Page 6
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
June 25, 2014
On Heritage Night with Shoni and the Dream
by Patti Tanewasha
Spilyay Tymoo
S honi Schimmel had a
dream to play in the WNBA
and now plays for the Atlanta
Dream. If there is one thing
to remember, it’s that it all
started with a dream. Shoni’s
Dream.
Still early in her first
WNBA season, here is how
Shoni’s dream is shaping up.
A Friday night, the final
score was Atlanta Dream 80-
Seattle Storm 69. Shoni had
two points; four rebounds and
one assist. After her first sev-
eral WNBA games, Schimmel
had the most assists in the
league.
A Dream game in late
May was the first in a series
of Dream Heritage Fridays.
The Atlanta Dream will be
hosting heritage nights on
Fridays throughout the sea-
son on their home court, cel-
ebrating diverse team mem-
bers and fans.
May 30 was Native Ameri-
can Heritage night, and it was
a success. Some 2,000 lucky
fans received a turquoise
“Schimmel #23” bracelet that
was inspired by jewelry she
wore during the 2014 WNBA
draft.
Looking into the crowd
you could see many Natives
from around the region, and
others that had traveled from
around the country to watch
the “Umatilla Thrilla” in ac-
tion.
Over 100 tribal members
of the Eastern Band of
Cherokee Indians from
North Carolina were present.
They had loaded up their own
vehicles to drive all the way
to Atlanta.
They had purchased tick-
ets during a Cherokee Cen-
tral Schools fundraiser.
During the half-time show,
Patti Tanewasha/Spilyay
Shoni at Native American Heritage Night (above); playing for the Dream (below).
gether, the last time was in
early for Shoni Schimmel’s
senior night. That was the
Louisville Cardinals Native
American Heritage night, with
22,163 people present, and
Native people from 40 states
were present.
I had the opportunity to
speak with Glenn Drapeau, a
member of the Ihanktonwan
Nokota (Yankton Sioux),
from Lake Andes, South Da-
kota, one of the singers from
the Elk Soldier Drum group.
We spoke at an Atlanta
Dream game last month:
the Red Road Dance Group
and drum group Elk Soldier
put on an amazing perfor-
mance. The show was filled
with honor songs and beauti-
fully presented various Ameri-
can Indian dance categories
from the powwow circuit.
This was the second time
they had all performed to-
How does it feel to per-
form for the second time for
Shoni, but this time for her
professional career?
Glenn: Shoni is our cham-
pion. She is a respected leader
for our young people, and she
has a beautiful way of repre-
senting our people. It’s a
beautiful thing to see that.
Everybody loves her. She has
a huge leadership role and
accepted it, she has fulfilled
that role and responsibility
well.
a.m. at the Shaker Church.
Pi-Ume-Sha Boxing is
Saturday at the Community
Center This will be a Pro-Am
event (see page 12).
The Fry Bread Golf tour-
ney is Saturday. Call the pro
shop at 541-553-4971.
The Fun Run starts at the
Community Center on Satur-
day morning. at 8. Meet at the
Community Center. For in-
formation, 541-553-3243.
The Men and Women
Softball Tournaments are
all weekend. Call Sandra
Greene or Jerry, 541-553-
6619.
Pi-Ume-Sha Rodeo to let ‘er buck this weekend
The Forty-Fifth Annual Pi-
Ume-Sha Treaty Days All In-
dian Rodeo is this Saturday
and Sunday, June 28-29. The
rodeo beings each day with
the grand entry at 1 p.m., at
the Warm Springs Rodeo
grounds.
Admission is $5—children
6 and under free. Events in-
clude bareback, saddle bronc,
bull riding, team roping, calf
roping, steer wrestling, barrel
race, breakaway roping, senior
team
roping,
senior
breakaway, junior barrel race,
junior steer riding, junior
breakaway, wild horse race,
How was the transition
from being one of the few
female Native athletes at a
college level to playing in the
WNBA?
Shoni: It really hasn’t hit
me yet. I still feel like a col-
lege kid, and I’m still trying
to adjust. It’s not a bad thing–
having free time during the
day and not worrying about
school. Now it’s like you get
to relax it feels like, “Wow!”
You grew up playing, “rez-
ball,” and went onto playing
college ball. Now you’re play-
ing in the WNBA. How has
the competition changed?
Shoni: “These women
are huge—tougher, faster, and
smarter—regardless of who
you play, everybody’s going to
come to play that night.
There’s no easy game.
junior wild colt race, senior
wild colt race. The rodeo is
sponsored by the War m
Springs Rodeo Association.
For rodeo information call
Cheryl at 541-325-9087.
The Log Springs Res-
toration Planning Team is
seeking comments on a
restoration project for the
Log Springs area.
The project will ad-
dress concerns in the
Coyote
Creek
subwatershed, and fish
habitat issues relating to
the Beaver Creek Spill
Settlement.
The resulting projects
will go through the IRMP
Tribes update Columbia Basin Restoration Plan
The Columbia River In-
ter-Tribal Fish Commission
and its member tribes have
completed the first update to
their comprehensive fisher-
ies restoration plan.
CRITFC and its member
tribes—War m Springs,
Yakama, Umatilla and Nez
Perce—have updated the
Wy-Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit,
or Spirit of the Salmon Plan.
The update addresses is-
sues and opportunities that
have arisen since the origi-
nal plan was written almost
20 years ago. The update
describes the progress and
needed modifications to the
institutional and technical
recommendations in the
original plan.
It also identifies and ad-
dresses several new chal-
lenges and recommendations
18 years into the 25-year plan.
Issues such as climate change,
unmanaged predation and
water quality are a few of the
new issues addressed in the
updated plan.
“With this update, Wy-
Kan-Ush-Mi Wa-Kish-Wit is
once again the most compre-
hensive and holistic fish res-
toration plan in the Colum-
bia Basin,” said Paul Lumley,
CRITC executive director.
“This updated plan reflects
the Columbia’s changing land-
scape and the new challenges
and opportunities that have
presented themselves over
the past 20 years. Those chal-
lenges can no longer be ig-
nored.”
The Spirit of the Salmon
Plan was originally developed
in 1995 to provide a frame-
work for restoring anadro-
mous fish such as salmon and
lamprey as well as sturgeon
in upriver areas above
Bonneville Dam. The plan
takes a gravel-to-gravel man-
agement approach that cor-
responds to the migratory
range of these fish and ex-
tends throughout the Colum-
bia River Basin wherever ac-
4202
Holliday St.
This year in the WNBA
draft you were in the first
round, and the number 8 pick
for the Atlanta Dream. Were
you hoping to go to Seattle?
Shoni: It would’ve been
nice, just to be able to be at
home. But at the same time
this is an opportunity. Atlanta
has been a great fit for me,
and Coach Cooper knows
what he’s doing. I trust him.
I’m happy I came here.
How did it feel to be one
the first female Native Ameri-
can to be selected the first
round of the WNBA draft?
Shoni: It’s special. Like
you said, not many have had
that opportunity. Being one
of the first is special.
What would be any advice
you’d give to Native Youth
today?
Shoni: Go out there and
live your dreams! Regardless
of what it may be— embrace
it and don’t let anything hold
you back.
Shoni Schimmel, and along
with the many other Native
college athletes, are setting
the bar for success. So far for
Shoni the sky is the limit. She’s
showing many of our young
people today that you can
leave the rez, graduate from
college, and become success-
ful.
Shoni is proving to be a
nice draw for teams with close
proximity to American Indi-
ans. Once drafted by the At-
lanta Dream for her rookie
year, ticket sales for the away
games in Phoenix and Seattle
ticket sales are nearly sold out.
Her “Schimmel 23” Dream
jersey sold out. Many that
attended the Dream game in
Seattle were hoping to pur-
chase her jersey, but it wasn’t
in stock.
Scoping comments for Log
Springs restoration project
Boxing, endurance horse race, softball
The Pi-Ume-Sha En-
durance Horse Race is
on Saturday. For informa-
tion call Ricky Graybael,
541-977-5595. The En-
durance Race starts at 8
Shoni has proven you can
take the girl from the rez, but
you can’t take the rez out of
the girl.
After the game was over,
I was able to catch up with
Shoni.
I asked her, So what did
you think of Native Ameri-
can Heritage Night?
Shoni: It’s awesome, espe-
cially to see the Natives out
here. Everybody is crazy
about it, and loving it. I feel
very special to have Native
American Heritage Night.
What did you think about
the “Shoni Schimmel” brace-
lets?
Shoni: It was surprising
that they actually made them.
They just came out, and my
parents, plus everyone back
home, are calling to ask, “Hey
could you get us some Shoni
bracelets?” It’s a big hit, es-
pecially here tonight, because
everybody here are the only
ones to get them.
tivities occur that directly af-
fect them.
The updated Spirit of the
Salmon Plan is available on
online at plan.critfc.org. The
online plan is fully searchable
and includes the complete
2014 supplement, the origi-
nal 1995 plan, the 2004
subbasin management plans
as well as hundreds of links
to related materials.
Call 541-
615-0555
2321
Ollallie
Lane
Warm
Springs
Call 541-
553-1182
process. If you would like
to comment, please visit
the Branch of Natural
Resources front desk. Or
contact one of the team
members: Suzi Miller,
Range;
Andrea
Karoglanian, wildlife;
Scott Turo, fisheries; Jon
Treasure or Scott Havill,
water and soil.
You can reach Natu-
ral Resources at 541-553-
2001.