Page 12
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Repatriation: at peace after 142 years
(Continued from page 1)
T
h e Memaloose
M e m a lo n s e I Islands
s la n d s
The
were known solely as burial
islands and were used by the
descendants of the claimant
tribes who now reside on the
Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation
and the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama
Reservations.
It is the traditional culture
and beliefs of the Confeder
ated Tribes of Warm Springs
that demand the utmost rev
erence and respect for the re
mains of our departed ances
tors.
These beliefs require that
the resting places of our an
cestors not be disturbed, and
that any remains or objects,
which have been removed, be
reburied in accordance with
our customs and traditions.
It is prem ised upon a
shared group identity, shared
traditional life ways, past and
present and the cultural af
filiation that binds the Wasco,
Wishxam, White Salmon and
Hood River peoples buried
on the Memaloose islands
and the present-day Wasco,
Wishxam, White Salmon and
Hood River peoples repre
sented today by the Confed
erated Tribes o f Warm
Springs and the Yakama Na
tion.
The Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs are direct
descendant com m unities
from the Native people that
are aboriginal to and tradi
tionally used the region of the
Mid Columbia River area of
The Dalles, also known as
Winquat and/ or Wascopum.
Cultural Affiliation Evi
dence
The Wasco and Wishxam
practiced the art of cranial
modification which was done
in infancy by placing the baby
in a specially made cradle
board that had a piece of
board attached to the head
and lowered onto the baby’s
forehead to provide a gradual
and slight head flattening.
This was done to show
beauty and signified an upper
class or elite status as the
Wasco had a class system of
social stratification in place.
The term “Memaloose” is
a Chinook Jargon word and
was taken from the Wasco
KZG/tfword “Idmimlushdiksh?
I
...
Courtesy o f Roberta Kirk
Val Switzler, Pam Cardenas and Wasco Chief JR Smith Jr. at the repatriation.
which means “dead people.”
This term was used for the
burial islands that were lo
cated in the Columbia River.
For the WasCo and
Wishxam they primarily used
the U pper and Lower
Memaloose Islands as well as
Grave Island, two of the is-
lands are now submerged.
After Lewis and Clark ar
rived,
many
o f the
M em aloose Islands were
swarmed by curiosity seekers
and by scientific explorers.
Many of our ancestral re
mains were removed from the
islands. W hen the Army
Corps of Engineers built The
Dalles and the Bonneville
Lock and D am P rojects,
many ancestral remains were
removed by the Confeder
ated Tribes of Warm Springs
and the Yakama Nation to
inland cemeteries before the
islands were inundated.
At present, we have been j
finding our ancestral remains
in museums and universities
across the United States and
some have been located
across the seas in other coun-
2
tnes.
place they are finally home
and at peace.
R ep atriatio n
and
The Army Corps of En
Reburial
gineers graciously provided a
A N ative American^ room at The Dalles Dam to
Graves Protection-and Repa wrap and prepare the ances
triation A ct grant was tral remains for reburial.
awarded to the Confederated ’
Colum bia River Inter-
Tribes o f Warm Springs, Tribal Fish Enforcement gra
from the National Parks Ser ciously Coordinated the escort
vice to cover the expenses of, for the procession from The
this repatriation. This in Dalles Dam to the reburial
cluded transportation for the location.
ancestors to return home,
Thanks to our Spiritual
C onfederated Tribes o f Leaders and the undertakers
Warm Springs and Yakama for all of their hard work,
Nation staff and traditional thanks to our Wasco Chief
undertakers to travel, prepare Alfred Smith Jr:, and all that
and reinter the ancestors, and came to witness and be a part
the needed supplies such as of this historic event. This
muslin and tule mats.
was the biggest Wasco,
D ue to the num ber o f Wishxam repatriation to date.
ancestors, the grant was not
sufficient to cover the full
expense of the undertaking,
therefore many staff donated
their time to complete this
repatriation and reburial.
The ancestors reburied in-
cltided 120 males, @7 female
and 55 children. After 140
years after their removal
from their original resting
July 24, 2013
Tribal history tied
up in land fight
WISHRAM (AP) -
Some time ago, Robert
Zornes, a Forks RV-park
ow ner, purchased *122
acres on more than a mile
of the Columbia River.
Then came the big sur
prise: He had purchased
one of the most historically
and archaeologically sensi
tive pieces of property in
the state. '
H om e to a campsite
and portage route on the
Lewis and Clark Trail. A
cave, with prehistorici In
dian rock art, Indian buri
als, petroglyphs and story
stones. And some of the
last upland vestiges of an
important Indian village
near Celilo Falls, once one
o f the greatest .Indian
, salmon fisheries, gathering
grounds and trading areas
in North America.
Since he purchased die
property in 2011, Zornes
often can be found in what
he calls his war room: a
study in his double-wide by
the river, packed with his-
toric photos and books —
and documents from two
years of frustrating corre
spondence w ith the
Bonneville Power Admin
istration.
The federal agency is in
the middle of Construction
of a 28-mile, more than
S200 million transmission
line. Construction started
right about when Zornes ft
bought the property — and
he soon received a letter
from the agency inform
ing him the BPA was
about to cross the river
and replace a tower, near
the cave. The new tower
would be taller, wider and
require blasting to con
struct — which he feared
would destroy the cave
and its ancient art.
And Zornes, as it turns
ojit, is a history -buff. As
he put two and two to
gether, he came to under
stand just how special the
landscape he had pur
chased was. “BPA starts
talking about a bulldozer
and y e kind of freaked
out.”
BPA informed him in
a 2012 letter that if he
didn’t grant access across
his property, the agency
would dynamite an alter
native access road, doing
potentially more damage.
The fight was on.
Zornes denied access
across the easement on
his property, saying it was
granted to a different
federal agency for an
other purpose, and since
expired. He filed trespass
claims. He invited the
Yakama Indian Nation to
revisit sacred lands on his
property. Zornes’ efforts
so far have helped shut
down construction of the
project on his property at
a cost of $2 million and
counting.
Exhibit celebrates life, art
5
4202
Holliday St.
Call 541-
615-0555
WARM SPRINGS TELECOM
GET YOUR KICKS ON HIGHWAY
U P C O M IN G JU LY P R O M O T IO N S
• “The Heat is Rising” Cash Giveaway! - Sunday, July 28th
lpm: $500,2pm: $1,000,3pm: $2,500,4pm: $5,000,5pm: $10,000
• “Mad Hot Mondays” - Win up to $500
• “Break the Bank” Thursdays - Win up to $600
• “Can You Take the Heat” Fridays - Win up to $1,500
Highway 26, Warm Springs • indianheadgaming.com • 5 4 1 .4 6 0 .7 7 7 7
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The Apalonia Susana Santos exhibit will be on display until September.