~ Student lessons for the classroom ~
from page 8
Numu ~ Paiute
Wasco Chief
from page 4
At Warm Springs Culture
and Heritage there are pho-
tographs of the reservation
boarding schools in their dif-
ferent phases. At first the U.S.
government funded and
church-run schools were small
wood buildings that were re-
placed by large wood build-
ings and eventually the red
brick buildings you know to-
day as the Culture and Heri-
tage and Education offices, or
‘the old boys dorm’ and the
tribes’ Behavioral Health Cen-
ter, or ‘the old girls dorm.’
And the direction of our
people is derailed and put on
a path it wouldn’t have gone
if we had been left alone.
Some of the children forced
to attended these schools still
live in our community,
Willard Teewee, Myra Or-
ange, Kirby Heath, Thea nee
Smith and many others. The
effects of this systemic re-
education is not the ‘ancient
past’. Those children are our
elders and your grandparents
now. Until the 1960s “hun-
dreds of thousands of Na-
tive American children were
removed from their homes
and families and placed in
boarding schools operated by
the federal government and
the churches.” boarding
schoolhealing.or/education/us-
boarding-school-history
Other significant events
of the 1860s that would
shape our culture and gov-
ernment of today were the
Snake River Wars. It is well
documented that the regular
U.S. Army called the period
of their involvement in the
Snake War, ‘the Campaign
against Indians, Oregon,
Idaho, and California (1865–
1868), clearing thousands of
acres land of indigenous
Paiutes for the settlers to oc-
cupy by the 1870s.
The Paiute people took up
ar ms against the United
States government, who em-
ployed Wasco and War m
Springs Indians to help in the
fight, to protect and preserve
their lands and culture. After
the end of hostilities became
prisoners of war who would
find themselves occupying an
Indian reservation with the
people who fought against
them. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Snake_War}
‘Re-education’ – Educa-
tion or training to change
someone’s beliefs or behav-
ior.
‘Gerrymander’ – Present
participle ‘gerrymandering’:
Manipulate the boundaries of
(an electoral constituency) so
as to favor one party or class.
Achieve a result by manipu-
lating the boundaries of an
electoral constituency.
After the forced removal
from our traditional home-
lands and starting in the late
1800s we, starting in child-
hood with all of the our
tribes, were forced to be re-
educated. The cultural re-
education would prepare us
for the forced governmental
reform. What had been head
people of villages, bands and
clans, making decisions and
who were chosen, the best
way the Wasco People saw fit,
was merged with how the U.S.
government defined govern-
ment, and that is how the
Tribal Council we know to-
day, came to be.
Around the time the old
girls and boys dorm were
built our first Tribal Council,
as well as the Chieftain body,
were established how we see
them today. Chief Daniel
Katchia was the Wasco Chief
prior to the modern times
Council. He ser ved until
1933. In 1938 the Confeder-
ated Tribes had the modern
11-person Tribal Council es-
tablished. There are three
Simnasho District, three
Agency District and two
Seeqseequa District represen-
tatives, with the War m
Springs, Wasco and Paiute
Chiefs comprising the re-
maining three members. The
districts vote for putting the
eight district representatives
of the Tribal Council in place,
and each has a three year
term limit. The three Chiefs
on the other hand are cho-
sen as their people see fit in
accordance with their ac-
cepted customs and culture,
and serve for life typically.
Since the modern Council has
been formed, gor the Wasco
people, Chief George
Meachem Sr. served as Chief
until 1942, Chief Joe
McCorkle served until 1958,
Chief Nelson Wallulatum
until 2012, and Chief Alfred
Smith Jr. until 2023. It is im-
portant to know that there
were gaps in the continuity
of Chief leadership, some-
times
lasting
years.
warmsprings-nsn.gov/gover n-
ment/tribal-council/-past-leader-
ship
In an October 13, 1988
Wasco meeting, in excess of
70 tribal members talked on
the subjects varied from (but
not restricted to) the Museum
at Warm Springs, drug and
alcohol abuse, the Early
Childhood Education Center,
Wasco and tribal Identity, to
the sub-Chieftainship. In that
meeting there were questions
and discussion of the Wasco
Sub-chief.
During the meeting Chief
Wallulatum, was recorded as
saying, ‘Whatever transpires here,
you will take on things about it,
make your speeches and tell what
you think this person’s qualifica-
tions should be, besides just being
descendants. What are you look-
ing for besides just a descendant?.’
Some of the comments
and desires from the tribal
members on leadership traits
they would like to see in a
Chief were: Someone who
would walk with pride in be-
ing Wasco, be a temperate per-
son, have the courage to
make hard decisions, who
would feel free to visit with
their people, check up with
them to see how their people
are doing. There was also a
desire for someone who had
the courage to learn and lis-
ten, and understood that ‘the
Chief ’s responsibility doesn’t
end after 5 pm.’ (CTWS tribal
members (1988) ‘Wasco Sub-
Chief ’ Wasco ,eetomg October
13, 1988.)
Now as then, the Wasco
people have the right to
choose their Chief in the best
way they see fit. It seems that
in the pre-modern times
there was an understanding
on who would be the leaders
of the village and it was the
chiefly class of people. Be-
tween the mouth of the
Deschutes and Cape Horn on
the Columbia River there
were over 25 villages with
populations of 200 to 1,000
Kiksht speaking people on
the north and south sides of
that Great River. Those lead-
ers had a position in the com-
munity that had reverence
and trust, and they likely
trained their offspring, or
other family member or
members, to be ready to take
over as ‘head person’ when
the time called for it. The se-
lection methods likely varied
from family to family and
from village to village and I
am sure many of our people
have been informed of that
process and hold that knowl-
edge today, seek them out
and to learn it. Today we
don’t know all the specifics
of the selection process, we
only know the results.
The process for chieftain
selection changed dramati-
cally with the introduction of
the modern Council as it ex-
ists today. There is the mili-
tary Roberts Rules of Order
from 1876 that we use in
most official meetings. The
adoption of minutes and
agendas, making motions, sec-
onding those motions are all
now part of how we record
our events in history for our
descendants to find guidance
on important questions.
There are now election sites,
mail-in ballots, tallying of
ballots, recounts and so much
more. It is easy to lose sight
of what is at the core of the
process, selecting the best,
most qualified person to
serve as a voice of the Wasco
people in our Council cham-
bers.
The people usually try to
agree on who is the most
morally upstanding leader to
represent us because I am
sure we all feel that their fail-
ures and transgressions reflect
on all of us. The people are
responsible in deciding which
nominee is the most asser-
tive, to ensure they have a
leader who will question bad
ideas in Council chambers
that may have long lasting
negative effects. The Wasco
people must also determine
which leader that has the
courage to put the people’s
interests before their own in-
terests.
A good leader will be
awake before their people
are, to show them what path
the day will take. That leader
should always be available to
listen to their people and
know them well. That leader
should be able to talk, with
an open truthful heart, with
and to each of us in a way
we will understand. This
leader should be the best cul-
tural, spiritual, academic, and
morally qualified person
available. The correct per-
son, if they are found to be
lacking in those qualities,
would make their best quick
effort to fulfill and live up to
those standards. Our leader
should be a trusted advisor
and confidant, like a mother
or father or legal guardian
might be, to all that need that
guidance. The leader chosen
should be in constant contact
with the Wasco people and
never leave them uniformed.
The right choice will make the
tribe their priority. We should
be proud to say their name
in any surroundings and the
sound of that name should
fill our hearts with pride.
There is a burden of leader-
ship to be an effective leader.
To establish standards and
then meet them is a basic re-
quirement of leadership.
You are not a leader if you
do not establish or enforce
standards. Your are a leader
if you meet and enforce ba-
sic standards.
You are a good leader: If
you meet and enforce high
standards.
You are a great leader: If
you meet and exceed high
standards, and then motivate
others to do the same.
The right leader will not
shy away from a challenge.
The right leader will challenge
the status quo and strive for
positive change that benefits
the people. Leadership can be
a thankless job but the right
leader will learn to live with
this and welcomes that life.
That person would come to
understand that ‘the highest
distinction is service to oth-
ers’ (Max Brooks). After the
choice has been made and
when every day from then on
ends, our new Chief will un-
derstand that these leadership
traits should be the bare
minimum expected of our
Chief and that when we are
taken care of, they are always
the last to rest. That is the
burden of leadership.
Rain Circle, U.S. Army
(ret.)