Spilyay Tymoo
Coyote News, est. 1976
October 25, 2017 - Vol. 42, No. 22
October – Anwicht’ash – Fall - Tiyam
2017 Best Traditional Recording
J ames
Edmund Greeley first
played a Native flute about 20 years
ago. Charles Littleleaf had given
James’ dad Hamilton Greeley a
flute, but James was the one who
wanted to give it a try.
“It took me three days before I
figured out the primary scale,”
James says. And after that he never
looked back.
He learned different techniques
from other flute players, develop-
ing his own advanced style of play-
ing.
In time he became known
among Native flute makers, who
would ask him to test their new
flutes, and make suggestions for
improvements.
People would give James flutes
as gifts. He now has 17 of the art-
fully crafted instruments, plus two
bone whistles that he made him-
Courtesy photo.
James Greeley (center) with Chaz Mortimer of Aluja Productions
(left), and Scott Kalama at the awards ceremony.
self.
About two and a half years ago
James began working on what
would become the album Before
America. He recorded the songs
at the Portland studio of Ibori
Records.
The song titles are in Native
languages, Sahaptin and Hopi.
His music gives melody to the
themes stated in the titles (here
in English): Celilo Falls, POW
Chief Joseph, Salmon Feast, The
Ones that Went on, as examples.
James spent a couple of months
with his dad’s language and his-
tory books, translating the titles
into the Native languages.
After two years of work, he
released Before America in 2016.
The album this month won the
Best Traditional Recording at the
2017 Native American Music
Awards.
The award was especially nice
because of the amount of work
that went into making Before
America, James says.
(See NAMA on page 2)
Tribes, review panel visit restoration projects
The Ceded Lands of the Con-
federated Tribes are an area of
more than 10 million acres, from
the Cascade Mountains in the
west to the Blue Mountains in
the east.
With the Treaty of 1855 the
tribes kept the right to use the
land in the usual and accustomed
ways, like fishing, hunting and
gathering.
Through the Natural Re-
sources Branch, the Confeder-
ated Tribes manage significant
land holdings throughout the
Ceded Lands for the restoration
and maintenance of native habi-
tat. The John Day Basin is an
example.
In the basin the Oxbow resto-
ration project restored a large area
of what was a badly damaged river
area. There are many other ex-
amples: meadow restoration, and
cooperative work with private land-
owners, for instance.
The tribes work with the
Bonneville Power Administration
on funding these kinds of projects.
The BPA provides funding as miti-
gation for the loss of fish, wildlife
and native plant habitat.
Commissioned by the North-
west Power Planning Council, an
Independent Scientific Review
Panel reviews the tribes’ restora-
tion projects, determining their
level of success, the use of best
available technology, and other
criteria.
The Natural Resources Branch,
Fish and Wildlife Committee,
Tribal Councilman Ron Suppah,
and tribal natural resources attor-
ney John Ogan met recently with
the Independent Scientific Review
Panel. State and federal resource
officials were also on hand.
The meeting was an on-the-
ground inspection of two ex-
amples of tribal habitat restoration
projects in the John Day Basin.
The review panel wanted to
learn how the tribes work with the
local communities and landowners
during restoration projects. How
to prioritize future projects, based
on past success, was another point
of interest.
The group toured one of the
tribes’ meadow restoration
projects. This work involves re-
storing the meadow while improv-
ing the quality and quantity of
water flowing into the John Day.
The other project the group
looked at was one the tribes are
doing cooperatively with a private
landowner. The owner is a fourth-
generation cattle rancher.
Goals of this program are to
have the owner continue a suc-
cessful cattle ranch, while mak-
ing improvements for fish and
other wildlife, such as by keeping
cattle out of the creeks.
The Judges Choice Awards
O ne of the more popular
exhibits each year at the Museum
at Warm Springs is the Tribal
Member Art Show. The 2017
member exhibits opens this
Thursday evening, October 26,
starting at 5:30 p.m. Many of
the artists will be on hand to
discuss their work.
The Judges Choice Award in
the Traditional category goes to
Roberta Kirk for In Beauty I
Walk and Dance, dentalium
beaded dress with dentalium
breast plate.
The Judges Choice Award in
the Contemporary category this
year goes to Travis Bobb for
Queen of the Amazon, oil and air
brush on gesso board.
Honorable Mention goes to
Reva Johnson forBeaded Eagle;
Bernyce Courtney for Midnight
Positive and Negative woven
basket; and Charlene Dimmick
for the painting Blackbird. In
the Videography category the top
award goes to LaRonn Katchia
for Missing Indigenous; and
Honorable Mention to Scott
Kalama for Stand Up.
PO Box 489
Warm Springs, OR 97761
ECR WSS
Postal Patron
U.S. Postage
PRSRT STD
Warm Springs, OR 97761
Ballot asks
about Rec
district
Voters in the Warm Springs pre-
cinct received ballots recently for
the November 7 election.
There is one question on the bal-
lot, about a funding proposal for the
Madras Aquatic Center Recreation
District.
The recreation district is the same
as the Jefferson County 509-J
school district, including Warm
Springs.
The measure would impose a
$0.40 per $1,000 of assessed real
property value. The property of the
reservation is not subject to the tax
and would not be affected.
The measure would provide
funding for the recreation district
to continue its year-round recreation
operations and services.
If the measure does not pass, the
recreation district general fund
would be reduced by about 45 per-
cent. This would require elimina-
tion of the out-of-water recreation
programming, swim teams, water
polo and some safety personnel.
Halloween
around the rez
On Halloween the Warm Springs
Recreation activities start with
Trunk or Treat from 4-6 p.m. be-
hind the Community Center.
The carnival will be in the gym
starting at 6, and the costume con-
test judging is at 7. It’s a Space Jam
theme this year.
The Lil’ Pumpkins Parade is
on Halloween day at 10 a.m. at the
Early Childhood Education center.
The Warm Springs seniors are
having a Halloween Party on Oc-
tober 31 at the Agency Longhouse.
Lunch will be served at noon, free
for seniors, $5 for others. They also
have a costume contest, Bingo and
prizes planned.
Diabetes Prevention is having a
Zombie Walk at noon on Hallow-
een starting at the Community Cen-
ter.
At Kah-Nee-Ta
Roberta Kirk (left) with Judges Choice
Award-Traditional, In Beauty I Walk and
Dance. Above is Travis Bobb’s Queen of
the Amazon. Note, the award recipients
are chosen by an outside anonymous
source who is knowledgeable about Native
American art; and the pieces are identified
by number, not by the name of the artist.
Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Spa will
host the first-ever Zombie Run the
Saturday before Halloween (see
page 8 for details).
Kah-Nee-Ta will also host a
Pumpkin Carving Contest and
Monster Bash on Saturday.
The Pumpkin Carving Contest
is for adults and kids, starting at 2
p.m. There will be prizes for the best
pumpkins in different categories and
age groups.
The Zombie Run begins at 6:30
at the Village, with free face paint-
ing, prizes and t-shirts. The Mon-
ster Bash is at 7:30 in the Grill.
There will be crafts, snacks, games
and costume contests. Children 12
and under must be accompanied by
an adult. A 21 and over Costume
Party will be in the Appaloosa
Lounge. (More on Halloween around
the Rez inside.)