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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 2012)
E Coosb EEWA: The w^y it is Pgge 4- Spilyay Tymoo November 28, 2012 Letters to the Editor Court matter Wasco Chief Alfred Smith Jr. is shown here holding a Pendleton Blanket, given to ,him by P rineville M en’s Wear in Prineville. Alfred has indicated that he has gotten a lot of support from busi nesses and individuals throughout the Central Oregon region. Please know th at A lfred appreciates everyone’s support and has dedicated himself to the people o f Warm Springs and continues support of businesses in Madras. Family of Chief Smith. Dinner, giveaway for Chief To the people o f Warm Springs, We had originally planned on having a dinner and giveaway to celebrate the naming of the Wasco Chief Alfred Smith Jr. on December 1. Due to a death in the family we are postpon ing the dinner and give away. As soon as we have a rescheduled time, we will put notices out; it will m o st likely be. within the next two to three months. Thank you, The Family of Alfred Smith Jr. The next deadline to submit letters to the Spilyay Tymoo is Friday, Dee. 7. Thank you for writing! \ ______________ 2 The Confederated Tribes o f Warm Springs has always done everything possible to protect our Reserved Treaty Rights, especially in matters pertaining to Tribal Law. The Warm Springs leadership of the mid nineteenth century was the last body o f tribal representatives that mutually worked together for the ben efit of its members and fu ture generations. One of the most distinguishing accom plishments- that I am very proud of today is the fact that we are only one of two tribes exempt from Public Law 280. Quite an accom plishment considering that these leaders were never for mally educated but explicitly understood our “Oral Tradi tion” of our Reserved Treaty Rights, as understood and passed down from our elders generation to generation- Recently during the Wasco , Chieftainship meetings one o f the candidates, George Clements Sr., commented on his concerns pertaining to re cent changes to Tribal Law. The changes are very con tradictory to the “Oral Tra dition” I heard from my el ders. • E very tribal m em ber should be alarmed and ask ing questions o f their respec tive representatives regard ing the elimination o f our Appellate Court. That is a m ajor violation o f tribal m em bers’ “D ue Process” rights. I speculate one could even assert this is in viola tio n o f the Indian Civil Rights Act! Ignoring this “Matter of Great Concern” could in reality eliminate our exempt status from Public Law 280, also something my elders emphasized as bad. A t the risk o f sounding redundant I must once again encourage our current mem bers of the Tribal Council to act expediendy to prudently resolve the Appellate Court situation. We should never allow an employee o f the tribe to express changes to our legal system, especially if they are very contradictory to our “O ral T radition,” which will ultimately impact our unique sovereign status, eliminate our exempt status from Public Law 280. Ignor ing your obligation to truly represent and protect future generations o f tribal mem bers, contemplate the conse quences of multiple legal ju risdictions operating within our reservation boundary. It Spilyay T ym o o (Coyote News, Est. 1976) Publisher Emeritus: Sid Miller Editor: Dave McMechan Reporter: Duran Bobb Advertising Director: Yvonne Iverson Media Advisor: Bill Rhoades Spilyay Tymoo is published bi-weekly by the Con federated Tribes of Warm Springs. Our offices are located at 4174 Highway 3 in Warm Springs. Any written materials submitted to Spilyay Tymoo should be addressed to: Spilyay Tymoo, P.O. Box 870, Warm Springs, OR 97761. Phone: 541-553-2210 Advertising: 541-553-2307 or 541-325-1089 E-Mail: dave.mcmechan@wstribes.org. Annual Subscription rates: Within U.S.: $15.00. might sound minuscule to most tribal members, how ever, the consequences of multiple jurisdictions within one’s sovereignty territory has detrimental impacts, just ask any N ative A m erican Nation in America. Thank you, How the fly saved the river (Note: The following article is submitted by the lEzrzi? Springs Community Health Education Team [CHET] to raise awareness of iForld A ID S Day, Saturday, Dec. 1. The theme of the day this year is, ‘Getting to Zero. ’) Randy Smith. Cultural Trust Warm Springs Cultural Trust Grant Applications are now available at the Museum at Warm Springs and also on line at: warmsprings.com (on the ‘links’ page). Com pleted applications are due to the museum by Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. Projects must occur between January to June 2013. If you have ques tions, Contact Roz at 553- 3331. Youth hunters We are looking for youth who are interested in ceremo nial hunting. The last day to hunt is December 2. Call Minnie at the Tribal Council office for more in formation. Many, m any years-ago when the world was new, there was a beautiful river. Fish in great numbers lived in this river, and its water was so pure and sweet that all the animals came there to drink. A giant moose heard about the river and he too came there to drink. But he was so big, and he drank so much, that soon the water began to sink lower and lower. The beavers were worried. The water around their lodges was disappearing. Soon their homes would be destroyed. The muskrats were worried. The other animals could live on land if the water dried up, but they couldn’t. All the animals tried to think o f a way to drive the moose from the river, but he was so big that they were too afraid to try. Even the bear was afraid of him. A t last the fly said he would drive the moose away. All the animals laughed and jeered. How could a tiny fly frighten a giant moose? The fly said nothing, but th at day, as soon as they moose appeared, he went into action. H e landed on the m o o se’s foreleg and b it sharply. The moose stamped his foot harder, and each time he stamped, the ground sank and the water rushed in to fill it up. Then the fly jumped about all over the moose, biting and biting and biting until the moose was in a frenzy. He dashed m adly ab o u t the banks o f the river, shaking his head, stamping his feet, snorting and blowing, but he couldn’t get rid of that pesky fly. A t last the m oose fled from the river, and didn’t come back. The fly was very proud o f his achievement, and boasted to the other ani mals, “Even thè small can fight the strong if they use their brains to think.” New challenge Throughout history Native people encountered and sur vived much trauma, disease, and discrimination. Today American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians face a new chal lenge: Preventing HIV/ AIDS from spreading and wiping out whole Native communi ties. A fter tw o decades o f AIDS work, many Native communities now realize that prevention does make a dif ference. In the story above, the tiny fly drives away the moose despite great doubt from the other animals. Similarly, Na tive people— though small in numbers compared to other ethnic groups—must over com e the beast o f H IV / AIDS. The Fish and Wildlife Committee. Gift donations welcome at ECE The Warm Springs Early Childhood Education Center is collecting food for the holi day season to gift families in need. I f anyone would like to make a donation of canned food, or any non-perishable food items, please bring them to the ECE front desk. Donations will be taken until the end of November. If you have any questions contact Jodi Begay at 541-553-3241. In Decem ber, ECE will be accepting hats, mittens and scarves to go into gift baskets and do nations will be taken til De cember 14 at the donation boxes in ECE. Warm Springs artist Travis Bobb looks forward to the holidays! Gillnet fish fight turns to commission (AP) — The future of com mercial fishing on the Colum bia River is now in the hands of the Oregon Fish and Wild life Commission after a mea sure to ban gillnets failed ear lier this month at the polls. The measure was opposed by the Columbia River Inter- Tribal Fish Commission; and at the same time had little ac tivé campaign support. T he O reg o n F ish and Wildlife Commission now faces the tough task of me diating the longstanding con flict between commercial and recreational fishing interests by the end o f the year. After years of stalemate, Gov. Kitzhaber has asked the commission to come up with new commercial fishing regu lations that phase out the use of gillnets on the Columbia. Gillnets snag fish by the gills and are the prim ary method o f commercial fish ing on the Columbia. Critics contend that they’re cruel to fish and slow the res toration of salmon popula tions because they can’t dif ferentiate endangered fish from targeted species. But commercial fishermen say gillnets have been used for centuries and the contro versy surrounding them is drummed up by sport anglers who want to eliminate com petition for salmon. A fter unsu ccessfu l a t tempts to persuade the Leg islature to ban gillnets, sport fishing and environm ental groups went directly to the people with a ballot initiative th at spooked com m ercial fishermen who feared being put out o f business. They spent nearly $700,000 but ultimately abandoned the ef fo rt after K itzh ab er an- With only oppo nents actively campaigning, Measure 80 went down, 66 percent to 54 percent. nounced his bid for a com promise. ■ The governor proposed phasing in a ban on gillnets on the main stem of the Co lumbia while allowing them to continue operating on side channels and beefing up the hatchery operations in those areas. With only opponents ac tively campaigning, Measure 80 went down, 66 percent to 34 percent. C om m ercial fisherm en have taken a skeptical view of the governor’s proposal, saying th ere’s n ot enough space or fish in side channels to accommodate the demand. “We’ve already given ev erything that we can give,” said Bill Hunsinger, a lifelong commercial fishermen. “I f we give away the main stem, there’s no way the industry can exist. It just can’t.” T he F ish and W ildlife Commission has fielded doz ens o f spirited com m ents from people on both sides of the issue. Washington is experiment ing with seine nets, an alter native that’s currently illegal in Oregon. Officials say it will be several years before they know whether seines result in a lower mortality rate for en dangered fish. Commercial fishermen question whether seines would be commercially viable on the Columbia.
