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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (July 31, 2008)
July 31, 2 0 0 8 Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon Page 6 River culture subject of ‘The Shattered Civilization’ barter, which gave them every thing they needed. A uthor and tribal member E norm ous supplies o f stored In 1936 there were no per salmon and other foods contrib capita payments, no roads, utili u te d to v isitin g g ro u p s w ho ties, health or other benefits we came to their area during the medicine dance and child inau experience today. D uring this time there was a guration for the guardian spirit rush to get children living o n the festivities in the late fall and win W arm Springs placed on the ter months. W ith the introduction o f the new proposed enrollment list. In this scuttle m y g ran d m o th er white man’s diseases and govern tried frantically to get m e en m ent policies the River People’s civilization was annihilated and rolled. The only motive then was to shattered, as a consequence be just be recognized as a m em ber gan a new era w ith a sm all o f this W arm Springs group. glimpse here and there o f how W ith relentless determ ination it was from the years o f about grandm other succeeded, and I 1700s to 1855. D uring the epidemics o f the becam e E n ro llm e n t n u m b er 1770s to 1858, the Cascade In 0008 on the tribal rolls. dians’ population alm ost disap T/Ar excerpt is taken from my peared. N o longer did they con next book: ‘"The Shattered Civilisa trol the river. All the future children o f the tion”: T his b ook is prim arily de W arm Springs civilization are on signed for inform ational p u r a crash avenue into extinction. poses fo r my p eo p le o f th e This is brought on by the present tribal enrollm ent policy. W arm Springs. Take a solemn look into about This inform ation m ight be o f b enefit to th em and their a hundred years from now, there posterity, though o f less inter will be'possibly no one person eligible for enrollm ent on the est and im portance to others. Falling now from rem em W arm Springs. The Wasco people are already brance are m ost of. the old tim ers, w ho lived, fished along the in this warp through interm ar Columbia River. T he elders o f riages from other groups other that time have w orn out their than W arm Springs. Chinookan speakers no longer moccasins and passed from this life, and the earlier time dom i exist as separate tribal entities. Reservation life has mingled nant way o f life also vanished u n d er th e backw aters o f the the rem nants o f m any tribes and other ethnic groups. massive dams. H o w ev er, th e h eritag e o f The oral history and memory o f the wild river by the Native bloodlines recorded in the BIA American is in danger o f disap realty records survives at Warm pearing. Five-Mile Rapids and Springs Reservation. The remaining m em bers o f Celilo Falls and the deep foun d a tio n o f cu ltu re th a t o n ce the once thriving River people flourished will someday live only stand in fear o f w hat the future on the Whiteman’s talking paper. brings, they will never again hear Marriage, trading and allied the roaring waters o f the Cas ties with other groups were as cades Rapids and .Iskulia’s fish far as the now Canadian West ing place, the Coyote stories are no longer heard, they died out ern Coastal Border. T he canoe users also had several generations ago. In the future rem nant chil trade, and- m arriage arrange m ent ties w ith the Spokane’s, dren o f the W arm Springs will Cayuse and N ez Perce and o th be asking, did such a civilization ers from where the sun makes ever exist? E ven to this day some people are asking this very its daily appearance. The entire populations o f the same question. T h e O ld R iv er P e o p le ’s Pacific N orthw est were always known as allies and the ultimate G h o sts and L and rem em ber: traders, and these ties were be F rom o u t o f the ghastly past cause o f th e anim istic b elief v o ic e s cry o u t fro m th e Ihda’max! T he Wasco K iksht system (primal religions). T heir position o n the river w ord Ihda’max! M eans all the being one o f the very best for progenitors from several genera taking fish, the River People had tions past. Sapir Wishram Texts, 169. an unlim ited supply fo r their The G reat Creator p u t River own use and ample stores for B y George Aguilar George Aguilar people on the Columbia River... but, the sacred ground know them no m o re... The River once thronged with these people... The River and the people are silent n o w ... The River’s keepers are gone... The River expresses grief, o f their absence like a lover, bro ken with heartache... The River barely rolls on, without a sound o f a soft w hisper... T he mythical sadistic Walla Walla winds try to breathe life into the Efeless river but to no avail... T he River has becom e en slaved to technological progress., the Wild River has become lazy and dirty. She was once the Q ueen o f all rivers; there were none like h e r... She was w ild and feisty... H er people grieve now for her dem ise... The River people were torn away from her bosom and sent far away... I f the surrounding landscape o f the river could speak, it al m o st certainly w ould tell us, “There was once a thickly popu lated peopled village that stayed here o r there... The naked forested hills in all probability w ould have said: “I was once clothed w ith beautiful stately fir tree forests, I now cover my nakedness w ith-the large maple leaf.” T he tow ering bluffs o f the river may have said, “T he full o f life children used this rock slide; the children played in that stream , o r children w ere told coyote did this or that.” T he petroglyphs spirits no longer utter, drow ned forever underneath tainted w aters... T h e rite s o f p assag es no longer exploited as an avenue into the spirit w o rld ... Knowledge, wisdom, proph esies, instruction no longer ac complished in dreams, in visions o f the night w hen deep sleep fall on the old as they lie on their beds... The land announces, “I have been plague-ridden w ith many different p eo p le... Their destructive systems dis please the C reator... I am no lo n g er p erfum ed w ith the fragrance o f beautiful flowers... All brilliancy and majesty o f the fields g o n e... * T he atm osphere angrily re plies too m uch too many bad airs... F o r m any snow m elts the River people stood afar... ob se rv e d th e la n d sc a p e b ein g stripped and hum iliated... In the m idst o f all the ghosts o f the River P eople... They rem em ber happy by gone days before the dreaded d iseases... th e g h o sts o f the River People also rem em ber: “W hen the River Ran Wild!” George W. Aguilar Sr T h e villages o f th e R iver People lined b oth sides o f the riv er; th e sm oke fro m th e ir lodges thickened the clear blue skies the parents took it easy in their large houses during the winter months. A gath erin g o f the village m en probably could have been seen sitting in a circle and doing a social sm oke gathering, and w hile th e sm oke p ip es blue, sm oke lazily cu rled an d as cended to the atm osphere each m an m ay have to ld o f som e w ar story or some other pursuit or exploit, but all those goings- on are no more. T he River People’s civiliza tion once stood tall. B ut each and every one o f these speaking groups are no m ore, the few rem nants o f the River People w ho survived the epidemics were sent to countries far from where the Creator put them. - ■ ■ • ...... They that rem ained on the River were pushed aside. T he Wasco opera song dog A (Salliiion (kente-r 7b STp. b tk , M fifreu, Op 7774-1 T he Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs is accept ing lease proposals for the service station building by the Rainbow Market. Anyone wishing to subm it a proposal sh o u ld c o n ta c t U rb a n a Manion, tribal land services adm inistrator. She can be reached at 553-3271. O r by m ail at CTW S L an d Ser v ices, P O B ox C, W arm Springs, O R 97761. Lease term s are negotiable. 'p Inter-Industry Conference On Auto Collision Repair (l-CAR) L A u to m o tive S ervice E xcellence (A SE) C ertified COME SEE US FIRST We repair all makes and models! Let us help negotiate your vehicle damage claim A Ture feet Sane Salcn & Sna a Hairstylist Cheryl Taylor new working Monday through Thursday, 9 a .m . to <5 p .m . or later. Specializing in color, perms, outs. S3 off chemical services such as colors. Phone 473 93C9 (w) or 771-1C2C (cell) for appointm ent. I secure and maintain their sup plies, but for them the natural w orld was kind. The bones o f K iksht ances tors buried along the River are no longer rem em bered, their skeletal "remains disturbed, up rooted, and placed into white- mans concrete graves. T he utensils o f the form er civilization, bags, trinkets, toys o f the long ago children now live in museums as the only m e m e n to s o f a c iv ilizatio n o f many bygone winter snow melts. Some Elders still rem em ber and have held their heads high, and the spirits o f the elders still flow through them as if they never died. As long as the use o f the few deep-rooted Indian names are in use, those Elders will live on forever and the River people’s nations will be reborn through the use o f the W arm Springs Reservation language program and by the giving o f the Indian N ames from those bygone el ders. T he early U.S. G overnm ent policies have accomplished its mission by destroying and shat tering the River people’s civili zations. All o f our customs and cul ture m ay have been dismally shattered, how ever, gam bling and w arrior traditions o f our culture were never crushes; it has always been a foremost con stituent o f the River People’s culture. The governm ent policies are further pursuing the extermina tion o f the indigenous languages by inadvertently establishing policies similar to the “N o Child Left Behind.” W hen this policy was legis lated it obliterated native lan g uage le s so n s in th e local schools, and thed^onfed^rates Tribes language program has been stymied by this recent leg islated policy. MILLER FORD-NISSAN Tribes accepting bids for lease 4 C oyote m ade this an n o u n ce ment: “Many people are coming to our land, and so we cannot do all that we are used to doing. We m ust share w ith ou r new friends. We m ust learn to bear our hardships and our sorrows as best we can.” P ef Ella Clark So, the River people shared their food, their land and gave with an open heart. B ut they were coerced from the use o f their homeland. They w anted peace, and to trade, but they were torn away from each other. T heir family m em bers were separated, genealogical ties were shattered, and family m em bers were dispersed to different res ervations. All this was because o th er b ro th e rs o f th e h u m an race w anted m ore land. T he superior ethnic group tried to destroy and shatter the elderly people’s spirit. T hey said, “You m ust now throw away the red man’s law and live by the W hitem an’s civiliza tion.” A .B . Meacham Wigwam and War Path 1871 W aters w ere co ntam inated and the Iganut (salmon) come in abundance no more. They built massive dams, and in the last dying struggle o f the Columbia River she gave her last wild, small splash, and she then laid still and died. T he Clod given land to the River People was altered; roots and beautiful wild flowers grow no more. S ettlers tu rn e d u n d e r th e fields o f camas lilies, and their cattle, hogs and horses up-rooted an d g razed o f f o th e r n ativ e plants and grasses. P rio r to the advent o f the prophesied intruders, the River People existed on a well-bal anced life in this G od. given homeland. For the River people life was easy, and they w orked hard to 123 SW J St. in M a d ra s ) We honor all insurance company estimates. Factory trained technicians, factory quality repairs 86 craftmenship, frame straightening rack, with laser precision body alignment. No matter what happens to your car, you can count on the Autobody Repair specialists at Miller Ford Nissan collision center to take care of it from the smallest scratch to the biggest dent. 24-Hour Towing Service, Rental cars available 541-475-6153 J 9
