Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
July 3, 2019
Page 5
Emerson ‘Chief’ Smith
(crossing the finish line,
right) won the Senior
division of the Pi-Ume-
Sha Endurance Horse
Race, followed by Terry
Isadore.
Winning the Junior
Division was Avan Rhoan
(in front below), followed
by Isaiah Cochran; and
Lesi Hisatake.
Photos courtesy Emily Cureton/OPB
Saturday afternoon at Pi-Ume-Sha, with Court
Royalty (below).
Jayson Smith photos
Thirty-Five
Years as Warm
Springs Chief
C hief Delvis Heath Sr. joined the Tribal Council
in 1984. Family and friends in June marked the 35-
year anniversary of the occassion with a celebration
at the Simnasho Longhouse.
Chief Heath is the hereditary Chief of the Warm
Springs Tribe, his fathering being the late Chief
Nathan Heath, who passed away in 1969.
At that time, Chief Delvis felt he was not ready
to assume the Chieftainship, and declined. The
Sahaptin people decided that Amos Simtustus Sr.
would become Chief, with the agreement that Delvis
would become Warm Springs Chief upon Chief
Simtustus’ passing.
This happened in 1984, and Chief Heath has
been on Council ever since. Tribal fishing rights and
natural resources, the Treaty, sovereignty and tribal
health issues are some of the Chief ’s areas of
expertise.
He is the tribes’ foremost goodwill ambassador,
and a leading figure at ceremonial functions, being a
speaker of the Native Sahaptin.
He was born on the family ranch near Simnasho
in 1938. He is the son of Nathan and Lilly Heath.
Since his youth Chief Heath has also been known as
‘Bullneck.’
His grandfather William McBride raced horses,
and it was not long before young Delvis was riding
his grandfather’s horses in races around the area.
Warm Springs Tribes photos
Davis Washines, Yakama General Council,
Chief Heath, and Virgil Lewis of the Yakama
Council, at the anniversary celebration in June at
the Simnasho Longhouse.
Levi Blackwolf at Saturday Pi-Ume-Sha.
The late Martinez Heath, one of Delvis’ younger
brothers, became one of the top jockeys in the
United States in the 1960s and ‘70s.
Delvis married Shirley Stahi, of Celilo Village, in
1960, and they are still married. For many years the
family ran the Chief Heath horse stables at Kah-Nee-
Ta High Desert Resort and Casino.
Besides horsemanship, he is known for his golf
and bowling skills.
Chief Heath with family at the 35-Year Anniversary Celebration.