P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Tyrr
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Ì
July 24, 2013
Coyote News, est. 1976
1230 SW PARK AVE.
PORTLAND, OR 97205
Voi. 38, ino . 13
July - Pat’ak-Pt’akni - Summer- Shatm
Tribal repatriation to ancestral land
B y Roberta Kirk
Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation A ct Coordinator
Repatriation of 272
Memaloose Island,
Wasco and Wishxatn
ancestral remains
The Confederated Tribes o f
the Warm Springs in 2010 made
a Native American Graves Pro
tection and R epatriation A ct
claim to the Peabody Museum
o f N atural History, located in
N ew Haven, Conn.
The claim was for the return
o f 272 individual ancestral re
mains and funerary objects that
originated from the Memaloose
Is la n d s, T h e D alles, W asco
County, Oregon.
A Notice of Inventory Comple
tion and Notice of Intent to Repa
triate were published in the Fed
eral Register on March 29,2013,
which recognized the Confeder
ated Tribes o f W arm Springs
and the Yakama N ation as the
recognized claimant tribes. ,
This repatriation was a com
bined Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act
claim with the Yakama Nation,
as Wasco and Wishxam descen
dants are now enrolled at Warm
Springs and the Yakama Nation.
B oth the Wasco and' Wishxam
used the burial islands.
Courtesy of Roberta Kirk
Members gather for the repatriation and reinterment.
Background
In 2005 a report, Eatrogenic Mo
lar Borings in 18th and Early 19‘h Cen
tury Native. American Dentitions, was
pubhshed in the American Journal
o f Physical Anthropology. The ar
ticle mentioned a dental study that
w as c o n d u c te d o n W asco an d
Wishxam ancestral human remains.
In 2006 a site visit was co n
ducted by thé Confederated Tribes
o f W arm S prings C u ltu ral R e
so u rces staff. F ro m th e re , we
started consultation with the A n
thropology Division, Peabody Mu
seum o f N atural History.
We found that there were many
ancestral remains that were at the
Peabody Yale M useum that origi
nated from The Dalles area. W hen
we asked for further docum enta
tion, we asked them for anything
from Memaloose and any similar
spelling and eventually the num ber
rose to 272 individuals th at had
come from the Memaloose Islands
and The Dalles in the 1870s.
• These ancestral remains all cra
nium s and m o st o f w hich w ere
m odified o r flattened had been
stored in boxes in a room for over
140 years.
T h e cla im
These ancestral remains and
funerary o bjects re p re se n t a
shared group identity that can be
reasonably traced to the Confed
erated Tribes o f Warm Springs
and the Yakama Nation.
O ur people lived and died on
both sides o f the Columbia River
and used the area o f The Dalles
as a village site, camping area and
cemetery. This land is also within
the Ceded Lands o f the Confed
erated Tribes o f Warm Springs.
See REPATRIATION on 12
Crews work on Sunnyside Turnoff fire
A bout 350 firefighters continue
working on the 23,000-acre fire. As
o f Tuesday afternoon, no structures
had been destroyed, said L uther
Clements, assistant fire management
officer o f operations for the depart
ment. O ne firefighter injured his
knee, Clements said.
The Simnasho-Hot Springs Road
was closed from Warm Springs Road
to U.S. 26.
T he fire started about 9 a.m.
Saturday, July on Sim nasho-H ot
Springs Road, Clements said.
Fire C hief D an M artinez said
a discarded cigarette appears to
have been the initial cause o f the
blaze.
K ah-N ee-T a had to be co m
pletely evacuated, as the fire burned
around the resort area. The lodge
had already been evacuated as the
result o f a kitchen fire at Kah-Nee-
Ta (see page 3).
Phone lines were down at vari
ous offices and residences around
the reservation, and power was out
for a time. The casino had to close
for a time as the machines were n ot
working coirectly, due to disruption
o f the server.
Charley Canyon residents were
evacuated for some time.
Crews from federal agencies,
nearby counties and private com
panies joined W arm Springs Fire
Sue Matters photos.
Flames from the Sunnyside Turnoff fire approach the lodge at Kah-Nee-Ta.
M anagement and Fire and Safety
in the response. O ne helicopter was
on scene. Fire camp was set up at
the rodeo ’g rounds, i
Containm ent o f the fire Was es
timated at 25 percent on Tuesday
m orning o f this week.
The fire at the time was south
o f the M utton Mountains, no rth
east o f U pper D ry Creek road, and
north and w est o f the Deschutes
Rivet.
Highway 3 was closed to public
travel at milepost 15 (heading south
from Simnasho) and near milepost
6.5 (north o f U.S. Highway 26 out
o f Warm Springs).
Evacuations rem ained in place
for the K ah-N ee-T a R esort and
Charley Canyon areas.
Firefighters were working night
and day shifts. O regon Interagency
In c id e n t M an ag em en t T eam 4,
w o rk in g fo r th e C o n fe d e ra te d
Tribes o f W arm Springs, took over
command o f the fire at 6 p.m. Tues
day evening.
Team 4 Incident Com m ander,
Brian Watts comm ended initial and
extended attack resources for their
safe and hard work. Watts attrib
uted the protection o f the facilities
at Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and homes
throughout the fires’ path to “ag
gressive firefighting.”
ECRWSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRTSTD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
Hunting
matter
at Council
W hen hunting season opens the
tribal N atural R esources B ranch
plans to issue hunting perm its for
m em b ers to use o n th e C eded
Lands.
The tribes will also have their own
hunting season regulations for 2013,
separate from the state o f O regon
regulations.
This will be the second year in a
row that the tribes issue their own
regulations, said Bobby Brunoe, gen
eral manager o f tribal N atural Re
sources. Brunoe recently updated
Tribal Council on the Ceded Lands
hunting season.
H e said that last year was the
first time in at least 30 years that
the Confederated Tribes had hunt
ing regulations different from the
state regulations.
Last year the tribal deer season
in some Ceded Lands units, for in
stance, was longer than the state
season by a few days, he said.
Some state officials w ere n o t
happy to see the tribes enforcing
separate Ceded Lands hunting regu
lations, he said.
See CEDED LANDS on 6
Change
at clinic
in August
T he Warm Springs Health and
Wellness Center is transitioning out
o f hospital care, effective August
15.
The reason for this transition is
to im prove access, scheduling, and
the overall care at the Warm Springs
Health and Wellness Center.
For many years the H ealth and
Wellness C enter m edical doctors
have provided 24-7 hospital care at
St. Charles Madras H ospital, As o f
August 15, this will no longer be
provided.
The Warm Springs physicians will
be able to focus on outpatient care
at the W arm Springs Clinic. Physi
cians in Madras will provide the care
for all patients w ho are admitted to
the St. Charles Madras Hospital.
T he W arm Springs clinic staff
wants to assure tribal members that
this change will n o t adversely im
pact care received at the clinic. In
fact, access to care received at the
W arm Springs clinic should im
prove.
“The Health and Wellness Cen
ter wants to continue to be your
primary medical home, and to meet
your outpatient needs,” said Carol
Prevost, Health and Wellness Cen
ter chief executive officer.
See CLINIC on 8
■■■