Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
June 24, 2015
Vol. 40, No. 13
June – Atixan – Spring - Wawaxam
Ume-Sha Treaty Days, the Mu-
seum at Warm Springs will host
a new exhibit opening this week.
The museum will open Royal
Legacy: Honoring Miss Warm
Springs Past and Pr esent this
Thursday, June 25.
The opening reception begins
at 5:30 p.m. with a Memorial
Horse Parade on the museum
grounds, honoring former Miss
Warm Springs title holders, and
the Miss Warm Springs ladies
who are no longer with us.
A salmon back, and the open-
ing of the exhibit begins at 6:30
p.m. The Wasco Youth Dance
Group will perform starting at
7.
The Roundhouse Foundation
is a sponsor of this year’s sum-
mer exhibit, said Natalie Kirk,
museum curator.
The idea for the Royal Legacy
exhibit, she said, came from mu-
seum development director Deb
Stacona. Alyssa Macy, multi-me-
dia specialist, worked at collecting
photographs of the past Miss Warm
Springs.
These beautiful photos will be on
display, poster-size, at the museum
exhibit. Royal Legacy also features
many of the Miss Warm Springs
crowns and sashes worn by the
former royalty.
There have been 39 Miss Warm
Springs, starting in 1950 with
Kathleen Heath. The first Miss
Warm Springs of more recent de-
cades was Dorothy “Pebbles”
George, Miss Warm Springs of
1969 (photo at right).
See MUSEUM on page 3
Miss Warm Springs crowns
collected for the exhibit.
were also on hand for the report.
The Confederated Tribes need to
make the declaration in order to
compete for the available relief
fund, Courtney said.
“The sooner the better,” Coun-
cilman Orvie Danzuka said. “The
surrounding counties have already
declared.”
Jefferson, Wasco, Deschutes and
Crook counties have all made
drought declarations for 2015,
through the state of Oregon.
It was possible that Council
would make the declaration on
Tuesday of this week (after dead-
line for this publication). Martinez
said the declaration should happen
at least before July 4, so some added
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
50 cents
by Alyssa Macy
Photographer unknown
Declaration of drought on the reservation
Tribal Council this week was
preparing to declare a drought on
the reservation.
This would be the first declara-
tion of drought in the history of
the tribes, a sign of the potential
seriousness of the situation.
A declaration of drought would
give the tribes access to federal
assistance in managing the water
shortage.
Tribal Council on Monday
heard a water report from Utilities
general manager Don Courtney,
tribal emergency response coordi-
nator Dan Martinez, and tribal
water-wastewater engineer Roy
Spino. The Water Board, tribal en-
gineer, and BIA superintendent
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
Treaty Days
on 160th
Anniversary
Miss Warm Springs
Past and Present
K icking off the Forty-Sixth Pi-
P.O. Box 870
Warm Springs, OR 97761
precautions can be implemented
regarding fireworks.
There are many aspects to the
drought. The lack of water affects
the tribes’ drinking water system,
Power and Water Enterprises, resi-
dential wells in rural areas, fish and
wildlife, huckleberries and roots, fire
response capabilities, etc.
It is possible that Sidwalter and
Seekseequa wells could go dry this
summer, Spino said.
A few weeks ago, the tribes’
drinking water plant was down to
just one pump, creating a possible
shortage for residents. Utilities put
the word out for people to conserve,
and the response was positive,
Courtney said.
The treatment plant now has
a second pump working, so the
immediate near-crisis is over;
but addressing the drought over
the summer months will re-
quire community cooperation,
Courtney said.
Other partners in the effort
will be the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Indian Health Services,
the federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency (FEMA), and
others, Martinez said.
An important aspect of the
problem is the amount of wa-
ter that is leaking from the
drinking water system, said
Councilman Carlos Smith.
See DROUGHT on page 3
Eeling at
the Falls
T his year, the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs commemorates
160 years since the signing of the
1855 Treaty with the Tribes of
Middle Oregon. As people who
have always been sovereign nations,
our treaty did not “give” us rights.
The treaty reserved the rights that
we already had and had been exer-
cising since the beginning of time.
This included the right to hunt,
fish and gather at usual and accus-
tomed places. The Treaty also es-
tablished a formal nation-to-nation
relationship with the federal govern-
ment, a relationship that continues
today.
But before the Treaty existed, the
tribes governed themselves and
maintained diplomatic and trade re-
lations with many Nations. We had
distinct cultures and languages, and
lived along the Columbia River—
one of the richest fishing and trade
areas of the region.
The river provided several spe-
cies of salmon, lamprey and stur-
geon. Trade brought buffalo meat
and hides, pipestone, obsidian, den-
talia, and slaves. The trade network
was said to reach as far north as
Alaska and all the way to Califor-
nia.
Lewis and Clark, in their journals,
estimated that there was between
7,200 and 10,400 Indian people liv-
ing between Cascade Rapids and
The Dalles between the years of
1805-1806. Increasing encroach-
ment of white settlements along the
Columbia River would eventually
result in the removal of the Wasco
and Warm Springs from the banks
of the Columbia River.
In June of 1855, roughly 500
Wasco and Sahaptin speaking Indi-
ans gathered at The Dalles to nego-
tiate the terms of the Treaty.
During this time, there were not
many English-speaking Indians so
everything had to be translated into
Kiksht and Sahaptin. Our language
teachers often tell us, there are some
words that do not translate into
English, so these negotiations must
have been very difficult.
See TREATY of 1855 on page 4
Eeling season for the tribes
is open at Willamette Falls
through the month of July.
Young tribal members (right)
were harvesting at the Falls
soon after Tribal Council
announced the opening of the
season. By tribal regulation:
The harvest is limited to the
east side of the Falls.
Harvest is open on Friday,
Saturday, Sunday and
Monday of each week. The
Fishing hours are sunrise to
sunset.
This is a subsistence fishery,
with the Branch of Natural
Resources serving as harvest
monitor.
Health Fair today
Alyssa Macy/Spilyay
The Pi-Ume-Sha Health Fair is
this Wednesday, June 24, until 1 p.m.
at the Community Center.
This is a free event, with many
health information booths and ser-
vices available for visitors. Healthy
snacks are available.
This is the Fifteenth Annual Pi-
Ume-Sha Health Fair. The goal of
the health fair is to increase health
awareness, knowledge of available
resources, and to motivate partici-
pants to make positive health be-
havior changes.