Page 6
Spílya Táimu, Warm Springs, Oregon
September 21, 2022
Mystery of ‘Cayuse Five’ grave site could soon be solved
by Wil Phinney
Underscore News
After months of re-
search, students at the Uni-
versity of Oregon have nar-
rowed potential sites where
they think five Cayuse men
were buried or reburied af-
ter they were hanged for the
death of missionary Marcus
Whitman.
The burial locations have
been unknown for genera-
tions, but students in the
University of Oregon Clark
Honors College have given
members of the Confeder-
ated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation reason to
believe the sites may one day
be identified. The Umatilla
tribes include the Umatilla,
Cayuse and Walla Walla
tribes in eastern Oregon.
“While the five Cayuse
men hanged in 1850 in Or-
egon City have come to be
called ‘the Cayuse Five’ in
recent years, we must re-
member their names and the
importance of each of their
lives to their families and our
Tribes, then and now,” said
Bobbie Conner, director of
Tamástslikt Cultural Insti-
tute, the museum and
archive repository for the
CTUIR.
The five men’s names are
Ti’ílaka’aykt, Tamáhas,
’Iceyéeye
Cilúukiis,
K’oy’am’á
Šuumkíin,
Lókomus.
“The five executed men
were closely related,”
Conner said. “Three were
brothers and two were cous-
Paintings of Ti’ílaka’aykt and Tamáhas by Paul
Kane in the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada.
Wil Phinney/Underscore News
Bobbie Conner (right), director of Tamástslikt Cultural Institute on the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, in Oregon City earlier this year, with John Lewis (pointing), director of
public works for Oregon City, and Howard Arnett, attorney for the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs and professor of American Indian Law at the University of Oregon.
Students from the UO class “Searching for the Cayuse Five” are on the left.
ins. They are not forgotten
and this work must continue
for as long as is necessary.”
In 1836, about a decade
before what came to be called
the Whitman Massacre, Dr.
Marcus Whitman, his wife
Narcissa Whitman, Reverend
Henry and Eliza Spalding, and
William H. Gray established
the Whitman Mission, near
Walla Walla. Their goal: con-
vert the Cayuse to Christian-
ity.
In the mid-1840s, Ameri-
cans traveling the Oregon
Trail carried diseases to
which the Cayuse had no
natural immunity.
Whitman, a doctor, was
unable to effectively treat
Native people sick with dis-
Interior strengthens role
of tribes in stewardship
of natural resources
The Department of the Interior this month released
new guidance to improve federal stewardship of public
lands, waters and wildlife by strengthening the role of
tribal governments in federal land management.
New guidance from the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service outlines how each bureau will facilitate and sup-
port agreements with Tribes to collaborate in the co-
stewardship of federal lands and waters.
“From wildfire prevention to managing drought and
famine, our ancestors have used nature-based ap-
proaches to coexist among our lands, waters, wildlife
and their habitats for millennia. As communities con-
tinue to face the effects of climate change, Indigenous
knowledge will benefit the Department’s efforts to bol-
ster resilience and protect all communities,” said Inte-
rior Secretary Deb Haaland. “By acknowledging and
empowering tribes as partners in co-stewardship of our
country’s lands and waters, every American will benefit
from strengthened management of our federal land.”
eases they had never before
encountered. As a result,
Cayuse children died of
measles and other illnesses
far more often than the sick
white kids treated at the
Whitman Mission. In the
eyes of the Cayuse,
Whitman was a healer who
couldn’t heal.
Tensions erupted on No-
vember 29, 1847 when the
Cayuse attacked the
Whitman Mission, killing
Whitman, his wife Narcissa,
and 11 others.
To the Cayuse, there was
no question of their right to
dispose of a doctor (medi-
cine man, or tewat) whose
patients were dying in droves.
The incident sparked the
Cayuse War.
Two-and-a-half years
later, five Cayuse men, ac-
companied by two Cayuse
headmen, presented them-
selves to federal officials.
It’s unlikely that the five
men were themselves in-
volved in the attack on the
Whitman Mission, but the
Americans demanded pun-
ishment in order to end the
war.
“What happened is these
five came together and de-
cided that they would turn
themselves in,” said former
CTUIR communications di-
rector Charles F. ‘Chuck’
Sams III. Mr. Sams is cur-
rently the director of the
National Park Service.
“Matter of fact,” he said,
“One of the quotes from, I
believe, Tamáhas was:
‘Much like your savior Jesus
Christ gave himself up for
you, we are giving ourselves
up for our people in order
to stop the Cayuse War,’ that
had promulgated because of
the death of the Whitmans.”
Federal troops shackled
the five men and took them
to Oregon City, which was
then the capital of Oregon
Territory.
The five warriors were
tried by a jury of white men
on a single count of murder
for Marcus Whitman’s
death. The four-day trial
took place in an Oregon City
tavern, crowded with a few
hundred onlookers.
The Cayuse Five asserted
their innocence and said they
only came to federal officials
to recount what they knew
of the deaths at Whitman
Mission. The five men,
speaking Cayuse, had trouble
communicating during the
trial, even though a transla-
tor was present.
The jury convicted the
men and a judge sentenced
them to death. U.S. Marshals
oversaw their hanging in June
of 1850, despite promises
from the new governor to
pardon the men as soon as
he took office.
They were buried near
Oregon City, but knowledge
of the exact location was lost.
“The fact that we do not
collectively know the burial
sites of the Cayuse Five
stands in the way of the pros-
pect of repatriation, of jus-
tice, of reconciliation, or
whatever else we who are liv-
ing may decide is the wisest
course of action,” said
Michael Moffitt, the Univer-
sity of Oregon Law School
professor and former dean
who designed the UO course
to search for the burial site.
Bobbie Conner, director
of the Tamástslikt Cultural
Institute, presented a
Pendleton blanket as a thank
you gift to Michael Moffitt,
who taught a University of
Oregon course called ‘Search-
ing for the Cayuse Five.’
Article and photos courtesy
Underscore News
Trauma resilience is the key to advocacy
By StrongHearts
Native Helpline
strongheartshelpline.org
Resources, support
and safety
When it comes to Native
Americans impacted by do-
mestic and sexual violence,
advocates are faced with re-
source disparities beyond
compare.
In StrongHearts’ data-
base, there are 272 Native-
centered service providers
compared to more than
3,500 non-Native service
providers.
The picture is even
bleaker when looking at shel-
ters, where there are only 59
tribal shelters compared to
more than 1,500 non-tribal
shelters.
When advocates realize
that they are limited by avail-
able resources, they develop
an even stronger desire to
provide emotional support
and lifesaving safety plan-
ning.
In many cases, it’s all they
can do. It’s what our relatives
have done for centuries.
How advocates help
In the field of domestic
and sexual violence, an
advocate’s work bridges the
gap between a victim-survi-
vor and service providers.
They help their contacts
recognize abuse, assess the
risk of danger and to plan
for safety.
They offer peer support,
crisis intervention and assis-
tance locating resources. Ul-
timately, the work of an ad-
vocate can be lifesaving.
The impact and vicari-
ous trauma
Advocacy may sound like
a rewarding job because sav-
ing lives is undeniably an hon-
orable profession.
That may be true, but the
fact of the matter is the work
of an advocate is steeped in
trauma.
Those who work in the
field may even be victim-sur-
vivors and their work can be
triggering.
Nonetheless, advocates
are committed to their work.
Despite the risk of having to
relive their own trauma—the
desire to help others—is as
important to them as it is to
their contacts.
Vicarious Trauma is work-
related trauma exposure.
It includes secondary
stress, compassion fatigue
and all the negative impacts
of work-related trauma ex-
posure.
It is often experienced by
people in the fields of child
welfare and protection or
domestic and sexual vio-
lence.
It can leave advocates
feeling overwhelmed with
worry but hopeful they did
enough to help.
Resilience, transfor-
mation, satisfaction
By observing resilience
in their clients and helping
them to overcome chal-
lenges, advocates them-
selves can gain vicarious re-
silience, vicarious transfor-
mation and compassion sat-
isfaction.
Vicarious Resilience: Sur-
vivors are hearty and their
ability to move forward and
beyond their experience can
encourage resilience in the
work of advocacy.
Vicarious Transforma-
tion is about the engage-
ment with survivors, what
we learn and what we get
out of it, and how it can
transform us.
Compassion Satisfaction
is about feeling good in the
work of advocacy. It hap-
pens when advocates are
able to help people effi-
ciently and effectively. It
may involve a policy change
in the work environment
that came as a result of an
advocate’s suggestion.
The benefits of vicari-
ous trauma are a sense of
strength and resilience
gained only through contact
with survivors, what we
learn through them, and the
difference made not to one,
but everyone impacted by
domestic and sexual vio-
lence.
Culture Is Key
“Trauma resilience is a
common bond between
Native peoples,” said
StrongHearts Chief Execu-
tive Officer Lori Jump
(Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of
Chippewa Indians).
“Our advocates have
the shared goal to eradi-
cate violence and to help
our people find a path to-
ward healing. Our people
have come this far because
it is our way not to leave
anyone behind. Culture is
key to ensuring a better
future for the next genera-
tion.”
About StrongHearts
Native Helpline
StrongHearts Native
Helpline is a twenty-four/
seven 365 culturally-appro-
priate domestic, dating and
sexual violence helpline for
Native Americans, available
by calling or texting 1-844-
762-8483 or clicking on the
chat icon at:
strongheartshelpline.org