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The Reservation that is home to the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville People encompasses 1.4 million acres in North
Central Washington. A virtual paradise, it is bounded on the east by the
Okanogan River and on the west and south by Lake Roosevelt,
the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam.
The Confederated Tribes consist of the Nespelem, San Poil, Okanogan and
Lakes nations, who were later joined by the seven others, including the
Wenatchee, Entiats, Chelan and the Methow. The Moses Band was forced to
move onto the reservation in
1884 despite the wishes of those already residing there. There they
merged with the Moses-Columbia Band already residing on the reservation.
Completing the original ten bands was the Palouse. The last to arrive
was Chief Joseph's Band of the Nez Perce.
For years these People have fended off mining companies who covet the
riches buried deep inside Mother Earth. In 1998 a vote of tribal members
resulted in a 600 to 0 defeat for mining. They also passed a moratorium
stating that there would be no mining on their reservation ever.
But time marches on and old traditional thinking council members retire
and younger ones take their place. Unfortunately these young people
often do not seem to have the ties to their culture, traditions and land
that their Ancestors did.
Just as small pox, TB and alcohol infected and killed millions of Native
Peoples, greed, the curse of the European invaders, has infected many of
our own people, causing them to think and act like whites. The promise
of high paying jobs and big money
blinds the eyes to the high cost of mining.
For years mining interests have set their eyes on Mt. Tolman, a Sacred
site to these People. Now the whole reservation is being considered. Not
only will the Sacred Mountains be scraped away by huge machines, but the
waste rock and tailings would be dumped into Meadow Creek which flows
into Lake Roosevelt. Eventually the waters of the Columbia River would
be effected.
Molybdenum, a by product of mining, is only one of the dangerous
substances that will be around for many generations if the People allow
the land to be raped. Crops irrigated with these contaminated waters
will in turn become hazards to life - both human and animal. Cancer
rates will soar. More and more children will be born with birth defects.
What salmon that are left in the waters will eventually sicken and die.
The high paying jobs some covet will cost so much more than they can
imagine. The irony is that the ones who will make the really big bucks
will go on with their upper class lives far, far from the Colville
Tribes.
The Mother is angry. The mountains shake, the ice melts. Hurricanes and
floods devastate the earth. Strange diseases pray upon the People. She
is giving us a loud and clear warning about what is going to happen to
this planet if we don't stop now.
The Red People are the Guardians of the land. We need to be strong and
stand for what we know is right. Time is short.
I am Chickamauga but I know about your great chiefs and how they fought
for their people. Where are your warriors now?
There will be a spiritual gathering on the reservation from February 17
- 20.
The election will be held on March 18th.
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"Whole Indian Nations have melted away like snowballs in the sun before
the white man's advance. They leave scarcely a name of our people except
those wrongly recorded by their destroyers. Where are the Delewares?
They have been reduced to a mere shadow of their former greatness. We
had hoped that the white men would not be willing to travel beyond the
mountains. Now that hope is gone. They have passed the mountains, and
have settled upon Tsalagi (Cherokee) land. They wish to have that
usurpation sanctioned by treaty. When that is gained, the same
encroaching spirit will lead them upon other land of the Tsalagi
(Cherokees). New cessions will be asked. Finally the whole country,
which the Tsalagi (Cherokees) and their fathers have so long occupied,
will be demanded, and the remnant of the Ani Yvwiya, The Real People,
once so great and formidable, will be compelled to seek refuge in some
distant wilderness. There they will be permitted to stay only a short
while, until they again behold the advancing banners of the same greedy
host. Not being able to point out any further retreat for the miserable
Tsalagi (Cherokees), the extinction of the whole race will be
proclaimed. Should we not therefore run all risks, and incur all
consequences, rather than to submit to further loss of our country? Such
treaties may be alright for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for
me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land."
---Chief Dragging Canoe, Chickamauga Tsalagi (Cherokee
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