P.O.Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Spilyay Tyro
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
so
I
August 28, 2008
C oyote News, est. 1976
Voi.
ò 3
No. 18
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' U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Fish
habitat,
passage
improving
Brent Merrill photo courtesy of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
Wasco Chief Nelson Wallulatum (left) and Warm Springs Chief Delvis Heath rode in the parade at the Nesika lllahee Powwow, hosted this month
by the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.
Kiksht the focus of HeHe language conference
B y L e s lie M itts
Spilyay Tymoo
The Kiksht language became a sub
ject on many people’s minds with an
event at HeHe recently. The Language
Program hosted a conference for those
involved w ith the preservation o f
Kiksht. The conference was possible
through a grant.
Apprentices Deanie Johnson and
Pam Cardenas said the three-day event
aimed to get more people involved with
the preservation o f Kiksht, the Wasco
language. A requirement o f receiving
a particular grant was that they hold a
conference, Johnson said.
Two days o f the conference were
dedicated to grammar lessons for em
ployees o f the language program .
Hank Millstein, a linguist who had
worked previously with the Language
Program, traveled from California to
conduct the lessons.
He helped-them to understand more
about how Kiksht works, Johnson said.
For instance, he worked with them on
tenses and how the language can break
down—in some cases one word can
m eanaw hole sentence; she added.
Only two fluent speakers o f Kiksht
remain: Gladys Thompson o f Warm
Springs, and Nelson Moses from the
Yakama reservation.
Moses also attended the conference,
though he had to leave before it ended
because of a death on his reservation,
Johnson said.
Though Moses attends events with
the Language Program when he is in
vited, Johnson said, it is often hard for
him to find time.
Because Moses serves as a tradi
tional religious leader in his community,
he is often called upon to perform cer
emonies. “He’s a busy man,” Johnson
explained.
For the Kiksht language, Johnson,
Cardenas and Valerie Switzler serve as
apprentices. They spend time learning
from T hom pson, 93, w ho is also
Johnson’s grandmother.
Community members with Wasco
heritage or with ties to the language
were invited to the conference, Johnson
said, and in particular elders who could
possibly help with the preservation ef Switzler gave a presentation about
■time she spent in Hawaii for a study
forts- were- sought out.
An invitation featuring a photo of abroad program. Switzler is currendy
Wasco elders was sent to many com attending college in Kansas and
munity members, but due to funerals spent time in Hawaii learning about
a limited number were able to attend language immersion programs.
the conference. However, Cardenas
In Johnson’s opinion, the entire
said, those who were able to attend conference was an uplifting experi
made the event very positive.
ence.
“I think it went well because o f the
“Sometimes we feel, or I feel, like
elders that attended,” Cardenas said.
we’re all alone and nobody else
Cardenas brought a book o f old cares,” Johnson said, but the event
photos to the conference to use to helped bring more people together.
The grant money that paid for
spark conversation between elders, she
said. Johnson said she felt the confer the conference is only part o f the
ence went well because her main goal financial assistance they are receiv
was to inform the community about ing as part o f their language preser
what they are doing to preserve the lan vation efforts, Johnson added. “It’s
guage as well as future plans. In addi grants that are carrying this lan
tion, she said, she hoped to be able to guage,” Johnson said. “It’s helped
draw more people in to help.
up tremendously.”
They also wished to thank Neda
Besides local elders, Johnson said,
several young people attended as well Wesley and Eliza Brown-Jim, as well
as teachers from the Early Childhood as their helpers, for the wonderful
Education program and two commit meal they prepared at the conference.
Cardenas and Johnson said they
tee members from the Culture and
plan to hold a conference next sum
Heritage Committee.
In addition to other activities, Valerie mer as well.
Career takes pharmacist to many countries
J u s tin e T h o m a s
Spilyay Tymoo
A career in medical pharmaceuticals
has led one tribal member all over the
world before returning to Central Or
egon. Marcella (Brunoe) Barta was al
ways interested in pharmaceuticals. She
started working at th e H ealth and
Wellness Center 16 years ago, when she
was 16. Barta is the daughter of Gar
land and Suzan Brunoe.
After graduating from Madras High
School in 1994 Barta joined the Youth
With The Mission (YWTM), and trav
eled to China, New Zealand, the Cook
Islands and Hawaii.
She stayed in Hawaii for a year, go
ing to a training school where she met
her husband. After her training school
Barta and her husband went as a team
%
to Australia for two months.
According to Barta, “I loved school,
I want to go back;”
After Bata’s YWTM experience she
moved to Minnesota where she attended
school for seven years.
Barta spent three years learning
about pre-pharmacy and four years in
pharmacy school where she kept a 4.0
GPA.
Barta got into a pharmacy program
designed for Native Americans. Barta
also used this program when she was
still in high school to get an idea and
feel for her dream o f working in a
pharmacy.
“The helped me out a lot,” Barta
said. The program she went through
gave her free summer tutoring, and
summer classes to prep for the next
school year.
4f
$
i ..............
Marcella Barta
Barta did a general practice phar
macy residency at Oregon Health Sci
ences University (OHSU) in Portland
t
J
■
for one year. She practiced in on
cology and pediatrics.
After college, Barta worked at
OHSU after her residency for two
years in pediatrics, then worked in
southwest Washington medical cen
ter for six months in neonatology.
When she moved to Bend in 2006,
because o f her husband’s job, she
started commuting to work at the
Safeway in Madras for one year.
Barta is now working at S t Charles
as a full-time night pharmacist.
In Barta’s opinion, completing her
education was extremely important.
“I know it is very important, even
though I had to go to school for so
long and work so hard,” Barta said.
“It is important to get your degree
and be able to support yourself and
your family.”
Crews this week are working on a
gravel placem ent program on the
Deschutes River, just upstream from
the Warm Springs Bridge. The work
ers are on both the reservation and
non-reservation sides o f the river.
The work, sponsored by the Con
federated Tribes and Portland General
Electric, involves placement o f gravel
in configurations designed to mimic
natural gravel bars.
The work is part o f an overall fish
eries im provem ent program by the
trib es and P G E , as a resu lt o f
relicensing o f the Pelton Round Butte
Hydroelectic Project.
The upstream dams have stopped
periodic flooding that brought gravel
and logs downstream, creating spawn
ing grounds. The current project is in
tended to mimic this process.
Scientists will monitor transport of
the gravel by river flows, and its use by
spawning salmon and trout to determine
if similar projects might help improve
fisheries on the Deschutes.
Meanwhile, the tribes and PG E are
restoring fish passage around the Pelton
and Round B utte dams through a
unique, 273-foot underwater tower and
fish collection station.
The new underwater tower is de
signed to modify currents and tempera
tures to mimic natural conditions and
attract migrating fish into the collec
tion facility. The fish will be sorted, and
young salmon and steelhead will be
trucked downstream below the dams
to continue their journey to the Colum
bia River and the Pacific Ocean.
When they return as adults, the fish
reaching the lowest dam will be sorted,
and the salmon and steelhead will be
trucked above Round Butte Dam to
reach the upstream rivers to spawn.
“The new tower is the result o f a
commitment the tribes made 10-plus
years ago when relicensing was in its
infancy,” said Bobby Brunoe, general
manager o f the tribal N atural Re
sources Branch.
“This helps restore a fishery that has
been a vital part o f our culture,” said
Brunoe.
Construction on the project, which
is located above Round Butte Dam
in Lake Billy Chinook, is well under
way with crews on target to have the
facility constructed and operational in
spring 2009, at a cost o f about $108
million.
Labor Day
weekend activities
at museum
The Museum at Warm Springs and
the Lensch Fund will present a Labor
Day weekend dance performance from
2-3 p.m. on Saturday, August 30.
The perform ance will be by the
Unity Dance G roup at the museum
grounds.
Living Traditions
From 12 noon to 4 p.m. on Satur
day, August 30, the museum Living
Traditions program will present a bead
tapestry demonstration.
The demonstration, in the museum
lobby, features Bead artisan Sandra
McGilL
For more information call 553-3331.