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
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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
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