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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2009)
Spi lyay Tym P.O. Box 870 Kings, OR 97761 h is t o r ic a l 1230GSWPARKAW7 SOCIETY ECRWSS Postai Patron PORTLAND, OR U.S. Postage PRSRTSTD Warm Springs, OR 97761 Coyote News, est. 1976 August 13, 2 0 0 9 Voi. 34, No. 17 50 cents Proposed Gorge Act change draws tribal opposition tribal casino at Cascade Locks at the Columbia. The casino plan is currently Spilyay Tymoo pending before the U.S. Department of the Interior. The four treaty tribes o f the Co The proposal to amend the Gorge lumbia River are opposed to a bill that Scenic Act presents an opportunity for would add the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and the other Columbia Grand Ronde to the Columbia Gorge River tribes to present information as to the history and current unique sta National Scenic Area Act. The act currently recognizes the tus o f the tribes, said Louie Pitt, direc four treaty tribes o f the Columbia tor of government affairs o f the Con River: The Confederated Tribes of-. federated Tribes of Warm Springs. Warm Springs, Confederated Tribes of The four Columbia River treaty Umatilla, the Nez Perce, and Yakama tribes have a long history o f coopera tion in many areas, mainly fisheries, Nation. The Columbia River Gorge National said Pitt. The tribes have disagreed on Scenic Area Act specifically recognizes some things, he said, “but we always the treaty and other rights o f the four act civilly and openly toward each tribes in the gorge area; and the act rec other.” ognizes the tribes’ role in the manage The idea o f including the Grand ment of the gorge. Ronde in the Gorge Scenic Act, he said, U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader, was n o t m entioned to the W arm whose district includes the G rand Springs tribes prior to the bill being to Ronde community, has introduced a bill being introduced into Congress. to add the Grand Ronde tribe to the Warm Springs, like the other treaty act. tribes of the Columbia, will oppose the The Grand Ronde tribe has been a idea based on the history and culture main opponent of the Warm Springs of the tribes, he said. “A big part of and Cascade Locks proposal to build a being Indian is knowing who you are By Dave McMechan and fighting for who you are,” said Pitt. This statement from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission summarizes the relationship among the Warm Springs, Umatilla, Nez Perce and Yakama tribes: “The people o f these tribes have always shared a common understand ing—that their very existence depends on the respectful enjoyment of the Co lumbia River Basin’s vast land and wa ter resources. Indeed, their very souls and spirits were and are inextricably tied to the natural world and its myriad in habitants... Despite,some differences in language and cultural practices, the people o f these tribes shared the foun dation of a regional economy based on salmon.” The idea o f including the Grand Ronde among the managing entities of the Gorge Scenic Area management plan or the Gorge Act is very risky, said Pitt. “You cannot open the door just a litde ways, and have just the inclusion of another tribe,” he said. Such a,move would open the management plan to inclusion of any special interest, weak ening the plan and the Gorge Scenic ests is the history of federal hydroelec act, he said. The letter to Rep. Schrader from the tric development on the Columbia River four tribes, signed for Warm Springs and associated “in lieu and access” fish by Council Chairman Ron Suppah, is ing sites established by Congress in par informative, and reads as follows: tial compensation for the Columbia This letter is to express the unani River Tribes’ lost traditional fisheries. mous opposition of the Confederated The reason for this opposition is that to Tribes of the Warm Springs Reserva include the Confederated Tribes of the tion o f Oregon, the Confederated Grand Ronde Community (CTGR) as one Tribes o f the Umatilla Indian Reser of the “Indian Tribes” on the basis of vation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the ceded lands is inconsistent with the basis Confederated Tribes and Bands of the for providing special status for the Colum Yakama Nation to an amendment of bia River Tribes in the Gorge Act, which the Columbia River Gorge National is premised primarily on the exercise of Scenic Area Act, adding the Confeder treaty reserved off-reservation fishing rights ated Tribes o f the Grand Ronde Com in the Gorge, irrespective of ceded land ter munity of Oregon to the definition of ritories. “Indian Tribes” covered by the Act. It is important to note that the Co The Gorge Act currently defines lumbia River Tribes’ off-reservation “Indian Tribes” to include the four treaty fishing rights were reserved by Columbia River Tribes based on the Congressionally ratified treaties and four tribes’ life-sustaining land and fish have been judicially confirmed in a se ery management interests in the Gorge. ries o f U.S. Supreme Court decisions These interests are the result of cul and the continuing jurisdiction case o f tures and livelihoods that predate pio United States v. Oregon that has been neering settlement, and are secured by pending in U.S. District Court in Port judicially confirmed off-reservation land since 1967. treaty fishing rights, among other rights. Please see T R IB E S on 7 Further contributing to these inter Casino study update Music meeting sees impressive turnout By Dave McMechan Spilyay Tymoo An idea to begin a community mu sic program has drawn great interest from local young people and older adults. At the first informal meeting o f the group, held at Elmer Quinn Park, about 50 people showed up. Another music gathering is sched uled for 5 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 13 in the Fish Bowl Room at the Family Resource Center; and again next Tues day and Thursday, Aug. 18 and 20, same time and place. Warm Springs artist Richard Macy was inspired to begin the Warm Springs Community Music Program. He ex plained why he took the initiative with the program: “I was tired o f hearing all o f the bad things going on with our youth, and I think there is talent out there that is unused,” Macy said. • y* * • “And I love music—I think every one does,” he said. “Music has always been a social ambassador to bring people together. That’s true o f all cul tures.” Macy wrote up a preliminary vision statement for the Warm Springs Com munity Music Program: “Music is the oldest expression o f human emotions. Music has been and is an expression o f our identity and our feeling, first as individuals but also as a family, a clan, a people, or as a nation. “We have used music as a form o f communication and to preserve our history even before there was the written word. Music instills within the individual self-discipline and a sense o f worthiness. Music is an innate part o f our human existence; we enter this w orld to the rhythm beat o f our m other’s heart; and we depart from this fife on the last beat o f our own heart...” The mission o f the Warm Springs I was tired o f hearing all o f the bad things going on with our youth, and I think there is talent out there that is unused. 99 Richard Macy Program organizer Community Music Program is “to es tablish a viable organization for the promotion arid development o f activi ties related to music.” Macy said the program is currendy looking for a musical director. The position may have to be volunteer for a time, but the hope is to secure some funding to compensate the director. Others who are needed are volun teer board or committee members, ei ther youth or adults. As a purpose statement for the Warm Springs Community Music Program, Macy is proposing the fol lowing: To provide encouragement and support to community members in their individual and group efforts in various activities related to music. A nd to develop w holesom e, healthy activities related to all as pects o f music in an effort to pro vide for positive growth o f charac ter and personality in our commu nity members. Some initial tasks o f the com munity music program are to gather information as to the interests and needs o f those who are interested, and acquire the needed resources, such as instruments and a place to practice and play. For more information, or to be come involved, you can reach Ri chard Macy at 553-1241. The Environmental Impact State ment for the tribes’ proposed casino at Cascade Locks is nearing completion, said Ed Manion, project development team leader. The National Marine Fisheries Ser vices in Seattle is completing their bio logical opinion on the effect of the project on storm water runoff and on a nearby creek, said Manion. When the biological opinion is com plete, the Fisheries Service is expected to forward the information to the BIA for inclusion by the engineering firm H DR in the casino Environmental Im pact Statement (EIS). The BIA will then send the EIS to the Department of the Interior in Wash ington, D.C. Once the EIS is at the Interior De partment, the document will go through a signing process before inclusion the Federal Register. The tribes are hoping the EIS will be published in the Federal Register perhaps by October, said Manion. There is a 30-day public review pe riod after publication in the Federal Register. The tribes can address any significant issues that may be raised during the public comment. Crews mopping up lightning fires Fire crews this week are mopping up a series of 12 fires that were sparked by an Aug. 1 Eghtning storm. N o structures were destroyed by the fires, although some were threatened, said Ken Lydy, assistant Fire Manage ment officer. Most of the fires were three to four acres in size. The largest was the Box Canyon fire, which burned across 856 acres. The local agencies that responded were Warm Springs Fire Management, and Fire and Safety. Warm Springs Construction also helped, as a contrac tor with the U.S. Forest Services. The Forest Service, and other pri vate contractors also helped contain the fires. At the height o f the response ef fort, a little over 400 personnel were on the scene, said Lydy.
