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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2009)
r News from Indian Country Meeting of Leaders Pgge 9 Spi IyQy Tymoo October 22, 2009 Tribes preserve Okla. battle site OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Na tional recognition of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes for their work on the Washita Battlefield in Oklahoma is just one more step in a long process toward accurately portraying the deadly clash between Native Americans and the U.S. Army more than 140 years ago, accord ing to two men who helped develop the area into a National Parks Service unit. The National Trust presented the Preservation Honor Award to the tribes last week at the 2009 National Preser vation Conference in Nashville, Tenn., for their work on the Washita Battle field. Photo courtesy Councilwoman Aurolyn Stwyer-Pinkham. The battlefield was the site of the Nov. 27, 1868, attack launched by Lt. Wasco Chief Nelson Wallulatum (left) met former U.S. Senator Ben Col. George Custer on Cheyenne Chief Nighthorse Campbell at the recent National Congress of the American Indian. Chief Wallulatum ha§ served on the Tribal Council Black Kettle's w inter encam pment of the Confederated Tribes for over 50 years. Mr. Campbell was a along the banks o f the Washita River. U.S. Senator from Colorado from 1993 until 2005. For some time Historical accounts differ on a death he was the only Native American serving In the U.S. Congress. . toll, but some say 100 Cheyenne and 21 soldiers were killed and dozens of others were taken prisoner. The tribe's lodges, teepees and other belongings were burned and their herd of 800 horses were shot. Also last week, the National Trust N EW TOWN, N.D. (AP) - The Corps o f Engineers will build the Three Affiliated Tribes are breaking health center and then turn it over to recognized the tribes for their efforts ground for a $20 million health center the Indian Health Service. The center will be named for the on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Congress earlier this year approved community of Elbowoods, which was $17 million for the project. The Army flooded when Garrison Dam was built. to preserve the history of the Battle of Sand Creek in Colorado four years earlier, when 100 Cheyenne were killed. “One reason I worked so hard and many Cheyenne worked to get the battlefield as a unit o f the National Parks Service is we need to understand the clash of cultures and when people can't learn to live together and find peaceful ways out of a dilemma,” said Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society, and one of the people who worked to pre serve the site. Blackburn said the Battle of Washita River was part of a strategy by the mili tary to stem the tide of raids by Indian tribes on westward-migrating settlers. A ccording to historians, Black Kettle wanted peace, but some tribal warriors participated in deadly raids on white settlements before the Washita battle. Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, Custer's superior, decided to “teach them a les son,” Blackburn said. “Custer was assigned to attack the tribe in the winter camp because they had such trouble engaging southern Plains tribes during the spring, summer and fall,” Blackburn said. “The tribes ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - A University o f Michigan advisory committee will address ethical and scientific concerns related to the storage of ancient Native American remains. The university says in a statement that the group will advise Vice Presi dent for Research Stephen Forrest on requests from Native American tribes for the transfer of remains. The school's Museum o f Anthropology stores about 1,400 remains that are 800 to 3,000 years old. The university has declared the re mains “culturally unidentifiable.” But Michigan tribes have accused the school of violating the federal Native Tribe breaking ground for health center had horses, they were mobile and knew the land.” Some Cheyennes escaped across a large field toward some hills. One, 13- year-old Magpie, got away when he shot a soldier who was trying to de capitate him and another boy, said Lawrence Hart, director of the Chey enne Cultural Center in Clinton. “Magpie stuck the pistol in the trooper's abdomen and fired, then he and his friend got on the soldier's horse and escaped,” Hart said. Magpie returned and found the bod ies of Black Kettle and his wife, Medi cine Woman Later, in the river. He and others buried them in unmarked graves, Hart said. “We have lots of stories like that in our oral tradition and we're really glad that our stories can be told,” Hart said. H art accompanied Blackburn to Washington twice to testify before a House subcommittee about the impor tance of preserving the area's history. “When I went to testify before Con gress the first time, I spoke over their heads,” Hart said. “When I started try ing to find a parallel, it was difficult and so they couldn't understand and had no concept of a massacre.” Panel will advise about remains NCAI appoints new recording secretary SIOUX; FALLS, S.D. (AP) _ The president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Theresa Two Bulls, has'been chosen recording secretary o f the National Congress o f American Indians for the 2009-2011 term. In a release, the tribe says Two Bulls was selected during the 66TH annual NCAI midyear conference in Palm Springs, Calif. American Graves Protection and Re patriation Act (NAGPRA) by failing to consult with them before making that declaration. O ngoing discussions indicate NAGRA rules will change. Forrest says he isn't sure how or when that will happen, and the university wants to be prepared for any changes. CoquilleTribe harvesting organic cranberries CHARLESTON, Ore. (A P)-A im ing to capitalize on a growing demand for raw, organic produce, the Coquille Tribe is taking the hard route to har vesting cranberries this season. To harvest deep red berries in the raw, the tribe will put its back into the year's bountiful crop through a tech nique called dry-picking, which hasn't been practiced in about 10 years. “The work is much more labor-in tensive,” said Bill Snyder, manager of Coquille Cranberries, located in the heart of the Coquille Tribal Reserva tion hear Charleston. Oregon's bumper crop this season is due to heavy spring pollination and a long growing season. However, last year's record harvests in Wisconsin and Massachusetts, com bined with the downturn in the economy, has left a surplus, which will squeeze the market this year, Snyder said. The growing demand for fresh, or ganic produce could help buck the competition. “Organic cranberries are a real thin Slice of the total production in Oregon and nationally, so there was a niche there they wanted to maintain,” Snyder said. The traditional method would be to flood the bogs, causing the berries to float to the surface and corral them so they can be lifted by an elevator and dumped into a truck. It's the most effi cient method if the goal is to produce a product to be used in juice or jelly. To harvest the fruit dry, it is impera tive the berries have no contact with moisture throughout the harvesting process. NEED CASH? BARGAIN HUNTERS OLDEST PAWNSHOP IN JEFFERSON COUNTY “It's literally a dry berry,” Snyder said. “With water, the fruit breaks down quickly.” Berries aren't picked until the sun burns the dew off the ground. “We started picking this morning just after 11 a.m. and we'll pick until we run out of daylight or until a dense fog rolls in again,” Snyder said on Fri day. The unconventional strategy of dry picking requires a host of new machin ery, which the tribe is renting, and more contract workers, presumably with strong backs. Workers guide a mechanic berry collector, called a furford, up and down six 10-acre bogs. The device has a ro tating belt that plucks fruit from the ground in two-foot swaths and spits the berries into burlap sacks. The sacks are unloaded once they reach their 50- to 60- pound capacity and are hauled to the cleaning station, where they are hefted up one by one and emptied into a viner. The viner shakes out the vegetation, drops the berries onto a conveyor belt, which spills them into a crate. Crates are stacked, packed and trans ported to Wilt Farm in Corvallis, where the berries are sorted by size, packaged and delivered to markets. Eugene-based Organically Grown will distribute the berries, which will be sold at Whole Foods, Market of Choice and Fred Meyer, among other grocers. As a certified organic grower, Co quille Cranberries abides by strict pro duction standards set forth by Quality Assurance International, certified by the USDA. It forbids the use of syn thetic stimulants and encourages an eco-friendly growing practice. “Personally, I like to buy organic,” Snyder said. “It's a tastier food. And, typically, organic (caters) to a more lo cal market.” This season, Coquille Cranberries expects to produce about 100,000 pounds — an increase over last years 30,000 pounds — and generate about $250,000 in revenue. 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