Spílygy Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
May 14, 2014
Baptist Church welcomes new pastor
Pastor Jim Isaac has been
in the Baptist ministry for 30
years. H e has held revival
meetings across Indian coun
try, on reservations from the
eastern U.S. to Puget Sound.
H e has pastured on the
Navajo Reservation, with the
Dakotas in Montana, and the
Chippewas in Wisconsin. He
served as president o f the
Indian Bible College at Flag
staff, Ariz.
Pastor Jim is the only N a
tive A m erican p a s to r in
N o rth A m erica w ith tw o
earned Doctorate degrees: a
Doctorate in Ministry, and a
PhD. H e jokes, “I like to say
I ’m educated beyond my in
telligence.”
Pastor Jim and wife Lola
m oved to- W arm S prings
about a m onth ago. H e now
serves as pastor at the Warm
Springs Baptist Church. “It’s
very nice here. We like it,” he
was saying last week.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Pastor Jim Isaac and w ife Lola at the church.
“W e’re h ap p y to have
him,” said Susie Smith, who
is congregation mem ber with
her husband Buck.
Since form er pastor John
left som e m onths ago, the
ch u rch had b een in v itin g
in te rim p a s to rs , su ch as
from Bend, to speak on Sun
days.
Meanwhile, they put word
out that the church was look
ing for a perm anent pastor,
and the congregation was
happy to choose. Pastor Jim
from the applicants.
A m ong the good points:
P astor Jim is familiar with
Indian reservations, as he has
pastored on many. H e is origi
nally from Oklahoma, and is
a m em ber o f the Choctaw
Nation.
His wife is active in the
ministry. She organized the
Chippewa Gospel Singers, a
popular group with its own
CD o f Gospel tunes featur
ing Amazing Grace.
W arm S p rin g s B a p tist
Church Sunday school is at
10 a.m,, Sunday worship ser
vice at 11. There is Wednes
day evening Bible study at 6
p.m . Y ou can reach th e
church at 541-553-1267.
Tribal Council May agenda items
(The following are some
o f th e item s on the May
Tribal Council agenda)
11 - High Lookee Lodge
1:30 p.m. - Telecom
3 - Ventures
Monday, May 19
Wednesday, May 21
9 a.m .-12 p.m . E arly
Childhood Education Head
S tart/Early H ead Start In-
Kind Training with Elizabeth
M cD ougall and P a tricia
Trow.
1:30 pm E C E /E H S up
date with Kirstin Hisatake
Enterprise Updates
9 a.m. - Power & Water
10 - Warm Springs Forest
Products
11 Composite Products
1:30 p.m. Credit'
3:00 pm
W ednesday-Thursday -
Tuesday May 20
Enterprise Updates
9 a.m. - Indian Head Ca
sino
10 - Kah-Nee-Tah
CRITFC meeting.
Monday, May 26
Tribal organization closed
for M emorial D a y '
After school hours at club
The Warm Springs Boys and Girls Club is open 3-
5:30 after school, and on no school days from 10 a.m.-
5 p.m.
,
The club is located in the Vern Jackson home. All
school age youth can attend the club. Stop by for an
application, the fee is $25 for the school year.
Car show at M adras Prim ary school
M adras Prim ary School
will be having a fundraiser
car show on May 31 from
12-4 p.m. at Westside school
on Fourth Street in Madras.
There will be cars, food,
games and an auction. I f
anyone would like to have
their car in the show, contact
the Madras Primary school
at 541-475-3520.
Summer academy taking applications
High school students are
in v ite d to apply fo r the
Bridge o f the Gods Summer
Academy at Lane Comm u
nity College and the Univer
sity o f Oregon. The acad
emy will be held June 15-28.
Applications are due May 23.
F or m ore in fo rm atio n
contact James Fiorendo 541-
463-5238. O r go to:
lan ec c.ed u /m cc/b rid g e-
gods-summer-academy
Tuesday, May 27
9 a.m. - Secretary-Trea
surer update with S-T.
10 - June A genda/travel
delegations/review minutes
with S-T
11 D raft resolutions with
S-T
1:30 p.m. Legislative up
date call
3 p.m. Enrollm ents with
Vital Stats
(Note: All draft resolutions
must be sent to the S /T by
email in word form two weeks
prior to being taken into coun
cil for presentation. Copy to
lynn davis at the mgm t office.
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
The tribes w ill host
th e SB 770 Health
Cluster meeting at Kah-
N ee-T aonM ay28. The
SB 770 m eetings allow
b o th a d m in is tra to r s
fro m D e p a rtm e n t o f
Health and Human Ser
vices and tribal repre
sentatives to meet quar
te rly and w o rk on is
sues together to m ain
tain a cooperative rela
tionship.
Howlak Tichum
Billy Frank Jr., 1931-2014
B illy F ran k Jr., th e
tribal fisherman who led
the Northwest “fish wars”
that helped restore fishing
rights for American Indi
ans four decades ago, died
last week at age 83.
Frank was arrested for
salmon fishing aS a boy in
1945— an event that led
him on a long campaign
for tribal tights.
H e and others were re
peatedly arrested as they
staged “fish ins” demand
ing the right to fish in their
historical waters, as they
were guaranteed in trea
ties when they ceded land
to w hite settlers in the
19th century. Frank was
jailed more than 50 times.
The efforts were vin
dicated in 1974, w hen
U.S. District Judge George
Boldt affirmed the tribes’
right to half o f the fish
harvest— and the nation’s
obligation to honor the old
treaties.
Over the next 40 years,
Frank continued to advo
cate fo r trib a l fish in g
rights and protection of
natural resources, includ
ing salmon.
Only weeks ago, he and
other tribal members met
with federal environmen
tal regulators to push for
more stringent water qual
ity standards to reduce the
amount o f pollution that
accumulates in fish. The
stan d ards w ould esp e
cially p ro te c t n ativ e
p e o p le w h o eat large
am ounts o f salmon and
other fish from Washing-
ton state waters.
. “Billy was a staunch ad
vocate for tribal so v er
eignty and treaty reserved
fishing rights, as well as the
region’s salm on popula
tions,” said Paul Lumley,
executive director o f the
C o lu m b ia R iver In te r-
Tribal Fish Commission.
“Hrs impacts knew no
boundaries and were often
felt frpm the streams o f
the Pacific N orthw est to
the halls o f Washington,
D.C. Billy was a living icon
whose legacy will be seen
in every fish return, every
tribal fishery and every
battie for those resources
that has yet to be fought.’’ i
Merye Hayes, fisheries
p olicy liaiso n w ith th e
Suquam ish T ribe, knew
Frank for 25 years.
“H e’s been so inspiring
to all the tribes,” Hayes
said. “H e believed in the
work that he was doing. He
will be missed by the tribal
people and p eo p le w ho
believe in the resources
that he so wanted to pro
tect.’’
Around Indian Country
Yurok Tribe to release condors in N. Calif.
Tribal tradition holds th e
California condor as sacred,
w ith ancient stories saying
the giant birds fly closest to
the sun and are the best mes
sengers to carry prayers.
Now, after five years o f
research, the Yurok Tribe o f
N orthern California has re
ceived permission to release
captive-bred condors into
the Redwood Coast, where
the giant bird hasn’t soared
for more than a century.
The Oregon Zoo condor
program is participating in
this project. The Confeder
ated Tribes o f Warm Springs
have been advocates o f the
zoo condor program since its
in cep tio n ab o u t a decade
ago. Atwai Chief Wallulatum
was asked to name the first
condor that hatched at the
zoo.
Seven possible sites
BIA Roads workers repair the fence on the Hollywood
Boulevard bridge over Shitike Creek.
J ake. suppah@wstribes.org
ldavis@wstribes.org)
Additional items for con
sideration: School building
with BIA. Tax group meeting.
Page 7
The Yurok officials signed
a m em orandum o f u n d er
standing with state and fed
eral' agencies and a condor
conservation group, allowing
for test releases as a final
assessm ent o f w hether the
region can support the en
dangered birds.
T hé first releases could
come in the next one to three
years, tribal biologist Chris
West said. Meetings will be-,
gin in July to work out pro
tocols and select a release
site.
Seven sites are Under con
sideration on Redwood N a
tional and State Parks and
sidered their spirit is in that,
too. They are singing with you,
and praying w ith you,” she
said. “We can get feathers
from the U.S. Fish and Wild
life Service, but it’s not the
same thing as being able to
go out there and collect the
feathers we need from con
dors flying over o u r own
skies.”
Reduce recovery risks
private land within about 50
miles o f each other, prima
rily so u th o f th e K lam ath
River.
W ith federal funding in
short supply, the tribes will
work to develop private fund
ing to cover the estim ated
a n n u al c o st o f a b o u t
$400,000, West said.
The return o f the condor
is p a rt o f Y urok env iro n
mental work, along with ef
forts to restore salmon num
b ers a n d im p ro v e fo re s t
health.
Condor feathers are part
o f traditional regalia used in
ceremonial dances, said tribal
microbiologist Tiana Williams.
With no condors flying over
tribal lands, there are no new
feathers to replace old plumes
worn out from use.
“W hen a species like con
dor or eagle gives you mate
rial for your regalia, it is con
For Fish and Wildlife, es
tablishing another population
o f condors far from the five
existing sites in Southern and
central California, Arizona,
and Mexico's Baja California
would reduce the risks asso
ciated w ith the giant bird's
recovery.
C o n d o rs once flew, the
Pacific Coast from Mexico to
Canada. There are just over
400 California condors in the
world now, and only about
230 in the wild, said Jo h n
McCamman, condor coordi
nator for Fish and Wildlife, in
Sacramento. T hat’s up frotn
just 22 birds in 1982, he said.
C ondors face threats to
their recovery, the top dan
ger being ingesting lead shot
or bullet fragments in an ani
m al carcass, M cC am m an
said.
West would like to see a
new fo rm a t fo r releasing
birds, starting with a pair of
mature adults, and gradually
adding younger birds for a
total o f six.
All the birds would be fit
ted with tiny radio transmit
ters on their wings and tails,
allowing biologists in the field
to track them, and some with
GPS satellite trackers, which
send a position to a biologist's
desk computer. T hat makes,
monitoring for lead poison
ing easier.
Using $600,000 in grants
from Fish and Wildlife, the
tribe has been assessing habi
tat, taking b lo o d sam ples
from turkey vultures to as
sess the threat o f lead poi
soning and testing dead sea
lions th at w ash up on the
beach for DDT.
Low lead, DDT levels
The lead levels in the vul
tures were lower than any
w here else in the condor's
range, West said.
D D T contam ination has
also been low er than else
where.
Like eagles, condors in the
1960s an d 1970s becam e
unable to hatch their eggs
b ecau se D D T m ade th e
shells too thin.
To provide the greatest
genetic diversity possible,
b ird s w o u ld co m e fro m
breeding program s in O r
egon, Idaho and California,
an d all th e release sites,
McCamman said.
The Fish and Wildlife Ser
vice, the National Park Ser
vice, the California D epart
m en t o f Parks and R ecre
ation, and the Ventana Wild
life Society all signed the
mem orandum .