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.