Spilygy Tym
January 31, 2008
Coyote News, est. 1976
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1230 SW PARK AVE.
PORTLAND, OR 97205
Voi. 33, No. 3
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
HI ■ B H M i :
Tribes again
consider conducting
adoption election
2008 Miss Warm Springs
B y D ave M cM echan
Spilyay Tymoo
T he tribal adoption election m ay be
conducted after all by the Confedrated
Tribes, rather than the Bureau o f In
dian Affairs.
T he issue is tentatively set to go be
fore Tribal Council within the next few
m o n th s, p e rh ap s d u rin g a C ouncil
m e e tin g in A p ril, sa id M a d e lin e
Q ueahpam a-Spino, director o f tribal
Vital Statistics.
T here are currently about 240 can
d id a te s o n th e l i s t o f p o te n tia l
adoptees, she said.
T he B IA last year was in the p ro
cess o f preparing to conduct the adop
tion election. H ow ever, issues arose
indicating that a tribal, rather than BIA
election may be m ore appropriate, said
Queahpama-Spino.
She m entioned the issue o f the “resi
dency requirem ent” for adoption can
didates, and the issue o f the m inum um
voting age.
Regarding residency, the tribal Con
stitution says that “any person adopted
into m em bership m ust have resided at
le a s t th re e years u p o n th e W arm
Springs Reservation immediately prior
to th e date o f his a pplication for a d o p
tion...”
A n election conducted by the BIA
Leslie MittsZSpilyay
Cyrille Mitchell addresses the gathering at the Miss Warm Springs Pageant.
Cyrille Mitchell began her year as
M iss W arm S prings a fte r b ein g
crow ned recendy.
“I w anted to ru n for Miss W arm
Springs because I believe that I am
a positive role model,” M itchell told
the audience during the pageant ear
lier this m onth.
A fter being awarded the position
o f Miss W arm Springs, she received
a beaded crow n and banner made
by Sandra Danzuka.
Mitchell graduated from Madras
H igh School in 2004. From there
she w ent on to Haskell University in
K ansas for three years.
She played volleyball in college for
all three years,, earning a letter each
year and serving as the team cap
tain for two years.
Mitchell earned her associate’s de
gree in physical education and sports
m edicine in 2007. She is currently
employed at Early C hildhood E duca
tion.
Through her job at Early Childhood
Education, Mitchell is learning Sahaptin
w ith Arlita Rhoan, and said learning
Native languages is something she views
as very im portant.
F or the talent po rtio n o f the com
petition, Mitchell perform ed the b u t
terfly dance, w hich she said they are
also teaching to the girls at ECE.
D uring the Miss W arm Springs Pag
eant, Mitchell was judged in the areas
o f public speaking, talent, and conge
niality, w hich in clu d ed aspects like
know ledge, overall presen ce and
overall appearance.
Mitchell was also judged on her
ability during a slow w ar dance.
S ev eral fo r m e r M iss W arm
Springs as well as various com m u
nity m em bers judged the 2008 Miss
W arm Springs pageant.
T h e Eagle T h u n d er drum m ing
group provided drum m ing for the
event. Sallie Polk-Adams ended her
re ig n as th e 2 007 M iss W arm
Springs by passing on the title to
Mitchell. M itchell officially began
h er duties as Miss W arm Springs
last w eek at an event fo r th e affili
ated tribes.
g— by Leslie Mitts
Youth excels at wrestling
B y L eslie M itts
Spilyay Tymoo
Wrestling is helping one local student
reach new levels o f success.
Byron Patt, 7, has been wrestling with
the Culver M at Club for the past two
years.
H e traveled to Culver tw o times per
w eek for wrestling practice and partici
pated in m eets nearly every weekend.
So far he has w on 4 medals during vari
ous meets.
P att first started to take interest in
w restling after seeing two o f his cous
ins wresde. B oth cousins w on several
state cham pionships during their high
school years, according to Byron’s fa
ther, William “H o b o ” Patt.
“T h at’s w here he kind o f g o t inter
ested,” P att said. “H e just w atched
Byron Patt
them growing up and then that was the
th in g to do, I guess.”
H e started wrestling in Madras w hen
he was five. A fter that, Bryon began
w restling w ith the Culver M at Club
after participating in a wrestling camp
there during w inter break.
“They’ve got a great wrestling p ro
gram here,” Patt said.
In fact, P att encourages other stu
dents from W arm Springs to try w res
tling. In his opinion, his children’s in
volvem ent in athletics is one way to
keep th em from getting involved in
activities that w o n ’t help them succeed
in life.
A ccording to Patt, “It’s a little bit o f
a drive, b u t heck, it’s w o rth it.”
Byron said his favorite part o f w res
tling is ju st spending tim e w ith his
friends— like his four-year-old cousin
w ho also wrestles.
B yron is a first-grade stu d en t at
W arm Springs Elem entary School.
w ould have required excluding all can
didates w ho did n o t m eet the require
m ent, said Queahpama-Spino.
T he Tribal Council will consider the
residency question at the m eeting ten
tatively set for April, she said.
Also, an election conducted by the
B IA m ight have required ballots for all
eligible tribal m em bers over the age o f
18, while the tribal standard is age 21
or older, or married. T he discrepency
w as an o th er issue requiring fu rth er
consideration o f how best to proceed,
said Queahpama-Spino.
T he residency requirem ent over the
years has been applied to adoption elec
tions, b u t on som e occassions was n o t
applied.
For instance, the last successful adop
tion election — the last one that did n o t
fail for lack o f v o ter participation -
occurred in 1996, and did n o t require
the showing o f three years residency.
M ore recendy, the tribes attem pted
to conduct adoption election in 2001
and then in 2002. These elections did
require that the candidates dem onstrate
compliance with the residency standard.
B oth o f these elections failed for lack
o f 50-percent voter turnout.
O ne reason why the tribes were con
sidering h aving th e B IA c o n d u c t th e
“next election was to avoid having the
vote again fail due to lack o f turnout.
3 compete at International
Indian Finals Rodeo
T hree local m en com peted in the
2007 International Indian Finals Rodeo
last m onth.
G len d o n Sm ith, T revor H u rtad o
and A nthony Blueback all traveled to
the event in Chandler, A rizona, after
previously qualifying in other events.
T he rodeo featured nine contestants
from the Columbia River region, includ
ing the three m en from W arm Springs.
A ccording to G lendon Sm ith, he
com peted in team roping w ith Trevor
H urtado as his partner.
T h ey originally qualified fo r the
event through the Colum bia River Re
gional Finals.
Sm ith has b een team ro p in g for
about nine years after getting involved
because o f the involvemfent o f fellow
friends and family m em bers in rodeo
events.
“I just grew up on a ranch,” Smith
said. “My dad ow ned cattle, he ow ned
horses and we just had a lot o f Angus
cows we used to take care of. My best
friend g o t m e into rodeo.”
As for team roping, Smith said, it
involves a lo t o f concen tratio n and
practice.
“You’ve got to have a good horse to
com pete with,” Smith said, in addition
to a positive attitude.
S m ith has o n ly c o m p e te d w ith
H urtado twice before, b u t traveled to
the event as his team roping partner at
H urtado’s suggestion.
S m ith, 27, said th ey did several
fundraisers around tow n in order to
travel to the rodeo. F or instance, they
sold Christm as trees, and had Indian
taco sales and spaghetti feeds.
I t was Smith’s first tim e traveling to
the event.
C ontestants traveled from places as
far away as Canada, Smith said.
“T here were about 400 contestants
total,” Smith said. “T here was a com
bination o f 8 standard events plus jun
ior events.”
S e e FINALS RODEO on 6
Simnasho to host 31st Annual
Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow
T he Thirty-First Annual Lincoln’s
Birthday Powwow will be Friday-Sun
day, Feb. 8-10 at th e S im n ash o
Longhouse.
The pow w ow activities will begin
w ith a m em orial dinner, and open
ing and blessing at the Sim nasho
L onghouse this Saturday evening,
Feb. 2.
T he M em orial is for anyone w ho
is rejoining after the loss o f a loved
one, and returning to the dancing
circle. Also, N ew Joiners will be held
at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 8.
Please notify A nna Clem ents at
the Culture and H eritage D ep art
m ent, 553-3290, if you are planning
to participate in the m em orial on
February 2.
N o te : Q u e e n C a n d id a te s are
T a h m a ra C le m e n ts , M ile e n a
E d w a r d s , S o ray a M e n d e z a n d
A rlene D avid. Please su p p o rt the
' girls in our pow w ow fundraising ef
fort by purchasing raffle tickets.
T hank you.
2008 Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow
Committee.