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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2018)
Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon December 19, 2018 Page 7 Treaty: arrives at Museum at Warm Springs for rare display (Continued from page 5) The museum partnered with the High Desert Museum in Bend to fabricate a new exhibit case to NARA specifications. The museum’s archivist Evaline Patt selected six pages of the treaty to be displayed, including the signature pages. In late September, on a sunny, cool, and crisp morning, Carol met NARA conser vator Beatriz Centeno and I at our hotel in Ma- dras, and we drove to the museum, where we to discussed plans for the installation of the treaty. Claus Koch from Security Pros joined us to review security proto- cols while the treaty was on site. Later that morning, Gus Brad- ley and Cindy Bradley from the High Desert Museum joined us. Gus and his colleague Dustin Cockerham had fabricated the case in Bend. Our greatest challenge was low relative humidity. With the very help- ful museum staff, we were able to have the relative humidity in the gallery raised up to an acceptable and sustainable level (in the weeks that followed, regular reports showed the environment inside the case was being maintained within Photo courtesy Jim Zeender The 2018 Museum at Warm Springs Treaty Exhibit installation team: Museum curator Natalie Kirk, former director Carol Leone, Joseph Brisbois, Cindy Bradley and Gus Bradley (from left). NARA’s specified limits). When all was ready, National Archives con- servator Beatriz Centeno carefully placed each of the six pages into the display case. After taking some time to obtain balanced light lev- els, everyone agreed the case could be closed. With our mission completed, Carol took us on a driving tour of the high desert, and we rode out to the Deschutes River Dam. On our way back to the airport in Portland, we traveled through the Cascade Mountains and had great views of the majestic Mount Hood. Meanwhile, the museum hosted a prayer service to bless the arrival of the Treaty. On October 25-27 the Mu- seum at Warm Springs hosted a Treaty conference, where Living Treasures awards were presented to Redline Billy, Geraldine Jim, Foster Kalama ‘Ku-Na,’ Arlita Rhoan and Maxine Switzler. We are most grateful to former museum executive director Carol Leone and her talented staff, espe- cially Natalie Kirk, Sunmiet Maben, and Joseph Brisbois for their warm welcome and help in making the installation go so smoothly. Dana Whitelaw, Director, Dustin Cockerham, Head Preparator, Gus Bradley, Assistant Preparator, and Cindi Bradley, Director of Exhib- its at the High Desert Museum pro- A Year in Review ~ 2018 ~ also works part time; so her time for fundraising is limited. To raise the travel money, Thyreicia’s family and friends de- cided to host a Coronation and Banquet. Elsewhere: April April 2018 saw the grand open- ing of the Plateau Travel Plaza, project of the Confederated Tribes and Indian Head Casino. Many customers, tribal members and friends showed up for the opening day. The Travel Plaza offers some many amenities—convenience store and fuel stations, restaurant and gaming room, laundry facili- ties and large parking area for trucks—for local residents and vis- iting travelers. The Travel Plaza and casino hosted a number of job fairs lead- ing up to the opening, with tribal members hired for most of the new positions. In other news: Mary Olney was chosen as the 2018 Wheeler County Fair and Rodeo Queen—a first for both War m Springs and Wheeler County. Mary is a junior at Ma- dras High School, where she ex- cels at academics, being an Honor Society student. She plays varsity softball, and is president of the Lyle Gap 4-H Livestock Club. Mary was voted incoming president of the Future Far mers of America Madras Chapter. The Wheeler Fair and Rodeo is coming up this summer. Elsewhere: Tribal Council and management learned that decontaminating the Agency Longhouse—closed to the public earlier this year—will cost more than initially thought. Upon inspection of the building, cleaning companies said they could not address the methamphetamine contamination until the completion of asbestos and lead paint mitiga- tion. This would require two con- secutive bids—first for the asbes- tos-lead paint mitigation, followed by the methamphetamine decon- tamination. And meanwhile: The deadline to respond to a purchase offer from the Warm Springs Land Buy Back pro- gram is this month. The percent- age of respondents wishing to take part was not as high as had been expected. Spilyay photo Gaming board chairwoman Fran Ahern addresses the gathering at the grand opening. With her in the picture are board members Ted Kulongoski and Elizabeth Furse, Miss Warm Springs Thyreicia Simtustus, and Tribal Councilwoman Brigette McConville. A major funding piece of the Warm Springs ballfields renova- tion project came into place in April. The Oregon Parks and Recre- ation grants division this month awarded the tribes $360,500 to help complete the work. The tribes will match this amount, bringing the total budget for the renovation to $721,000. In youth sports news: The Warm Springs Academy Eagles hosted a three-school track and field meet. This was the first track and field meet hosted by the Academy. And this: An emerging tradition in Warm Springs is the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Parade and Expo, hosted by the Eugene ‘Cou- gar’ Greene Sr. American Legion Post and Auxiliary No. 48. This year the parade and expo were held the last Saturday of April. In a le- gal development: A federal judge has approved a new U.S. v. Oregon fisheries man- agement agreement, as proposed by Columbia River treaty tribes, states and federal agencies. The approval is a great achieve- ment for the tribes, and all parties involved—Warm Springs, Yakama, Umatilla, Nez Perce and Shoshone Bannock; the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho; U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the BIA. Originally filed 50 years ago, U.S. v. Oregon became among the long- est-standing open lawsuits in U.S. history. But then in approving the new U.S. v. Oregon management plan, the judge in the case closed U.S. v. Oregon. The Judge’s action to close the case came as a surprise to all of the parties to the case, who plan to ask for a reconsideration of the closure. May There is much to like about the Lil’ Miss Warm Springs Pag- eant. “It’s great seeing all the sup- porters, the family and friends who show their support,” said Norene Sampson, Recreation fitness coor- dinator, who also helps with Lil’ Miss Warm Springs. This May at the pageant, the judges chose Jessica Bruised Head as 2018-19 Senior Lil’ Miss Warm Springs, Junior Lil’ Miss Warm Springs Julia Wolfe, and Lil’ Miss Warm Springs Kyra Eastman. In other pageant news: 2108-19 Miss Warm Springs Thyreicia Simtustus has been invited and hopes to attend powwows and other tribal events in 2018, repre- senting the Confederated Tribes. There is a need for funding for her travel expenses, though, as there is no tribal budget for Miss Warm Springs. Thyreicia goes to Central Oregon Community College, and Warm Springs Power and Wa- ter Enterprises has been research- ing the possibility of developing a solar farm on the reservation. Power and Water has worked with an experienced partner, Cy- press Creek Renewables, on some of the preliminary research, keep- ing Tribal Council updated from time to time. And tribal leaders met this month with Cypress Creek for a tour of the solar farms east of Bend. Elsewhere: Tribal executive management announced the start this week of phase 2 of the BIA obsolete build- ing abatement and demolition project. Phase 2 will be in Warm Springs and at Simnasho, namely the old Simnasho school. Work includes the abatement and cleanup of buildings, demolition of the build- ings, and removal of underground storage tanks. In sporting news: The Warm Springs Academy Eagles track and field teams had a tremendous day at the Dis- trict Championships at Gilchrist. The students, in grades 6, 7 and 8, won 13 individual district titles, plus numerous runner-up and top three finishes. The Eagles were competing against teams from 12 other schools. Also in May: The Warm Springs Meth and Opioid Work Group is working on a resolution with specific steps to help address drug-related prob- lems on the reservation. The work group this month pre- sented a draft resolution to Tribal Council, listing some of the adverse consequences the tribes are expe- riencing due to meth, other drugs and alcohol abuse. June The critically acclaimed Netflix series The OA was film- ing in Warm Springs in June. And vided invaluable assistance that helped make the treaty display pos- sible. Back home at the National Archives, Patrick Kepley, Jane Fitzgerald, Michael Hussey, Beatriz Centeno, and Abigail Aldrich helped with all the essential preparations behind the scenes. Interested in learning more about Native American records? At the National Archives, we are in the process of digitizing hun- dreds of Indian Treaties. They will soon be available for free on our online catalog. Our Professional Development webinars will feature Native American themes during the coming year. At the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, visitors can view the original Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 in the “Nation to Nation” exhibition. And for even more information about Native American records at the National Archives, visit our website. (This article was originally pub- lished as a National Archives blog , and is reprinted here with permission, at request of the Museum at Warm Springs.) (Continued ) the show from some local talent to serve as extras. Elsewhere in June: For years the D r y C r e e k Landfill has been used for ille- gal dumping, including dangerous and toxic chemicals, and the prob- lem has now reached a level of serious concern. The issue has come to the at- tention of the U.S. Environmen- tal Protection Agency, and the need to plan for a long-term solu- tion is now at hand. In land-use news: The second wave of offers from the Warm Springs Land Buy Back program continued in June. The earlier buy-back resulted in some allotment pur- chases for the tribes, but the hope is generate more, prompt- ing wave 2. And this: An interesting new exhibit— Patriot Nations: Native Ameri- cans in Our Armed Forces—is on display at the Museum at Warm Springs. This is a traveling exhibit from the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Patriot Nations tells the history of American Indian and Alaska Native men and women who have served in the United States mili- tary. The Confederated Tribes were joined in a lawsuit with PGE, re- garding operation of the selective water withdrawal, or fish tower, at the Round Butte dam. The tribes and PGE co-own and -operate the hydro-facility. The plaintiff to the lawsuit, the Deschutes River Alliance, argues the temperature of the lower Deschutes is being affected by operation of the tower. This month the tribes cel- ebrated the Forty-Ninth An- nual Pi-Ume-Sha in June, marking the sixty-third anniver- sary of the signing of the Treaty of 1855, signed in that year on June 25. Meanwhile, the Museum at War m Springs this week will open the new exhibit Memory of the Land: The Treaty of the Middle Columbia River Tribes and Bands.
