Wasco cation involves a wholistic dia
logue that is beyond the tip o f
bands.
The arrival o f the non-Indian conscious knowledge because
peoples marked the beginning our life ways involve the set o f
o f fraudulent treaty agreements, natural laws that govern the re
boundary disputes, disease, lationship between man and the
genocide, federal policies that natural world around us. In
attempted to put an end to In those days our people were
dian tribes and cultures and as trusting during times o f mutual
similate us into mainstream so agreements; though the Treaty
ciety. We were satisfied with our agreement was a new concept.
Puusha shared the funerary
way o f life and preferred to be
song that was sung as our an
left alone.
However, in 1853, the mili cestors Indians traveled to the
tary commander issued a notice reservation. Millions o f acres
to remind settlers that the land oF land were given up in ex
at the Easr'of the Cascades have change for hundreds o f acres o f
not been settled by Treaty and reservation land. The land base
‘the G overn m ent alone has did not contain the salmon and
power to extinguishments for wildlife that our people were
the Indian title.’ As time moved accustomed to. The harsh en
forward, it became increasingly vironment and poor soils did
clear that more white settlers not sustain growth o f foods and
were going to arrive and our our people starved.
The Treaty o f 1855 brought
people were subjected to the
■ Plateau War, although it was ac about a unicjue status o f bur
tually á conflict in Yakima terri- Sovereign nation and it has also
. tory. Little did we know that the changed our way o f life in which
intruders sought to punish all our people faced new challenges
Indians. Aside from that, our fo r: Econom ic developm ent,
people did not understand the intergeherational healing o f the
concept o f land ownership. We impacts o f forced removal from
respected the animals, the plant ou r original lands, boarding
life, air, and water as gifts from schools, and new models fo r
the Creator. As we tried to pro conducting business, and a di
tect these resources, wars broke lution o f traditional culture and
out between the government traditions that endured our
and other Plateau tribes. We had people for over 600 generations.
little choice but to settle with a Our ties to the Columbia River
go back thousands o f years. We
Treaty.;
The Confederated Tribes and are still connected through our
B y Aurolyn Stw yet
Tribal Councilwoman
songs, relationship to the land,
plant and animal life.
An interesting side note is the
fact that the terms o f the Treaty
were not completely understood
by our people. There were
terms such as ‘ratification’ by the
Senate, for example. Because o f
the imbalance with the treaty ne
gotiations, today the U.S. gov
ernm ent m ust in terp ret the
Treaty weighed to the benefit o f
our Tribes’.
I hkve often wondered what
life would be like if the trau
matic events that were experi
enced by my ancestors did not
take place. Our people survived
the holocaust o f the Treaty o f
1855 and the loss o f the Celilo
Falls, due to their faith in the
Creator. It was their tenacity
that maintained our traditional
values and a strong emphasis on
the family. However, the multi
tude o f change, loss and trauma
has impacted our society as a
whole. Psychologist Eduardo
Duran discusses the wounded or
the oppressed becoming the
oppressor, “Manifestation o f
the internalized soul wound is
found in many facets o f life
such as domestic violence, sui
cide, family dysfunction, com
munity dysfunction and v io
lence, institutional violence and
dysfunction, tribal/political in
fighting and violence, and spiri
tual abuse and violence, and
epistemic violence.” Other fac
tors are the shorter life span,
homicide, suicide, diabetes, can
cer,- school drop out, poverty,
alcohol and drug addiction, and
low self-esteem. These horrific
statistics are an on go ing
struggle, yet I have faith that we
have the ability to combat them.
152 years following the sign
ing o f the Treaty, we now have
. a global economy and techno
logical change. It wiljrakç con
structive leadership to protect
and exercise ou r sovereign
Treaty rights; maintain our spiri
tual wisdom; preserve and revi
talize our native tradition, lan
guages, and the arts; promote
healthy body and healthy envi
ronment; as well as business and
leadership development. Nyyy!
documents like the Constitution tribal court, police powers, to
o f the United States, or the exclude non-Indians (so behave
Declaration o f Independence as during Pi-ume-sha), regulate
Are Indians still in America? just an old document. Keeping domestic affairs and so on... we
A definite yes, 500 plus tribal the word o f nations: “G reat have had some rights removed
nations.... nations that were here Nations like great men should in criminal arenas but in no way
occupying and owning the lands keep their word*” is what the should a reservation be thought
given by The Creator since time U.S. Suprem e C o u rt Justice o f as a lawless area. These tights
immemorial.
Black said.
are rights that connect back to
■■■ Today, the Confederated
The only rights the tribes the Creator given responsibili
Tribes o f the Warm Springs have are on-reservation. Noij'esf ties and were not given to us by
Reservation has tribes! o f Warm pecially in the Middle Oregon the U.S. o f State o f Oregon.
Springs, Wasco and Paiute. The Treaty o f 1855, it is clear that
W hat is this sovereignty?
Middle Oregon Treaty o f 1855. thè tribes kept for themselves in Unlike the United States, created
recognized the sovereign au wiriting the right to hunt, fish, by revolution, we were given the
thorities o f the Warm Springs gather roots, pick berries and lands, way o f life, languages and
Hello, my name is Rose
and W asco trib es w ith the pasture our stocks on unclaimed beleifs by The Creator. We be
bud Kaysee Whipple. I am a
Piautes joining the treaty tribes lands O ff Reservation.
long to the land. Sovereignty has
candidate for the Pi-Ume-Sha
in late 1 880’s. The Paiute tribes
.
We’ve continued to fish the four basic elements: Land base, • Junior Court.
participate today with equal ac big river, W im ulth, or N ’chi a people, governing body struc
I am an enrolled member
cess to tribal services under the Wana, today Columbia River ture and air economy.
o f the Confederated Tribes
Tribal Constitution and By- because the fishing way o f life
o f Warm Springs. My Indian
"
Salmon, deer, roots and ber
Laws.
-
name is Ix-chapa (wild rose).
was reserved in the treaty. We ries are central to our way o f life
Did American give sovef- .gave up „ title , o r C eded, and are celebrated, throughout
: My tribes are Wasco, Warm
eignty to the Tribal' Nations?- fO,00^,000 acres to the United the year by our peqple. The
Springs, Paiute, and Rosebud
N o, the transaction o f the States, in return for the Trust places which we occupy today
Sioux.
Middle Oregon Treaty o f 1855 relationship with the U.S. and are but a small part o f the re
I am 9 years old, and live
was betw een the. sovereign our Indian way o f life. Some el sponsibilities we have wherever
in Seekseequa.
r
Warm Springs and' Wasco tribes ders still state if you don’t honor our past relatives resided.1
My interests are math,
v We maintain our relationship ^
and the United States. What au the treaty then we want the land
reading, travel, beadworking, blue.
powwows, swimming and
thorities and rights that were not back. ^
to the living and our dead .(Re
M y parents are B rett and
skating. My favorite color is Brigette Whipple. My paternal
talked about in the treaty trans
W hat rights do the tribes patriation efforts) under the
action were reserved... the re have? We have the rights t»f all unwritten laws our our peoples.
served rights doctrine is we re other sovereigns except for the Please see the Declaration o f
served or kept the other authors ones we gave up in treaty like S o vereig n ty at the w ebsite
ties not mentioned in the treaty. the right to make war, we re warm springs.com . Click on
Treaty is an old document served the right to enroll our “Tribal Community,” and then
that should be ignored...? Then people, make laws, carry out “History and Culture” to find
The Resource Manage pected to yield approximately 13
so should be ignore other old those laws, have always had a this document.
ment Interdisciplinary Team million board feet o f timber.
The document is divided into
has released a draft project
assessm ent covering the sections explaining the purpose
Springs Reservation, are all guaranteed by the
2008 Sugar Pine Timber Sale and need for action, resource-
1855 Treaty. Our forefathers secured these
for public review. The docu based indicators used to help the
things in exchange for peace and for the ced
ment was prepared by the technical staff analyze and miti
ing o f ten million acres o f land to the United
(Continued from page
P ro je c t In terd iscip lin ary gate environmental impacts, and
Those; same Treaty fishing rights have given States Government.
Team to provide options for details o f the three alternatives.
As your Tribal Council Chairman, there is
us a very strong voice in how the Federal G ov
timber harvest in the Shitike.
The goal o f Alternative A is
ernment operates the huge dams on the Co not a day that goes by that I do not think about
and Seekseequa watersheds.
to continue Current manage
lumbia River, which affect the number o f the 1855 Treaty and thank the Creator for die
Three alternatives were m ent Activities such as hunting,
salmon and steelhead that return to our fish wisdom and foresight o f our ancestors. It was
form ulated and numerous recreation and cultural food
their determination to secure an agreement
ing grounds.
logging methods were con gathering would continue as in
The 1855 Treaty is also the protector o f our with the United States that Would ensure that
sidered fo r this project, tak the past. The only harvest pro
inherent sovereignty. Our traditional way o f future generations would be able to live as sov
ereign
Indian
people
on
our
ancestral
lands
that,
ing
into account present re posed un der A lte rn a tive A
life as Columbia River Indian people, our fish
source conditions, fo rest would be through conventional
ing, hunting andfood gathering rights, and our made our Tribe what it is today. We have much
health and public input. The salvage operations. Alternatives
sovereign right to govern ourselves and our to be thankful for;
Sugar Pine Timber Sale is ex- B and C are designed to harvest
exclusive Indian homeland that is the Warm
B y Louie P itt
Government Affairs Director
Pi-Ume-Sha Junior Court Candidate
/ x '—
jt W w
fin®
grandparents .are Doyle and
Sandra Whipple. My mater
nal grandparents are the late
Gordon Scott Sr. and Brenda
Kalama Scott.
My great grandparents are
E lm er S co tt.S r.' and Lela
P u yette S co tt; and Chief:,
N ick K alam a and V io la
Wallulatum Kalama.
I have one brother, A u
g u st, and o n e s iste r, .
Annalise.
Thank.you for your sup
port during Pi-Ume-Sha.
’
Rosebud
Whipple.
Kaysee
Timber sale assessment released
Treaty —----- -
approxim ately 13 m illion
board feet o f timber from
approximately 2,100 acres.
The three; altern atives
would have varying impacts
on water, fish, wildlife, cul
tural, timber, range, soil and
econ om ic reso u rces and
there would also be some
changes to the transportation
system.
v For more information or
copies o f the docum ents5
contact Vernon W olf in the
Forestry Branch, or call 553-
2416. Tribal members have
30 days to comment on the
proposed sale. I