Spilyay tymoo., February 12, 2009, Page 7, Image 7

Spílygy Tym oo, W arm Springs, Oregon
February 12, 2 0 0 9
For the people, Lincoln’s Birthday
Powwow at Simnasho Longhouse
How fitting for the Simnasho wasn’t his own, virtually deny­
Longhouse matriarchs and pa­ ing their humanity. N ote that
triarchs to dedicate the pow ­ there were about four million
wow to the G reat W hite Father, slaves! Native Americans, Japa­
perhaps the greatest President, nese and the Black people have
the 16th President Abraham Lin­ been left to repair our magnifi­
coln.
cent cultures once it was to rn by
H e represented the slaves the Powers that be.
w ho w ere being held against
As Comm ander-in-Chief o f
their will and slaves w ho g ot the arm ed forces o f the United
their freedom. O ur Elders made States, President A braham Lin­
the wise decision to keep the coln bore ultimate responsibil­
story o f Abraham Lincoln alive ity for the conduct o f the Civil
and relevant to future genera­ War. Insisting that the conflict
tions.
was a war o f rebellion, Lincoln
This is o f interest because my nonetheless had to mobilize the
puusha {grandfather), Lallimosh, loyal segment o f the American
H erbert Stwyer Sr. was one o f nation for a major war effort.
the ch arter m em bers o f the
D uring the war Lincoln had
Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow, and to deal with difficult generals,
he served as treasurer for his congressmen, senators, cabinet
lifetime.
m em bers, new spaper editors,
O ur beloved kuthlas’ (atwai) and office seekers w ho did n ot
M atild a M itch ell, N e ttie agree with his views-to bring an
Shaw away,
and
Sylvia end to slavery. A rm y leaders
Wallulatum, charter members, proved m ore frustrating. Lin­
and many others o f their gen­ co ln re se m b le d n o th in g so
eration w ho also worked tire­ m uch as the ow ner o f a big-
lessly fo r th e su c c e ssfu l league baseball team trying to
Lincoln’s Birthday Powwow.
find the right manager through
The Elders created the legacy the w ar’s early years, and the
for authentic hospitality for our documents show Lincoln’s early
visitors, including the provision frustrations, his prodding na­
o f meals and m idnight lunch.
ture, and eventually, a growing
G randpa H erb had a picture confidence w hen he had finally
o f th e W arm S prings Boys found the m en best suited for
Scouts w ho visited Washington, the work.
D.C. H e told m e that the boys
O ne o f the m ost fascinating
were particularly fascinated with discoveries by the Lincoln A s­
the Lincoln Memorial and the sociation was a speech Frederick
insightful words by this Presi­ Douglass gave in N ew York City
dent, which encouraged the E l­ on June 1,1865, the last day o f
ders to dedicate the pow-wow m ourning for Lincoln. I t took
to President Lincoln.
place in Cooper Union, the pre­
W hat was it like back in those mier site for public speeches.
times o f the Civil War w hen
In it he said that A braham
P resident L incoln challenged Lincoln was emphatically the
slavery? Power gives consider­ black man’s president, the first
ation to authority, control, influ­ to recognize his rights as a man
ence, suprem acy, rule, com ­ and a citizen.
■ A n o th e r sp e e c h in th e
m and; dom inance, s tre n g th ,
force, energy; m ight, and abil­ Douglass papers from D ecem ­
ity. In the U.S.A., the Pow er ber 1865 in which he says that
appears to be disguised until w hen Lincoln called for black
you review the history o f our voting rights in his A pril 11,
an c e sto rs w h o e n d u re d th e 1865 speech, many o f us were
loss o f our ceded territory, and skeptical because o f the limited
had little choice b u t to sign the nature: voting rights were to go
only to soldiers w ho served in
Treaty o f 1855.
Power had taken black people the army and the “very intelli­
and yanked them into slavery gent,” by which we assume he
and persecuted them w hen they meant the literate, b ut we should
attem pted to run away, letting have recognized that Abraham
th em know th a t h is /h e r fife learned his statesmanship in the
Page 7
Oregon Tribal Nations Honor D ay proclamation
school o f railsplitting.
To sp lit a rail you take a
wedge and insert the thin edge
in to the log. T h en you drive
h o m e th e th ick edge w ith a
m au l, a n d we s h o u ld have
known that once A braham Lin­
coln inserted the thin edge o f
the wedge, he would be sure to
drive hom e the thick edge.
Douglass appreciated more
fully what that limited black vot­
ing right speech actually meant.
A lso n o te th a t th e N a tiv e
A m ericans did n o t attain the
right to vote until 1923!
For the dark side o f Presi­
dent Lincoln, it is im portant to
rem em ber the treatm ent o f ap­
proximately 300 D akota Sioux
w ho were held by the federal
governm ent for their involve­
m ent in the Indian Wars against
the settlers in Minnesota.
President Lincoln ultimately
approved the death by hanging
o f 30 o f the D akota m en who
were presumed to be guilty o f
the m ost heinous o f crimes. It
is extremely sad that this was the
largest mass-hanging in the his­
tory o f America.
This year brought forth the
inauguration o f the first black
President Barrack O bama in the
m idst o f the War in Iraq and a
bleak recession o f the economy.
W hat is the future for America
as a multi-racial nation? Is it
possible for the red, white, yel­
low and black people to live to­
gether in equality and harm ony
in America?
Lincoln’s documents show a
spiritual man, w ho held deep,
founded faith in the Creator.
Likewise, our people beheved in
the in stru ctio n s, tamanwit, in
which all things are equal: the
mountains, the four-legged, the
plants, the sky, and all living b e­
ings.
T here are multiple lessons in
the story o f the Simnasho pow­
wow that is dedicated to Presi­
dent Abraham Lincoln such as
leadership in the m idst o f war,
a n ti-ra c ism , W arm S p rin g s
tribes’ cultural way o f life and
our good old fashioned hospi­
tality. Nai!
(Note: The state of Oregon on
Feb. 14 will mark its 150"’ year
of statehood. The nine federally
recognised tribes of the state
hosted the Gathering of Oregon’s
First Nations on Jan. 31 at the
Oregon State Fair and Expo Cen­
ter in Salem. Gov. Ted Kulongoski
made the followingproclamation in
regard to the tribes and their rela­
tion to the state.)
W hereas the celebration
o f th e State o f O re g o n ’s
150th year o f statehood ac­
knowledges O reg o n ’s nine
federally recognized tribes,
the first people and their rich
heritage, traditions and stew­
ardship o f cultural and natu­
ral resources, residents on
these lands from time imme­
morial; and
W h ereas O re g o n trib e s
maintain treaties with the fed­
eral governm ent as sovereigns;
and
W hereas tribal governm ents
existed here before there was a
State o f O regon and stand side
by side with the state as continu­
ing and viable governm ents in
O regon today; and
W hereas this year’s com ­
m em oration o f the State’s 150th
birthday is a good opportunity
to reflect on the shared value o f
all governments— to serve the
people; and
Whereas the theme o f Tribal
150 is to highlight the “G ather­
ing o f O regon’s First N ations”
celebration on January 31,2009
at th e O re g o n S tate F a ir­
grounds; and
W h ereas all O re g o n ia n s ,
tribal and non-tribal, can ben­
efit from learning more about
their governm ents; and
W hereas all Oregonians,
trib al and n o n -trib a l, can
h o n o r the rich culture and
traditions o f this land we to­
day call O regon by learning
about the history o f O regon
for the past 150 years and the
history' o f these lands and
tribal people from thousands
o f years.
N ow therefore I hereby
proclaim January 31,2009 to
be O reg o n T ribal N ations
H o n o r Day in O regon, and
encourage all Oregonians to
join in this observance.
T h eo d o re
R.
Kulongoski, Governor.
Museum seeks volunteers to serve as tour guides
T h e M u seu m at W arm
Springs group tours program is
seeking tribal members to serve
as volunteer tour guides.
The museum will be planning
to use the volunteer guide team
for group tours during the tour­
ist season, from Memorial Day
through L abor Day.
T h e n u m b er o n e re q u e st
from m useum guests and visi­
tors is for tribal m em bers to
guide m useum tours, according
to the Museum at Warm Springs
public survey, conducted last
year.
The museum welcomes tribal
members to serve as a host or
hostess to m useum guests and
for the many diverse groups that
visit the reservation.
Visiting groups include adult
groups, school groups and uni­
versities. Please contact the m u­
seum if you are interested. 553-
3331, ext. 407. O r come to the
museum.
N a -k -is h a y a t, A u ro ly n
Stwyer-Pinkh am.
Happy Valentines Day and other wishes...
For m y sweetheart Willie
Danzuka. Feb. 14 marks our
first wonderful year in our
marriage. You are the love
of m y life and I plan on
keeping it that way. I love
the way you m eet me half
way in this relationship no
matter what we do. Thank
you for being usch a good
husband and father.
W illie, R om elle, K eyshaw n,
Patty and Saumi.
H appy Valentines Day,
Celia B erry from Willie,
Romelle and kids.
Happy Valentines Day to my
other best friend (Madeline Jim).
You’re a goodfriend and don’t for­
get that. 1 will always be here fo r
you. Romelle Danzuka.
H a p p y V a le n tin e s D ay,
Happy Valentines Day to our D avida. T h an k s fo r b ein g a
other hoys, DreVaughn Danzuka good friend. W hen you come
and Heniy Andrews. We lote you back to Springs, come and visit
hoys very much and are anxiously us. Romelle Danzuka.
waiting fo r you to come and spend
Happy Valentines D ay to
some time with us. You have a baby my cousin/sister Robyn Ike
sister that wants to meet you. Dove in New Mexico. We love and
always, W illie and Pomelle miss you. Romelle and fam ­
ily.
’
|
Danyuka.
Happy Valentines Day to the
Thurbys, from Romelle, Willie
and kids.
Happy Valentines Day to my
best friend in the world, Angie B.,
I can still remember the first time
we m et in grade school. From
Romelle Danyuka.
We wish, you a very lovely
V a len tin es
Day,
A nte
Pamerien. Thanks for every­
thing that you have done for
us. We love you very much.
Willie and RomeÚe Danzuka.
H a p p y V alen tin es D ay
A u n tie/G ran d m a B ernie and
U n c le /G ra n d p a Jaim e, from
». Í
H appy Valentines Day to my
baby and son-in-law, LaVonne
and Wayne. Love Dad, N ena TB
Boise.
H appy first Valentines
Day grandson! Tommy G.T.
E aglespeaker.
Love,
grandpa, Nena T.B. Boise.
friends fa r and wide. N ena B.
Happy Valentines Day to
my four babies lil Gary, lil Eva
and Mahldyah and Tommy. I
lo ve you b ab ies. L ove,
Mommie.
Happy Valentines Day to my
boys Felix Ray, Wayne P. Jr.,
Tommy Gemini Thomas. I love
you, my Eaglespeaker boys.
Happy Valentines Day! From Warm Springs artist Travis Bobb.
H appy Valentines Day,
m y baby Bro’s. D. Stwyer
Jr., N ich o la s, M id je t
(H arley), K elly and m y
baby sisters, B.J. and Tik.
I love you guys. Love, your
big sis LaVonne, Wayne
and kids.
Happy Valentines Day, Pops A l
andM A. Love, LaVonne and Wayne.
H appy Valentines Day, D ad
and Grandma. Love, LaVonne,
Wayne and grandkids.
Happy Valentines D ay to
m y b ab y n e p h e w J e s s ie
D ean Stw yer-B obb. L ove,
your aunt LaVonne, Wayne
and your cousins.
H ap p y V alentines D ay to
G ram pa N ena, great gram m a
H appy Valentines Day to my Laura W Love, your grandkids,
ma, L aura W. Love you, ma. lil Gary, lil Eva, Mahkiyah and
Your son, N ena T.B. Boise.
Tommy. We love you.
Happy Valentines Day to all
Happy Valentines Day, Mom and
my brothers and sisters, grandpar­ Lydelle. Love, Wayne, Lavonne, and
ents, uncles and aunts, cousins, your grandsons Felix, Wayne Jr.,
nephews and nieces and all the Tommy.
gra n d kid s. E specially to my
(More tVisties on page 10)
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