Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Treaty:
September 26, 2018
Page 5
Original pages to be on display
June 25, 1855
removal to the reservation of
many Indians from their Colum-
bia River homeland. The treaty
reserved the tribal fishing, hunt-
ing and gathering rights on the tra-
ditional ‘ceded’ lands—some 10
million-plus acres—which had al-
ways existed.
The solution for the United
States was a series of treaties with
tribes throughout the region, in-
cluding the Middle Bands of Or-
egon.
Regarding the Warm Springs
confederation: The tribes held a
General Council gathering, lasting
several days, in June of 1855.
Then on June 25 of that year—it
was a Monday—tribal leaders met
at the Treaty Oak with officials
from the United States govern-
ment.
On the tribal side were leaders
from the Taih, Wyam, Tenino, and
Dock-Spus Bands of the Walla-
Walla; and the Dalles, Ki-Gal-Twal-
La, and the Dog River Bands of
the Wasco. Representing the
United States was Joel Palmer, su-
perintendent of Indian Affairs in
the Oregon Territory.
At the Treaty Oak that Mon-
day they signed the document: This
involved the creation of the res-
ervation, a tribally sovereign area
of some 1,019 square miles; and
The Treaty Conference
People of the River, People of
the Salmon: Then, Now and To-
morrow (Wana Thlama-Nusuxmí
Tanánma: E-Wah’-Cha’-Nye), a
Treaty Conference in celebration
of the Museum at Warm Springs’
Twenty Fifth Anniversary, will
happen Friday through Sunday,
October 25-27.
The Treaty Conference, hosted
by the museum, will focus on the
1855 Treaty, plus the establish-
ment of the museum in 1993.
The event will conclude with
an honoring of ‘Living Treasures,’
Warm Springs tribal citizens whose
knowledge and commitment to
perpetuating the cultural and heri-
tage leave a legacy for future gen-
erations.
The Middle Oregon Treaty of
1855 Display will be on view from
October 2 through November 3
at the museum.
The exhibit will include six pages
of the original Middle Oregon
(Continued from page 1)
Or stated another way: “The
Indian problem,” says the tribes’
Louie Pitt, director of Govern-
mental Affairs, “Is we are still
here.”
Washat Service
as Treaty arrives
Join the Museum at
Warm Springs this Saturday,
September 29 for one
Seven, as the tribes welcome
the Treaty of 1855. Washat
begins at 9 a.m. Tribal mem-
bers can register at no cost
for the Treaty Signing Con-
ference. Find out more and
register
online
at
museumatwarmsprings.org/
treaty-conference
Treaty of 1855 that established
the Warm Springs Reservation.
The Treaty pages, on loan from
the National Archives, were se-
lected by museum archivist
Evaline Patt.
“In 1993 the Museum at
Warm Springs opened its doors
as a living repository and center
to perpetuate the culture and heri-
tage of the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs,” said museum
board president Douglas Goe.
“The Treaty Conference is an
important Museum Twenty-Fifth
Anniversary event that will edu-
cate the public about tribal history,
culture and heritage, and the
Treaty that established the Warm
Springs Reservation.”
Conference speakers and dis-
tinguished invited guests will in-
clude:
Warm Springs tribal leaders;
tribal leaders and dignitaries rep-
resenting the Native nations of the
Columbia River and Pacific
Northwest; Oregon local and state
government officials; U.S. con-
gressional members of the Or-
“
I did not grant the
Indians anything. They
possessed the right to
fish for thousands of
years. The Treaties of
1855 simply reserved
to the Indians the rights
which they already
possessed. They traded
title to most of the land
in the Northwest in
return of their fishing
rights. The Tribes
negotiated long and
hard not to be dispos-
sessed of those rights. ”
U. S. Federal Judge Robert J.
Belloni, U. S. v. Oregon, 1979
Historic family photo, courtesy of the Museum at Warm Springs.
Photo image of the opening page (left) of the Treaty of 1855; and a
signing page; courtesy The National Archives.
egon delegation; and prominent
Native American attorneys, schol-
ars, educators and cultural leaders.
The Treaty Conference will fo-
cus on the education of Warm
Springs tribal children and citizens,
as it pertains to their inheritance of
Treaty right and responsibilities; a
history of treaties and of Oregon
tribes; informative panels for ad-
ministrators of Oregon’s county
and state governments and federal
administrators of the Pacific
Northwest region.
Additionally: To assist Oregon
teachers and educators to under-
stand treaties and the history of
Oregon’s tribes for the mandate of
teaching American Indian history
in schools; and provide essential
education for current and future
Oregon citizens regarding tribal
sovereignty and co-management of
natural resources.
“Treaties are at the heart of in-
digenous governance, law and policy
in the United States,” said Walter
Echo-Hawk Sr. (Pawnee), Esq., who
will be a main speaker at the Treaty
Conference.
“So it is appropriate for this his-
toric gathering at the Museum at
Warm Springs to focus on those
foundational documents made by
our ancestors, often at great cost—
including sacrifice on the field of
battle—as expressions of the inher-
ent sovereignty of each Indian Na-
tion.”
Mr. Echo-Hawk says: “These
solemn agreements among nations
are foundational political charters,
because they brought Indian Na-
tions into the Republic as sover-
eign governments under the pro-
tection of the United States.
“As the ‘supreme law of the
land’ right down to the present day,
the words in treaties define the
political relationship between Indig-
enous nations and the United
States, and set forth an inalienable
and indefeasible body of rights,
relationships, and responsibilities to
guide that government-to-govern-
ment relationship.”
As the Supreme Court has
stated, when referring to these
treaties, ‘Great Nations, like great
men, must keep their word’—
“What could be a more important
topic than treaties to guide our dis-
cussions today?” asks Mr. Echo-
Hawk
The Treaty Conference will be
open to the general public and, es-
pecially, to those interested in tribal
affairs. Registration is required.
The Conference is free to
Warm Springs tribal citizens but
will be capped at 100 attendees
with registration first come, first
served.
Total conference attendance
will be capped at 300 with regis-
tration first come, first served. The
registration fee for all three days
of the conference is $350 for non-
tribal citizens (attendees). The reg-
istration fee includes meals. Lodg-
ing is not included in the fee.
To register online, visit
museumatwarmsprings.org/treaty-
conference/
Or: treatyconference.com
Or call Deb Stacona, museum
development officer, 541-553-
3331 ext. 405. Her email is:
dstacona@museumatwarmsprings.org
The Treaty Conference is orga-
nized by the Museum at Warm
Springs and The Confederated
Tribes of the Warm Springs.
The Treaty Conference, Treaty
exhibit and associated programs
are sponsored by Meyer Memo-
rial Trust, Collins Foundation, the
Oregon Community Foundation,
the PGE Foundation, PGE Cor-
poration, Samuel Johnson Founda-
tion, Oregon Humanities, Siletz
Tribal Charitable Fund, Round-
house Foundation, among others.
Co-Sponsors are the Oregon His-
torical Society, High Desert Mu-
seum, Confluence Project,
Tananáwit, Orrick, Herrington &
Sutcliffe LLP and Karnopp
Petersen LLP.