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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs
August 21
Team Empire MMA representing the tribes
Team Empire MMA was
helping represent War m
Springs this summre at the
amateur mixed martial arts
competition, held at the
Northern Quest Resort &
Casino in Spokane.
At the show—before a
sold-out standing room only
crowd of more than 1,500
fans—two tribal members
competed, one of who won
his showcase match. And Jose
Eriza, married into the tribes,
won the amateur MMA
Heavyweight Title Belt.
Jose, 42, competitor and
coach of Team Empire
MMA, works with his wife
Amy, who is the team man-
ager. The team also features
tribal members Hamley Sam
Smith, Bonius Smith and Jo-
seph Stacona Eriza.
Jose and Amy have a train-
ing facility at their residence,
and are working on opening
a new training gym. “These
gentlemen put their all into
what they do,” Amy says. “And
the training every day is just
Courtesy Amy Eriza
Empire MMA training session with Jose Eriza
and Joseph Eriza Stacona.
one of the things they are
passionate about when it
comes to this sport.”
MMA can be very a
tough sport, obviously. When
Jose won his title belt last
month, for instance, his op-
ponent broke his hand; and
Jose suffered a concussion
and fractured nose. At that
event Bonius won his match,
and Hamley got very close,
going all three rounds.
MMA is a very popular
sport, especially among
young people. And it’s diffi-
cult to master, involving
techniques of boxing, wres-
tling and jiu-jitsu.
Team Empire invites any-
one who is interested in
learning more to contact
them. They have a
Facebook page under Team
Empire MMA. Or a phone
number is 541-325-9822.
Jose and Amy know many of
the people in the sport around
the Northwest, such as Rick
Little, the most influential
MMA promotor in the re-
gion.
The approach with the
Team Empire is to learn and
grow and have a good and
challenging time. Their
motto as stated on the
Facebook page says:
A loss isn’t really a loss. In
our books it only makes us bet-
ter!
Around Indian Country
Why we are seeing
fewer huckleberries
As gatherers are aware,
there are not as many
Western huckleberries as
there used to be. And the
decline of huckleberries is
likely to have an impact
other Native communi-
ties, native plant species
and wildlife.
Among the numerous
threats to the berry bushes
include the following:
Increasingly destruc-
tive forest fires are an-
nually torching thousands
of acres of medium- and
high-density forests,
which provide the shade
huckleberries need to sur-
vive war m summer
months.
This creates another
problem—decreased flora
following wildfires makes
it difficult for pollinators
to reach huckleberry
patches.
Related to climate
change, rising tempera-
tures mean many huckle-
berries ripen prematurely,
before pollinators can get
to them.
Invasive species also
play a role in the
huckleberr y’s decline.
Root-eating, black vine
weevils, Scotch broom
and nonnative thistle each
pose a threat. In other
Northwest news:
Fire Managers say that
many wildfires currently
burning in Oregon and
Washington, and poten-
tially new ones, will per-
sist until the region expe-
riences significant rain or
snow this fall. With wide-
spread lightning expected
this month, fire managers
will be adopting a strategic
approach to integrate risk
management, ecosystem
resilience, and community
involvement on long-dura-
tion fires before typical
strong east wind events po-
tentially arrive around the
beginning of fall.