Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
October 7, 2020
Page 5
A background on law voiding the 1865 document
C
ongress has now passed
a bill that would recognize
the ‘treaty of 1865’ as a
void document. This historic
accomplishment has been a
project of the Tribal Coun-
cil and Gover nmental Af-
fairs for decades now. The
federal legislation is called
“A law to nullify the supple-
mental treaty between the
United States of America
and the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of Indians of
Middle Oregon, concluded on
November 15, 1865.”
The following is the ex-
ecutive summary from tribal
Gover nmental Affairs, in-
troducing the research that
helped bring about the recent
Congressional action to offi-
cially void the 1865 docu-
ment:
Courtesy the National Archives
On June 25, 1855 the
Tribes and Bands of Middle
Oregon, who lived along the
Columbia River and its
tributaries, signed a Treaty
with the United States es-
tablishing the Warm Springs
Reservation. The Treaty
required the Tribes to move
to the Reservation and cede
to the United States title to
10 million acres of their ab-
Two of the signing pages of the Treaty of 1855.
original homeland. How-
ever, in the Treaty the Tribes
reser ved off-reser vation
fishing, hunting and gather-
ing rights which were essen-
tial to their survival and
without which the Indians
would not have agreed to
move to the Reservation.
Ten years later an unscru-
pulous Indian agent by the
name of Huntington
fraudulently obtained a
“supplemental treaty” with a
small number of the Indi-
ans which purported to re-
linquish off-reser vation
rights secured by the 1855
Treaty, and to confine the
Indians to the Reservation.
Tribal members would be
subject to punishment if
they left the Reservation
without the written permis-
sion of the government.
From its inception the
purported 1865 treaty has
been recognized as a fraud
by both the Indians and the
United States, and neither
Aceepting Tribal Cares Act applications
Warm Springs Cares Act
applications are now avail-
able. Paper copies can be
picked up at the tribal admin-
istration building, and also at
the Family Resource Center.
You can download a copy
online at:
warmsprings-nsn.gov/
news/press-releases/cares-
act-emergency-disaster-re-
lief/
Applications are be-
ing accepted through
October 30.
The Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Cares
Act Emergency and Disas-
ter Relief General Welfare
Program is designed to pro-
vide non-taxable economic
relief to enrolled tribal mem-
bers with additional re-
sources to maintain ad-
equate housing, transporta-
tion, food, water, medica-
tion, medical care, utilities,
and basic life necessities to
help alleviate the financial
hardships endured from
loss of income and in-
creased costs due to the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Funding for the program
is distributed from the Cares
Act—Coronavirus Aid, Re-
lief, and Economic Secu-
rity—funding received by
the tribes. This general wel-
fare program complies with
the Cares Act requirements
and guidance issued by the
U.S. Department of Trea-
sury. Emailed applications
should be sent as a PDF.
Who can apply: The fol-
lowing persons who have ex-
perienced a financial hard-
ship due to the Covid-19
pandemic may apply for as-
sistance:
Warm Springs enrolled
adult tribal member who
has attained the age of 18
years may apply for the
Adult Tribal Member
Grant; and
A Warm Springs tribal
member who is head of
household, or qualified non-
tribal member who is head of
household, may apply on be-
half of a Warm Springs en-
Moving forward with chronic pain
by Alicia Oberholzer
Physical Therapist
W.S. Holistic Health
Twenty percent of the
U.S. population lives with
chronic pain, according to
a report from the Centers
for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Persistent pain can
cause frustration, exhaus-
tion, and decreased move-
ment tolerance. Balancing
appropropriate amounts
of activity is difficult.
While overdoing it can
lead to painful flares, be-
ing inactive can cause loss
of strength and increased
disability. In order to
move forward, it is impor-
tant to set goals and estab-
lish a pacing program
geared towards living the
life you desire.
Step one
Determine a meaning-
ful activity that you feel
limited from due to pain.
What brings you joy
and makes you feel alive?
Make a goal centered
around this passion.
Example: John used to
love his daily walks. He re-
members a day when he
would walk everywhere. This
was his moving meditation,
thinking time, and
most consistent
for m of exercise.
John makes a goal
that over the next
two months, he will
progress his walking
tolerance to 30 minutes daily,
5 days per week.
Step two
Recognize your baseline.
This is how long you can per-
form an activity comfort-
ably. While it is normal for
symptoms to vary with good
days and bad days, your de-
termined baseline should re-
flect an average of your tol-
erance.
Example: If John walks
more than 20 minutes, his
back pain is so severe the next
day that he cannot complete
his chores or run errands. If
he walks for 15 minutes, he
feels some soreness in his
muscles from being more ac-
tive but can still get through
his daily activities without dif-
ficulty.
Step three
Repeat your baseline.
Take your baseline activity
and make it part of your
daily routine. This will
help your body adapt and
build tolerance to
your chosen ac-
tivity. While tak-
ing a day off to
rest is okay, the
more consistent
the better.
Example: John walks
15 minutes daily for five
days in a row. The mild
soreness in his legs is tol-
erable. He looks forward
to his new morning rou-
tine. On the sixth day, he
decides to rest. He re-
places his 15 minutes of
walking with some light
stretching.
Step four
Now it is time to move
forward. Appropriate pro-
gressions are one of the
most important aspects
of a pacing program.
Research suggests that
increasing activity by 10
percent per week is a safe
and effective way to chal-
lenge the body and ad-
vance towards your goals.
Warm Springs Holistic
Health is open 8 a.m. to
5 p.m., Monday through
Friday. Call 541-777-
2663.
rolled minor dependent tribal
member for the Dependent
Tribal Member Grant.
Application Submis-
sion: Your eligibility will be
based on the information
submitted as of your appli-
cation date. No new infor-
mation will be accepted af-
ter your application is sub-
mitted. Please submit com-
pleted applications by Octo-
ber 31.
Submit by mail: P.O. Box
455, War m Springs, OR
97761 Attn: Cares Grant
By
email:
cares@wstribes.org
In Person: 1233 Veter-
ans Street, the administration
building (outside the build-
ing in designated dropbox).
By Fax: 541-553-2236
For further assistance re-
garding this Program, please
contact the Program Admin-
istrator: Isaac George, 541-
553-3476.
party has ever recognized or
enforced it. For the last 165
years tribal members have
exercised their 1855 Treaty
rights to hunt, fish and
gather roots and berries at
their usual and accustomed
stations and on unclaimed
lands, in common with citi-
zens of the United States.
The state of Oregon has
not attempted to enforce the
provisions of the fraudulent
1865 document, even when
presented the opportunity to
do so in litigation over the
1855 Treaty fishing rights.
The Tribes have always
viewed this treaty as a his-
torical stain and approached
Senator Hatfield (in the
1990s) about possible legis-
lative action to clear the
record by legislative nullifi-
cation of this fraud. Sena-
tor Hatfield sought to cor-
rect this injustice as the last
legislative act of his Senate
career, and introduced leg-
islation to nullify the 1865
document and officially de-
clare it of no force or ef-
fect.
Time was short and Sena-
tor Hatfield sought rapid in-
troduction and passage of
this legislation. In a move
that surprised both the Tribes
and Senator Hatfield, state
of Oregon officials took the
position, contrary to all his-
torical evidence, that the
state had in fact relied upon
the fraudulent treaty in the
past, and that passage of
Senator Hatfield’s legislation
would have grave impacts on
the state and its citizens. To
our knowledge this was the
only time that the state of
Oregon sought to preserve
and rely on this fraudulent
document. The state’s strong
objections to S.2102 pre-
vented Senator Hatfield
from moving forward with
the legislation.
A great deal of incom-
plete, misleading and false
information was widely dis-
tributed by the state in its ef-
forts to stop the legislation.
(Note: This article is the
first in a series based on the
1865 document research pro-
vided by tribal Governmental
Affairs. Additional note: The
governor of Oregon during the
time when the state opposed
Sen. Hatfield’s legislation was
John Kitzahaber, who later re-
signed from office facing a
criminal investigation.)
Grant to fund 2 WSPD
highway safety officers
The Warm Springs Tribal Police Department in
September received a federal traffic safety grant, to
fund the hiring of two full-time highway safety offic-
ers.
These officers will be charged with patrolling the
major roadways crossing the Warm Springs Indian
Reservation, said Warm Springs Police Chief Bill
Elliott.
This year, there have been a number of fatal and
serious non-fatal vehicle accidents on Highway 26
and other reservation roadways. One recent tragic
accident took the life of a 4-year-old child.
“The Warm Springs Tribal Police Department is
dedicated to providing for the public safety of all of
its citizens, and those visiting or travelling through
the reservation,” Mr. Elliott said.
If you have Columbia fisheries law en-
forcement or safety concerns, please
contact Columbia River Inter-Tribal En-
forcement in Hood River at call 1-800-
487-3474 or 541-386-6363.
For information on marketing tribal
caught fish, contact Buck Jones, Salmon
Marketing Specialist at 503-238-0667.