News from Indian Country
Page 9 Spilyay Tymoo
April 20, 2011
Cherokees updating village Tribal ‘war game’ gains
PARK HILL, Okla. (AP) -
Tucked away amid the hundreds
o f tall trees surrounding the
Cherokee Heritage Center, the
Tsa-La-Gi village purports to
show visitors what life might
have been like for Cherokees
before the A m erican Indian
tribe first encountered Europe
ans during the mid-16th century.
That was the plan when the
village was built back in 1967.
But archaeological finds during
ensuing decades have indicated
there are historical errors in the
village’s construction. Now, the
tribe is going back and trying to
fix the problems.
The new exhibit, set to open
in June 2012 on four acres ad
jacent to the museum, “is de
signed to introduce audiences to
the Cherokee people and to help
them understand the Cherokee
culture as having a distinct his
tory that was already ancient
when their own written history
began,” said the museum's ex
ecutive director, Carey Tilley.
About $640,000 has been
raised so far for the project,
enough to proceed in earnest.
Officials with the Heritage
Center, run by the historical arm
o f O klahom a’s largest tribe,
have spent three years research-
ing and planning for the mas
sive $1.2 million renovation to
what they call the museum’s “an
cient village.” They have one ad
vantage their predecessors in the
1960s did not — four extra de
cades of research into the life
of the early Cherokees, a people
who lived in parts of what are
now N orth C arolina, South
Carolina, Georgia and Tennes
see.
T housands o f Cherokees
were forced in 1838 to move
to what is now Oklahoma, fol
lowing what is now called the
Trail of Tears.
Kiksht Classes
fans at Okla. colleges
TAH LEQ UAH , O kla.
(AP) — Northeastern State
senior Kinsey Shade emerged
from the d o gp ile and
streaked toward a pole, heav
ing the ball at a wooden fish
near its, top.
The ball missed the fish by
inches and another melee
quickly ensued.
Cries filled the air on a re
cent Saturday at NSU in
Tahlequah as a faded red ball
the size of a child's fist flew
through the air and landed
w ith a thud, a sw arm o f
sticks and hands trying to
grab it.
Crack. Plop.
“Get it! Get it!”
As traditionally played by
the southeastern tribes such
as the C herokee and
Choctaw, stickball was once
used to settle conflicts.
Now the “litde war game”
is bringing Native American
students together at area col
leges.
It’s been a staple of area
tribes' national holiday cel
ebrations for years, but so
cial stickball is seeing a resur
gence at some O klahom a
colleges.
At NSU, six N ative
American student groups on
campus host anywhere from
one to three stickball games a
semester, said Asa Lewis, the
interim student coordinator for
the school’s Center for Tribal
Studies.
Recently, the groups hosted
a stickball exhibition for stu
dents visiting from Chicago’s
Northeastern Illinois State Uni
versity. Another game is planned
for A pril 13 as part o f the
school's annual Symposium on
the American Indian.
“It’s fellowship and part of
our culture,” said Shade, a citi
zen of the Cherokee Nation.
“You just go out there and
play.”
After getting a crash course
on the rules, many of NSU’s
guests from Chicago joined in.
Within the small space, observ
ers were forced to take cover
more than once from errant
throws.
“It looks like they’re having
a blast out there,” said Veronica
Rangel, one of the group's chap
erones. “I t’s like w atch ing
lacrosse's more rugged cousin.”
In Stillwater, Oklahoma State
University’s Alpha Pi Omega
Sorority, a historically Native
A m erican sorority, hosts a
monthly stickball game in front
of Edmon Low Library.
“We wanted to foster a
greater cultural awareness on
campus,” said political science
senior and chapter president
Tabatha Harris. “This game
originated with the Five Civi
lized Tribes and this is an in
teractive way for us to intro
duce our culture to students
who might not have grown
up around it.
“And it’s just fun.”
The chapter’s m onthly
games usually attract about
20 players, including students
from Oklahoma City Univer
sity and the U niversity of
Oklahoma. The Stillw ater
stickball players, in turn, send
teams to tournaments, in
cluding a recent one at OU.
“I got hit in the head with
a stick and broke my thumb
at that tournament,” Harris
said. “I’ve had (sorority) sis
ters hurt their knees, ankles
and elbows in stickball games.
Have to be tough to play.” .
S tud en t Ja k e R oberts
didn't pick the game up until
college.
“It’s all-inclusive,” he said.
“Yes, it’s a part of my cul
ture, but it’s also got men,
women and children all out
there at once, playing and
having fun.
Oneida Nation funds lawsuit over attorney fees
Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay
The last fluent Wasco Language speaker Gladys Thompson (left) visits with student
Josephine Tafoya. Kiksht classes are being held at the Museum at Warm Springs every
Wednesday at 5:30. The first class covered how to introduce yourself.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The
Oneida Indian Nation is back
ing a lawsuit against Madison
C o u n ty A tto rn e y S. Jo h n
C am p an ie and N ew Y ork
C o m p tro lle r
T hom as
DiNapoli, claiming the attor
ney improperly received more
than $800,000 over 13 years
from a law firm he helped pick
returned Tuesday.
The suit was filed on behalf
of two county residents who
work for the Oneidas, who own
and operate the Turning Stone
casino and resort. It seeks resti
tution and a court order to end
the payments, claiming they vio
late state and county law.
Judge tosses Temecula
lawsuit against tribe
W STC
(Continued from page 1)
The newest is Warm Springs.
Six of the tribal telecommuni
cations companies are in Ari
zo n a, and one is in N ew
Mexico.
Sal Sahme, chairman of the
W STC board o f d irecto rs,
served as master of ceremonies
last week at the ground-break
ing and dedication.
He introduced the WSTC
c h ie f ex ecutive o fficer J e f f
A nspach , gen eral m anager
Adam H aas, and regu lato ry
manager Marsha Spellman.
Like oth er reserv atio n s,
Warm Springs is underserved in
its telecommunications system,
said Haas. Much of the telecom
munications infrastructure on
the reservatio n is from the
1980s, and needs to be brought
up to date.
to fight county legal battles
with the Oneidas.
The suit filed in state Su
preme Court in A lbany says
D iN apoli was contacted last
October about the allegedly im
proper payments but failed to
do anything about it.
C alls to C am panie and
DiNapoli were not immediately
About 65 percent of the tribal
residents have basic phone ser
vice, compared to 95 percent on
average am ong O regonians.
Less than half of Warm Springs
ho useho lds have access to
broadband, limiting access to
basic internet and email service.
The tribes first began look
ing at telecommunications im
provement in 2002. A funding
application a few years ago was
rejected, while a more recent
application was approved last
year.
“We’re excited to see this
project advance to the next
level,” said Vikki Walker, USDA
Rural Development State Direc
tor. “It will help drive economic
development in the community
for years to come.”
W STC board chairm an
Sahme said, “We need the abil-
u We need the ability
to create more jobs
here on the reserva
tion. I see this new
company as a source
o f employment fo r
our young people... ”
Sal Sahme
ity to create more jobs here on
the reservation. I see this new
company as a source of em
ployment for our young people,
including the kind of jobds that
our educated youth will find at
tractive.
“At this time in our history,
we have the greatest number of
young people in high school and
now in higher education. We
need to have a source of jobs,
as well as opportunities for in
dividuals to live on the reserva
tion, and create other jobs that
they will be able to do with high
speed broadband accessible to
all,” he said.
“It is also important from a
tribal sovereignty standpoint
th at the W STC is trib a lly
owned and operated. Profits
the company will generate will
stay on the reservatio n and
leverage more economic devel
opment and improve our stan
dard of living.”
The fiber optic network will
also support a number of other
priorities identified in the 2002
assessment, including the pub
lic safety radio network.
The plan is for the system to
be in operation this fall.
TEMECULA, Calif. (AP)
— A federal judge has dis
m issed a law suit filed by
T em ecula again st the
Pechanga Band of Luiseno
Indians.
The city wants the Indi
ans to pay for public services
needed because o f the
Pechanga Resort and Casino.
C ity A tto rn ey P eter
Thorson told the Riverside
Press-Enterprise the judge
ruled Monday that the state
compact had to authorize le
gal action and m andate a
study.
Thorson says the city will
review options.
T ribal C hairm an M ark
M acarro says the ru lin g
proves the lawsuit was absurd.
He says the tribe has given
T em ecula and R iversid e
County more than $25 mil
lion since 2002.
Tribes may sue over lake dispute
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -
R ecords in d icate two o f
Oklahoma's largest American
Indian tribes are threatening le
gal action against Oklahoma City
and the state in a dispute over
Sardis Lake. Last June, the city
and state agreed on a $42 mil
lion deal giving Oklahoma City
storage rights to 90 percent of
the southeastern O klahom a
lake. The Chickasaw Nation and
Choctaw Nation opposed that
deal.
Adam Walsh Child Protection and SafeteyAct registration and notification
The Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs have regis-
tration jurisdiction under the
Adam Walsh Child Protection
and Safety Act of 2006. The
tribes, as a sovereign govern-
ment, chose to exercise this
jurisdiction in 2007.
A provision of the Adam
Walsh Protection and Safety
Act requires the registration
o f known sex offenders in
the community.
This registration provides
the community with notifica-
L
tion o f the individuals in the
area who have been convicted
of a sex crime. The purpose of
the registration and notifica-
tion is to protect the families
and young people o f the com-
munity, as stated in the Coun-
cil resolution.
Like the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs, other juris-
d ictio n s— states and other
trib es— are d evelo p in g and
maintaining sex offender regis-
tration and notification pro-
grams.
The sex offender registry of
the C onfederated Tribes of
Warm Springs can be viewed at
the website:
http://warmsprings.nsopw.gov/
By provision of the act, the
tribes are also publishing the
registration list in the Spilyay
Tymoo. The names of offend-
ers will appear one time in the
Spilyay, as directed by Council
resolution.
In addition to the names be-
low, more names are likely to
be added, as individual offend-
ers become known to the regis-
tration administrator.
A person is required to reg-
ister with the administrator if
the person has been convicted
of a sex crime, and resides or
works in the comm unity, or
visits here on a monthly basis.
This applies to tribal and non-
tribal members.
The sex offender registration
office phone number is 541-
553-2214. The administrator’s
office is located at 2146 Warm
Springs Street, Warm Springs
(upstairs in the tribal Court
building).
The following is the Confed-
erated Tribes of Warm Springs
list of registered offenders un-
der the Adam Walsh Child Pro-
tection and Safety Act:
Bryce Bailey
Antonio Becerra
Azeul Charley
Tildon McDonald
Delbert Frank Jr.
Eric Frank
Gene Harvey Jr.
Alfredo Holliday
Trevor Hurtado
Timothy Jensen
Leander Kalama
Henry Martinez
Randall Nathan
Patrick Red Dog
Ryan Smith
Joseph Tuckta
Willard White
Joseph Winishut
Waylon Winishut
James Wolfe
J