Day Fourteen:
Well the day has come, the day we all waited for... everyone was packing their belongings, un flatting the mattresses and placing things back into the cars. Once we were done taking care of everything needed we headed to the Casino to eat breakfast and oh my! I haven't stuffed face in a long time(2 weeks) and oh we finally drank soda, it tasted like heaven. I was sad because I met all these wonderful people and I had to say goodbye, everyone impacted me and my perspective of things and I am blessed. The two weeks away from home made my mind grow, lose weight and get an amazing tan but most importantly it thought me how much the earth is suffering and the people in it. Now no offense but every time a white person says "go back to where you came from" I realize they have no place to talk because then the white people have to go back to Europe, the natives own the land and somehow they want to be saying all kinds of nonsense. I was happy of coming aboard even though I was the youngest member in the Heritage Circle they all became family. Everyone was sad to go but happy to see their loved ones. When we arrived to Heritage everyone went their own ways knowing that one day we will be thinking of the moments we all had and the memories will randomly come to our heads and make us smile or when we see each other at the Heritage library we will laugh because we will know what we're going say to each other. I know I took a lot back home because when I arrived and my mom gave me a huge hug and a kiss she asked "how was it" and I just smiled and said "life changing". I couldn't really explain everything that happened in those 2 weeks to her or any one who would ask me that same question because it was so much but I tried and when I did everyone was amazed how interesting I made everything sound and how deep in thought I would go to explain myself. I arrived a different women a much sophisticated one, and if this trip is offered next year I am defiantly taking it.
sincerely,
Alexic Garcia
Monday, August 24, 2015
Day Thirteen:
We met up with Jennifer De'rose whom is the Culture Resource Manager, she goes every October through April to check the lake by Heyburn State Park, she explained to us how there use to tons of villages underneath the lake like Hnch'emtsn (Inner Mouth), Hnscharp (Upstream), Quaw'li't (Dark Pine), Ni'st'ed'we'st (Where a Stone Lies Down), Schetkwe' (On the Water), Nr'washalas (Dwelling On the Spur), Ch'mi'wes (Waist), Shsht'ut (Little Rock), De'ttelpus (A Large Clumb of Cottonwood), and Hnch'mqinkwe (Surface on the Head of the Water) all of them filled with life who knows what is left of the tribal members who lived in the villeges listed above. In 1858 the road was built, in 1906 they started to build the Damn, and in the 1990's logging became popular. in 1908 when Heyburn became a state park the tribe sued individuals who lived near the park because thy wanted their space, so the court gave the tribe 38,000 miles only to create a park for public use. in the 1960-80's people started building on the park and the tribe was not happy for that so they sued again and of course they won and the buildings were torn down and the park continued on living.
OPERATION GIVE A DAM! ABOUT THE BEAVERS. We got suited up and headed down see the beaver projects. I was told we were going to build a beaver dam and I got excited, they told us to think like a beaver so I did, when we started working on our dam we used straw, mud, and sticks and rocks. We used teamwork to get it done, some got cuts and others had mud on their faces but at the end of the day it was worth it because we helped the environment and we all learned to walk in a beavers shoes if they wore any. *drum set*
We met up with Jennifer De'rose whom is the Culture Resource Manager, she goes every October through April to check the lake by Heyburn State Park, she explained to us how there use to tons of villages underneath the lake like Hnch'emtsn (Inner Mouth), Hnscharp (Upstream), Quaw'li't (Dark Pine), Ni'st'ed'we'st (Where a Stone Lies Down), Schetkwe' (On the Water), Nr'washalas (Dwelling On the Spur), Ch'mi'wes (Waist), Shsht'ut (Little Rock), De'ttelpus (A Large Clumb of Cottonwood), and Hnch'mqinkwe (Surface on the Head of the Water) all of them filled with life who knows what is left of the tribal members who lived in the villeges listed above. In 1858 the road was built, in 1906 they started to build the Damn, and in the 1990's logging became popular. in 1908 when Heyburn became a state park the tribe sued individuals who lived near the park because thy wanted their space, so the court gave the tribe 38,000 miles only to create a park for public use. in the 1960-80's people started building on the park and the tribe was not happy for that so they sued again and of course they won and the buildings were torn down and the park continued on living.
OPERATION GIVE A DAM! ABOUT THE BEAVERS. We got suited up and headed down see the beaver projects. I was told we were going to build a beaver dam and I got excited, they told us to think like a beaver so I did, when we started working on our dam we used straw, mud, and sticks and rocks. We used teamwork to get it done, some got cuts and others had mud on their faces but at the end of the day it was worth it because we helped the environment and we all learned to walk in a beavers shoes if they wore any. *drum set*
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Day Twelve:
Bobby White took us to see one of the projects Coeur d'Alene was working on which is called the West Fork Lake Creek Stream and Wetland Project, they started working on it in 2009 and finished in 2011. The land they were using is owned by two citizens whom are Judy and Glen Ruark they let the Coeur d'Alene do their project in their backyard, they let complete strangers into their land... they are great people that believe in justice. We took a tour accompanied by Stephanie Hallock whom is a engineer and a biologist, she walked us through the backyard and gave us facts about the construction. she took us need a pile of regular rocks or so I thought they were but Stephanie explained how they are a native rock pit basically broken rocks in a pile. and took us to the stream and she told us that they built that, the stream led to a arch clover which is used to let fish pass, fish are very important to the Indian culture so it's important that fish have safe travels. After Stephanie was done showing us around we headed out to Culture and Language department to meet up with Caryl Dean Swan and Leanne Campbell, they took us into the storage room where they keep everything from the late 1915 to now, it's amazing how much they have saved. they have books, photographs, voice records, clothes, furniture, baskets, bones, and rocks. they are collaborating with Washington State University and have sent them 10 to 15 boxes of voice records so they can transfer everything into CD's on in a thumb drive. the Moccasins they have stored are so beautiful the bead work done is astonishing and looks difficult..
After a long day of walking by the river and almost getting stung by hornet's to looking at ancient artifacts we arrived back to Coeur d'Alene Restoration Cite and met Angelo Vitalic he is the Fisheries Program Manager, were able to carve a canoe, a very special canoe actually because the wood used was cinder wood which was donated to the Coeur d'Alene tribe, every five years they cut Cider wood and they only cut five trees down and Coeur d'Alene was given one of those five tress and that to me was special. The whole group helped shave the canoe so now how I see it is when ever it's completely done and sold to an individual every ones spirit will be riding in the waters with the canoe.
Monday, August 10, 2015
Day Eleven:
We arrived at Coeur d'Alene Lake and spoke with Bobby White, Jina Bond and Laura Laumatia, they offered us coffee and the whole class got excited, it was like we all saw a pot of gold. Once everyone was done pouring their coffee we sat down in a U like form and began to listed to Jina's presentation. Jina whom is a Natural Resources Education Specialist has been working in Fisheries for 6 years and Laura has been working for 4 years. Jima talked to us about the history of Coeur d'Alene and how big the tribe is, the tribe has 5 million acre of territory. I learned that in the Battle of Steptoe which was in May of 1858 Steptoe led 150 troops and 50 Nez Prece scouts toward Colville country 500 Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, Palouse, Kalispel, and Yakama warriors surrounded them, Chief Vincent, Andrew Seltice and Peter Wildshoe helped Steptoe retreat in that Battle 10 troops and 9 Indians were killed after that battle was over the white man got livid and wanted to punish the tribes who were involved so they sent the U.S military to do just that. In August of 1858, Col. Wright led a campaign to "pacify" tribes he perused a "scorched earth" policy, the initiation was to slaughter the tribes horses, cattle, burn their barns and stored food. this technique is used to destroy the enemy. I also learned Mulla Road was completed in 1862 and in 1873 Chief Andrew Seltice and former Chief Vincent pursued and agreement with the U.S government. 598,000 acres were reserved for Coeur d'Alene Tribe, with 4 million acres ceded to U.S. the compensation was a mill, a blacksmith shop, a school and farm implements this agreement was not approved by Congress so the Tribe did not receive "Title".
Later in 1906 the Dawes Act came along, Dawes Act granted land allotments to individual Native Americans but there was a catch, the land will be given to you if a Native American changed their ways of living, there are six specific goals of the Act they are:
1) Break up the tribe as a social unit
2) Encourage individual initiative
3) Further the progress of Indian farmers
4) Reduce the cost of Indian administration
5) Secure part of the reservation as Indian land
6) Open unused lands to white settlers
By 1890's, the Coeur d'Alenes were well known as successful farmers, and many owned two homes. Allotment took place in 1909. 104,000 acres were allowed to 638 members and "adopted members" in 1911 the last families living on the lake were evicted Heyburn State Park was established, and money intended for compensation was used by the State to cover the cost of the park. 60 percent of lands lost through conversion to fee status, by 1921 only four Coeur d'Alene famileis were productively farming. Today, Tribe retains about 24 percent of the 345,000 acre reservation. Listening to all that made me livid because these white men were bullies and I do not like bullies.
After the presentation Bobby invited us for Dinner at the long house and let me tell you it was so amazing, I am Hispanic so we do our celebrations a lot different, I really enjoyed my self. When it was time to eat everyone sat down and before we could eat a group of girls from Yakima traveled four hours to show us the butterfly dance, it was so beautiful I was touched by the sound of the drum and the song the young lady was singing after they were done a woman began telling us the story of the sacred foods and roots and the same group of girls that were dancing earlier started putting the foods in order, I didn't know that before we eat we have to drink water and also when you're done you end it with water. This was my first time trying deer meat and it was so delicious I loved it. I was so happy to be a part of something so special I like how no one stared at me because if my ethnicity, the woman who was giving a speech said "everyone here is my brother and sister, the creator brought each and every one of you here for a reason" I took that to heart and I actually thought about it because it was true, I did not expect all this love from people I've never met, we have different beliefs yet they treated me as one, my respect and love for Native culture grew even bigger that day. it was a good day.
After the dinner we went back to the room where we first met with Jina and Laura except this time we met with Audra Vincent and Mitchell Clark, they both work in the Language Department, they work with members of the Coeur d'Alene tribe. the Coeur d'Alene language is becoming extinct only two elders from the tribe are fluent in the language so it's pretty say that their identity is fading away, Audra and Mitchell are there to prevent that and keep it going, Coeur d'Alene also tribe also got rid if Columbus day and turned it into Water Potato day which is chełchtu's'ya'pqi'n'm sqigwts ha'chsetq'it in their language.
We arrived at Coeur d'Alene Lake and spoke with Bobby White, Jina Bond and Laura Laumatia, they offered us coffee and the whole class got excited, it was like we all saw a pot of gold. Once everyone was done pouring their coffee we sat down in a U like form and began to listed to Jina's presentation. Jina whom is a Natural Resources Education Specialist has been working in Fisheries for 6 years and Laura has been working for 4 years. Jima talked to us about the history of Coeur d'Alene and how big the tribe is, the tribe has 5 million acre of territory. I learned that in the Battle of Steptoe which was in May of 1858 Steptoe led 150 troops and 50 Nez Prece scouts toward Colville country 500 Coeur d'Alene, Spokane, Palouse, Kalispel, and Yakama warriors surrounded them, Chief Vincent, Andrew Seltice and Peter Wildshoe helped Steptoe retreat in that Battle 10 troops and 9 Indians were killed after that battle was over the white man got livid and wanted to punish the tribes who were involved so they sent the U.S military to do just that. In August of 1858, Col. Wright led a campaign to "pacify" tribes he perused a "scorched earth" policy, the initiation was to slaughter the tribes horses, cattle, burn their barns and stored food. this technique is used to destroy the enemy. I also learned Mulla Road was completed in 1862 and in 1873 Chief Andrew Seltice and former Chief Vincent pursued and agreement with the U.S government. 598,000 acres were reserved for Coeur d'Alene Tribe, with 4 million acres ceded to U.S. the compensation was a mill, a blacksmith shop, a school and farm implements this agreement was not approved by Congress so the Tribe did not receive "Title".
Later in 1906 the Dawes Act came along, Dawes Act granted land allotments to individual Native Americans but there was a catch, the land will be given to you if a Native American changed their ways of living, there are six specific goals of the Act they are:
1) Break up the tribe as a social unit
2) Encourage individual initiative
3) Further the progress of Indian farmers
4) Reduce the cost of Indian administration
5) Secure part of the reservation as Indian land
6) Open unused lands to white settlers
By 1890's, the Coeur d'Alenes were well known as successful farmers, and many owned two homes. Allotment took place in 1909. 104,000 acres were allowed to 638 members and "adopted members" in 1911 the last families living on the lake were evicted Heyburn State Park was established, and money intended for compensation was used by the State to cover the cost of the park. 60 percent of lands lost through conversion to fee status, by 1921 only four Coeur d'Alene famileis were productively farming. Today, Tribe retains about 24 percent of the 345,000 acre reservation. Listening to all that made me livid because these white men were bullies and I do not like bullies.
After the presentation Bobby invited us for Dinner at the long house and let me tell you it was so amazing, I am Hispanic so we do our celebrations a lot different, I really enjoyed my self. When it was time to eat everyone sat down and before we could eat a group of girls from Yakima traveled four hours to show us the butterfly dance, it was so beautiful I was touched by the sound of the drum and the song the young lady was singing after they were done a woman began telling us the story of the sacred foods and roots and the same group of girls that were dancing earlier started putting the foods in order, I didn't know that before we eat we have to drink water and also when you're done you end it with water. This was my first time trying deer meat and it was so delicious I loved it. I was so happy to be a part of something so special I like how no one stared at me because if my ethnicity, the woman who was giving a speech said "everyone here is my brother and sister, the creator brought each and every one of you here for a reason" I took that to heart and I actually thought about it because it was true, I did not expect all this love from people I've never met, we have different beliefs yet they treated me as one, my respect and love for Native culture grew even bigger that day. it was a good day.
After the dinner we went back to the room where we first met with Jina and Laura except this time we met with Audra Vincent and Mitchell Clark, they both work in the Language Department, they work with members of the Coeur d'Alene tribe. the Coeur d'Alene language is becoming extinct only two elders from the tribe are fluent in the language so it's pretty say that their identity is fading away, Audra and Mitchell are there to prevent that and keep it going, Coeur d'Alene also tribe also got rid if Columbus day and turned it into Water Potato day which is chełchtu's'ya'pqi'n'm sqigwts ha'chsetq'it in their language.
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