Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
December 4, 2019
Page 7
The Year in Review ~ 2019 ~
January
(from page 6)
The five curriculum topics:
Tribal History, Sovereignty, Culture,
Lan-guages, and Tribal Govern-
ment. Three levels of study—for
el-ementary school students, middle
and high school—are included.
The final curriculum will be com-
plete and submitted to the Oregon
Department of Educa-tion. This
will then be incorporated into the
lessons of the public school sys-
tem, replac-ing the versions that are
incom-plete or inaccurate in regard
to the Native people.
Culture and Heritage for years
now has been teaching tribal lan-
guages, history and cul-ture in
schools. The new curricu-lum will
broaden this approach, giving stu-
dents a better under-standing of
the tribal experience.
February
Oregon Governor Kate Brown
this month met with Tribal Coun-
cil, making official her stance
against ‘the Huntington docu-
ment.’ Known also as ‘the treaty
of 1865,’ this abnor mality has
never been recognized by tribes
or federal government, and is an
offense to the tribes.
Essentially: The Treaty of 1855
created the Warm Springs Reserva-
tion while recognizing the tribal right
to hunt, fish and gather at usual and
accustomed places, and on “un-
claimed lands” within and beyond
the 11-thousand square miles of
Ceded lands.
Then a decade later the Oregon
superintendent of Indian Affairs,
one J.W. Huntington, orchestrated
the so-called ‘treaty of 1865.’
This document—with no appar-
ent compensation to the tribes, and
with hardly any tribal signatures—
purported to eliminate tribal off-
reservation rights as ensured by the
Treaty of 1855. A provision in the
1865 document also says tribal
members could only leave the res-
ervation with written BIA permis-
sion.
This erroneous document was
eventually ratified by the United
States Senate. Yet it has never
been recognized or enforced, ei-
ther by the tribes or the federal
government.
In support of a federal effort to
recognize the illegitimary of the
Huntington document, Governor
Brown met with Council at the
Museum at Warm Springs, signing
her letter of support. In other news
this month:
Ballots went out in February for
the April 2019 election of the
Twenty-Eighth Tribal Council
of the Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs. And this in Feb-
ruary:
Kiahna Allen, age 11, spoke be-
fore the Oregon legislature as an
advocate of a state bill that would
reduce carbon emissions.
Kiahna was on the first panel to
testify before the House commit-
tee regarding HB 2020: She spoke
of her elders’ teachings on the im-
portance of a healthy environment.
“We already see the effects of
global warming on our roots, ber-
ries and salmon,” Kiahna said. The
state’s decision regarding HB 2020,
she said, will certainly affect her
own, and those of future genera-
tions.
Kiahna is the daughter of
Lorien Stacona, Health and Hu-
man Services tribal targeted case
manager; and Gordon Scott, liai-
son with the Oregon Health Sci-
ences University. Despite strong
advocacy in favor—and support
from Gov. Kate Brown—HB2020
in the end did not pass the House.
For Isaiah Florendo rodeo is a
year round sport. With grand-
father Evans Spino Jr. and his trav-
eling family, Isaiah makes about 80
rodeos a year.
At age 12, Isaiah had already
seen many kinds of rodeo arenas.
Yet none were like the renowned
Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma
City.
Former home of the National
Finals Rodeo, the arena earlier this
year hosted the International Min-
iature Rodeo Association Finals—
where hundreds of young people
from around the world were in
competition.
In the saddle bronc competi-
tion—a rodeo specialty for
Isaiah—there were four go-
rounds. Isaiah won two of these
outright. And in the end—with
most points overall—he won the
International Miniature Rodeo
Saddle Bronc World Champion-
ship.
Isaiah won the Championship
buckle and money, and fine
wooden plaques for his two go-
around wins. “I was happy about
that,” Isaiah says. “I was proud.”
Courtesy
Kiahna Allen, 11, testifies on the carbon emissions bill before
the Oregon legislature, 2019.
April
This month—in choosing the
Twenty-Eighth Tribal Coun-
cil of the Confederated
Tribes—the membership elected
an almost wholly new Council.
Six new Council members are
joining two members who were re-
elected, plus the three Chiefs who
serve for life.
Charles ‘Jody’ Calica ~ Wall-A-Hee- 1947-2019
March
Since the 1880s the remains
of three ancestors—believed
to be Wasco—were part of a mu-
seum collection half-way around
the world. A team of Columbia
River tribal members—from
War m Springs, Yakama and
Umatilla—traveled in March to
the museum, the Canterbury in the
Christchurch, New Zealand.
A native tribe of New
Zealand—long-time friends of the
tribes, the Mâori—conducted the
transfer ceremony, handing the
remains back to the Columbia
tribes. The tribal group—includ-
ing three of the Mâori—then trav-
eled to the Columbia River—the
Wishxam Cemetery at Dallesport,
Washington—for this unique and
historic return.
The repatriation is unique in that
it is an international effort, said
Roberta Kirk, Native American
Graves and Repatriation Act co-
ordinator. She explains:
The Graves and Repatriation
Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) applies
to museums within the jurisdiction
of the United States. The law re-
quires these museums to return
any Native remains and funerary
objects to the most appropriate
tribe or tribes.
The Canterbury Museum is out-
side this jurisdiction, so the law does
not apply, Ms. Kirk said. Instead,
the museum has willingly cooper-
ated during the years-long process
that preceded this month’s return.
In other March news:
Courtesy Alyssa Macy
Members of the Twenty-Seventh Tribal Council of the
Confederated Tribes—Lee Tom, Ron Suppah, Carina Miller
(seated), Valerie Switzler, Brigetta McConville, atwai Jody Calica,
Warm Springs Chief Delvis Heath and Council chairman Austin
Greene (from left)—witness as Governor Kate Brown signs a
letter of tribal support, against ‘the Huntington document.’
Charles ‘Jody’ Calica, Vice-
Chairman of the Confederated
Tribes of Warm Springs Tribal
Council, passed away March 18,
2019 at his home and sur-
rounded by family.
He is greatly missed by many
who knew him and worked with
him on natural resources, eco-
nomic development and tribal
policy.
Mr. Calica’s tribal heritage de-
scends from the Tiah Band of
the Ichischkin or Warm Springs
People, and the Clackamas
band of the Kiksht or Wasco
People. He was a veterans of
the U.S. Navy.
Throughout his 37-year ca-
reer of tribal service, he worked
in a number of middle to se-
nior executive positions includ-
ing municipal manager, Natural
Resources general manager, and
Continued
Chief Operations Officer.
He served three consecutive
three-year term appointments as
the Secretary-Treasurer/Chief
Executive Officer for the
Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth
and Twenty-Fifth Tribal Coun-
cil terms. He then served as a
Tribal Council representative of
the Simnasho District.
The turnover on the new Tribal
Council is the biggest among at
least the past several recent Coun-
cil elections.
Swearing-in of the new Coun-
cil is planned for the first Monday
in May. These are the members
of the Twenty-Eighth Tribal Coun-
cil of the Confederated Tribes:
Agency District: Anita Jack-
son, Glendon Smith and Lola
Sohappy.
Simnasho District: Captain
Moody, Lincoln Jay Suppah and
Raymond Tsumpti.
Seekseequa District: Brigette
McConville and Wilson Wewa.
Management and Council are
developing a plan for a new wa-
ter treatment plant.
The tribes so far this year
have made recent improvements
to the domestic water treatment
plant.
These improvements have al-
lowed the tribes to continue to
provide the safe drinking water
that currently serves the mem-
bership.
The improvements—a coop-
erative effort of Council and
management, Utilities and federal
agencies—were designed to pro-
long the life of the treatment
plant.
The long-term solution for the
growing community, though, will
be a new treatment plant.
Review continues on page 8