OCTOBER 1, 2000
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Volunteers Help Dig into Oregon History
REEDSPORT, OR. (AP) Volun
teers wield trowels to scrape away
layers of earth, sift the dirt from neat,
square holes, and then bag and la
bel the pieces of history they find at
the Umpqua River North Spit, once
known as Fort Umpqua.
Among the treasures discovered by
17 volunteers working in the area re
cently were children's marbles, tacks
the soldiers exchanged for goods
from their Indian neighbors and bul
lets from the Springfield Model 1855
rifles, which were the latest in weap
onry when Fort Umpqua was estab
lished in 1856.
The volunteers are participating in
a U.S. Forest Service's "Passport in
Time" program supervised by Siuslaw
National Forest archaeologist Phyllis
Steeves.
The volunteers get free archaeologi
cal training, learn a lot of history and
have the satisfaction of knowing that
they are helping document what hap
pened in a specific, area long ago,
Steeves said. In return, the Forest
Service archaeologists get helpers who
have a wide variety of skills, she said.
"I've just been excavating Pit 37
the whole time I've been here," said
Jan Schultz of Reno, who described
herself as a 62-year-old retired
housewife who should have become
an archaeologist but didn't.
The fort was the southern outpost
for a 1.1 million-acre Indian reser
vation stretching along the Oregon
Coast from Cape Lookout near
Tillamook to the Siltcoos River south
of Florence.
As many as 300 soldiers were as-
signed to the fort, which was built
next to Umpqua City, a trading cenj
ter touted by developers as destined
to become the San Francisco of the
Pacific Northwest.
. The fort closed in 1862 when the
troops were assigned to fight in the
Civil War and the government auc
tioned off the buildings. The two
story 40-foot-by-40-foot log block
house was moved to Gardiner and
was turned into a sawmill.
Many of the other buildings were
converted to civilian use or razed for
salvage. Umpqua City never lived
up to its grand expectations; the resi
dents moved away and nature re
claimed the area.
Generations of Reedsport area resi
dents have explored the North Spit
and found relics from the fort, early
white settlers and an Indian village.
But it wasn't until 1996 that archaeo
logical work directed by Steeves be
gan to provide a detailed record of
the area's history.
Steeves hopes that after a few more
years she will have enough material
to nominate the area for National
Historic District status.
That won't give the area any more
protection than it already has as part
of the Oregon Dunes National Rec
reation Area, Steeves said, but it will
raise the level of public awareness
about its rich history.
"There are stories here we shouldn't
forget, that we shouldn't ignore," she
said.
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School Board Votes to Drop Redskins
Nickname for Sports Teams
SCARBOROUGH, ME. (AP) -The
local school board recently
voted unanimously to drop the nick
name Redskins for sports teams at
Scarborough High School.
The nickname, which has been
used at the school since 1938, has
come under criticism as being offen
sive to American Indians.
School board members voted 5-0
to change the name, despite a sur
vey earlier this year, which found
that high school students favored
retaining it by a margin of more than
2 to 1.
"I think there will be some citizens
that will be upset by what we did,"
said Deborah Jackson, the school
board chairwoman. She quoted a
student as saying, "What is correct is
not always popular, and what is popu
lar is not always correct."
The vote came after a series of public
meetings.
School districts across the country
have been pressed by Indian groups
to change team names such as
Redskins, Braves, Chiefs and oth
ers that refer to American Indians.
Redskins is considered the most of
fensive of the nicknames and some
groups have threatened lawsuits.
Scarborough is one of three high
schools in Maine with Redskins for
a team name and mascot. The other
two, Wiscasset and Sanford, have
rejected proposals to drop the name.
A committee at Scarborough High
School will meet to consider a new
nickname for its teams.
La Crosse School District Drops Indian Mascot
LA CROSSE, WI. (AP) - The
Tomah School District's Indian logo
will be dropped, along with all the
other conference mascots that have
been displayed on the gymnasium
wall of a La Crosse high school, the
local school board recently decided.
Some students had complained
that the Tomah logo was racist and
offensive to American Indians.
The La Crosse Native American
Student Association asked in Au
gust that the logo be removed from
the display.
La Crosse high schools stopped
using American Indian-related mas
cots several years ago, in one case
replacing an Indian warrior with a
knight in 1994 to portray Central
High School's Red Raiders.
But the Tomah mascot continued
to be displayed on the wall of Cen
tral High School's gymnasium along
with logos of all the other Mississippi
Valley Conference schools.
Logan High School has a banner
that lists only school names, not logos,
Superintendent Tom Downs said.
He said it would cost $1,500 to
$2,000 to get a similar banner for
Central.
Much of the debate centered on
what type of policy the board
should adopt to get rid of the logo.
Downs recommended removing
all logos so the issue didn't create
animosity between the two districts.
Tomah School District officials have
said they meet annually with local Ho
Chunk Tribal Elders who said they
were not offended by the logo, so the
district continues to use it.
Indians Camp to
Guard Remains
WAKPALA, S.D. (AP) Some
members of the Standing Rock In
dian Reservation are camping out to
watch over American Indian re
mains, which have been falling out
of eroding cliffs along Lake Oahe.
Valerie Hill Big Shield, whose
Sioux name is Warrior Woman, is liv
ing in a camp with her three sons
and husband, Leroy.
They and others in similar camps
along the shoreline are there to keep
looters away. They patrol the shore
line of Lake Oahe to find bones and
guard them until Tribal medicine
men arrive for ceremonies of purifi
cation and reburial.
Valerie's family members Clifton,
John and Kalief Hill keep a meticu
lous log of who has come and gone
from the camp.
"It's peaceful. But it's sad, too," said
John Hill.
The family is prepared to stay.
"I'm going to sit out here until we
care for all the bones. I know there's
a lot more in the water," John Hill
said.
Remains of at least nine American
Indians have been exposed, purified
and reburied.
There is some dispute about the
origin of the bones.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
is now saving they are from an ear
lier encampment of Arikara and not
from descendants of Sioux Chief Mad
Bear.
Only time will tell if about
$500,000 worth of rip-rap will finally
secure a lasting resting spot for any
other American Indians still under
the ground there. Rip-rap is large
boulders used to stabilize ground
along riverbanks and other sensitive
areas.
"We are moving as fast as we can,
within rules and regulations," said
John Bartel, Oahe Project Manager
at Pierre. "It's our No. 1 priority."
The corps must follow the Native
American Graves Protection and Re
patriation Act when human remains
are uncovered. The act sets out the
process in notifying lineal descen
dants and Tribes, the recovery of
items, repatriation and reburial.
In the meantime, members of the
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe are re
burying the bones under an inter
Tribal agreement that recognizes
their integrity to sanctify remains
even though the Tribes might be dif
ferent. Descendants of the Arikara are rep
resented by Three Affiliated Tribes
on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
in North Dakota.
Hill Big Shield said if she could
build a house, she would spend the
rest of her life living near the old
burial grounds, protecting the re
mains of those who lived and died
before her.
"I would just like my relatives to
be at peace," she said.