TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2021
WOLVES
Continued from Page A1
ODFW employees and
the ranchers, Deward and
Kathy Thompson, also
tried to fi nd the wolves on
Friday, July 30, but they
saw only the two adult
wolves, both of which
have tracking collars.
The permit issued
Thursday is valid through
Aug. 21, or until up to
four wolves have been
killed, whichever happens
fi rst.
Dennehy said the
permit is intended to stop
chronic attacks by wolves
on livestock “by reduc-
ing the pack’s food needs
and disrupting the pack’s
BAKER CITY HERALD — A3
LOCAL & STATE
behavior so they don’t as-
sociate livestock with an
easy meal.”
Baker County Com-
missioner Mark Bennett
requested the kill permit
on Tuesday, July 27. Ben-
nett, who is chairman of
the county’s wolf com-
mittee, included with his
request to ODFW a letter
from the Thompsons. They
wrote that the attacks on
their cattle started this
spring after the Lookout
Mountain pack’s latest,
and so far largest, litter of
pups was born.
“Killing pups is not
something we want to be
doing,” Dennehy wrote to
the Herald. “But in this
case, despite nonlethal
measures, chronic depre-
dation continues which
we have a responsibility
to address. We hope to
avoid killing the breeding
male and female, so that
the pack persists and the
remaining pups still have
two experienced hunters
to provision them. Kill-
ing the breeding male
or female increases the
chance that the pack will
break up.
“Reducing the caloric
needs of the pack reduces
the amount of killing they
need to do in order to feed
the pups. The Lookout
Pack had at least seven
pups this spring and late
summer is a lean time
for wolves. With two pups
removed there is less need
for meat for the pups.”
August Frank/Lewiston Tribune
Nakia Williamson-Cloud leads horseback riders down West Wallowa Avenue in
Joseph on Thursday, July 29, 2021. A special ceremony occurred in Idaho on July 31
to rename a historic collection of artifacts owned by the Nez Perce Tribe.
Nez Perce stage
blessing ceremony on
traditional homeland
By Eric Barker
Lewiston Morning Tribune
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife/Contributed Photo
A trail cam photo from May 30, 2021, of one of the two yearling wolves in the
Lookout Mountain pack.
VIRUS
Continued from Page A1
Matt Hutchinson, manager
of the Baker Valley Vector
Control District.
It was the fi rst con-
fi rmation of the virus in
Oregon in 2021.
None of the hundreds
of mosquitoes trapped
in Baker County in 2020
tested positive for West
Nile virus. It was the fi rst
year without a positive test
in the county since 2018.
Although Hutchinson
maintains a network of
more than a dozen mos-
quito traps across the
district, which encompass-
es 200,000 acres, mainly
in Baker, Keating and
Bowen valleys, the infected
mosquitoes were collected
from a trap put out by the
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).
Hutchinson said ODFW
for the past few years has
been collecting mosquitoes
in habitat for sage grouse,
a bird that has been a
candidate for federal pro-
tection due to its dwindling
populations. He said sage
grouse are among the birds
that are vulnerable to West
Nile virus. The virus can
also kill crows, ravens,
magpies and jays, and
Hutchinson said birds of
prey are also susceptible.
So far this summer,
Hutchinson said he has
sent about 80 “pools” of
dead mosquitoes col-
lected from traps, both
the district’s and ODFW’s,
to a lab at Oregon State
University to be tested for
West Nile virus.
A pool of mosquitoes
usually consists of 10 to 50
insects.
Most of the mosquitoes
trapped recently are the
culex tarsalis species of
permanent water mosqui-
to, which are most likely to
spread the virus, Hutchin-
son said.
The mosquitoes infected
with West Nile virus are
culex pipiens, a related
type that is equally likely
to transmit the virus,
Hutchinson said.
Over the past several
years, the Keating Valley
area, including where the
infected mosquitoes were
trapped this July, has been
a “hot spot for our West
Nile activity,” he said.
The virus typically has
fi rst been detected from
mid to late July, and the
culex tarsalis mosquitoes
remain common through
August across the district,
including in Baker Valley.
In general, mosquito
numbers have been below
average this summer,
Hutchinson said, a trend
he attributes to the
drought and the resulting
scarcity of standing water
where mosquito eggs
hatch.
Following the positive
test for West Nile, health
offi cials are advising
people in Baker County to
take precautions against
mosquitoes to avoid the
risk of infection, including
preventing mosquito bites.
Most people infected with
West Nile virus will show
little or no signs of disease.
About one in fi ve people
who are infected develop a
fever with other symptoms
such as headache, body
aches, joint pains, vomit-
ing, diarrhea, or rash.
Most people with febrile
illness due to West Nile vi-
rus recover completely, but
fatigue and weakness can
last for weeks or months.
It is important that you
contact your health care
provider if you experience
any of these symptoms.
The incubation period
is usually two to 14 days.
Rarely, infected individu-
als may develop neuro-
invasive disease (infection
of the brain or spinal cord)
that can be severe or may
cause death. This is espe-
cially of concern to people
50 and older, people with
immune-compromising
conditions, and people
with diabetes or high blood
pressure.
Communities and
individuals living in or
spending signifi cant time
outdoors, particularly near
irrigated land, waterways,
standing water, and used
tires — including those
working in agriculture,
such as migrant and
seasonal farm workers —
may be at increased risk of
mosquito bites and related
diseases.
“Although mosquitoes
are an inevitable part of
summer, mosquito bites
don’t have to be — they
are preventable,” Dr.
Emilio DeBess of the
Oregon Health Authority
said in a press release.
“You can take simple steps
to protect yourself and
reduce the risk of contract-
ing West Nile disease.”
DeBess offers these
tips for protecting yourself
against mosquitoes:
• Eliminate sources
of standing water that
are a breeding ground
for mosquitoes, including
watering troughs, bird
baths, ornamental ponds,
buckets, wading and swim-
ming pools not in use, and
old tires.
• When engaged in out-
door activities at dusk and
dawn when mosquitoes
are most active, protect
yourself by using mos-
quito repellents containing
DEET, oil of lemon euca-
lyptus or Picardin, and
follow the directions on the
container.
• Wear long-sleeved
shirts and long pants in
mosquito-infested areas.
• Make sure screen
doors and windows are in
good repair and fi t tightly.
Last year was rela-
tively mild for West Nile
in Oregon, with only three
mosquito pools and one
bird found to be positive
for the virus.
In 2019, nine human
cases of West Nile virus
infection were reported in
Oregon, with 85 mosquito
pools and seven horses also
found to be positive for the
virus. In 2018, there were
two human cases, with 57
mosquito pools and two
horses testing positive.
JOSEPH — Quincy
Ellenwood smiled as a pair
of young Nez Perce men
rode their horses across a
hay fi eld here Thursday,
July 29.
Their pace — slow
and steady — quickened
without warning. Soon the
two men, one shirtless and
the other wearing a beaded
vest, raced across the
grassy slope.
“There they go, look at
them. They get to do that
now,” said Ellenwood as
he fanned himself with an
eagle wing. “Can you imag-
ine how a whole camp was
here and boys and young
men and young ladies
would ride their horses all
around. It was like that all
day, every day.”
As he spoke, other
Nimiipuu people sang,
danced and drummed in a
longhouse, celebrating and
blessing the 148-acre prop-
erty the tribe purchased
last December.
“The people are excited
to come back home,” said
Casey Mitchell, a member
of the tribe’s executive
committee. “When we sing
our songs and we dance,
we are letting our ances-
tors know we are back and
that our love for this land
will never die.”
Known as Am’sáaxpa,
or place of the boulders,
the land is a traditional
campsite and one of the
last places occupied by
Chief Joseph and his
band before they left the
Wallowa Valley and their
Northeastern Oregon
homeland under threat of
military force in the spring
of 1877.
The Army was forcing
them to live in Idaho and
within the boundaries of
a reservation defi ned by
the 1863 Treaty. At just
770,000 acres, it was a
fraction of the territory
they were promised in the
Treaty of 1855 and smaller
yet than the tribe’s 17
million acre traditional
homeland.
Tribal Chairman Sam-
uel Penney said to this day
Nez Perce people call it
the “Steal Treaty” because
few of the tribe’s bands
signed on to the rushed
agreement precipitated by
pressure from settlers and
the discovery of gold near
Pierce. But in the govern-
ment’s eyes, the treaty was
valid and Nez Perce from
places like the Wallowas,
the Salmon River, White
Bird and the Palouse were
forced to relocate.
Later that summer,
friction over the treaty
and the forced exile led to
war. A faction of the tribe
engaged with the army
in a series of battles that
stretched nearly 1,200
miles across Idaho and
Montana. Chief Joseph
eventually surrendered in
the Bear Paw Mountains.
He and many of his people
were never allowed to re-
turn to the Wallowa Valley.
Despite the offi cial
exile, other Nez Perce
people have been coming
to the valley for more than
a century to practice their
religion, visit grave sites,
hunt, fi sh, dig roots and
pick berries. For decades
they have participated in
the Chief Joseph Days Ro-
deo that is being held this
week. But the purchase
gives them a place to stay,
to be more than visitors in
their own homeland.
“We are resilient people.
We were forced out of here,
but now look, we’ve come
back,” said Ellenwood, also
a member of the tribe’s
executive committee. “We
never really left but now
it’s in black and white. It’s
ours.”
A few hours earlier,
tribal leaders on horseback
headed a procession of
riders and walkers from
Joseph High School west
along Wallowa Avenue,
following the tribe’s tra-
ditional Imnaha Route to
the property. Some wore
traditional dress while
others stuck with modern
outfi ts. Among the crowd
were elders, toddlers and
every age between.
“I think it’s realy cool
seeing all of us come
together and being able
to walk on our homelands
and take back our culture,”
said Gabby Lewis, 23, of
Spokane.
The short, 1-mile ride
and walk was a symbolic
nod to the heartbreak-
ing trip Joseph and his
people made as they left
the scenic valley framed by
towering peaks.
“There was a point
where our elders turned
back and thought they
would never come back to
this place and many never
did,” said Nakia William-
son, director of the tribe’s
cultural resource program.
“As our people left on hors-
es, we wanted to return on
horseback.”
It was also a day for
healing. Some of the differ-
ences and rifts — brought
on by those who signed
onto the 1863 Treaty and
those who didn’t, those
who practice traditional
religion and those who
follow Chrstianity — have
persisted. The nontreaty
Nez Perce were sent to
Oklahoma and later to the
Colville Reservation in
northeastern Washington.
“Our people are buried
in different areas, but this
is where they are from,”
said Jewie Davis, a Nez
Perce man who lives at
Nespelem on the Colville
Reservation. “Those of us
descended from Nespelem
and those from Lapwai
and those from Pendleton
— there needs to come a
time and a day when there
is healing between all of
us.”
Shannon Wheeler, vice
chairman and a descen-
dant of Chief Joseph’s
sister, said the Place of
the Boulders belongs to
everyone.
“We are all the same
people. We are no differ-
ent,” he said. “We can point
to the things that sepa-
rated our people. That is
behind us.
“We are all equal to the
land. That is what this
place is for. That is what
this blessing is for.”
It’s also a chance to
strengthen relationships
with the land that Wil-
liamson said are central
to the Nez Perce. The land
is more than just crops it
can grow or animals it can
support.
“The land and us is the
same,” he said. “What you
call resources is a part of
our life, and so when we
advocate for these resourc-
es we not only advocate for
our life but all of human-
ity, all of you and for us to
continue this life that has
been carried on for thou-
sands of years, thousands
of generations.”